Claim OwnershipScenic Route — Mindset, Society & Mental Health for Tired Perfectionists
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© 2026 Scenic Route by Jennifer Walter, MASoc UCC
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Scenic Route — Mindset, Society & Mental Health for Tired Perfectionists is a podcast for people who think deeply, feel a lot, and are done pretending that burnout is a personal failure.
Hosted by sociologist and mental health advocate Jennifer Walter, Scenic Route explores the intersection of mindset, society, and mental health: from perfectionism, overthinking, and people-pleasing to power, gender, capitalism, and social change.
This podcast is for tired perfectionists, high achievers, and thoughtful misfits who want to understand their inner lives in context, not in isolation. Scenic Route challenges self-optimisation culture and reframes healing as both a personal and collective process.
New episodes every Tuesday.
New affirmations every Friday.
The longest way round is the shortest way home. That’s why we’re taking the Scenic Route.
Start with the latest episode or jump into whatever speaks to you.
The view here on the Scenic Route is chef’s kiss 🫶
121 Episodes
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Exhale. TGIF This weekly affirmation is for you if you've been told that you need a five-year plan when you can barely figure out what you want for lunch. This week's affirmation: "I release the belief that I have to earn my rest." New Soft Landings every Friday. Save this. Share it. Come back to it when you need the reminder. 🤍 About Soft Landings: Every Friday on The Scenic Route, one grounded affirmation to help you rest, reset, and remember you're way back home to yourself. Se...
"Everyone has ADHD now." You've heard it. Maybe someone said it to you — with a half-joke, half-accusation edge. Like, neurodivergence is just the trend of the season. But what if that reaction tells us less about ADHD and more about the systems we're living in? In this conversation with Kristina Kyser — psychotherapist, educator, and creator of the Neurodivergent Rising course — we pull apart the "ADHD superpower" narrative that's everywhere right now. Because yes, there are gifts: innovatio...
Exhale. TGIF This weekly affirmation is for you if you've been told that you need a five-year plan when you can barely figure out what you want for lunch. This week's affirmation: "I release the pressure to figure out my purpose. I start with listening inward what I need in this moment." You don't have to have it all mapped out. What you need right now matters more than what you think you should want five years from now. New Soft Landings every Friday. Save this. Share it. Come back...
Here's the thing nobody tells you: the way you order at a restaurant says A LOT about how you move through life. Are you the person who waits to hear what everyone else is getting before you decide? Do you need everyone's opinion before you can choose? Are you picking what you want, and it feels weirdly vulnerable? Yeah. We need to talk. In this episode, I sit down with Jillian Reilly, author of Ten Permissions: How to Stop Waiting and Start Living, to talk about why so many of us can't make ...
There's a particular moment many of us know well — when everything feels like too much. Not dramatically, but quietly, heavily, relentlessly. You're still functioning, still showing up, but inside, something is fraying. And the most painful part? The story you tell yourself about it: I should be able to handle this. In this episode, we explore why overwhelm isn't a personal failure — it's a predictable outcome when multiple vulnerabilities align. Using insights from the Swiss Cheese Model and...
Pause for a breath you didn't know you were holding. This soft landing is for the woman who's been holding it together so well that no one thinks to ask if she's okay. This week's affirmation: "The strategies, steps, decisions that got me here served their purpose — I release them with grace." You don't have to carry what no longer fits. You don't have to make letting go mean you failed. What got you here won't always get you where you're going. And that's okay. This weekend, ask yourself: Wh...
You've done the vision boards. Set the goals. Showed up with discipline. And still – something feels off. If you're a high achiever who's done all the things and still doesn't feel like you've arrived, this one's for you. Jessica Eley breaks down why smart, driven women stay stuck even when they know what they want. Spoiler: it's not your vision, your strategy, or your discipline. It's your capacity – your ability to handle not just what you want, but everything that comes with it. We talk ab...
Pause for a breath you didn't know you were holding. This soft landing is for the woman who's been holding it together so well that no one thinks to ask if she's okay. The affirmation: "I am allowed to disappoint people and still be good." Goodness isn't measured by how much access others have to you, but by how honestly you honour your limits. We examine why performance – the relentless yes, the full calendar, the reflex to fix – feels like safety, yet slowly erases our needs. And why bound...
Tired of entering a new year already depleted? This 35-minute conversation is your invitation to something slower, softer, yet powerful. Nadia Gabrielle returns to The Scenic Route to talk about the 12 Nights of Magic – her annual program that guides hundreds of participants worldwide through the liminal space between December 25th and January 6th. Rooted in the European Rauhnächte tradition, these nights create a portal where each day reveals the energetic theme of a month in the year ahead....
Three years, 111 episodes, and countless conversations later — host Jennifer Walter sits down for a full-circle moment with Lauren Best to celebrate The Scenic Route’s third birthday. They flip the mic to talk about what really happens when you stop hustling and start listening: to your body, your luck, your burnout, and your joy. From viral posts to creative dry spells, from slow living to self-trust, this episode explores how to create — and live — at your own pace in a world that keeps sho...
The Words You Need to Hear When Perfectionism Is Running Your Life Ever find yourself thinking: “I should be further along by now”? Our society is so OBSESSED with finishing things… what if strength lives in what’s still taking shape? I’ve been taking an adult learning programme on resilience at my old university, University College Cork, and spending more time in my friend Juli’s clay studio. There, I noticed: the clay pieces I tried to make perfect felt lifeless. The ones with flaws...
We inherit shame like an unspoken family heirloom — stitched into our bodies, our ambition, our idea of enough. It’s the quiet undertone behind so many brilliant women asking, “Why do I still feel like I’m not enough?” In this conversation, Jennifer Walter sits down with therapist and facilitator Kyira Wackett to unpack the hidden ways shame shapes our lives — from body image and burnout to perfectionism and belonging. Together, they explore how shame isn’t just a feeling — it’s a lear...
Gratitude journals. Green juices. Meditation apps. We've been taught happiness is a checklist, but what if that's only half the story? In this episode, we dive into the world of Positive Psychology and the concept of flourishing– living deeply, not just lightly. We explore the PERMA‑H model (Positive Emotion • Engagement • Relationships • Meaning • Accomplishment • Health) and what it really means to feel alive even when life isn’t easy. If you’ve done all the “right” self‑care ...
Tired of buying cookbooks that collect dust (or shame you for not owning grape molasses)? Same. In this episode, we’re talking about how to choose a cookbook that actually fits your real life and not some Pinterest-perfect fantasy. I’ll show you how to spot the red flags (hello, pancetta prep on a Tuesday night 😵💫), how to tell if a cookbook is for beginners or pros, and what makes a recipe book actually useful. This isn’t just a rant – it’s a full-on guide to picking the best cookbooks ba...
What if freedom isn’t the absence of limits, but the presence of form? In this episode of The Scenic Route, Jen explores the paradox of constraints – why the boundaries we resist might be the very thing that saves us. Drawing on the work of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman and his idea of liquid modernity, she unpacks how modern life’s obsession with flexibility and endless options has left so many of us overwhelmed, exhausted, and floating without structure. You’ll hear: Why too much freedom can m...
Why do people still say women make “careless” decisions about abortion – and how can you shut that argument down fast? And what does it have to do with a shocking PhD thesis on endometriosis? In this episode of The Scenic Route, you’ll get: A toolkit to counter the “careless abortion” myth from three angles: logic, evidence, and power.Evidence-based insights you can drop in conversation to cut through opinion with data.A clearer lens on structural bias – why women’s pain is underfunded and di...
Why do we procrastinate, overthink, avoid, or hold back just when things matter most? Your social media feed at 2 am calls this self-sabotage, but is it? In this episode of the Scenic Route, we unpack fresh psychology research that flips the story of self-sabotage on its head. You’ll discover three hidden patterns that shape how we repeat harmful choices: Sensitives: quick learners who adapt after mistakesUnawares: people who miss the cause-and-effect until it’s explainedCompulsives: those wh...
September rolls in and suddenly life speeds up – school runs, work deadlines, holidays on the horizon. And with it comes the pressure to “get organised,” “finish strong,” and set bigger, better goals. But here’s the truth: SMART goals don’t work for most women juggling kids, work, and real life. They focus on outcomes you can’t fully control — which often kills momentum before you even get started. In this episode of The Scenic Route, we’re rethinking goal-setting from the end of summer to th...
Can a student’s body size affect their grades? Research says yes. In this episode of The Scenic Route, Jen explores how fat bias and socioeconomic bias shape grades, opportunities, and self-worth. You’ll hear: A personal story of how weight stigma shows up in healthcare.A German study of 14,000 students showed that overweight and lower-income kids receive lower grades than equally capable peers.Why grades often reflect compliance, neatness, and bias more than actual learning.How to judge whet...
You know what to do. You’ve read the books, journaled the insights, maybe even coached others through the same thing. But when it comes to your own life, something still isn’t shifting. We’re diving into the psychology of the knowing–doing gap, that frustrating space between insight and action, and unpacking why even the most emotionally intelligent among us get stuck. Rooted in behavioural theory, trauma-informed coaching, and real-life experience, we explore the invisible forces blocking ch...
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