Shows
Adventures with My FortiesEp. 33 Your Kids Are Entitled to Your MistakesOn Father's Day, the kids were sassy and rude, and I lost all my shits. It was not my proudest parenting hour. But then, I apologized and explained why I had overreacted to the kids, and we hugged and made up. While I would love to be the "perfect mom," my kids are entitled to my mistakes. If they think I am a superwoman who never makes mistakes, then they will beat themselves up when they invariably make mistakes. Life is messy, and mistakes are part of the journey. So rather than beat myself up for losing all my...2022-06-2434 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 32 Grief Sucks But I’m Getting Better At Embracing ItIt has been a month since my last episode and life has been a lot. My uncle died in mid-January and my grandma died on February 1. I was very close to both of them and have been exhausted from all my grief. But I think I am handling my grief for my uncle and grandma well - or, at least better than I handled grief when I was nineteen and lost my cousin Kym and grandpa. When I was nineteen, I buried my grief and pushed on with my life, and the grief festered. Now that I am forty-three...2022-02-1534 minAdventures with My FortiesOperation: Reclaim My Life!Last week, I told you about my 22 Projects in '22 to keep my momentum strong. To deepen my self-work this year, I am also launching Operation: Reclaim My Life. In this episode, I talk about why I picked "reclaim" to be my word of 2022 and my four areas of focus: Reclaim My House; Reclaim My Body; Reclaim My Inner Child; and Reclaim My Stories. Bonus: I also vent about pandemic life, including Julian's week of distance learning after being a close contact.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is Carefree 90s from Tu...2022-01-1329 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 30 Twenty-two Projects in 2022Happy 2022! This week, I share the twenty-two projects I am pursuing in 2022 to keep my momentum strong. The projects range from "publish my first novel" to "get a posh trash can for the kitchen" and everything in between. Not all of these projects will happen, but this is my process and I'm excited to see what sticks and what gets abandoned.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
2022-01-0426 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 29 How To Raise A Successful AdultThis week, I talk about all the ways I was inspired by Julie Lythcott-Haims' book How to Raise An Adult: Break Free of The Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid For Success. The book really delivers on its promise. It showed me the ways in which I have fallen into the overparenting trap and then it gave me lots of practical ideas for how I can change my ways. Spoiler alert: chores matter! Also: other parents might be crazy about the college arms race, but that doesn't mean we have to follow their lead.
Show no...2021-10-1330 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 28 Kicking Ass And Healing During The 2021-22 School YearThe calendar year might begin on January 1, but the first day of school is the true beginning of the year. My kids returned to school on August 12, 2021 -- it was Julian's first day of kindergarten, Pippa's first day of third grade, their first day attending the same school ever, and the first day of "normal" school since March 2020. Whew! It seemed like an auspicious time to reflect on the 2021-22 school year. My mission statement for 2021-22 school year is: Kicking Ass and Healing. In this episode, I first talk about Healing, with a close look at the method...2021-08-1332 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 27 What Does Pandemic Healing Look Like?Holy eff, I don't know about you, but I am burned out from the pandemic. I feel a deep need to heal from this collective -- and personal -- traumatic experience. Now that school is out and my kids are both going to camp, I am thinking about what I want to do this summer to heal.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
2021-06-1533 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 26: Maternal Mental Health Is A Journey, Not A DestinationIt's Maternal Mental Health Week 2021! Maternal mental health is a cause near and dear to my heart. When I talk and write about maternal mental health, I end up focusing on postpartum depression. That's an important subject that needs attention, but maternal mental health does not end with the postpartum period. We deserve excellent mental health our entire lives, not just when we have a little baby at home.
In other news, between May 5 and May 9, 2021, my memoir Adventures With Postpartum Depression is free on Amazon. Happy downloading!
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. Th...2021-05-0525 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 25 The Mirrors That Reflect Our Inner WorkThis week, I am talking about the mirrors that reflect our inner work: art! dreams! other people! especially annoying people! and signs from the Universe! We all have work to do during this lifetime, and there are so many ways to find that work. I discuss some of the things that act as mirrors to show me the work I am ignoring (or denying).
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
2021-04-2037 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 24 Pandemic PhilosophyThis week, I talk about the thoughts that are helping me stay sane as my family embarks on our next pandemic adventure: the hybrid hellscape.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
2021-04-0727 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 23 Building New,Radiant BeliefsMy feelings have helped me identify some toxic, outdated beliefs. Now I am working to replace those beliefs with new, radiant ones. In this episode, I describe the things I am doing to build these new beliefs. Spoiler alert: I am embracing the shit out of affirmations!
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
2021-03-1033 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 22 Identifying My Core ValuesLet's talk about values! Last week, I listened to the audiobook of Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. The second part of the book is called Living Into Our Values and it changed my attitude about values.
I love values. I have journaled extensively about my values. I’ve talked about values with my therapist many times. I’ve probably blogged about my values (but I don’t have the time to dig through old posts now) (please god, will distance learning ever end?) After several months of work, I identified my list of twenty-ish values. Hooray! I knew all...2021-02-2531 minAdventures with My Forties21 My Feelings Have Messages I Want To heedI am a feelings amateur but this week, I talk about feelings, from my history of suppressing my feelings to my current work to use my feelings as a tool to figure out my subconscious beliefs. We live in a culture that does not value feelings, but I believe feelings are important. Feelings are vital to our work to become our best selves. I felt awkward and completely out of my comfort zone with this episode, but I am excited to do this work.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Di...2021-02-1940 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 20 The Space Between Hope and DespairI got a little philosophical for this episode. Over the past couple months of pandemic and distance learning life, I have noticed that I am my best self when I occupy the space between hope and despair. Hope and despair are mindsets that look to the future. Hope might seem more optimistic than despair, but it conditions future happiness on wanted outcomes. It sets me up for disappointment and discontent. With both mindsets, I feel unsettled and torn from the present. I feel as if my life is somehow lacking. When I occupy the space between hope and despair...2021-01-1926 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 19 Looking Back At 2020 & Ahead To 2021Happy Almost New Year! At the end of the year, I like to look back at the year I have had and reflect on the work I did to become a better version of myself. I thought that 2020 was going to be a total dumpster fire but after thinking back on the year, was pleasantly surprised to see how much I have grown as a person over the last twelve months. I would never have chosen a pandemic or distance learning for 2020, but that's what happened, and those experiences pushed me through some incredible growth. I have a lot...2020-12-3054 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 18 Putting the SELF in Self-HelpI love self-help books! But that has not always been the case. When I was younger, I felt drawn to the self-help section at the bookstore but ashamed at the idea of reading those books. After I I got my first Kindle, I started to make up for lost time. I have learned to be an active participant in the self help books I read, embracing only the ideas that work for me. But the past few years, I took Marie Kondo's books about decluttering a bit too seriously. I internalized some subconscious belief that if I did not...2020-12-1336 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 17 A Very Pandemic Holiday SeasonThis week, I talk about the upcoming 2020 holidays. Spoiler alert: the holidays will be a bit different this year because hello, #pandemic. I am trying my best to lower/change my expectations so my family can still enjoy this time of year. I talk about the mindset I am trying to embrace so I do not drive myself crazy. (Or at least, crazier than usual.)
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
2020-11-1925 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 16 Distance Learning Suuuucks Soooo MuuuuchThis week, I revisit the topic of distance learning because hello, it's 2020 and starting to feel like my second grader will never go back to "normal" school. I was in a 2020 rut at the beginning of October and feeling broken by distance learning. It is so time consuming! And aggravating! But then, my muse gave me an idea: I needed to stop working on my fantasy series and work on a new book called The Distance Learning Activity Book For Parents Just Barely Holding On To Their Last Shred Of Sanity. Writing and publishing that book restored my spirits...2020-11-1332 minAdventures with My FortiesEp.15 Catholic School DetoxI went to Catholic school for 11.5 years, from about halfway through first grade until the day I graduated from high school in 1997. I have not practiced Catholicism since 1997, but I am starting to realize that I internalized a lot of toxic beliefs during my Catholic school years. I am now working to find those beliefs and reject them. I have felt called to do this work for a long time but have avoided it. But I am ready now to face my Catholic school demons.
Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. Or, they will b...2020-10-1535 minAdventures with My FortiesEp.14 Reclaiming My VoiceWhen I was about eighteen and nineteen years old, I had a few experiences that made me feel like my voice, in both speaking and writing, was not good enough. There was the high school frenemy who told me that I was not funny. Then there was the college "friend" who criticized my potty mouth. And lastly, a creative writing professor basically convinced me that my writing was not any good. I took these experiences to heart and abandoned my personal voice in favor of a voice that I thought people would like more. But now, I am 41 and...2020-10-0737 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 13 Bumbling My Way Toward Better BoundariesThis week, I talk about boundaries. Spoiler alert: I am not an expert in having boundaries! Instead, I am an expert in not having healthy boundaries. I share how my boundaries used to be total crap - in some cases, they were too extreme and I shut people out; in other cases, they almost didn't exist; and in still other cases, I would manage to set a boundary but then feel like a horrible being. I have been bumbling my way toward having healthier boundaries and in the past year, I have noticed that I feel much better about sa...2020-09-2440 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 12 The Dangerous Self-Care MythI love self-care. I believe it is necessary and vital to our lives. BUT: I also believe that self-care gets presented to women as the panacea to all their problems. Feeling down? Buy a scented candle. Feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied with your life? Take a bubble bath! But as awesome as self-care is, it's not a substitute for following your inner divine call. If you are feeling miserable because your authentic self has been crushed by society, then it is going to take more than a mani-pedi to feel like your true radiant self. I think the idea that...2020-09-1742 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 11 Pandemic Parenting Jedi Mind Tricks, Part TwoUnder the best of circumstances, parenting is tough. Add in a pandemic and some distance learning? Holy sh*t. At the beginning of the pandemic, I wished there was a “Guide to Parenting During A Historic Pandemic” that would help me navigate these stormy times. But the more I reflect on it, the more I realize that the parenting principles that helped me stay sane pre-pandemic also help me stay sane in 2020. In this episode, which is Part 2 of 2, I dive into the principles that are guiding my adventures with pandemic parenting.
Show notes are availa...2020-09-1042 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 10 Pandemic Parenting Jedi Mind Tricks, Part OneUnder the best of circumstances, parenting is tough. Add in a pandemic and some distance learning? Holy sh*t. At the beginning of the pandemic, I wished there was a "Guide to Parenting During A Historic Pandemic" that would help me navigate these stormy times. But the more I reflect on it, the more I realize that the parenting principles that helped me stay sane pre-pandemic also help me stay sane in 2020. In this episode, which is Part 1 of 2, I dive into the principles that are guiding my adventures with pandemic parenting.
Show notes are available at C...2020-09-0340 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 9 Pandemics SuckLast weekend, I was feeling grumpy and worn out from the pandemic. I vented to some friends during a park play date, and my friend Katie said, "This is hard. It is really, really hard." I needed that reminder. It seems so obvious: of course this is hard. But it has been so hard for so long, I sometimes forget that we are living through extraordinary circumstances. In this episode, I am taking the time to acknowledge how difficult living through this pandemic is. It was very helpful for me to make this episode. I hope it helps some...2020-08-2732 minAdventures with My FortiesEp.8 Reconnecting With My IntuitionI have spent the past seven years reconnecting with my intuition. For most of my life, I ignored my intuition. I trusted the opinions of other people too much to value my own inner wisdom. But as part of my recovery from postpartum depression, I started to rebuild my relationship with my intuition. It's a bit like a muscle. The more I connect with my intuition, the easier it is for me to access that part of myself. I discuss the reasons I lost touch with my intuition and then the ways I have rebuilt and strengthened my intuitive...2020-08-2047 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 7 Embracing Radiant HealthThis week, I am talking about my pursuit of radiant health. A few years ago, I decided to switch my primary physician from a traditional Western doctor to a naturopath who is helping me make lifestyle changes to take better care of my body. Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
2020-08-1431 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 6 When Guilt is Bullsh*tThis week, I talk about motherhood guilt and the guilt I felt even before I became a mother. As women, we are conditioned by society to get our sense of worth for doing things for others. When we attend to our own needs and passions, we can start to feel guilty. I have been examining my feelings of guilt and discovered some beliefs in my subconscious related to my sense of worth. And you know what I am seeing? Bullshit. The guilt I feel as a mom and a woman is total, utter bullshit!
Show notes are a...2020-08-0537 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 5 Neglect the HouseworkThis week, I talk about why you should NEGLECT THE HOUSEWORK. I am not suggesting you let your house look like it was hit by a tornado, but I do think it is important to let yourself take time to answer your divine call and do whatever creative work fires you up, even if that means there is a little dust on the picture frames. I talk about one of my favorite books, If You Want To Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit, by Brenda Ueland, especially the chapter with the fantastic name "Why Women Who Do T...2020-07-2932 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 4 Distance Learning and Mental HealthWe are back to distance learning this fall, and we have no idea what it is going to be like. I talk about my plan to stay open minded about distance learning while keeping my family's wellbeing front and center. Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
2020-07-2340 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 3 Welcome to Perimenopause?I am on Day 41 of my menstrual cycle - is this the start of perimenopause? Or just pandemic stress? I talk about what I know about perimenopause (not a lot) and my goals for this journey. Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
2020-07-1727 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 2 Anxiety During the PandemicIn this episode, I dive into the how, the when and the why of my pandemic anxiety and also about my resistance to going back on medication. If you would like to be in touch, please visit my website CourtneyHenningNovak.com.
The music is "Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
2020-07-1138 minAdventures with My FortiesEp. 1 Introduction and WelcomeWelcome to my new podcast! This episode is an overview of the topics I hope to cover as I try to figure out how to thrive during my forties. I touch on mental health, motherhood and the pandemic. Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. Thanks for listening!
2020-07-1106 min