Write Your Story: The Story That’s Asking to be Told

In this powerful conversation, Angie Smith gets honest about the pressure so many of us feel to perform, prove, perfect, and become whoever we think the room needs us to be. And often, the identities we wear so confidently—“the achiever,” “the responsible one,” “the perfectionist,” “the strong one”—may have less to do with who we truly are and more to do with how we learned to feel safe, accepted, and enough. As a bestselling author, Bible teacher, speaker, and developmental psychologist, Angie brings a unique perspective to the intersection of psychology, identity, and faith. In her new book, Into the Deep: Finding Relief from Pressure, Exhaustion, and the Need to Perform in a Shallow World, she invites us to move beyond surface-level survival and discover what happens when we stop trying to earn an identity that God says was never ours to earn in the first place. In this episode, we explore the intersection of neuroscience and faith, why affirmations like “I am enough” don't always change what we believe deep down, and how perfectionism, people-pleasing, comparison, impostor syndrome, and control can become strategies for protecting ourselves from rejection or shame. We also talk about what happens when our theology says we're loved, chosen, and worthy, but our self-image tells a completely different story. We bring the conversation into food and body, the exhausting belief that changing something externally will finally make us feel different internally, and what it looks like to stop using our bodies, achievements, relationships, or productivity as evidence of our worth. Angie also shares what it means to trust God when trusting Him doesn't guarantee the outcome we want—and how to recognize when we've turned even our relationship with God into another place to perform. This isn't about becoming a shinier, better, more impressive version of yourself. It's about questioning the patterns and identities you've built around performance, approval, and control—and discovering who you already are when you stop trying to become whoever the room needs you to be. GUEST: @angiesmith19 Angie's Website: AngieSmithMinistries.com Get the Book: Into the Deep: Finding Relief from Pressure, Exhaustion, and the Need to Perform in a Shallow World — available wherever books are sold (releases October 6, 2026) HOST: Leanne Ellington // StresslessEating.com // @leanneellington // @theteenagerbrain To learn more about Leanne, head over to www.LeanneEllington.com, and to share your thoughts, questions, feedback, or guest suggestions instantly, head on over to www.WhatsGodGotToDoWithIt.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Soul Sessions, Amanda Rieger Green explores insecurity and comparison — not as flaws to fix, but as data points showing where we've outsourced our sovereignty and energy. Why do we contract on social media, with siblings, even in spiritual communities? Amanda unpacks how these triggers show up, and offers a practical framework for noticing when your energy field is expanding versus contracting. In this episode: How family dynamics can trigger comparison even amid deep love Why social media is "low-hanging fruit" for noticing your energy field contract Comparison and competition in the spiritual/metaphysical community Moving from competition to cohesion as a collective energetic shift Why owning your experience — without needing it to match anyone else's — raises your frequency Share your thoughts: [email protected] Subscribe for weekly conversations on energy, consciousness, and soulful living with Amanda Rieger Green. Host: Amanda Rieger Green Subscribe to Amanda's YouTube HERE! Follow Amanda on Instagram: @soulpathology Check out Amanda's Website: SoulPathology.com Send Amanda an Email: [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A listener is feeling a little blah, so Amy and Kat are here to help. On paper, life looks great: the house, the kids, the routines. But something feels stuck. Is it an early midlife crisis, or just part of being in your 30s? The girls talk about how even a beautiful life can feel a bit flat sometimes, why that’s completely normal, and how to go out and create a spark instead of waiting for one to find you. Have a question for us? Send it our way and we might answer it on the show!

Kat is out on maternity leave with her sweet new baby, Zoey, so Chase is filling in! Amy shares why she’s grateful for Chase, and Chase opens up about his own feeling of the day, while admitting he wasn’t even sure feelings were real. Turns out they are; they just aren’t facts. Let them ride shotgun, but don’t put them in the driver’s seat… ya know?? This one is a totally free-flowing conversation, and it goes everywhere: what it was like sitting next to Nicole Kidman during a movie, the great no-shoes-in-the-house debate (Chase HATES that Amy made this a rule), and why Chase thinks about death a lot while Amy… really doesn’t. Get some Feeling Things merch by clicking HERE! (FeelingThingsPodcast.com) Sign up for the Feeling Things newsletter HERE! Watch us on Youtube HERE! Find us on TikTok: @radioamy Call and leave a voicemail: 877-207-2077 Email: [email protected] HOSTS: Amy Brown // RadioAmy.com // @RadioAmy Chase Locke // ChaseLocke_ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I watched my two young kids have their first experience with monetizing their art and I walked away with one conclusion. Art deserves to be celebrated, sold and reciprocated (financially). I haven’t always felt this way. I’ve wrestled with the question of what art is worth. Or rather, I’ve felt a strange need to keep my creativity and capitalism separated. But in today’s episode, I’ll share why I think it matters that you not just see your art as valuable in general — but as worth actual dollars. In what ways can you sell your art without shame? Aime McKnee