Episode 56: Loneliness, Self-Reliance, & Why It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Good news! Tracey’s back this week, y’all. Hooray! And our topic for today’s show is loneliness. Specifically:  What is loneliness actually about?

Both Tracey and Cayly had challenging weeks last week. While Tracey was recovering from a medical procedure and Cayly was dealing with some emotional turmoil, they both found themselves struggling to reach out for help and finding themselves feeling extra lonely as a result.

In this conversation, Tracey and Cayly talk about why asking for help can be so hard, how self-reliance can go too far, and why letting people take care of you is essential for building trust and intimacy in relationships.

If you are someone who avoids asking for help from friends and intimate partners, this episode is for you.

As always, reviews and 5-star ratings in iTunes are greatly appreciated, so please consider leaving one if you are enjoying the show. Tracey and Cayly would be super grateful if you did!

Highlights from this episode:

- How just being heard makes a big difference

- Episode 52 about overwhelm (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/curious-curiouser-podcast-episode-52-allowed-feel-overwhelmed-regardless-circumstances/)

- Tracey’s experience this week recovering from a medical procedure

- Self-reliance and why asking for help is so challenging

- Brene Brown on Trust (https://brenebrown.com/anatomy-trust-video/)

- Asking for help from friends vs. intimate partners

- Cayly’s instagram post about asking for help

- How we can make up excuses for why others are not available to us

- Our fear of being too much and/or being a burden

- How loneliness can be self-created

- Harville Hendrix (http://harvilleandhelen.com/)

- Episode 10 about attachment styles (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/curious-curiouser-podcast-episode-10-attachment-and-relationships/)

- Terrible, Thanks For Asking (https://www.apmpodcasts.org/ttfa/)

- Why it is easier to be vulnerable when things are going well but not when things are hard

- Our tendency to hide messy emotions behind “I’m fine”

- Self-reliance and identity and Episode 54 about identity (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/curious-curiouser-podcast-episode-54-identity-ego-existential-crises-define-time/)

- Ask Polly by Heather Havrilesky (https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/ask-polly-my-boyfriend-isnt-interested-in-helping-me-out.html)

- Cayly’s experience meditating on loneliness

- What do you do if your people actually are unavailable?

- Tracey’s experience with trauma massage

- And more!