Wanna be friends?
July 19, 2023
Hosted by Kirsten Johansen
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Guest Information
Episode Description
Do you remember when you were a kid, and it could be as simple as this? You meet someone, feel connected, want to be friends, ask them, and just like that...you become friends. Maybe for months, years, and decades to come! Cultivating the intimacy that only resides within a friendship, navigating conflict, and making new friends can enrich human life from our earliest memories to our final days. Join me and special guest, relationship psychologist Dr. Don Azevedo, as we discuss the importance of friendships in our lives.
GTO Freedom for Humans
Podcast Episodes Available on demand on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel
Free yourself and find your Tango! Join us for laughter, tears, tools, and strategies to help you shift your perspective and connect with other humans and to something greater. Through inspirational stories of humans who have freed themselves from suffering, you will spot self-hate and develop its antidote: unconditional love, compassion, and acceptance of self. This will influence and simplify your choices, large and small. Self-hate is sneaky. One of its talents is to convince us it doesn't exist while it tells us we're not good enough. Ouch! Self-hate thrives when humans feel like they are alone. You are not alone. When humans share from a radically honest and vulnerable place, we build trust and connection. GTO, Giraffe Tango Octopus, the integration of my wonderfully weird human characteristics, was born from my own journey to freedom through unconditional self-love and acceptance. Given my history as a self-hating perfectionist, it is nothing short of a miracle!
Kirsten Johansen
I’m going to get straight to the point. I was suffering! My self-hating perfectionism was militant and pervasive. While it led to success, it certainly did not lead to happiness. Success and happiness aren’t the same. Sometimes they aren’t even friends! I had been working to improve and fix myself for nearly 35 years. No part of my life or my appearance was safe from my inner critic and the belief that I had to do better. Be better. Look better. A human can’t live this way without anesthesia behaviors. I was no exception. Anesthesia behaviors tend to compound suffering by providing only brief relief followed by more harm to the self. Just as the pandemic began, my suffering had enveloped me. There was nowhere left to go. I could slide into the dark, hollow, emptiness I felt when I looked inside, or lay down my weapons and surrender. Surrender, finally, to unconditional love, acceptance, and compassion for myself. This complete shift in my beliefs about myself allowed me to heal my wounds, grieve my losses and experience a rebirth. I told self-hate to kick rocks! GTO Coaching for Humans allows me to connect with other humans and help them find freedom and love themselves. GTO Freedom for Humans reflects my passion for radically honest and vulnerable storytelling and leveraging the experiences of others to connect us, heal us and release us into the freedom of unconditional self-acceptance. I am living my purpose now. In gratitude, Kirsten
