Today I'm chatting with Carey Abma, a co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health. Carey opens up about a chapter of her life she never expected to write, both literally and figuratively, and what it took to start choosing love over fear.

We get into the breakdown that became her breaking open at the start of 2020, the years of self-abandonment that led there, and what it actually looked like to sit alone in her condo and meet herself for the first time. Carey shares the journey to becoming a mom, including the unimaginable gift of her sister offering to carry her daughter Cohen, and the unexpected plot twist of meeting her partner Jason four days after a positive pregnancy test on Christmas morning.

We talk about parenting from a more rooted place, the values work that changed how she makes decisions, and her launch into entrepreneurship with Estate Solutions with Care, a business shaped by personal loss and the literal meaning of her name.

Connect with Carey:
Instagram: @thecareyabma
Publication: Reclaiming Mental Health

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and First Impressions

03:04 The Journey of Writing and Publishing

05:50 Exploring Self-Love and Personal Growth

11:58 The Breakdown of 2020: A Turning Point

21:02 Life After the Breakdown: Transformation and New Beginnings

29:44 Navigating New Beginnings

31:05 Personal Growth Through Parenthood

34:00 The Importance of Values

36:24 Embracing Change and Challenges

39:03 The Journey of Motherhood

41:11 Writing for Future Generations

46:06 Claiming Strength and Identity

49:46 Building a Business with Heart

Today I'm sharing a conversation I had with Richard Okwii and Adacet John Peter, the executive director and managing director of Murphy Charitable Foundation Uganda, a nonprofit working to support vulnerable children and communities in the northeastern region of Uganda through education, mentorship, and empowerment.

I first came across Murphy Charitable Foundation through their Pen Pal program, where I've been corresponding with two pen pals in Uganda. That experience changed me in ways I'm still processing. So getting to sit down with Richard and John Peter and hear the story behind the foundation firsthand felt very special.

Richard lost his father at one month old and was raised by his grandparents in poverty. It was their voices, their mentorship, and their insistence that education was the key that planted the seed for everything Murphy Charitable Foundation has become. That seed became a dream at age seven, and in 2018 it became an organization. What they've built since then is extraordinary.

We talk about the Pen Pal program, which now connects over 3,000 children in Uganda with international friends, and the philosophy behind it: hope restoration and mindset first, before anything else. We get into the Learning Lab launching in Bukedia district this summer, the Motivational Movie Project bringing film screenings to communities without electricity, the Kind Loans program offering zero percent interest loans to women entrepreneurs, and the Cancer Awareness program reaching communities with little to no access to health information.

One of the most powerful aspects of this conversation is what John Peter shares about how they run their programs with or without a grant, because the work of changing a mindset doesn't require funding. It requires belief. And these two have that in extraordinary supply.

Learn about Murphy Charitable Organization Uganda and see how you can get involved: Murphy Charitable Foundation Uganda - Home

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Today I'm chatting with Lindsay Hayes, a former public school educator turned nature-based learning facilitator who has spent the last several years doing deep personal work and how that understanding has reshaped her approach to parenting, healing, and working with children.

Lindsay and I met through our shared experience writing in Sovereign Volume 2, and this conversation goes to some really tender places. We talk about what it means to move through a victim mindset without bypassing it, how our bodies eventually demand the attention our minds have been avoiding, and why Lindsay left the public education system to create something entirely different on her acreage. She's working with kids from all backgrounds and what she's witnessing out there in nature is transformational.

We also get into generational healing in a way that felt very alive for me. Lindsay writes about her mom in her upcoming chapter in Motherhood Expanded, and what she shares about releasing blame while still honoring the impact of her early experiences is something I think a lot of us need to hear. There's so much in this conversation about planting seeds you may never see harvested.

Connect with Lindsay Hayes:

Instagram: @linsayhayes2.0

Motherhood Expanded: https://a.co/d/03Fm0ZWG

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Shared Experiences

03:00 The Writing Journey: Sovereign Volume 2

05:57 Motherhood and Personal Growth

09:08 Understanding Childhood and Attachment

11:52 Shifting from Victimhood to Empowerment

15:05 The Impact of Parenting on Personal Healing

18:12 Nature-Based Learning and Education

20:55 Transformational Experiences with Children

24:07 Conclusion and Future Aspirations

25:18 Exploring Diverse Learning Environments

30:39 Motherhood and Healing Through Writing

36:29 Breaking Generational Patterns

41:08 The Impact of Personal Healing on Parenting

48:30 Navigating Systems and Self-Reflection