On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a real good time with Iris.

We got things going talking about an awfully big topic—love….how we find it, how we accept and reject it, how we offer it to others, and how our approach to it and experience of it have changed as we personally change and grow.

Then we moved on to the idea of their being a “Golden Age” in your life—and how we almost always assume that our golden age is in the past, with a little help from our friend nostalgia, which tends to be an awfully beautiful liar—because what if your golden age is right now and you’re missing it by pining for the past?

And we finished up the episode exploring the idea of visualizing our alter egos as a way to give ourselves the confidence, strength, and wit to get through things where we might not be feeling so strong or may have imposter syndrome….. you know, like most things….

Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

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Episode 129: “ ft. Jasmine Nothing and Telltale Presents

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we are excited to officially announce our new collaboration with Telltale Presents, a production company running various shows and events over the last nine years. We are proud to welcome to the show our new co-host Jasmine Nothing.

We started things off discussing collaboration—how it can be effective or disastrous, and what we’ve learned from each. We also cover the history of The Smoke Break and Telltale and how we came to start working together.

Secondly, we talked about our relationship with the idea of predictability—do we feel like predictable people? Where does our desire for predictability show up in our lives?

And we ended the episode talking about self reflection, especially how it can be useful or troublesome, depending on how we’re using it…

Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms!

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On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we spent the afternoon with the delightful Hannah Schrom. We kicked things off talking about complicated family relationships where things are reversed, like a child caretaking for a grandparent, or having to be the adult to their own parents.

Next up we dove into the idea of attachment styles, and all immediately saw which one felt like it hit close to home, whether we liked the answer we discovered or not….

And we wrapped up the conversation with talking about our relationship to the idea of pride, and how complicated that can be.

Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we really got to know artist, musician, and storyteller Aaron Fairchild.

We started out our time together talking about bravery—how each of us have had to be brave through tough things, where we got our bravery from, and how Aaron approaches it in his beautiful middle-grade graphic novel he’s finishing up, coming out later this year! (Don’t worry, we’ll remind you when it comes out so you can buy all buy it.)

Next up we finally got around to talking about procrastination… how it’s gotten in our way, but more importantly, how we’ve managed to trick our brains to getting the important things done anyway.

Lastly, we ended the day talking about the concept of “never being late to the party”—whether that means starting a new career, picking up a new skill, or changing our mind about something—we all get to things when we get to them, and have to offer some grace to the people who took a little longer.

Episodes drop every Monday @ 6pm on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

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On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had the honor of hanging out with Portland clown and all around sweetheart Arthur “Lucky” O’Brien.

We started by tackling the assumption that using humor to handle tough stuff is an “unhealthy” way of coping, which—get this—it’s not.

Next up we explored the idea of “fixed mindsets”—how people often view themselves as being inherently good or bad at something, like being funny or not, and how actually….people can change.

Lastly, we talked about finding your identity through performance and entertainment—how we came to do things we do, and how much of our identity is wrapped up in it, which can be complicated!

Episodes drop every Monday @ 6pm on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had the honor of hanging out with the iconic Portland comic Ally J Ward.

We kicked it off by talking about imposter syndrome, which is apparently basically a universal experience, and what we do to try and counteract it.

Next up we got into the idea of Self-Preservation as a more realistic version of “self-care” that isn’t co-opted by capitalism, and what each of us are focusing on to make sure that we aren’t burning out in these very tough times.

Lastly, we talked about Humanization. In a world that likes to dehumanize folks all the time, it was awfully nice to think about how to further humanize the people around us.

Episodes drop every Monday @ 6pm on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a great time talking to Georgia GA, an amazing local comedian. We kicked it off by talking about learning styles, how it feels to try and learn new things as adults, and self-education.

Then we moved on to discussing starting over—whether it might be a new diagnosis, starting over in a new town, or with a new group of friends—and how to bring positive energy to those changes.

Lastly, we talked about the general idea of “the woke agenda” and how the term “woke” has been co-opted and warped to represent something very different from the original intent.

Episodes drop every Monday @ 6pm on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we finally got to spend time with Khalil, who runs the artist collective Immutable Pdx as well as doing amazing and impactful work with homeless youth.

We started out talking about the importance of relaxation and how challenging it is to allow ourselves to check out and take care of ourselves when we’re so used to having to grind all the time and be productive to have self worth.

Then we moved on to discussing the importance of culturally specific services, and how folks miss out on opportunities when supports aren’t put in place that are intentionally meant to make them feel seen, included, and important.

We close out the episode by talking about the idea of legacy—what do we want to leave behind, how temporary everything is, and how much control do we have over it in the end.

Episodes drop every Monday @ 6pm on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

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