The Modern Ascetic

Sarah and Taylor conclude not only their reflection on pride but the whole deadly sins season in this final episode on the twelve steps of humility. This episode includes an emotion that sounds like a Harry Potter spell, commitments to the bit and their consequences, and, perhaps too much, ready laughter. This episode marks the end of our second season. We'll be back in the future with our third season and more psychoanalytic and monastic reflections on contemporary life! We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Taylor and Sarah begin the end of our season of the vices with a reflection on the special sin of pride, exploring the themes of exception, finitude, and idolatry. This episode includes a distracted Walt Whitman quoter, a sadboi Church Father, and a cheese-hungry songwriter. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Sarah and Taylor conclude their discussion of envy by exploring its counter virtue: gratitude—an emotional response to the meeting of a need with no strings attached. This episode includes transcontinental communication, an envious doc who struggles with trainwrecks, and a fast talking mother daughter duo. ("Why did you drop out of Yale?!") We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Taylor and Sarah continue their discussion of envy delving deep into psychoanalytic theory to explore how our earliest relationships, and our dependency on them, create the conditions for envy later on in life. This episode includes itches being scratched, existential infants, and peacocking. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Sarah and Taylor begin their discussion of envy by exploring how the early Christian tradition understood this vice and distinguished it from jealousy and covetousness. This episode includes a series of bad jokes, Sarah's new BMW, and delight in knocking another person down a peg. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod

Taylor and Sarah conclude their discussion of vainglory by identifying the narcissistic needs we all have and sharing practices to help cultivate the counter virtue of humility. This episode includes pies and cheesecakes, British punk bands, and a reference to a misunderstood green witch. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod

Sarah and Taylor begin their exploration of the complexities of the vice of vainglory—a vice most tempting for the holiest among us—and its connection to the psychoanalytic concept of narcissism. This episode includes AMRAPs, EMOMs, and WODs as well as hotdog loving interviewees and Augustinian locker room talk.  We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Taylor and Sarah conclude their discussion of acedia with an exploration of the psychoanalytic concept of resistance and the promotion of the counter-virtue of perseverance. This episode includes wannabe standup comedians, the fantasy of homesteading, and ogres? Also there might be a Marvel-style end credit if you stay to the end. ;) We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Sarah and Taylor begin their discussion of acedia with an analysis of listlessness, restlessness, and sadness as the noonday demon tempts us to act or not act in order to avoid spiritual work. This episode includes international fan mail, FOMO! in the Monastery, and pink buckets of KFC chicken. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod

Taylor and Sarah give us something different with this episode—our first ever interview with Jeremy Arnold as he shares his move from pastoral ministry to psychotherapy. This episode includes the heart-wrenching tale of the sale of an emotional support dog, the worst improv ever, and the power of asking "why not?" We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Sarah and Taylor conclude their episode on wrath with a reflection on righteous anger and holding the tension of love and hate. This episode includes a Santa fisticuffs, another Bill Lawrence reference (can't those two just leave him alone!), and a British psychoanalyst who hates babies and wants you to hate them as well. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod

Taylor and Sarah continue their exploration of wrath with a reflection on sadomasochism—or those moments in relationships where wrath takes over and conflict becomes entrenched. This episode includes the origins of the garnet principle of human relationships, lawsuits for heavy footed neighbors, and the simple truth that sometimes you just need to walk it off. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Sarah and Taylor begin another three-part episode, this time focused on wrath! They begin their exploration with a discussion of paranoia, resentment, and narcissistic rage. This episode includes another Taylor Swift reference (can't those two just leave her alone!), biting infants, and a reference to that coworker who really just grinds your gears. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]   Follow The Modern Ascetic on Instagram: @modernasceticpod Enjoy the episode? Buy Us a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/modpod  

Taylor and Sarah finish their descent into sadness with a discussion of violence turned inward before offering its antidote: grief, lament, and joy. This episode includes french potatoes, man flu, and a 500 year celebration of a famous German. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] 

Sarah and Taylor begin their discussion of sadness—explaining why sadness is included in Evagrius's list of vices, how it intensifies all the other vices, and how it connects to despair, sullenness, and melancholy. This episode includes a dictionary of obscure sorrows, an emo existentialist, and how sharing a location and walking into a bar can cause even the strongest among us to spiral. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] 

Taylor and Sarah finish their discussion of avarice with an exploration of the virtues of generosity and gratitude. This episode includes a prohibition on letter writing, famous John Wesley sayings, and the antidote of frivolity. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] 

Sarah and Taylor begin their discussion on the vice of avarice, exploring the ways in which greed takes hold and its long-lasting systemic effects. This episode includes musings on musical manipulation, an aggressive Grinch, and a bratty child who loves Aesop's fables but doesn't learn from them. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] 

Taylor and Sarah finish their discussion of lust with a description of the virtue of chastity. This episode includes another Scrubs reference, a sexless advent, and an identification of the most erotic day of the church calendar. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].

Sarah and Taylor continue their discussion of lust exploring patterns and styles in how folks make sense of their sexualities. This episode includes an Irish meetcute, a gas station rose, and an eavesdropping monk. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].

Taylor and Sarah begin to describe the vice of lust and explore its connection to dreams and fantasies. This episode includes censorship! at the monastery, dreams of dinner parties, and a reference to a beloved British sitcom. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].

Sarah and Taylor discuss the vice of gluttony, exploring its excessive and its delicate elements, and the practice of fasting. This episode includes a mad stomach, Hardee's and stairmasters, and a surprise gift for Taylor! We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].

In their second season, Taylor and Sarah introduce listeners to the work of Evagrius Ponticus and his eight (or nine!) "bad thoughts." This episode includes an abbot standing on the neck of a demon, tangents about pronunciation, and a monk meditating naked in a well. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].

In the final episode of the season, Sarah and Taylor offer a short reflection on the journey thus far and look ahead to the next season. This episode includes messy middles, pain and discomfort, and breakdowns and breakthroughs. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected]

Taylor and Sarah describe the repetition compulsion—its origins, how it shows up in all our lives, and what we can learn from it. This episode includes a grandson with a hidden identity, French wine and croissants, and a reflection on laborless virtue. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] Sources cited in this episode include: - "Remembering, Repeating, and Working Through" by Sigmund Freud - Beyond the Pleasure Principle by Sigmund Freud

Sarah and Taylor discuss the concept of the drive—one of the more controversial concepts in psychoanalysis—and connect it to monastic writings on desire and embodiment. This episode includes controversial stances on dental hygiene, poorly pronounced French words, and a scolded monk.  We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] Sources cited in this episode include: - Three Essays on Sexuality by Sigmund Freud

Taylor and Sarah explore the concept of transference—why is it that we tend to treat new relationships like old relationships and how can that actually help us to grow and change? This episode includes a list of gratitudes, another Bill Lawrence reference, and a workaholic hunter. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] Sources cited in this episode include: - "Fragment of a Case of an Analysis of Hysteria" by Sigmund Freud - "That Was Then, This Is Now" by Jonathan Shedler

Sarah and Taylor do a deep dive into the unconscious—staring into the void so you can feel confident to stare also. This episode includes angsty teenage music, the redemption story of a violin player turned kit man, and an ox caught in a mill wheel. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] Sources referenced in this episode include: - "Fixations to Trauma—The Unconscious" by Sigmund Freud - New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton - On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius

Taylor and Sarah introduce some of the core concepts behind psychoanalytic theory and monastic spirituality. This episode includes a twelve-step program, the story of a failed hypnotist, and musings on the desert. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected] 

Sarah and Taylor share a little bit about themselves—who they are, what they do, and why they want to talk about theology and psychotherapy. This episode includes a dog called Merton, several bad Bible puns, and rants over small insignificant issues. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us an email at [email protected].