Sheryl and Victoria share a favorite bonus conversation from the Patreon library ("Dear Highly Sensitive Parent") and current reflections on why it still resonates so deeply--especially now. Sheryl shares some of her most potent, painful, and life-changing experiences in early motherhood and the practices that held and grounded her in the toughest moments. And, she and Victoria discuss Sheryl's first-ever in-person retreat (!) and her new community offering for mothers: The Gathering Well. 

References:

• "There is Another Way" episode

   

   

   

• The Gathering Well community for mothers

• Interested in joining a future retreat? Email Sheryl: [email protected]

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

Victoria's Psychotropic Experience | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

Sheryl and Victoria unpack how children—and adults—can become pigeonholed as “the smart one,” “the athlete,” “the good girl,” or “the creative one,” and what happens when those identities start to feel limiting.

Through personal stories about parenting, childhood passions, sibling dynamics, and evolving career paths, they reflect on the importance of allowing young people the freedom to grow, pivot, and surprise us. The conversation touches on intrinsic motivation, the difference between genuine passion and externally imposed expectations, and how gifts and talents can both ground us and become tangled with self-worth.

Sheryl and Victoria also explore the tension between encouraging perseverance and honoring a child’s authentic sense of self, sharing examples of how identity can unfold in unexpected ways. Along the way, they discuss multi-potentiality, growth mindset, perfectionism, gender expectations, and the deep human need to feel seen, valued, and free to contain multitudes.

References:

Other Gathering Gold episodes:

• You Do Not Have to Be Good

Films:

• High School Musical (2006)
• Whiplash (2014)

Books:

• Mindset by Carol Dweck

Music:

• “Mirrorball,” by Taylor Swift

TED Talk:

• Why Some Of Us Don’t Have One True Calling

In today's episode, we are exploring the emotional intensity of the middle school years, reflecting on both the pain and the “gold” of this stage—revisiting experiences of loneliness and self-consciousness alongside connection, self-discovery, and courage.

We discuss how shifting attention from family to peers can deepen feelings of rejection, while also opening the door to more meaningful friendships and self-expression. 

We share how important it was for us to feel truly seen at this age—especially by supportive adults—and how small moments of recognition became lifelong anchors. 

In searching for the gold within them, we discover how these "middle" years are not just a time to endure, but a formative, tender, and transformative chapter that shapes who we become.

References:

• “Don’t You Dare Teach My Daughter to Fear the Forest” by TY Chambers
• Dire Straights podcast episode: "Jeffrey Epstein, Les Wexner, and the 90s Mall"
• The Genius Myth by Michael Meade

When the topic of spiritual practice comes up, what comes to mind?

Going to a religious service? Connecting with nature? Meditating?

There are so many ways to connect of a sense of something bigger than ourselves. There is one vital pathways that is sometimes overlooked: Connecting with each other.

In today's episode, we're exploring how connecting with other people -- both real and imaginal, in our memories and in the here-and-now -- can help us grow stronger and softer, safer and braver, more present and more expansive.

References:

Other Gathering Gold and Conscious Transitions work:

• Gathering Gold episode on "Spiritual Longing"
• Sheryl's course "Open Your Heart: A 30-Day Course to Feel More Love and Attraction for Your Partner"

Comedy

• John Mulaney on "Stranger Danger"
• Tig Notaro's "Hello, I have cancer"

Quotes

• Mr. Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
• Maya Angelou:

  “I’ve had a lot of clouds, but I have had so many rainbows…..and one of the things I do when I step up on a stage, when I stand up to translate, when I go to teach my classes, when I go to direct a movie, I bring everyone who has ever been kind to me with me.”

  “Black, White, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American, Gay, Straight, everybody. I say come with me — I’m going on this stage. Come with me. I need you now. Long dead….you see.. so I don’t ever feel, I have no help.” “I’ve had rainbows in my clouds.and the thing to do it seems to me… Is to prepare yourself so that you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud."

• William Blake: “I sought my God and my God I couldn't find;
  I sought my soul and my soul eluded me;
  I sought to serve my brother in his need, and I found all three;
  My God, my soul, and thee.”

Music

• "People Get Back Up" by Mae Martin

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

Victoria's Psychotropic Experience | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

"I don't like change."

Many highly sensitive souls have uttered these words at one time or another. Perhaps we've said them recently, as we watched neighbors move away, or babies grow into toddlers, or winter slip into spring.

Maybe we haven't dared speak them aloud since childhood, decades ago, when someone rolled their eyes in response and told us to buck up.

In today's episode, we are exploring the contours of change--the good, the hard, the heartbreaking, and the joyful. How can we meet our growing pains and open our hearts with tenderness and compassion amidst the inevitable winds of change?

References:

Related Gathering Gold Episodes...

...about Time:

• The Passage of Time
• How to Slow Down Time

...about Receiving:

Why It's Hard to Receive Good Things

...about Objects:

• Artifacts of the Heart
• Bonus episode: Emotional Support for Spring Cleaning 

Books

ACT Made Simple by Dr. Russ Harris

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Poetry

“Mysteries, Yes” by Mary Oliver

Films

Toy Story (1995)

Music

• “La La Lu” from Lady and the Tramp
• “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison
• “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac
• “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

Victoria's Psychotropic Experience | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

Note: We've decided to take a pause on the topic of romantasy, but we may come back to it down the road :)

In this special episode, we are sharing our recent webinar with Daev Finn, an artist, psychotherapist, and Sheryl's loving husband. 

After years working as a visual effects artist, Daev realized it was time for a change, and he made the transition to become a psychotherapist. Here, he reflects on the personal demons and dreams that pulled him from and to this path, the influence of art and myth on this work, and the process of unlearning much of what he was taught about what it means to be a man. 

You can find out more about Daev's work at his website and contact him by email at [email protected]

References:

Psychology & Myth

• Jung & the collective unconscious

• The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell

• Bill Moyers Special: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth

Daev's Writing

• "Attending to Unfinished Business is the Work of a Lifetime"

Films

• Hamnet
• Train Dreams

Music

• "On the Nature of Daylight," from The Blue Notebooks

Related Gathering Gold and Perennials Episodes

• The Father Wound

• Fairy Tales by the Fireside

• Self-Care, Community-Care with Dr. Kesha Moore

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

Victoria's Psychotropic Experience | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

"Be glad of your human heart....Pity those who don't feel anything at all.”

What if the meteoric rise of the romantasy genre isn’t about fae courts and dragon riders—but about our deepest and most human longings?

Romantasy has taken the publishing world by storm. While some dismiss these stories as escapist fantasy, we believe their deeper power lies in how they illuminate the human heart.

In this series on the alchemy of romantasy, we explore the mythic and psychological currents running through books like A Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing. Through the lenses of Jung and the Hero’s (and Heroine's) Journey, we examine the desire to individuate, to be truly seen, to claim inner sovereignty, to find belonging, security, and freedom—and to join with a soulmate who honors the self we are becoming.

Join us as we ask why these stories resonate so profoundly right now, and what they reveal about who we are.

References:

Books & Series

• A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas

• Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros

Psychology & Myth

• Enneagram 4 type

• Jung & the collective unconscious

• The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell

Pop Culture

• Moana

• Frozen

• Monica Lewinsky’s podcast 

Related Gathering Gold Episodes

• Escape Hatch Fantasies

• What Could Have Been

• You Do Not Have to Be Good

• Bonus: Books that Changed Us

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

What Sheryl Forgot and Victoria's Experiment | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

In today's episode, we dip a toe into the icy waters of body shame: the waters that take our breath away, that make us run for cover.

How do we anchor our bodies in the warmth of true safety, of acceptance that frees us to open up to life and all it has to offer?

Sheryl explores themes of body shame, body love, and so much more in her course Sacred Sexuality. Registration for the next round closes on January 31st, and listeners of podcast can get a 10% discount with the code BodyLove-GG. Members of our Patreon community can find a code for 20% off over at our Patreon page.

In this month of January, the beginning of the New Year, some of us may be looking at our current habits and patterns, returning to practices that have fallen away, reinvigorating activities that have lost luster, and exploring new ways of caring for and connecting with our selves. Journaling might be one of those practices that you are thinking about engaging with -- or perhaps feel like you should do, but don't really want to.

In today's episode, lifelong daily journaler Sheryl and never-journaler Victoria talk about the intentions and mindsets behind healthy, helpful journaling; the pitfalls of perfectionism; why Sheryl doesn't use a special, "beautiful" notebook for journaling; and two particular methods that Sheryl suggests for effective, supportive journaling. 

References:

• 10 Percent Happier podcast episode: The Science Of Journaling: How Writing Reduces Overthinking, Rumination, And Anxiety with Dr. James Pennebaker
• The Country Commonplace Book by Miranda Hills
• Dear America and Royal Diaries series
• 10 Percent Happier podcast episode "How to Handle Your Inner Critic," with Amita Schmidt
• Internal Family Systems therapy
• Sheryl's book The Wisdom of Anxiety
• Morning Pages practice from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

As Sheryl and Victoria lean into the rhythm of the holiday season, resting and connecting with family at the end of the year, we invite you to return to our most-listened to episode of 2025.

* * *

“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance.” --Gabrielle. Roth

Our heartbeat. Our breath. Our steps along the sidewalk. Our life happens in rhythms--breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat, step by step. We move in and out of seasons, feel a shift in tempo as our energy levels ebb and flow, fall into connection and disconnection with those around us. 

In today's episode, we are exploring what it means to "live in the rhythm" of life, why it can be so hard in our contemporary culture, and how turning towards the natural world can invite us back into a dance that is humane and enlivening. 

References:

• Wise Child, by Monica Furlong
• Gabrille Roth's 5Rhythms
• Mark Nepo
• Kelsy Leonard, "Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans"
• The Nature of Reading Bookshop
• Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious 

In this solo episode, Sheryl explores the potency of the present moment. With personal reflections and poetry, Sheryl illuminates how much depends upon noticing, holding, and imprinting in our soul the extraordinary mystery, love, joy, and pain in the moments we wish we could extend for a bit longer, live over again, remember all of our days.

References:

• Gathering Gold episode "How to Slow Down Time"
• William Carlos Williams poem "The Red Wheelbarrow"