Welcome to the podcast that helps you find that version of yourself again—you know, the one who didn’t need a reason to dance in the kitchen or laugh too loud. Each week, we explore the art of choosing joy in midlife, sharing stories and strategies for bringing play and creativity back into our lives.

What happens when you stop trying to be good at everything and give yourself permission to simply make stuff, love stuff, and occasionally have grape-candy-colored hair?

In this Play Date, I’m catching up with teaching artist Becka Rahn about bringing more joy into everyday life, the exhausting business of always waiting for someone to say yes, why grown women need more chances to be beginners, and what happens to our brains when we put down the screens and make something with our hands. We also talk about leaving a job without a plan, learning there is—in fact—not an endless supply of Becka to throw at every problem, and why unabashed enthusiasm might just be one of her favorite qualities in a person.

Meet the Joy Concierge. That’s the nickname my guest Teresa Thomas earned after turning her 50th birthday into a wildly contagious practice: a list of 50 fun things to experience before the big day — everything from Santorini-sized dreams to finally ordering the latte instead of the regular coffee.
We dig into why saying what you want out loud seems to summon it (wait for the drum jam story), the real difference between toxic positivity and joy as an act of resistance, and why “I’m good at this” is one of the hardest sentences for women to say without flinching. We also get into foreboding joy, Teresa’s decade-long refusal to skip dance, and the archery outing she still hasn’t taken.
Grab your coffee (or your latte, no judgment) and press play.

What happens when your brain is really good at solving problems… and then, for once, there isn’t one to solve?

This week’s Nudge episode started with a line from a novel I recently read— “What am I supposed to seek justice for now?” — and a much bigger question from a conversation with my coach: what if the actual problem is that there isn’t a problem? Turns out my nervous system finds “everything is fine” more than a little suspicious.

I get into hovering above our own lives with a clipboard, dragons we may have already finished slaying, and whether joy and ease ask something of us that achievement never had to.

No seven-step plan here. Just some out-loud wondering about who we are when there’s nothing left to fix.

What if the truest résumé of your life isn’t the one with job titles on it?

This week’s Play Date is with Cynthia Morris — writing and creativity coach, novelist, and former hot air balloon chef in the Alps (a real job, apparently) — who’s spent 25+ years helping creative people clear out what she calls “the inner gunk.” We dig into her concept of an adventure résumé: mapping the moments that actually shaped you instead of the ones that fit neatly on LinkedIn.

We also get into what happens once “good” already exists and you’re reaching for spectacular and why Cynthia flatly rejects the word permission in favor of recognition.

Grab your coffee — this one’s a generous, wide-reaching conversation about the detours that turn out to be the whole point.

What if “I’m too old” isn’t a fact, but a story you’ve been telling yourself for so long it started to sound true?

In this Nudge episode, I explore the particular gremlin that insists we’ve missed our chance—and the possibility that maybe we’re not too late at all. Maybe we’re just standing at a threshold, looking at doors we haven’t tried yet.

In this Play Date episode, I’m talking with creativity coach, writer, artist, and podcaster Catherine LaSota about becoming your own authority—questioning the expectations you’ve absorbed, trusting the path that actually fits you, and building a life around your real values and needs instead of somebody else’s idea of how you should be doing it.

We talk about giving ourselves permission to make our own rules, creating lives that are sustainable instead of simply productive, following the threads that pull at us, and why fun isn’t nearly as frivolous as we’ve been taught to believe.

We also get into winding career paths, creative identity, and Catherine’s delightfully named Be Your Own Daddy approach to becoming your own authority figure.

And perhaps the most important point: you are never going to be the valedictorian of life. Which means maybe we can all stop trying quite so hard to earn the A+.

Sign up for Catherine’s free Fall Equinox Writing Workshop on Sep 22, 2026 HERE

Have you ever caught yourself rushing when you have absolutely nowhere you need to be?

In this Nudge, I’m sharing the morning I found myself hurrying just so I could relax and meditate. (Yes, I see the irony.)

It got me wondering how often we rush simply because we’ve gotten used to rushing—and whether the pace of our lives might be a little more ours to choose than we think.

Consider this episode your invitation to question the hurry.

Somewhere around midlife, the roles that used to fit us start to feel like pants that won’t button — and creativity, it turns out, is how we find our way back to who’s underneath them. In this Play Date, I sit down with artist and midlife transformation mentor Minette Riordan to bust the myth that creativity = art (blame the Renaissance), explore why wordless collage can crack open truths we didn’t know we were hiding, and talk about what happens when you finally give yourself permission to put art at the center of your life instead of cramming it into the leftover minutes. Along the way: the “cup and saucer” wisdom about filling your own well, why resistance is often just fear wearing a disguise, and Minette’s gorgeously defiant mantra — be the queen of your own damn story.

I grew up in the era of fine china saved for occasions that never came, and formal living rooms no one was allowed to sit in — a whole generation preparing for a party that never quite happened.

Turns out I never outgrew asking why. In this Nudge episode, I follow that question somewhere I didn’t expect — from the stuff in our closets to the beliefs and dreams we’ve quietly packed away and stopped looking at altogether.

What are you saving instead of savoring? I have a hunch, by the end of this episode, you’ll have some unexpected answers, too.

You planted the seeds. So why do you still feel guilty for not doing anything while they grow?

This is a Nudge with a twist — because last week, my friend Kim Turcotte (you’ll remember her from our very first Play Date) sent an email that got me thinking, and I immediately texted her: “we need to talk about this on the podcast.”

So we did. Kim and I dig into the phrase “the lazy days of summer” and why so many of us feel the pull to slow down right now — and why that pull isn’t laziness, it’s wisdom. We talk about the difference between stillness and rest, why summer’s fallow time feels so different from winter’s, and what Kim calls “untraining” ourselves out of a culture that only knows how to go, go, go.

Kim shares more about living in seasonal rhythm through her Sacred Rhythms offering (link in the show notes).

Sarah Raad has spent her career working with creative women who are stuck in the loop: overthinking, second-guessing, circling the same ideas, and never quite feeling ready. Sound familiar?

In this episode, we dig into why rest isn’t laziness, why confidence isn’t coming no matter how many online courses you take, and why picking one idea and letting the rest wait might do more for your creativity than chasing every single one.
You’ll also hear about the surprisingly powerful case for doing things you’re bad at, why creative women need space to think more than they need more advice, and how a monthly journaling session became Sarah’s favorite thing she does.

Sarah is a coach and mentor for creative women, and writes the Substack Gather & Grow. Find her at www.sarahraad.com

My guest today is Kate Buckmeier — the person behind something she calls The Grandma Project. Around her 49th birthday, the idea for the project arrived fully formed: 12 months, 12 activities pulled from the lives of her two grandmothers. Golf. Sauerkraut making. Contra dancing. Watching Days of Our Lives.

We talk about why women are so quick to talk themselves out of the ideas that come “fully formed,” and why the word *serve* can feel like both a calling and a trigger. Kate opens up about growing up on her family farm in a small Minnesota town, the theme she calls “the dance between holding on and letting go,” and what she now knows about connection, joy, and duty because of the women who helped raised her.

To read Kate blog post on The Grandma Project, go here: https://katebuckmeier.com/the-grandma-project/

Life gets busy. Responsibilities get loud. And somewhere along the way, many of us stop noticing the little things that make us smile. In this episode, we’re exploring what happens when we get curious about fun again—and why rediscovering it doesn’t have to mean making big changes. Sometimes it starts with a couple simple questions.

If you’ve ever talked yourself out of the art class, the afternoon off, the thing that would genuinely make your life more beautiful — and told yourself it was about the money or the time — this one’s for you. In this Nudge, I’m following a question that found me twice in less than a week: are you letting yourself have the things that bring you joy? Not the things you can justify. Not the things you’ve earned. The things that actually make you feel more like yourself.

My Play Date guest this week has been listening to me talk about the power of play for over 26 years. It was time to put him on the mic. Meet Paul Jackson — baritone, professor, eternal optimist, and the man who I have to keep asking if he’s giving anyone a new kidney today.

When was the last time you genuinely felt sharp? Not caffeinated sharp — actually sharp? In this Nudge episode, Annmarie digs into why rest is vital input and not an earned reward — and why play might be the most underrated form of rest there is.

Kristen Tate is my book editor, a self-described introvert, and someone who has intentionally built play back into her life more than once. Which means this conversation felt a little like sitting down with someone who understands how easy it is to forget fun isn’t supposed to require a permission slip.

We talk about why live music might secretly be the perfect introvert activity, how camping dramatically lowers your expectations in the best possible way, and the oddly liberating experience of going alone to the things you love.
We also chat about the blurry line between work and play, how to recognize when something you once loved has quietly turned into another obligation, and why Kristen spent part of COVID writing a historical mystery longhand… only to deliberately tuck it away in a drawer afterward.

I built a podcast called I Used to Be Fun about reclaiming creativity, play, and joy. So you’d think I’d be great at actually choosing joy. You’d be wrong. In this episode, I get honest about the gap between knowing something and living it — and why “the responsible thing” is sometimes just fear wearing a sensible cardigan.

For the first Play Date episode of I Used to Be Fun, I brought in one of my besties (made it a little less scary that way!)— Kim Turcotte. Kim helps women reconnect with themselves through cyclical wisdom and intentional practice, which sounds like she has everything figured out. Spoiler: she doesn’t. (Her words, not mine.) We talked about play, creativity, and what it actually means to reclaim joy when you’re still in the middle of figuring it out yourself. Oh, and roller skating, we talked about that too.

What if you didn’t lose the fun, playful version of yourself? What if you actually just got really good at editing her out? In this first episode, we explore the difference between something being lost vs. being tucked away, and make a case for why the weird, creative, slightly-too-much version of you might have been here all along. Plus: a five-minute challenge that might just crack something open.