In This Season

Hitting a follower milestone on Instagram felt surreal…and strangely unchanged at the same time. In this episode, I unpack my love-hate relationship with Instagram, the burnout, the breakthrough and the boundaries that sustain my system now. If you’re building something online (or just stay sane while scrolling), this one’s for you :) As always, thank you for being here in this season with me!!

If you’re in this season of your twenties then welcome to the “best years of your life” or “the defining decade” These are the years to find who you are, make big life decisions, travel, work, date, marry, make friends, get promoted and above all else; no regrets !! How does that make sense? This is our first time living, and in this world that insists we listen to every voice, all at once, we’re going to mess up - I can tell you that for free. But why is it like this? And more importantly, what can we do about this? As with anything, I don’t have all the answers, I’m also a newbie adult in my 20s. But I know I’m not alone. Thank you for being here and tuning in :)

Have you ever woken up in the morning after going to bed so pumped and ready to tackle the next day, only this morning you’ve woken up with 0 motivation? Yesterday you crushed your to do list and more and today you struggle to get yourself to take a shower. Have you had that before? If that’s you, then this episode is going to break down a fundamental part of our health; something that affects everything, from our concentration, memory and sleep, to our confidence and weight. And it’s something that only recently experts have been digging into. Personally, I have experienced a diagnosis that led me to researching this topic full on, so I can understand how our hormones work and why, it isn’t necessarily a willpower problem …

Identity. Something we’ve heard countless times before but do we know what happens when this becomes unstable? It’s a feeling we’ve certainly all experienced at some point, so why does no one talk about it!? In this episode, I chat openly about my identity crisis and give some insight into this common yet taboo situation of uprooting yourself and how you think you are supposed to process transition. And the one thing that separates this talk from others on identity is that the identity crisis isn’t this loud change where the main character quits their job, moves to an island or cuts bangs (I’m a supporter of this decision!). Rather, it’s the quiet moment when you wake up and realize you’re not feeling “at home” in your body or mind anymore. And no one talks about that moment…except this podcast 🙌🏼 Thank you for being here! Let me know any thoughts in the comments

We’re no strangers to hustle culture. The grind, the work ethic, the late nights and “Founders Journeys” are everywhere and while they can be very motivating, they are also promoting a dangerous identity based in work. In this raw and vulnerable episode, we’ll be discussing some struggles with the concept of rest as well as 2 structures that have helped me rest efficiently. Rest ≠ laziness Work ≠ worth These are some thoughts straight from the mind of an overachiever and people pleaser who knows rest is essential but struggles to do it nonetheless. Thank you for being here :)

We all experience it, multiple times in our lives. That feeling of not knowing where you’re going…feeling lost. And your twenties are permeated with this feeling so we want to chat about it but with a spin…Maybe you’re like me, where you’re not completely lost, you have a vague direction, but you’re not fully certain of the destination nor the path. I’ve called this feeling “unfound” - not lost but not found either. Let’s talk about it In this episode we unpack firstly, why we feel this way, what are the factors contributing to this cause and then we go into some helpful tips to get you going on feeling more found, more certain of the path.**note, there is not 5-step formula to knowing who you are any what you should do with your life, it’ll be revealed as you explore and live authentically, so take this which a pinch of salt :) Also, I make reference to my Instagram in the episode (and the one last week) so go check it out @simplyraesdiary 🤘As always, thanks for being here!

Have you ever caught yourself grieving a version of you that never actually existed? In today’s episode I unpacked the strange feeling of mourning the life you could’ve lived - the road not taken, the “what if” version of yourself. From identity and university expectations, to the pressure of wasted potential, we explore why imagine paths can feel so real and how to make peace with the one you chose. It’s not about regret. It’s about freedom, choice, and realizing it’s not better or worse - it’s just different.

We all know the idea that people share very frequently that “being single is amazing. It’s the best years of your life! Don’t take for granted how much free time you have!” Well after four years of being single I think I’m qualified to tell you the real realities of being without a relationship.

We all know those people, those moments, where we had to physically step back and acknowledge someone’s audacity. Whether it was an ex making an outrageous claim, or a teacher saying something in public about someone. I had an experience like that recently with a friend (this is not an episode to bash them…me telling the story is just a point of departure to give context to the idea of audacity) and this experience left me with a lot to think about…One of the things is how to live with audacity. Why don’t we? Should we? And how to do it. Thank you for being here 🌟

Everybody at some point in their life has looked at someone and instantly thought “shucks! They are cool!” For whatever reason, this person‘s appearance or personality or brain or wit or style, made them look cool to you, but why is that? How do we get that? Can we create that and when does it go too far?

“The reason we fail at keeping to our resolutions is because we try to reinvent ourselves from the ground up, which is too much to do and then impossible to execute all the checklist items.” So this year, I’m choosing not to reinvent myself, because what plant can flourish if it keeps being ripped out of the ground?

Half a million Rand in debt, and still jobless? Is university even worth it? Recently, on the radio, a presenter was arguing that a university education is no longer needed…especially in South Africa. Here’s my take on this question and my experience having gone to university while I couldn’t afford to…If you’re enjoying the poddy, please consider rating the show! Until next week Tuesday! Mwah, Rae

Has adulting made me a bad friend? Between deadlines, distance and my own emotional exhaustion - friendship feels harder than it used to. This episode is a confessional, a reflection and a gentle reminder that we’re all still figuring it out. I feel like I’m constantly dropping the ball. In this episode I unpack the guilt, the growing pains and the good stuff surrounding adult friendships.

In this season of disconnection the world appears to be a machine that is designed to get us to neglect what is really important about life. Poor social relationships, isolation and loneliness can increase heart disease by 29% and increase risk of stroke by 32%. If this is such a big public health crisis issue, then why aren't we talking about it more? Has society been brainwashed to the point of believing the American Dream to a fault where hyper individualism is king and connections are merely a hinderance? Join me uncover the hard science behind why loneliness is so bad for us and why it is more relevant now than ever before. I fully believe human connection is the medicine this world so desperately needs, but nothing is going to change unless we do. As Derek Thompson said: "the cure is us." Here are more resources for search: Juliana Schroder, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Johann Hari, Deb Dana and Polyvagal Theory.

In this season of almosts…I was journaling one night and recounting my success in sticking to some of my goals and celebrating this discipline, only to have the streak broken the next day by an emotional hiccup. This was not a one time incident; it appeared that whenever I told someone (or my journal) about my accomplishment of a specific goal, I would go backwards shortly after. It got me thinking; is something wrong with me? Why does this recognition of success appear to cause a spiral into failure? Is this self sabotage? And why would I do that? It turns out there is a psychological reason behind this self sabotage and fear of completing goals. If you’ve ever experienced dragging your feet coming into the finish line, or feeling uncomfortable with success, this episode is for you. Join Rae as she discovers reasons why we sabotage our goals and ways to overcome this fear…

Join me (Rae) as we chat about why we act scared of the finish line by procrastinating and putting off tasks that we claim we “have” to do. Good news is, you’re not broken! Bad news is, you have to get yourself out of this loop. But don’t worry! In this episode we not only talk about why we’ve misunderstood procrastination, and how it’s a symptom and signal more than anything else, but we also talk about science backed strategies for overcoming your “instant gratification monkey” (as Tim Urban calls his procrastination mind).Thank you to Dr Fuschia Sirois, Dr Timothy A. Pychyl and Tim Urban for their research findings into this topic and Mary Oliver for your poetry’s wake up call: “tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Why smart people stay stuck. How I’m learning to ensure I didn’t peak in high school and how I’m actively choosing to achieve more by aiming for imperfection.

We live in a world that glories the grind. And I used to think that the more busy I was, the more worthy I became. The problem? There’s no finish line. Join me as we uncover the art of slow productivity and doing enough without doing it all.

Long time know hear! It’s so good to be back to recording this podcast - I’ve missed it. Although I needed the break and the time to reflect, stepping back has shown me how much I love this creative process and the personal journalism In This Season gives me! The podcast needed a new direction, I needed a new direction. So welcome back to In This Season hosted by Rae. This episode chats about one of the biggest lessons I learnt in my “step back” period, about our humanness (mine especially) and the importance of having grace with yourself.

A friend asked me earlier today what is one thing I learnt going from first year to second year in my university journey, I gave her two things:1. Audit the wall on which your ladder is leaning (ensure that your habits now are aligned with where you want to end up someday in the future) 2. Have grace with yourself (don’t use it as an excuse but forgiving yourself for human errors and moments of weakness is actually much more productive than harboring bitterness and disappointment).

How can we live above the line? The line that we are talking about it the line between “thriving and surviving,” the line of burnout - the red zone. God does not desire for us to be living on a hamster wheel, He wants us to have abundant life and enjoy His creation. But in a world so obsessed with statistics and climbing the success ladder, how can we ensure that we remain emotionally healthy whilst still fulfilling the call of God for our lives?

While burnout is commonly linked to working too hard, and taking too few breaks, it is also, and perhaps more frequently, a result of unresolved, distressing conflict with others. It is a trap I often fall into, getting anxious about tense relationships leading to me living in a burnt out state. This week we’re exploring another element of Elijah’s emotional energy journey band assessing how his life as a prophet applies to our lives and how we can ensure we’re being sustainable in our following of Christ’s plan for us.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “they are so much more capable than me”? You think, “I would never be able to carry all that!” Actually, if God has called you to something, He will equip and strengthen you. Our job is to ensure that we are making sustainable decisions. Your ability to extend God’s Kingdom through individual projects He calls you to, rests on your capacity to maintain emotional well-being. In this month’s season, we chat about emotional energy and drains and how to ensure we “live above the line.”

How can we know when to stop asking and start trusting or keep seeking and knocking? I’ve found that if you think of it as two different channels it makes things clearer; you need to trust the heart of God and His will for your life. That’s channel one. And then you need to seek His word and how He wants you to live and demonstrate His love here on earth. That’s channel two. Separating these two has made all the difference in my questioning seasons.

How can we deal with uncertain answers in the Bible? What if there is no clear answer? We are not living in the same conditions as the authors of the Bible were so how can we ensure we interpret the lesson from the story correctly and accurately without taking it out of context and adding our own personal doctrine? We can use both the Spirit and the Word.

Luke 18:17 talks of having faith like a child. And this faith is not passive but active, curious and seeking. I’m part one of the questioning season talks about the danger of accepting scriptures and sermons at face value without looking deeper into the context for yourself.

Join Rae in a quick recap of her time on church mission and the lessons she learnt along the way. Following that conversation, Rae opens up about some changes to the podcast that you’ll want to hear.

“Be made new in the attitude of your minds and…put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” We are currently in a battle. A battle for our peace, our sanity, our attention, our lives. How can we properly prepare for and protect against negative thinking patterns that lead only to disaster? The answer lies in how we think.

Jana Gous is a student at Stellenbosch University as well as a young up-and-coming Afrikaans poet. As a dear friend of Rae, she agreed to sit down and unpack her creative process, recent accomplishments and advice for other artists. Join Rae and Jana in this episode to discuss how to overcome writers’ block, where to find inspiration, and a sneaky peek into Jana’s first poetry book. This is an episode no one should miss!

Rae had a conviction to get more niche within the podcast. With this decision to branch into a niche came a whole lot of life questions. How much should she share on social media? Is she being authentic? Should she even continue to record Simply Rae? (Good news, she is). And with these (almost) unanswerable questions she unpacked a great truth of life. A truth that makes the high and the low so worth it! Tune in to find out this truth.

On to the 3rd and final week of this series…. How do you find Godly friendships? When should you cut ties with toxic friends? How can you use your external environment to protect your mental health? Join Rae today as she dives into all these questions to conclude this 3 part series. If you haven’t listens to the first 2 episodes, they are available on all Simply Rae platforms. Have a golden week!

How would you rate your physical health? How are your hobbies? Do you read often? How much sleep do you get? Do you feel like you have freedom in your finances, or that your money has trapped you? These are all questions we’ll explore in today’s episode to continue discussing how we can upgrade our lives and live in abundance.

This week is the first week of the 3 part Glow Recipe Series. We talk about Vision, Mindset, Emotional and Spiritual glow and growth.

We have created a selfish generation who have been told the world revolves around them. It’s not our fault but it is our responsibility to learn about why and how we can begin to see we are not “the main characters”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” What kind of love are you surrounded by? I know for me, one of the reasons I’m so content to be single (in a romantic sense) is because I am still loved by beautiful friends and family. Love is not only found in romance. If you are looking for fulfillment and deferring happiness for a relationship, you’re never going to be happy nor fulfilled. Are you looking for love in the wrong place? If so, dive into this episode to hear more…

Do you every look at soldiers in the army and think “wow, they are so disciplined!” If you’re like me, you’ve wondered their secrets and maybe even hoped to grow and build that level of discipline someday. The discipline that’ll keep you consistent and the person you want to be even when times get tough. If this kinda things interests you then this is the episode to listen to!!

My last week of being a teenager!!??? Here are 20 things I wish to leave with you after reflecting on nearly 20 years of walking this earth. Crazy how time flies!

An extract from the book 101 essays to change the way you think is explored in the episode with Rae chatting about each characteristic of an emotionally strong person

Hey guys! It’s Rae, welcome back! Join me for this episode as we chat about learning to let go of control and the way we hoped life would go in order to achieve peace and unchallenged joy in the midst of life’s challenges.

Join an old time favourite guest, Savannah Farris and Rae as they dive into attempting to explain university and give advice and lessons learnt from first hand experience. Buckle up for some fun anecdotes, interesting quips and a whole lot of great stories! *Technical note; there was heavy traffic outside the apartment so a lot of the audio had to be cut for sound quality purposes. Apologies for the abrupt edits.*

Hello lovely listeners! This informal episode is a little heart to heart with Rae as she expresses her recent thoughts and challenges she faces this last week. Join us as we hear about the “blah” week she had but more importantly, the lessons she’s brought out of it.

We've all heard the idea of romanticizing your life and being the main character, etc. But do we know how to get started? Is this idea easier said than done? And how can I stick to it to discover if it really will change my life? These are the kinds of questions Rae looks into in this week's episode. How to romanticize your life? Look no further than the Simply Rae podcast. Enjoy!

The truth is… it isn’t real. Rae has done some reading up on perhaps the darker side of reality TV shows and found some pretty interesting facts. Now she is in no way saying reality TV needs to end, her goal is to simply educate and call to question the aftermath of watching these shows. Join Rae as she discusses a collection of opinions and statistics leading to the question…why isn’t reality TV reality at all?

Happy week of love guys! I know that’s super awkward but this episode isn’t as bad (hehe). Today we’ll be looking at why you should get to know yourself and date yourself before jumping into a relationship with someone. (If you are already dating someone then this episode also includes ways to grow with your s/o) The moral of the story boils down to, how you treat yourself. How you show people you are valuable. If you walk around being desperate and throwing yourself at someone, don’t be shocked when they toss you around too. How you treat yourself is a manual to others about how to treat you. Date yourself well, date yourself consistently, date yourself first.

Self love nowadays is a delicate balance between Pinterest vision boards and pretty Pilates photos and the hard runs at 5am. Finding this is balance can be long and dangerous. Join Rae and her forever friend Kareena Hurst as they chat about navigating the slippery slope of learning to love yourself and trust who you are. Tune in for an action packed episode full of wisdom and insight into how to manage your mental health and giving yourself grace when you mess up.

It all started with an Instagram dm, asking after the idea of toxic positivity….Thank you for tuning in today. I have done some research into toxic positivity after some people on Instagram started chatting to me about it and I’d love to share what I’ve read with you! I discovered that too much positivity is not good. In fact it can be detrimental to our mental health. You need to give yourself and others permission to feel what they are feeling without bias. Tune in to find out more about toxic positivity, why it’s so harmful and what we can say instead.

Bring a Christian in today’s world can be confusing and uncomfortable. Join Rae today as she chats to an old schoolmate of hers who has advanced to become a leader of the Amplified Youth Group in City Hill church. Levi Wimble has achieved many accolades throughout his life but his perhaps biggest and best is his steadfast relationship in God. Tune in to hear him share his wisdom into tricky situations Christians find themselves in nowadays. Sit back and enjoy!

It’s the natural order. So, stop caring what they think. It only takes one person (you) to get up, stare the fear in face, and start dancing and the rest of them will join you because you were created to dance first and think later. We are human beings and when we get happy, we want to share it. We smile at people when they smile at us because happiness is contagious. It is scary being the first person to dance, especially when you're doing it alone, but its brave and freeing. Its vulnerable, and vulnerability is the only way to defeat the lie we've been told that we need to be perfect. We are allowed to be messy and sweaty and smiling, jumping to the loud speaker. It feels wrong because everyone else is scared to be the only one too, but deep down they would love to dance as well, so start the trend. The vulnerable trend of seizing the Mama Mia songs and get up and dance!

Hello, hello! Welcome back to the Simply Rae pod! Today we are chatting with my beautiful sister Joanna Reardon and debating your "spicy" questions for Christians. When trying to sum up this episode, I found I could not...the only way to know what it holds is to listen. Let's go! Questions and timestamps... Is it necessary for me to go to church as a Christian? (2:24) Is it okay to question things about Christianity as a believer? (5:24) Are tattoos (and piercings) a sin? (7:14) Because the bible never explicitly states prohibited words...is it okay to swear? (11:00) Is drinking alcohol, okay? (24:57) To what extent can I spend time with unsaved people? (33:50) Thanks for tuning in guys! Have a great rest of your week, catch you in the next one!

Welcome to the first episode of the 2024 season! I'm so glad you stopped by to listen to this episode :) Here, we'll reflect on the highs and the lows that 2023 threw at us as a reminder that life can have both good and bad, and still be good. We'll then hear an entry from Rae's journal, in the form of a letter addressed to 2024, exploring her hopes and prays for this next year. Lastly, the episode will close with the typical Rae talk as she encourages hope to be bred in the midst of chaos, in the midst of darkness. "I hope this episode brightens your day just slightly and pushes you to hope again." Love Rae