Catherine dives into her "policing era" - a time when she believed she was right about everything and everyone else was wrong. From picketing to lecturing friends about their life choices, she shares how her strict Catholic upbringing led her to judge others' bedrooms, politics, and personal decisions. But this embarrassing chapter became her greatest teacher in humility. Through divorce, bankruptcy, loss, and the forgiveness of those she hurt, Catherine learned that life's hardest lessons are often our most transformative ones.

💬 What You'll Hear

The Policing Era Begins: Growing up in a strict Catholic household where church was never missed, even on vacation in the Wyoming wilderness

Charismatic Catholic College: Transferring to a more religious school hoping it would complete her, while secretly meeting a "spicy guy" on the baseball field

Justifying Everything: Using faith to justify living poor, submitting to her husband, homeschooling, and judging everyone else's choices

The Judgment List: Picketing, lecturing friends about premarital sex and cohabitation, and warning people they'd burn in hell

The Contrast: Being front and center with her kids (the beautiful part) while exhausting herself policing everyone else's lives

Humble 101: Life's classroom teaching humility through divorce, bankruptcy, loss, public shame, and parenting alone

The Power of Forgiveness: Every single person she policed - friends and family - still loves her and watched her evolve

Receiving Love: Learning that true love means being forgiven and getting a second chance, which healed her nervous system

Different Lessons Now: Moving from major life lessons to micro-focused heart work, like not caring what her kids do as a reflection of her

The A/B Student: Now handling life's tests (like a surprise $500 IRS bill) with calm instead of panic

✨ Takeaway
Your most embarrassing era might become your greatest teacher. When you think you're the judge of everyone else's choices, life will enroll you in Humble 101 until you learn the lesson. The people you hurt with your judgment can teach you what real love looks like through their forgiveness. Everyone is in the school of life, just in different classrooms with different teachers. The sooner you learn your lessons, the less they appear on the test. Humility is the most beautiful of the virtues.

⚖️ Disclaimer
These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine
If this episode made you reflect on a time when you judged others or needed forgiveness yourself, share it with someone who showed you grace when you didn't deserve it.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA
Production: Red Trux Productions Snohomish, WA

Catherine opens up about love in its many forms - from the exhausting performance-based love of her past to the transformative power of being loved "just because." She vulnerably shares the profound loss of her partner David during COVID, how grief became a catalyst for change, and her journey to finding love again with someone who teaches her she doesn't need to perform to be worthy.

💬 What You’ll Hear

• Agape Love: Understanding unconditional love and how it was the only love Catherine felt comfortable giving
• Performance-Based Love: Growing up believing she had to earn love through achievements, appearance, and over-giving
• The Comparison Trap: Watching friends in effortless relationships while she obsessed over perceived flaws
• Dating Disasters: From the guy with the clinker in his eyelash to repelling men who actually wanted to love her
• Meeting David: Finding someone who loved her in her "broken divorced self" without requiring performance
• March 23rd, 2020: The devastating day David died suddenly of a heart attack during the first day of COVID lockdown
• Moving Through Grief: Walking to move grief through her body and the mistakes of dating too soon
• Leveraging Loss: How David's death became the catalyst for coming home to herself
• Back to the Apps: Four months later, downloading dating apps and learning about ENM and poly via Google
• Finding Love Again: Meeting her current partner who teaches her "this is not a call to action" - she can simply receive

✨ Takeaway

Love doesn't require performance. You don't have to earn it through achievement, appearance, or over-giving. The exhausting pattern of proving your worth can be broken. Sometimes profound loss becomes the catalyst for discovering you're worthy of love simply for being who you are. Finding home within yourself first allows you to show up authentically in relationships - and that's when real love finds you.

⚖️ Disclaimer

These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine

If this episode made you reflect on the ones you love, share it with them to let them know how much they mean to you.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA
Production: Red Trux Productions Snohomish, WA

Episode Summary:
In one of her most vulnerable episodes yet, Catherine opens up about questioning and ultimately transforming her deeply held religious beliefs. From her strict Catholic upbringing to searching the Bible for a way out of her marriage, she reveals how Google became her unexpected lifeline — and how she discovered a more personal, loving faith that allowed her to live authentically without fear of eternal punishment.

💬 What You’ll Hear

• Religious Foundations: Growing up with Jewish, Mormon, and Catholic influences in a deeply structured household
• The Sacred Marriage Trap: How the concept of mortal sin kept her feeling bound by duty and shame
• Searching for an Exit: Reading Scripture daily, desperate to find freedom beyond the belief that only death could release her
• Google as Savior: How simple searches became her lifeline toward clarity, autonomy, and truth
• Faith vs. Freedom: The internal tug-of-war between religious obligation and personal liberation
• Catholic Friends’ Advice: The well-meaning counsel that told her there was “merit in suffering” — and how she chose otherwise
• The First Night Alone: The counselor’s words that led to a powerful moment of peace and self-discovery
• Newfound Spirituality: Discovering a faith that’s personal, nonjudgmental, and rooted in love instead of fear

✨ Takeaway

⚖️ Disclaimer

These stories are mine — told through my eyes, my lens, and my lived experience. Each person moves through life in their own way. I own these stories, and I share them to inspire us all to live truthfully, freely, and as our most authentic selves.

🌿 Connect with Catherine

If this episode touched your spirit or helped you see faith through a different lens, share it with someone who’s finding their own way back to themselves.

Follow Catherine on Instagram to keep following the story.

Theme Song Written and Composed by Trevor Lynch and Michaela Dennis and recorded by Trevor Lynch in Chicago IL
Photo: Baumgardner Studio Yakima, WA
Production: Red Trux Productions Snohomish, WA