Unfinished Conversations

What if the voice running your life isn’t actually yours?In Episode 2 of Unfinished Conversations, I’m turning the conversation inward.We all have a voice inside our heads. But somewhere along the way, that voice can become a collection of everything we’ve experienced...our parents, teachers, relationships, failures, fears, expectations, disappointments, and the things we decided about ourselves before we were old enough to know whether they were even true.And eventually, we can forget to ask:Whose voice is that anyway?In this episode, I share a story from second grade involving a pair of patent leather shoes I absolutely LOVED and a moment I still remember decades later. I explore how seemingly small experiences can become stories we carry about ourselves: I’m too much. I’m not enough. Don’t be too loud. Don’t disappoint anyone. Stay where it’s safe.I also talk about the difference between our social self and authentic self and what can happen when we become so focused on being accepted, successful, liked, or understood that we stop hearing what we actually want.And then there’s the mental garbage. 🗑️😂The old stories. The assumptions. The worst-case scenarios. The past failures we use to predict our future.Our minds may think they’re protecting us, but sometimes the conversations that make us feel safe are the very ones keeping us from fully living.So I’m learning to do something different:NOTICE IT.QUESTION IT.DELETE IT.REPLACE IT.Not every thought deserves a seat at your table.Not every belief you’ve carried deserves to come with you.And not every unfinished conversation needs to continue.Maybe remembering who you are isn’t about becoming someone new.Maybe it’s about getting quiet enough to recognize which voice was yours before the world got so loud.And perhaps the question isn’t, “How do I know how this will turn out?”Maybe it’s simply:“Am I willing to find out?”🎙️ Welcome to Episode 2 of Unfinished Conversations.Come for the story. Stay for the wisdom. Leave with hope.— Mary Kay DuffyHost, Unfinished ConversationsAvailable on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube.Founder & CEO, Then, There, Now LLCA note of gratitude: Gary Zukav’s The Seat of the Soul has influenced the way I think about authentic power and the social versus authentic self—ideas I explore through my own experiences in this episode.#UnfinishedConversations #MaryKayDuffy #RememberWhoYouAre #AuthenticSelf #SelfTalk #SelfAwareness #LimitingBeliefs #SelfSabotage #PeoplePleasing #PersonalGrowth #SelfForgiveness #TrustYourself #ChooseYourself #MidlifeWomen #ThenThereNow

What if losing someone doesn’t mean the conversation has to end?In the very first episode of Unfinished Conversations, I’m beginning with the biggest unfinished conversation of my life: my brother, Michael.On September 11, 2001, Michael died in the World Trade Center. I was 27 years old. Now, 25 years later, I have lived almost as much of my life without my brother physically here as I had with him.But here’s what those 25 years have taught me: Michael never stopped being my brother. And our conversation never really ended. In this episode, I share what it has looked like to carry Michael with me through grief, love, laughter, faith and life. I talk about the dragonflies that became our own little language, the moments I can still hear his voice guiding me, and the peace I’ve found in realizing that sometimes we already know exactly what the people we love would say.And I share something I know with absolute certainty: If someone offered to take away all of the grief on the condition that I also had to give back the 27 years I had Michael as my brother…I wouldn’t make that trade. Ever.I choose the 27 years.I choose the love.I choose my brother.Because the people we love don’t only live in our memories.They live in us.Maybe that’s the hope inside our unfinished conversations. We don’t always get the ending we wanted. We don’t always get to say everything we wanted to say. And sometimes there simply isn’t closure.But we can still move forward.We can carry the wisdom.We can carry the laughter.We can carry the love.And sometimes, we discover that the conversation we thought was unfinished was simply waiting for us to understand the rest of it.So for Episode One, there was only one place I could begin.This one’s for you, Bro. ❤️Welcome to Unfinished Conversations.Come for the story. Stay for the wisdom. Leave with hope.— Mary Kay DuffyHost, Unfinished ConversationsFounder & CEO, Then, There, Now LLC#UnfinishedConversations #911 #neverforget