Catherine opens up about love in its many forms - from the exhausting performance-based love of her past to the transformative power of being loved "just because." She vulnerably shares the profound loss of her partner David during COVID, how grief became a catalyst for change, and her journey to finding love again with someone who teaches her she doesn't need to perform to be worthy.

💬 What You’ll Hear

• Agape Love: Understanding unconditional love and how it was the only love Catherine felt comfortable giving
• Performance-Based Love: Growing up believing she had to earn love through achievements, appearance, and over-giving
• The Comparison Trap: Watching friends in effortless relationships while she obsessed over perceived flaws
• Dating Disasters: From the guy with the clinker in his eyelash to repelling men who actually wanted to love her
• Meeting David: Finding someone who loved her in her "broken divorced self" without requiring performance
• March 23rd, 2020: The devastating day David died suddenly of a heart attack during the first day of COVID lockdown
• Moving Through Grief: Walking to move grief through her body and the mistakes of dating too soon
• Leveraging Loss: How David's death became the catalyst for coming home to herself
• Back to the Apps: Four months later, downloading dating apps and learning about ENM and poly via Google
• Finding Love Again: Meeting her current partner who teaches her "this is not a call to action" - she can simply receive

✨ Takeaway

Love doesn't require performance. You don't have to earn it through achievement, appearance, or over-giving. The exhausting pattern of proving your worth can be broken. Sometimes profound loss becomes the catalyst for discovering you're worthy of love simply for being who you are. Finding home within yourself first allows you to show up authentically in relationships - and that's when real love finds you.

⚖️ Disclaimer

These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine

If this episode made you reflect on the ones you love, share it with them to let them know how much they mean to you.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA
Production: Red Trux Productions Snohomish, WA

Episode Summary:
In one of her most vulnerable episodes yet, Catherine opens up about questioning and ultimately transforming her deeply held religious beliefs. From her strict Catholic upbringing to searching the Bible for a way out of her marriage, she reveals how Google became her unexpected lifeline — and how she discovered a more personal, loving faith that allowed her to live authentically without fear of eternal punishment.

💬 What You’ll Hear

• Religious Foundations: Growing up with Jewish, Mormon, and Catholic influences in a deeply structured household
• The Sacred Marriage Trap: How the concept of mortal sin kept her feeling bound by duty and shame
• Searching for an Exit: Reading Scripture daily, desperate to find freedom beyond the belief that only death could release her
• Google as Savior: How simple searches became her lifeline toward clarity, autonomy, and truth
• Faith vs. Freedom: The internal tug-of-war between religious obligation and personal liberation
• Catholic Friends’ Advice: The well-meaning counsel that told her there was “merit in suffering” — and how she chose otherwise
• The First Night Alone: The counselor’s words that led to a powerful moment of peace and self-discovery
• Newfound Spirituality: Discovering a faith that’s personal, nonjudgmental, and rooted in love instead of fear

✨ Takeaway

⚖️ Disclaimer

These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine

If this episode touched your spirit or helped you see faith through a different lens, share it with someone who’s finding their own way back to themselves.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA
Production: Red Trux Productions Snohomish, WA

Episode Summary:
In this raw and relatable episode, Catherine opens up about the early insecurities that shaped her self-image — from mustache teasing in the cafeteria to size 11 orthotics and Weight Watchers at age ten. With humor, vulnerability, and heart, she explores how childhood experiences and cultural conditioning can twist our self-perception — and what it takes to finally wear our confidence right-side-out.

💬 What You’ll Hear
The Mustache Chronicles: Cruel cafeteria comments, endless electrolysis, and finally embracing the razor with pride

Big Feet, Big Problems: Size 10–11 shoes in fifth grade while friends wore ballet flats

Diet Culture at 10: Growing up on Weight Watchers and learning to detach self-worth from the scale

The Weigh-In Moment: A sixth-grade memory that shaped how she saw herself

Missing Out on “Normal”: The ache of not fitting beauty standards or getting the “cute boyfriends”

Reframing the Narrative: Turning “flaws” into features and finding power in difference

Entertaining the What-Ifs: Practical ways to challenge the limiting beliefs we inherited about our bodies

✨ Takeaway
“I spent years trying to fit into a world that told me I was too much, too big, too hairy — until I realized maybe the world just needed to learn to use razors.” :)

⚖️ Disclaimer
These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine
If this episode made you laugh, cry, or see yourself a little differently, share it with someone who needs that reminder today.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA