326: What's Saving My Spring Life

This episode revolves around Emily P. Freeman sharing personal anecdotes and small joys that are making a significant positive impact on her life during the spring season.

1. Recognizing small joys: Identifying simple pleasures can significantly enhance well-being.
2. Gratitude for functional tools: Practical items like a good blender can unexpectedly add value to daily life.
3. Sentimental value of objects: Items like a specially bought candle can hold immense sentimental worth.
4. Community engagement: Encouraging listeners to interact by sharing their own experiences fosters a sense of community.
5. Reflection on personal growth: Regularly reflecting on what positively impacts our lives can lead to deeper personal understanding.

1: Introduction

Emily introduces the theme of the episode and discusses its relevance to personal well-being. She encourages listeners to think about what's positively impacting their lives. Emily P. Freeman: "It's time for our seasonal episode of what's saving my life right now?"

2: Personal Reflections

Emily shares specific examples from her life that have brought her joy this spring, including a new blender and a luxurious candle. Emily P. Freeman: "We finally got a blender that does not cry at the sight of ice."

3: Community Interaction

Emily talks about her book's presence in airport bookstores and invites listeners to share their sightings, enhancing listener engagement. Emily P. Freeman: "Every time I see one of your photos, it makes me so happy."

4: Support Systems

Acknowledging the support from her team, Emily highlights the importance of having a supportive social circle, especially during challenging times. Emily P. Freeman: "Mary and Ashley have saved my life this spring."

5: Nostalgic Journey

Emily discusses her trip to her childhood hometown during a solar eclipse, illustrating how revisiting past places can be profoundly moving. Emily P. Freeman: "Being back in my childhood hometown of Columbus, Indiana was such a gift to me."

1. Reflect on and write down what brings you joy each season.
2. Engage with your community, whether online or in person, to share and multiply joys.
3. Create rituals that celebrate personal milestones and memories.
4. Recognize and appreciate the people who support and uplift you.
5. Revisit places from your past to reconnect with your roots and see growth.

It's time for our seasonal episode of What's Saving My Life Right Now. I'll be sharing the things that are life-giving to me during this current spring season and I'll encourage you to make your own list. It could be anything from a favorite product to a spiritual practice, a fun new show, or a meaningful relationship. When it comes to naming what we love this spring, everything counts. So what's saving your life right now? Here's what's saving mine. Listen in.

People

Emily P. Freeman, Mary, Ashley

Companies

None

Books

Field Notes from the Wilderness by Sarah Bessey

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

Emily P. Freeman

I'm Emily P. Freeman, and welcome to the next right thing. You're listening to episode 326. I'm an author, a spiritual director, and an occasional workshop leader. I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina with my family, and through my work, I've helped thousands of spiritually thoughtful people overcome decision fatigue so that they can discern their next right thing in faith, work, and life.

This is a podcast about making decisions, but also about making a life. If you struggle with decision fatigue, chronic hesitation, or if you just need a few minutes away from the constant stream of information and the sometimes delightful but also distracting hum of entertainment, you're in the right place for discerning your next right thing. It's time for our seasonal episode of what's saving my life right now? Ill be sharing the things that are life giving to me during this current spring season, and ill encourage you to make your own list. It could be anything from a favorite product to a spiritual practice, a fun new show, or a meaningful relationship.

When it comes to naming what we love this spring, everything counts. So whats saving your life right now? Heres whats saving. Listen in once every quarter. I like to reflect and name whats saving my life.

Hat tip to Barbara Brown Taylor and the friend who asked her this very question many, many years ago thats now become part of our cultural conversation. In a way, its a way to be able to name whats saving your life. We love this question because it serves as a large bucket to hold a lot of different types of things. It could be simple and small things, or it could be huge things like dreams that have come true this season. It could be handy gadgets that you're loving, skincare favorites, tips and tricks that we've learned and loved.

The list of what's saving your life right now might be long or it might be very short, but if you sit to consider it, I bet you could come up with something. Well, when I did that, I discovered six things that are saving my spring life, and I'll share them now. Number one, smoothies. We finally got a blender that does not cry at the sight of ice. I feel like we've had several blenders throughout our married life and none of them have lasted very long.

Well, this one John found at Costco. I'm pretty sure it's a ninja. We love it. We use it multiple times a day. Where has she been all my life?

That's what I want to know. Send me your favorite smoothie recipes. And also, I already know why going to be saving my life this fall will be this blender as I start to make soups. So stay tuned. Number two, the salt and stone saffron and cedar candle.

Now, listen, I don't usually burn scented candles. You know, my love of taper candles runs deep and wide. I use those often. However, I bought a candle to serve as my book launch candle this season. Is that weird?

We'll talk about it later. But I paid so much money for this candle. It was a. Should I say it? I'm gonna.

It was a $50 candle. It's fine. But this is something I never do. And the reason I bought it is because it was a gift to myself for book launch month. I found it in Los Angeles the day after recording with Emma Chamberlain.

If you listen to that episode on her anything goes podcast, you can find it there. But I here to tell you, this candle is what the Spotify studio where we recorded, where she records her podcast. This is what it smells like. And I love the smell. When I walked into the studio, and then the next day we were shopping and I found this candle and I did not buy it immediately.

Number one, because I was like, $50. I'm not spending that on a candle. And number two, I already had my carry on packed full and I couldn't fit it bring it home. But I did write down the name of it, and then I waited a month, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. And then I wanted to remember what it smelled like, so I bought it.

And I think I just found it on Amazon. I found it online somewhere. And it's amazing. And I have burned it in one month. All the way down.

All the way down. And I've used it up and it was worth every penny. And I loved it, and it saved my spring life. Number three, airport sightings. Now, if you follow me on Instagram, you may already know this, but for those of you who don't, I invited Instagram followers, or really anyone, but mostly on Instagram, to, as you're traveling to check out those airport bookstores and see if they carry how to walk into a room.

I did this with the next right thing back in 2019, and it was so fun to see my book in the airport bookstores. That just feels so grown up. It's so fun to me. I think it's such a privilege and an honor to be featured as one of the books in an airport where people from all over can see it. And so I, but I don't, couldn't possibly travel everywhere to see the book myself.

So I have seen it in person. I think I saw it in the Indianapolis bookstore and I was so pleased to see it there. But I also invited other people to share with me their images and tag me on Instagram or send me an email or DM's when they saw the book. And you've been doing it. And we have reached over 50 airport sightings of how to walk into a room.

Every time I see one of your photos, it makes me so happy. From Fort Lauderdale to New York, Denver, Phoenix and LA, this little book is showing up all over the country and I love to see it. Now, some of you have asked about airports like in Europe or other parts of the world, and I don't know that it's been distributed in other parts of the world. I think Hudson is the buyer and so any airports that have a Hudson bookstore or like a Hudson affiliate bookstore might be carrying it. I know that the UK release date of how to walk into a room was just last week, April 25, I think.

And so if it's going to be there at all, it wouldn't have been there yet until now. But it's been so fun. I guess I'm just here to say that seeing the book in the airport, both myself and then seeing your pictures, has been such a fun little life saving thing for me. We're up to over 50 now. What if we got up to 100?

So much fun. I would love it. But even if it ends now, it has been a true gift to see this book in airports. Number four team EPF. It's what we call ourselves.

It's me and my little team. I've mentioned this in my winter life. They were saving it as well, but now they're still saving my life, but for a different reason. Mary and Ashley have saved my life this spring. Mary's my operations manager, Ashley is my content manager.

And yes, we work together and we have done work things together this spring, of course, with launching this book into the world. But when you work together and travel together and get to know each other well, you have a front row seat. And I'll say they specifically have a front row seat to not just my work life, but also my life life. And they have witnessed some of the impossible parts of the season for me, not just professionally, but personally. And they've done it with compassion and patience and grace.

And for that I am deeply and profoundly grateful. To the point that I am not sure that I have any more words for it that I can share on the podcast. But I will just tell you that those two have saved my spring life, and they are saving my life right now. Five Columbus, Indiana, I cannot stop talking about the solar eclipse. I traveled with my family up to Columbus, which is the town where I was born and lived for the first twelve years of my life.

We still have a lot of family who lives there, and that's where we decided to watch the eclipse, because Columbus was in the path of totality. Well, aside from those spectacular four minutes of totality at the beginning of April, it was just a true gift to revisit those familiar roads, to see the skating rink and the city hall, the library and my elementary school, to grab a coffee in the target Starbucks that used to be a hills department store where we would go shopping at the end of every summer for school clothes with our grandma. It's true that you can't really ever go home again, but it's also true that when you do, there's always a chance that you'll remember something of yourself and rediscover something of your childhood that you either had lost or had forgotten. And so being back in my childhood hometown of Columbus, Indiana was such a gift to me in April as I was planning to go there, the town itself took a backseat because I was so excited about the total solar eclipse. But now that I'm reflecting on my time, I realized that being in Columbus was almost just as meaningful as seeing that eclipse.

So, Columbus, Indiana, cheers to you. Thank you for saving my life. And then finally, number six, something that's saving my life this spring is psalm 23 six. That last line of the psalm reads like, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In his podcast, the things above, James Brian Smith walked through psalm 23 several years ago on an episode called living Godward, and I've never forgotten his commentary on it.

He said, I love the idea that goodness and mercy are following right behind you. And in fact, the word follow in this context in the Hebrew can also be interpreted as pursue or chase this idea that goodness and mercy are not only following me, but pursuing me. And that's the prayer I've prayed for my kids and for myself this spring. May goodness and mercy never give up the pursuit, but follow us all the days of our lives. That's something I have to believe, and it's saving my life right now.

I wonder what's saving yours. Here's to paying attention, to naming the gifts, both big and small, and to doing our next right thing in love.

Thanks for listening to episode 326 of the next right thing. I hope this simple practice of naming what's saving your life can be just one more rung on the trellis upon which your rhythm of life can continue to grow. Because while it's true this is a podcast about making decisions, the bigger truth is that our daily decisions are making our lives. As always, you can find me on Instagram, emilypfreeman and online@emilypfreeman.com. Dot thanks to unmutable for editing our sound and to Ashley Sherlock for keeping us organized.

In closing, here's a quote that's meant a lot to me in this season, and I hope it means something to you as well. It's a line from Sarah Bessie. In her book field notes from the wilderness, she writes, I'll never stop being surprised by the things I've held onto and the things I've learned to release. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.