Every Human Heart

We can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to them. The secret to taking charge of your life has nothing (much) to do with what happens to you and everything to do with working through those experiences to create the future that you want, and that secret to that is working through our emotions.  How we do make it such that things don't happen to us but for us?  In this stephisode, I look at a few concrete steps that we all can take to work through our experiences in order to (re)gain agency in our lives. I also chat about how baggage from our past is inevitable... but maybe not such a bad thing! This realization transformed the way I think about baggage and challenging past experiences, and I hope it offers a new perspective to you too.  I would love to hear what you think :) Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous Buy me a coffee! ☕️

My first minisode / mini-stephisode -- thanks Joeri for the catchphrase -- is kinda meta. I've been trying to find a balance lately between all the things that demand my attention and care, and a little note I wrote for myself last year really resonated: Balance is a verb. It's not a destination. There's no one-size-fits-all. Balance is about juggling your energetic outputs and energetic inputs (or investments!) so that you can keep on keeping on without burning out.  In this stephisode, I share with you a little exercise I did recently to do a kind of energetic input/output check-in. If you've been grappling with the demands of life lately, or if you've felt like you're burning the candle at both ends, this little reflection might just be the check-in you need.  --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous Buy me a coffee! ☕️

Conflict! Gah!! Between fight, flight, or freeze, none of these really help us deal with conflict effectively and meaningfully. When you feel your heart pounding and your breaths getting shorter, is it really possible to engage in conflict without losing your shit? In Part 1 of this topic, I chat about why conflict is not a bad thing; in fact, it might be a gift! But how we handle it is key :) We need to place the responsibility of feeling better squarely on our own shoulders and approach conflict with an eye towards using the information it gives us to build better relationships.  --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous Buy me a coffee! ☕️

Some people think it's impossible to be friends with an ex. Others believe that to become strangers again is a huge pity given how much of your life you used to share. I used to be in the former camp, but I might've changed my mind.  In this episode, I ruminate on whether a platonic friendship with an ex is truly possible and what conditions need to be in place for it to us to do so in a healthy way! I'd love to hear your thoughts! --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous Buy me a coffee! ☕️

Life is hard. We talk about positive self-talk ("love yourself!") but worry that acknowledging our strengths -- god forbid! -- makes us seem arrogant or narcissistic. We worry that people will say to us: "So you think you're all that?"  Well, it's time to stop playing small. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging and *celebrating* our strengths and merits and virtues! What matters is what we think having them implies -- do we think that people owe us more or do we think we should give more since we have more?  In this episode, I reflect on this little detail that makes all the difference. I hope this encouragement for you to step into the light helps you see the light in others ♥️ As always, journal prompts available over at Instagram. And I would be most delighted if you showed your love with a coffee! --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

We often navigate the world with expectations about how people ought to treat us and what we ought to receive. But these expectations are just the signal for the deeper value that we are seeking -- we assume that if the expectations are met, then our standards for a good relationship, job, friendship, etc are met. But is that really true?  In this episode, I ruminate on what it means to keep our standards high -- and enforce those boundaries around the quality of relationships we have -- yet maintain low expectations. This interestingly leads to an easier interaction with the people and events in our lives AND opens up way more possibilities about how those standards might be met :) --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

Hope is an essential part of human life yet sometimes hope can keep us stuck.  "Abandoning hope is an affirmation, the beginning of the beginning," writes Pema Chödrön in 'When Things Fall Apart' (one of my all time favorite books).  Why is hope important? What does it mean to abandon hope without abandoning meaning, direction, and purpose? What does it mean to abandon hope but not give it up?  In this episode, we delve into these questions and arrive at a point where we keep the kind of hope that serves us and illuminates our path, and let go of the hopes that hold us back. Journal prompts for this episode are available at @everyhumanheart. --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

As we enter the new year, many of us are thinking about what we want to do and achieve in 2021 -- it's resolution season. But reflecting on what we want to let go of is just as important as reflecting on what we want to bring into our lives. In fact, letting go of what no longer serves us creates the space for us to welcome the new. Join me in this episode as I reflect on the things I'm leaving in 2020, so that I can make 2021 the best year it could possibly be.  Journal prompts for this episode are available at @everyhumanheart. What are you leaving behind so that you can soar?  --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart My Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

We've all been through shitty experiences. But do we want to let them be the extra baggage we carry for the rest of our lives? Or do we want to use them to move forward? Because that's totally possible.  In this episode, let's think about how we can go about reframing shitty experiences and take back control of our stories so they don't make us feel quite as bad.  I heard your requests for journal reflection prompts, too! So head over to @everyhumanheart for the accompany prompts for this episode.  Good luck! You got this! Nolite te bastardes carborundorum 😉 --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

The conversation about vulnerability has been steadily growing over the past few years but what are the rules of engagement around vulnerability? Might vulnerability be weaponized and what should we be mindful of? What does vulnerability look like at work and why is it important?  This episode reflects on all of those questions and more, and was inspired by a workshop I recently ran with Unsettled's Global Passport program.  --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

Emotions are incredible bits of information that tell us us a lot about ourselves. They tell us what matters to us, who we value, and more. It's important to acknowledge and name our feelings, so that we don't run away from the fullness of our experiences and the fullness of who we are. But it's just as important to not sink into the bog that heavy emotions can sometimes be. In this episode, I reflect on how we can use our feelings to shape our narrative and our lives.  --- Get in touch: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

We often say that relationships fail when they end. But that implies that a successful relationship is one that lasts forever and ever and ever... But is that true?  In this episode, I reflect on a few ways that the ending of a relationship is, in fact, not a failure. Might the end of a relationship be its success instead?   I'd love to hear what you think: This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart Instagram: @stephe_lee My other podcast: Entre Nous

Episode 0 of my brand spanking new podcast! Let's begin at the beginning.  In this short episode, I talk about what this podcast is going to be about -- I'm sure this will evolve -- and why I'm doing it -- because I'm a curious, existentialist cat. In episode 0, I share with you the spirit of this podcast (what makes for a meaningful life?) and lay the groundwork for the topics to come.  Come along with me in this labyrinth of life. I can't wait to hear what you think! --- Get in touch: My other podcast: Entre Nous  Instagram: @stephe_lee This podcast's Instagram: @everyhumanheart