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

Today I'm chatting with Linsay Doyle, a Feng Shui practitioner and founder of Reclamation by Linsay, who has spent the better part of 14 years burning herself down and rebuilding, on her own terms.

Linsay's shares about her journey since 2011 when she was at her heaviest weight, deeply disconnected from herself and living a life that wasn't hers. Linsay shares what followed: leaving an eight-year relationship the same weekend her boyfriend asked her parents for permission to propose, loading up her car and leaving, moving into an apartment by the Edmonton River Valley, signing up for a half marathon on a whim, and losing nearly 100 pounds in just over a year. Through finally making choices that were actually hers.

We go a lot of places in this one, including:

The courage it takes to evolve out of relationships and friendships, and why that grief is as real as any other kind

Masculine and feminine energy, why she believes women have been burning themselves out holding the entire container, and what she's actually not willing to settle for.

The work she's building through Reclamation by Linsay, where Feng Shui meets self-ownership and your junk drawer might just tell her everything she needs to know about you.

And her relationship with God, why she doesn't claim a religion, and why Jesus is her homeboy.

I love a great spicy chat with Linsay and this convo is no exception.

Connect with Linsay:

Instagram: @iamlinsaydoyle

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Setting the Stage

03:41 Linsay's Journey of Transformation

06:29 Awakening and Making Choices

08:57 Breaking Free from Relationships

11:34 The Impact of External Pressures

14:05 Finding Strength in Independence

17:05 Physical Transformation and Weight Loss

19:25 Running Towards a New Life

22:07 Reflecting on Achievements and Future Self

25:10 Navigating Life's Pivots

27:52 Building Resilience Through Life's Trials

30:47 The Balance of Self-Care and Growth

33:33 Understanding the Duality of Experience

37:56 Exploring Masculine and Feminine Energies

41:44 The Impact of Societal Conditioning on Relationships

45:28 The Journey of Self-Discovery in Relationships

52:28 Divine Timing and Personal Growth

53:37 The Journey of Self-Reclamation

55:53 Building a New System: Reclamation by Linsay

57:45 Transforming Spaces: The Power of Feng Shui

59:23 Internal and External Reclamation

01:00:50 Shared Connections and Unique Stories

01:02:41 Claiming Your Lane: Individual Paths

01:04:21 Exploring God and Spirituality

01:10:43 Embodiment of Jesus: Actions Over Words

Today I'm chatting with Nicole Murphy, a friend, collaborator, and my co-creator of the Creative Project Studio. Nicole is a media producer, event creator, and someone who has spent over a decade helping people bring their creative projects to life.

This conversation went deep fast. We talk about Nicole's winding path from being called "dancing girl" in elementary school to art school, film school, and eventually building a community rooted in creativity and connection. We get into the creative cycle she's mapped out, inspiration through to feedback, and why so many creatives get stuck somewhere in the middle. We talk about what happened when she left her serving job, gave up her apartment, and traveled to the literal other side of the world with a carry-on and a backpack. Mauritius, Thailand, Vietnam, across Canada.

We spend a lot of time on what it means to get back in rooms with people, why play isn't a luxury, and how isolation became normalized in ways we're only starting to see clearly. Nicole shares honestly about image management, faith, money fears, and the spiritual warfare she sees playing out in creative people's lives.

This one is about remembering that creativity isn't extra. It's essential.

Connect with Nicole Murphy:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolesmurphy/
Creatives Project Studio: https://www.skool.com/creative-project-studio/about

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Evolution of Collaboration

03:09 Nicole's Journey in the Creative Space

06:57 Understanding the Creative Cycle

09:55 The Importance of Human Connection

12:42 Navigating Fear and Connection Post-Pandemic

18:28 Embracing Adventure and Growth

24:15 Wealth of Experience and Perspective

25:33 Navigating Uncomfortable Conversations

29:05 The Impact of Online vs. In-Person Interactions

31:17 The Call for In-Person Connection

33:35 Mental Health and the Digital Age

36:19 Creativity and Relationships

41:04 The Necessity of Play and Connection

49:41 The Power of Play in Life

51:49 Navigating the Corporate Culture Shift

53:46 Creativity vs. Conformity in Education

57:55 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Authenticity

01:00:59 The Role of Community in Personal Growth

01:03:44 Embracing Creative Expression and Connection

In this episode, I sit down with Kasia Piascik—HR professional, fellow author in the Reclaiming Mental Health anthology, and someone who has done the deep, unglamorous work of coming home to herself. Kasia's chapter traces her life from a gifted kid in a Mississauga classroom through depression, anxiety, addiction, and the labels that tried to define her, all the way to sixteen years sober and a life she actually recognizes as her own.

We talk about what it felt like to ask for help as a child and be turned away, the diagnoses that accumulated over the years and what she eventually made of them, and how addiction became the way she drowned out pain she didn't have language for yet. We also get into the DSM, Gabor Maté, and why finding the root matters more than naming the symptom.

There's also wonderful synchronicity with Kasia ended up writing in this book also—a thread that runs all the way back to her grade five classroom and her very first teacher. And yes, she posted about all of this on LinkedIn. She works in HR. That took guts, and we talk about that too.

Resources Mentioned:
Reclaiming Mental Health anthology: https://a.co/d/0dvGcfuS
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Connect with Kasia:

Instagram: @kasiapiascikreclaims

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Today I'm chatting with Dr. John Battye. John is an improv instructor, arts educator, professor at Grant MacEwan University, and one of my Improv 100 instructors this past winter semester. John grew up in Blyth, Ontario, a small farming town with a surprisingly big theater at its heart. His grandmother helped found the Blyth Festival, and a chance encounter with the artistic director when John was young set everything in motion. Thirty years of performing and teaching improv later, here we are.

In this conversation we talk about how improv teaches you to sort through the noise and find what actually matters in the moment, why community is the whole point, and what gets lost when arts funding disappears. John also shares what it looks like from the instructor's side: watching people walk in thinking they can't do it, and walk out knowing they can. That shift, he says, is the truest gift he's given in his work.

We also get into whether we're standing on the edge of a cultural renaissance, the strange paradox of being an introvert who's spent decades on stage, and what a giant pink Easter Bunny has to do with any of this.

At the heart of it all is something John said near the end that stayed with me: improv is a practice of understanding your own impulse and being okay with whatever that is. Radical self-acceptance. Scary, honest, and extremely rewarding.

Connect with Dr. John Battye:

Instagram: @jb3performs

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to John Battye

04:19 John's Journey into Improv and Theater

07:02 Teaching and Impact of Improv Classes

09:59 Long Form Improv Experiences

12:38 Nervousness and Excitement in Performance

13:46 Building Community through Improv

15:31 The Nature of Improv and Mistakes

18:24 Learning and Growth in Improv

21:06 The Transformative Power of Improv

24:34 Art as a Healing Force in Troubling Times

29:52 The Rise of Creative Exploration Post-Pandemic

36:18 Navigating the Stage: Stories from the Improv World

41:51 Embracing Playfulness and Vulnerability in Art

47:08 Final Thoughts: The Importance of Self-Acceptance and Community

Today I'm chatting with Ulrike Tooke, someone who has been on a long journey back to herself and she's sharing about some of that in this conversation.

When Ulrike lost her mother at seven, she made a quiet but life-altering decision: to be strong, to hold it together, to stop being a kid. What she uncovered decades later was that in doing so, she had left a part of herself behind entirely.

She shares what it means to finally grieve the self you abandoned, not just the people you've lost. We get into precognitive dreams, the ones that scared her enough to stop dreaming altogether for nearly a decade, and what it meant when they came back different.

We wander into Chinese medicine, heart rate variability, minerals, sleep, and the powerful intelligence of the body. And we land on discernment, how you build it, why it matters.

Ulrike is thoughtful, honest, and refreshingly unpolished in the best way.

Connect with Ulrike:
Instagram: @thelivingcompass_ | @redbirchriver
Website: luminawellnessco.ca

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:
Instagram: @dee_ogsoul
Website: ogsoul.ca