Divorce and Desire on the Path to Wholeness w/Carrie Doan – Episode 48

Chris and Deb chat with Carrie Doan in this episode.

Carrie is a clarity coach living in Cincinnati. She’s a mother, and friend, and a woman whose superpowers of empathy and compassion allow her to support others in discovering their unique inner truths and stepping toward them to an empowered life.

When Chris and Deb heard that she was opening up about divorce on another podcast, they thought this could be a valuable conversation to many working on empowering themselves to rewrite their own stories in this way or, like so many, questioning such a decision.

Join them as they dive into:

• How to know when it’s time to stay and work on the marriage.
• How to know when it’s time to go.
• What has it been like for Carrie to rewrite her own story in this way → surprises, gifts, difficulties, lessons, support, expected/unexpected, etc.
• What this transition has revealed to Carrie about herself and her truth that she was previously unaware of.
• What her feelings are about the phrase, “a failed marriage”.
• What advice she has for someone considering rewriting their story in this way or pondering if it’s a necessary step in their path to wholeness.
• Using pleasure and desire to move you forward
• Using them in your life to guide you
• Something on Carrie’s bucket list

• Do you feel 100% safe to be who you are?
• Are you fully free to grow?

• Do you feel 100% safe to be who you are?
• Are you fully free to grow?
• What do you NEED & WANT right now?
• What does it mean for you to live in integrity?

Sometimes, often, the answers to these questions are neither simple nor easy. Sometimes they involve changing course in a way that shakes up the fabric of our lives. Sometimes it shakes it so hard that what we thought was a solid foundation crumbles.

Carrie’s story shows us that while the crumbling is difficult, it can get dark and lonely, it is also full of gifts. It’s where, when we clear away the rubble–wade & sort through it–we find a smooth and solid space to build something new, something that feels truer, something in line with our own integrity.

When viewed from that perspective, there is no failure, just lessons, and growth.

This reminds me of a quote I carry with me:

“…but over time people break apart, no matter how enormous the love they feel for one another is, and it is through the breaking and the reconciliation, the love and the doubting of love, the judgment and then coming together again, that we find our own identity and define our relationships.” — Ann Patchett, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Whatever it is you are questioning in your search for a life that rings true to the callings of your soul, the roads are similar. When we begin to examine our work lives, home lives, social lives, and any roles we play it may be that we find the most honest answers to the questions Carrie posed are, “No.” Maybe we even find that in answer to what it means to live in integrity involves shaking up that foundation and seeing what was solid enough to remain. Carrie is honest about the trials this presents, but the sparkle in her eyes (if you could see it) also reveals the gift of what it means to rebuild a life that’s truly aligned with our own, personal integrity.

May you find the courage to ask yourself the questions posed today, friends. may that courage extend to answering honestly AND truly hearing the answers that arise. May you find enough trust in that truth rising from within to take the first steps toward it. May those steps lead to the return to wholeness that lies at the core of all our souls, even if it shakes things up in the process. More than that, may the very shaking lead to something so much truer than whatever existed before.

Much love to you, today and every day!”