Learn From People Who Lived it

Walking around my house on Christmas Day

No frills no fancy equipment just me walking around my house talking to you about some of my favorite podcast from 2023. ☮️💟

Marriage and Mental Health: Surviving a Spousal Suicide Attempt

Marriage and Mental Health: Surviving a Spousal Suicide Attempt 
In this episode, you'll hear:
Taking care of yourself is the best way you can take care of everyone else.
The complicated grief of a suicide attempt and reconnecting with your spouse after a traumatic event
Cari’s journey with psychedelics and how they have changed her relationship with herself and her husband 
Cari Mclean is a wife, mother, daughter, and advocate. She is here to share how her spouse's mental health journey propelled her into her mental health journey and the role resilience, love, and hope play in her story.
In this episode, Mathew, Dr. Frank, and Cari discuss how the worst night possible propelled her and her family to the best place possible. About three and a half years ago, Cari stopped her husband, Chad, from attempting suicide. It was a wake-up call for Chad and started a long healing journey for him through inpatient care, SSRIs, and all sorts of self-help methods. Unfortunately, none of it was working. Eventually, Chad started ketamine treatment, and it changed his life. One day, Chad looked at Cari and said “What about you?”. Cari realized she had been spending all of her time and mental energy managing the house, caring for their two young boys, and keeping her job. She found that she didn't have the energy for him, let alone herself. Cari says in times of stress when mom’s focus is diverted, dads often get the short end of the stick, and husbands end up missing their wives.
Her whole life, Cari says she was a “stuffer”: the strong one, the one who jumped into action when anything went wrong, all at the demise of her emotional well-being. She tried all the common paths to "self-help," but nothing clicked until her first psilocybin session. Cari notes that it’s important to understand that psychedelics won't solve your problems, but they will change the way you see your problems and show you where you need to look to find the light. For her, one big revelation was about setting boundaries around her family of origin, her parents, for her family of choice, Chad and their sons. Of course, this was easier said than done because she had always been the peacekeeper, but eventually, she was able to find a balance.
After Chad's suicide attempt, Cari wanted to forgive and forget, but there was still a distance between them that she couldn't shake. He had unknowingly and unintentionally taken away her safe space. They were trying to communicate, but they weren't speaking the same language. After some trial and error, they found healing through MDMA couples therapy. It has allowed them to finally process the events of that night and move past them. Cari says she can now see Chad in a more real way, and they are leaning into each other again. As horrible as some of the years were, their relationship is now the best thing she could have ever imagined, and she knows they would not be where they are now if they had not been where they were. It took a lot of hard work and intentional effort to come back from the depths and reemerge in a good place again.
Now, Chad and Cari are in a better place together than ever, and they are sharing their message of hope and healing through their nonprofit, Mental Joe, which helps first responders and veterans access alternative healing like yoga, TRE, and psychedelics. Psychedelics are not for everyone, and Cari tells us they were completely out of her comfort zone before. She felt like she didn't have the type of PTSD that is often talked about with psychedelic therapy, but all trauma is trauma, and healing should be accessible to all. Now, she is passionate about defying the stigmas of psychedelics and mental health.
At the end of the day, it’s all about reliance, love, and hope. You can bounce back, but being strong isn't always the same as being healthy. You have to ask for help. Love means putting in the work every day. There is hope out there, and healing is possible.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Taking care of yourself is the best way you can take care of everyone else.
The complicated grief of a suicide attempt and reconnecting with your spouse after a traumatic event
Cari’s journey with psychedelics and how they have changed her relationship with herself and her husband 
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
 
Resources:
MentalJoe.com
Dr. Frank Bevacqua
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
 
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson

Achieving Your Dreams with Annie Mayo

Achieving Your Dreams with Annie Mayo
In this episode, Mathew, Annie, and Dr. Frank discuss the uphill struggle many people have when they decide to pursue a career in the arts and how different people deal with hearing "No, you can’t”. They explore the reasons others may discourage people from following their artistic dreams, why it is so important to define success for yourself throughout your life, and the impact thoughts have on reality.
Annie Mayo has been a TV and film makeup artist for over 20 years and is also the owner of Advanced Mineral Makeup. As far back as she can remember, she knew she loved makeup and knew she could do what the people in fashion magazines could do. She was in cosmetology school when she got her first movie makeup gig. The only issue was that she didn't know how to do half of what they wanted, but she was confident that she could do anything if she set her mind to it. She asked one of her cosmetology teachers to mentor her, then she made it work, and the rest is history.
“Just not giving up is not a guarantee of success, but giving up along the way is a guarantee that you won't be successful.”
In this episode, you'll hear:
How to deal with the haters and tune into the supporters
Lessons Annie has learned along the way and how they can apply to you
What does it mean to have a limited set of beliefs and tips to overcome them?
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
 
Connect with the Guest
Dr. Frank Bevacqua
Annie Mayo Makeup 
 
Resources:
Advanced Mineral Makeup 
 
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
 
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson

Mindful Drinking and Socializing while Sober with Abbie and Janay

Mindful Drinking and Socializing while Sober with Abbie and Janay
In this episode, you'll hear:
What does it mean to be sober curious and practice mindful drinking?
You don’t have to be an alcoholic to rethink your relationship with alcohol.
The benefits of having “replacements” for alcohol
Tips for socializing while sober and how to handle the holidays
Janay Oakland and Abbie Boudreau are co-founders of Teetotally Lifestyle, “a modern lifestyle choice for sober curious and mindful drinkers.” Janay is a mindful drinker, and Abbie stopped drinking altogether nearly two years ago.
Janay tells us her problem was less an addiction to alcohol and more an addiction to people pleasing. She never felt a major dependence on drinking, but she also never liked the way it made her feel, and she found herself mainly drinking for others. When she turned 30 and had children, she decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. A move to Phoenix brought her close to more like-minded people, like Abbie, and she has since adopted a mindful drinking approach.
Abbie tells us her drinking was social and part of the professional culture she was in as a TV News correspondent. Being laid off at the start of the pandemic led her drinking to become more antisocial and more of an issue. Just like with Janay, a move to Phoenix presented an opportunity for her to make a change and rethink her relationship with alcohol.
In this episode, Mathew, Abbie, and Janay discuss how they were introduced to alcohol, what made them rethink their relationships with drinking, and what their lives look like now in their new lifestyles. Abbie and Janay talk about why it is important to find “replacements” like mindfulness rituals and hobbies, how their husbands who still drink support them, and the spiritual work they lean on in order to stay on track. They also tell us their tips for socializing while sober and how to handle the holidays.
If you are wondering if you have a problem with alcohol, you probably do. A lot of people do, and the pandemic made it worse for many. You don’t have to be an Alcoholic to rethink your relationship with alcohol. Thankfully, there are a growing number of resources, alcohol alternatives, and communities out there to help. Together, Abbie and Janay are on a mission to help people understand they are not alone, change the narrative around drinking, and create a community for anyone reevaluating their relationship with alcohol through Teetotally Lifestyle.
In this episode, you'll hear:
What does it mean to be sober curious and practice mindful drinking?
You don’t have to be an alcoholic to rethink your relationship with alcohol.
The benefits of having “replacements” for alcohol
Tips for socializing while sober and how to handle the holidays
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
Resources:
TeetotallyLifestyle.com
Teetotally Lifestyle on Instagram
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson