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What happens when a challenge about rejection turns into a lesson about monarch butterflies, conservation, burnout, and knowing when to say no?

In this week’s Wildly Rejected: Becoming the Bison, I’m continuing my journey toward 1,000 rejections—but I’m realizing that making 1,000 asks doesn’t mean chasing every opportunity that crosses my path.

After another week of balancing podcast interviews, editing, painting, running Wild Developments Studio, and trying to hit my 10 weekly asks, I’m asking a bigger question: Just because you can pursue an opportunity, does that mean you should?

But first, we need to talk about the monarchs.

After Nemo emerged with a crumpled wing, several more monarch butterflies experienced deformities, failed emergence, or death. That sent me down a rabbit hole researching OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha), monarch butterfly disease, tropical milkweed, native Florida milkweed, and how the plants we put in our gardens can affect monarch health.

It’s heartbreaking—but it may also be the beginning of something bigger.

Then I bring that lesson back to the rejection challenge and share the questions I’m starting to ask before making an application, pitch, submission, or big ask: Do I actually have the time, money, and energy if they say yes? Does this opportunity move something I care about forward—or am I pursuing it simply because it exists?

Plus, I share my Week 22 rejection challenge stats, two bigger podcast pitches I finally made, and why becoming comfortable with rejection is turning out to be about much more than hearing “no.”

In this episode:
• Monarch butterflies and crumpled wing deformities
• OE parasite and monarch health
• Tropical milkweed vs. native milkweed in Florida
• Butterfly conservation and responsible monarch care
• Creative burnout and protecting your time
• How to decide whether an opportunity is worth pursuing
• Overcoming fear of rejection
• My 1,000 Rejections / Becoming the Bison challenge
• Week 22 rejection statistics
• Learning when to make the ask—and when to let something go

Wildly Unplug is a podcast about nature, conservation, creativity, adventure, and finding ways to step away from the noise and reconnect with what matters.

Until next time—unplug, get outside, and see what develops.

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Seeing the World Through an Octopus’s Eyes with Angelique Allen

What does the world look like through an octopus’s eyes? In this fascinating episode, Lauren talks with marine scientist and science communicator Angelique Allen about octopus vision, cephalopod brains, animal perception, and the science behind how octopuses see and interact with their underwater world.

Angelique studies how octopuses process visual information and how their brains create a picture of the world around them. She explains one of the most intriguing mysteries in cephalopod vision: how octopuses can camouflage and match their surroundings so remarkably well even though scientists believe they cannot see color the way humans do.

We also explore Angelique’s journey into marine biology and animal cognition, the fascinating similarities and differences between octopus and human visual systems, and what studying animal perception can teach us about seeing the world from another species’ perspective.

Beyond the lab, Angelique is passionate about making science accessible to everyone. She shares how she uses science comics, community projects, brewery collaborations, and storytelling to bring marine science to audiences who may never encounter it in an academic setting. She also talks about her children’s book, Dreams of a Scientist: Lessons from the Sea, and her mission to help young people see science as a career that is creative, exciting, and possible.

If you’re curious about octopuses, marine life, animal intelligence, ocean science, neuroscience, or the mysteries of how animals experience the world, this episode offers a fascinating look beneath the surface.

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What if rejection isn’t the end of the story—but part of the transformation?

In this episode of Wildly Unplug, Lauren returns to her 1,000 Rejection Challenge, inspired by Gabby Carr’s rejection challenge, and shares what happened after stepping back into the arena and making 10 new asks.

One rejection stung—an artist residency at a Frank Lloyd Wright house. But then an unexpected email arrived: Lauren had received a Guy Harvey Foundation Educator Grant. There was just one problem: she was still waitlisted for the conservation education training the grant was intended to support. Instead of assuming the answer was no, she asked—and a spot opened up.

That experience becomes a larger reflection on rejection, self-worth, resilience, persistence, creativity, and learning to recognize opportunities hidden inside a “no.”

Lauren also introduces Nemo, a monarch butterfly who emerged with a crumpled wing and cannot be released into the wild. As she cares for him, she discovers fascinating things about monarch butterfly behavior while reflecting on transformation, struggle, and what it means to patiently develop your “wing muscles.”

Then comes an unexpected connection between faith, butterflies, and rejection. After listening to a homily about personal worth, struggle, transformation, and the importance of allowing a butterfly to struggle as it emerges from its chrysalis, Lauren finds Nemo the very next day.

Is it a coincidence? A message? Or simply a moment that became meaningful because she slowed down enough to notice it?

This episode explores what happens when we pay attention, journal, spend time in nature, and stop rushing toward the next answer. Sometimes we don't see how the pieces connect until we pause long enough to look back.

Lauren also shares her latest 1,000 Rejection Challenge statistics and talks about her upcoming conservation education training in Key Largo.

The challenge this week: If you see someone—or something—in need of help, go out of your way to help.

And as always… unplug, get outside, and see what develops.

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