Episode #138: Betsy By Herself, Podcasting in Active Discomfort & Not Knowing When It Ends

This is an unusual episode of The Discomfort Practice. For six years, Betsy has only recorded solos when she's felt in creative flow, with thoughts already framed. This one is different. She's a week late posting, and instead of waiting for the mood to arrive, she's recording from inside it: chemo has gotten hard, a client canceled projects and wiped out her planned summer income and another piece of work fell through yesterday; she's newly and suddenly in menopause - with a nervous system that has lost its usual brakes; it's been 100 degrees in southern Spain for days with a month of heat still ahead; she's bald from chemo and her feet hurt all the time (but she still has to walk her dog); and she's mostly alone with it. And kind of over it. But not yet through it… This is the edge of her own discomfort practice, and she decided that's exactly what belongs on the podcast. Not a lesson extracted afterward. Not a tidy insight. Just what it sounds like to turn on the mic without knowing when any of this ends, or what it's for. She gets a little weepy, which is not something she would have been brave enough to post even six months ago. But this is Betsy, living life out loud and welcoming others to do the same, whatever state they're in. In this episode, Betsy explores: Why she's recording this solo without waiting to feel "in the mood," and what that shift is teaching her What it's actually like to be a week behind on the podcast because life didn't cooperate Chemo, sudden surgical menopause, and a nervous system with no brakes left Financial crisis, cancelled work, and not having the energy to reinvent her business again Deep summer heat in Spain, and losing rest as a coping tool just as she needed it most The loneliness of long stretches without real human contact, even while being cared for Sitting with the question "what's the lesson in this?" and not forcing an answer Being the homework for the Embodied Leadership Lab — living out loud as the method, not just teaching it A line from the late poet Andrea Gibson, who wrote from her own chemo chair: measuring a life by width, not length Pema Chödrön's words on the "off-center, in-between state" as the actual practice, not an obstacle to it The Discomfort Practice explores the uncomfortable edges where personal growth, leadership, embodiment and systems change intersect. Follow Betsy for more reflections on reinvention, craft, uncertainty and building a life that feels vividly alive. How to get more of Betsy: Subscribe to The Discomfort Practice wherever you listen - and a five-star review always helps Subscribe to Betsy's Substack to get more of her thoughts, in writing: substack.com/@thebetsyreed Work with Betsy, through 1:1 coaching and Embodied Leadership Lab membership: www.patreon.com/embodiedleadereshiplab and www.embodiedleadershiplab.com