Get ready for THE TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE℠ PODCAST: SEASON 4! With co-hosts Rachel Bellotti (she/her) and Jenell Riesner (she/her), this is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations celebrating the untold stories of everyday people fearlessly finding and living their true north. 

In our own search to discover and live from our TRUE NORTH, we continue to meet many interesting, courageous people from all walks of life, doing all sorts of amazing things to live life in their own unique way. Stories from all over the world. Stories with heart. Stories with grit. Stories with plot twists. Stories going untold - until now. This season, we continue to celebrate these untold stories of everyday people who are fearlessly living their true north and inspiring each of us to do the same.

Today, we take a minute to catch up with just Jenell + Rachel to hear where they’re at with their own journeys. A huge passion behind the TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE has always been to be in the process of figuring out what it means to be true to ourselves, right alongside each of you. We certainly don’t have all the answers. We might have more data than we did four years ago, but we realize that being our true selves is an ongoing commitment, a lifestyle choice, and a lifelong practice. So, in this slightly shorter episode, we jump right into the middle of a convo that we were having (without the intention to record) and realized that we should be recording it because it was real, raw, in-the-moment, unplanned, and honest. We talk about learning to trust ourselves, NOT hiding behind people, owning the parts of ourselves that we’re ashamed of, conviction + sincerity, not being in a rush, control and self-compassion. We hope this episode reminds you that you are not alone in this and that the journey is life, so dive in and see where it takes you.

*note: this episode includes explicit language appropriate for those ages 16+

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• #amplifymelanatedvoices @jianpablico
• #amplifymelanatedvoices @transparentandblack
• #amplifymelanatedvoices @kierandthem
• Music from: https://www.jukedeck.com/

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Where in your life are you looking for permission from others to do what you know in your heart it’s time for? Can you just trust yourself? What would it look like if you DID trust yourself? What would a person who trusts themselves do? What small things can you start to do each day to build up your trust muscle in yourself, until you are able to trust yourself with bigger choices? Start small if you have to, but never give up on trusting in yourself to know what’s best for you.
2. Let’s normalize the reality of what it means to actually find + be yourself. It seems so obvious + easy at the surface, but really it’s confusing + uncertain + messy + backwards + beautiful + rejecting + annoying + frustrating + so much more. And yet we only talk about the shiny parts of it, which is such a disservice to all of us because then we chase some false reality of what it means to be true to yourself. Let’s give ourselves permission to have the journey of being true to yourself be whatever it looks like for you. And to know that whatever it looks like is probably more normal than you realize because we haven’t done a great job of being honest about how non-linear the path with oneself actually is.
3. Sometimes we don’t need another book or concept or tool, we just need to go live life and experience shit for ourselves. To gather our own proof and data and understanding. So we can know for ourselves, first-hand, experientially. Because no wisdom is as impactful as the wisdom within us and our lived experience.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [2:00] Trusting yourself
• [3:00] Letting myself cry 
• [3:50] Asking for permission
• [5:00] Demonizing parts of myself
• [7:50] Making myself small
• [9:45] Shifting relationship dynamics
• [12:00] Owning the parts of self that feel shameful
• [18:00] Are you going to choose to live for them or you?
• [24:00] How bad do you want it?
• [26:00] Rites of passage
• [32:23] AD: We are excited to share that Dr. Emily Kirkwold (from Season 3 of TNC) is offering FREE monthly workshops on natural family planning, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month. As a part of knowing your authentic self, it’s so important to invite yourself to know your body fully, too. Learn more here to start the journey of knowing the nuances of the body as it pertains to natural family planning.
• [33:50] Experiential knowledge + conviction
• [35:30] Slowing down + being sincere
• [39:00] Control + time
• [44:00] Self-compassion
• [45:00] AD: If you like these conversations and want more from this community, we highly recommend signing up for our mailing list to be the first to know about upcoming events, experiences, and things that are happening with this rad collective of humxns living their TRUE NORTH. We’d love to connect with you there!