60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday: Not My Circus! Not My Monkeys!

Hello to you listening in Bow-Edison, Skagit County, Washington! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga. “Being underestimated because of gender (or any other reason) is an advantage when you’re a spy on the street trying to move around unobserved. Being underestimated is a problem for everybody when you are a woman in a national security community trying to make yourself heard about something important you have discovered.” [The Sisterhood - The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy]   Reading those words from The Sisterhood - The Secret History of Women at the CIA reminded me of all the ways in which women feel underestimated, personally as well as professionally. How do we correct that? It starts with unlocking the power of clarity and intentionality that is Your Who. We each have a particular story at the core of our lives: our Origin Story. Our Origin Story reveals how we got from There to Here. When we own our Origin Story we stand in courage and confidence. How so? By trusting the hardships we’ve faced and achievements we’ve won we connect with our self-worth, what we stand for, what we won’t stand for, what we no longer fear. We have something to say because we discovered WHO we are. This gives us the power to be heard and listened to. CTA: If you’re curious about how to make yourself heard by creating Your Who, email me ([email protected]) OR tap the Link in the Episode Notes to schedule a no-obligation Discovery Chat.  You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Helsinki, Finland! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga. These days it takes more than the usual effort to stop trying to burst people into flames with my mind.   What’s going on? What isn’t? The craziness is triggering our uncertainties, raising our blood pressure, interrupting our sleep, and worse. My dad used to say, Diane, Nie mój cyrk. Nie moje małpy. Not my circus - not my monkeys!   Practical Tip: Do not sell your soul for peanuts to feed the monkeys at the circus. It’s not your circus. It’s not your monkeys. Instead, find a moment of beauty and shelter in that for now. You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in San Jose, California! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga. If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know you’re on the right track, how close you are, not headed to somewhere else, or even, if you’ve arrived? Lazily drifting on a river of a summer afternoon is a worthy use of time. But if you want to move along with purpose, focus your energy, and track your progress, the smart and savvy traveler will define her destination, break the journey into manageable phases, and keep heading intentionally, consistently toward the place she wants to be. She also keeps track of where she’s been to know how far she’s come along the path. As the old ones say, When we understand where we’ve been and where we’re headed, we clarify the potential we have to make our ideas, visions and goals come true.   Story Prompt: Think of a moment in time when you felt lost. Where have you come from? Where are you now? Where are you headed? How will you get there? Write that story and share it out loud!     You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening wherever your feet touch the ground! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga. Today marks the 6th anniversary of Stories From Women Who Walk that launched (no fooling!) on April 1st 2020. As you may remember the first year I interviewed woman who were walking their lives when a conflict unexpectedly showed up causing them to make choices, accept consequences, change who they were into who they became. The conflict that caused me to pivot from my interviews to my singular 60 Seconds format was COVID; we were no longer commuting in cars listening to longer podcasts. Here we are 6 years, 1,300 episodes, and over 250,000 plays all over the world! Who made it possible? You did! Our global community. I’m still here because you’re still there. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Going forward we still have work to do as Ordinary Persons gathering into a growing Army of Ordinary Persons to demand a better way of life for all of us. You can count on me to provide ongoing 60 Seconds episodes to support, encourage, inspire, delight, illuminate, provoke, and energize! You can expect resilience and resistance balanced with hope and stories to help us live each day trusting that our collective decency, goodness, and strength will birth something so much better than what we have right now. I welcome you and each of you on the journey! Write your stories, share them out loud, be well, do good work, and stay in touch! You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Forres, Scotland! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga. The Scots word “smooring” is an old practice of subduing a fire with ash or peat to keep the embers warm overnight until they’re rekindled in the morning.  Maybe like me something or someone smoored your self-expression.  Perhaps you were told that you were a handful, a free spirit, loudly curious, or just plain too much. After a time you conformed to what they wanted. You smoored your self-expression. You stopped freely sharing your feelings, ideas, curiosity, and thoughts. As your self-expression was subdued, you became less visible.   And yet, like a smoored fire the embers of your self-expression are still there waiting to be rekindled into flame so that you regain your visibility. 4 Practical Tips: I have four tried and true tips for you:   1. Nurture self-awareness so that you become visible to yourself. 2. Awaken natural talents to reignite the fire of your self-expression.   3. Seek out the people and places where you belong, where you and your self-expression are welcome 4. Practice saying what you mean and meaning what you say as the courageous act of a warrior. The question is no longer: Who will let me?; the question is: “Who do they think they are to try and stop me?     Thank you for listening! You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening all over these still United States! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga. I’m a long-time fan of the TV series, The Big Bang Theory. No matter how many times I’ve re-watched an episode I always learn something. Like the time Raj and Howard helped Amy with a dating app for her phone. Howard commented that one day there would be something to choose a date for her. AI was hovering in the wings. Two of the characters are physicists. In physics every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When it doesn’t work because the laws of nature are broken by corrupt, power-mad, ego-maniacal psychopaths you end up where we are. In unprecedented threatening chaos. This aberration of power must have an equal force to not only keep it in check but to keep it confined. We the People are the Force acting to knock this wannabe king and all the king’s men (and women) off the throne once and for all. Story Prompt: Remember a time when you felt that a situation was unjust, you were forced to act, and your actions made a difference for the good. Write that story and tell it out loud!  You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me ([email protected]) to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening wherever your feet touch the ground!   Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more for an important announcement) for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga. NO KINGS Rally 3.0 is another national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses from Trump’s regime. This regime has cracked down on free speech, detained immigrants, killed American citizens, defied the courts, threatened anyone who would not bend a knee, enriched themselves and their obscenely greedy tycoons with unprecedented corruption, and started an illegal, idiotic war putting us on the eve of destruction. On Saturday March 28th Americans are once again taking to the streets of our nation. Here on Whidbey Island, Washington, our protest (organized by Indivisible Whidbey and supported by peacekeepers from SOS Whidbey) will  focus on defending democracy and civil rights. Demonstrators will speak out against the illegal war in the Middle East, sending troops into communities to carry out aggressively lawless actions by ICE, and the ongoing attempts to subvert voting rights and the midterm elections.   “It’s more important than ever to speak out, to come together and demand a different path”, said Carrie Krueger, an event organizer from Indivisible Whidbey. “American citizens are being disappeared or killed in the street; our soldiers, including those from Whidbey Island, are in harm's way for a war that is illegal and devastating. The very foundations of our democracy, including separation of powers and free and fair elections, are being actively and intentionally dismantled.” The event will feature music by Singing Resistance and chants led by local student leaders. We will also raise money for the Neighbor to Neighbor Fund, a grassroots community fund supporting immigrants with financial assistance for food, housing, transportation and immigration legal fees. All of us are committed to non-violent action including de-escalation of conflicts. Peacekeepers will be on hand to ensure a peaceful and positive event. Our event will take place in Oak Harbor to support the veteran and active duty military who have served and are serving our country. Saturday March 28, Noon to 2 Northeast 4th Avenue & State Route 20 Oak Harbor, WA 98277 Click HERE to learn more about No Kings Rally 3.0 and how you can get involved with Indivisible Whidbey  Click HERE to register to attend No Kings Rally 3.0 in Oak Harbor, WA  Click HERE to find No Kings Rally 3.0 events near you  Click HERE to access a comprehensive No Kings Rally 3.0  website  CTA: We’re no longer watching history - we are making it - to save Democracy and work together for a world that supports life for everything and everyone. Thank you for listening, for being one of us, and see you out on the streets March 28th! You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you women professionals listening wherever your feet touch the ground! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.   Since the beginning of time, humans have connected with each other by gathering together to share our stories.  Around ancient fires, elders recited genealogies aloud while listeners traced how their own lives wove into the larger tapestry of the tribe. Creation tales, love stories, acts of heroism were passed from voice to heart, generation after generation. Some cultures believe that each time you hear a story, you arrive as a different person seeing the characters and plot line through fresh eyes. That's the quiet magic of telling personal tales: you see how far you've traveled and who you're becoming. Though many of our formal storytelling traditions have faded, they don't have to stay lost. You can reclaim that power in your family, your community, your career. Your stories matter. Your voice carries energy that no written word can fully capture. CTA: This is your invitation to discover the stories you've been living and learn to tell them effectively with the full resonance of who you are. When women share their stories, something powerful happens. Come find out what that is. Email me at [email protected] for a no-obligation Discovery Chat. Thank you for listening. You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me ([email protected]) to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Barking, East London, England! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga. Sometimes in passing he would whisper: dit, dit, dit, dah dah dah, dit dit dit. Morse Code for SOS, Save Our Ship. I’m thinking of a skinny, 18 year old inner city kid hunched over a Morse Code machine in a radio room on a warship tapping out messages somewhere in the Pacific. During World War II US Navy warships used Morse code to speak to each other while they were out at sea. My dad was a radioman. As I watched a WWII era training film to learn more I could imagine dad’s finger on that code sending device. Click HERE to watch a 1943 US Navy training film demonstrating sending Morse Code.   Dad didn’t talk much about serving as a US Navy radioman on a warship in the Pacific. Like so many stories our loved ones thought were inconsequential we end up cobbling them together from memory and archives. But I do know this: I chose to become a US Navy Nurse motivated by my dad who chose to go war with his brothers and their friends to defend our democracy because that’s what you did then. You served your country.     Story Prompt: Who or what motivated your career choices? Write that story and share it out loud!   You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening wherever your feet touch the ground!   Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more for an important announcement) for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga. NO KINGS Rally 3.0 is another national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses from Trump’s regime. This regime has cracked down on free speech, detained immigrants, killed American citizens, defied the courts, threatened anyone who would not bend a knee, enriched themselves and their obscenely greedy tycoons with unprecedented corruption, and started an illegal, idiotic war putting us on the eve of destruction. On Saturday March 28th Americans are once again taking to the streets of our nation. Here on Whidbey Island, Washington, our protest (organized by Indivisible Whidbey and supported by peacekeepers from SOS Whidbey) will  focus on defending democracy and civil rights. Demonstrators will speak out against the illegal war in the Middle East, sending troops into communities to carry out aggressively lawless actions by ICE, and the ongoing attempts to subvert voting rights and the midterm elections.   “It’s more important than ever to speak out, to come together and demand a different path”, said Carrie Krueger, an event organizer from Indivisible Whidbey. “American citizens are being disappeared or killed in the street; our soldiers, including those from Whidbey Island, are in harm's way for a war that is illegal and devastating. The very foundations of our democracy, including separation of powers and free and fair elections, are being actively and intentionally dismantled.” The event will feature music by Singing Resistance and chants led by local student leaders. We will also raise money for the Neighbor to Neighbor Fund, a grassroots community fund supporting immigrants with financial assistance for food, housing, transportation and immigration legal fees. All of us are committed to non-violent action including de-escalation of conflicts. Peacekeepers will be on hand to ensure a peaceful and positive event. Our event will take place in Oak Harbor to support the veteran and active duty military who have served and are serving our country. Saturday March 28, Noon to 2 Northeast 4th Avenue & State Route 20 Oak Harbor, WA 98277 Click HERE to learn more about No Kings Rally 3.0 and how you can get involved with Indivisible Whidbey  Click HERE to register to attend No Kings Rally 3.0 in Oak Harbor, WA  Click HERE to find No Kings Rally 3.0 events near you  Click HERE to access a comprehensive No Kings Rally 3.0  website  CTA: We’re no longer watching history - we are making it - to save Democracy and work together for a world that supports life for everything and everyone. Thank you for listening, for being one of us, and see you out on the streets March 28th! You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.