Tiny Shifts

Tangled Surprises

Does living your best life mean that you've got it all figured out? Does it mean all pleasure and no pain? Does the concept of no pain even make sense in the world where joy and beauty are so often entangled with disappointment and struggle?
Rev. Elaine digs into these questions and more with long-time Foothills members Lynn Young and Bob Bacon. They explore how we can hold the tension of being both awake to suffering and open to beauty and joy.

Stop Trying: Wu Wei and Embracing the Art of Flow

Rev. Sean draws on East Asian philosophy and religious traditions to explore how embracing flow can help us live our best life.

What the heck does living your best life mean?

This week on the podcast we're diving into a new series called "Your Best Life," exploring how we don’t need to have it together, to do it together. What our consumer society tells us we need to live our best life is a lie... so what the heck does it mean to live your best life? Join Revs. Sean and Elaine as they explore a possible answer to this big question. 
2:49 - Reading from No Cure for being Human by Kate Bowler
6:12 - Conversation with Revs. Sean and Elaine

Why we should give indigenous land back

In the final week of our series Re-Assembly Required, which is all about repairing broken relationships, we're zooming out to focus on communal relationships — specifically, the relationship between settlers and native peoples. Rev. Sean interviews indigenous activists Christinia Eala and Elissa Tivona about Hughes Land Back. Land back movements seek to restore stewardship of land to indigenous people, and Hughes Land Back specifically seeks to return the former site of Colorado State University's Hughes Stadium.

Making Friends

We all share the longing to be known and embraced for who we are, messy parts and all. Yet, humans are experiencing loneliness at record levels (and this was true even before the pandemic hit!). So what is it we really want in friendships and how can we find it? Rev. Gretchen draws on friendship research to help you start opening up and forming deep, authentic friendships no matter your walk of life (2:03). Then Rev. Sean converses with his close friend and fellow Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Joe Cherry about patterns and experiences within their friendship and friendships generally (24:19).

How to Fight Fair When the Loving Gets Hard

Rev. Sean interviews couples therapist Jennifer Dunkle on how we can simplify conflicts to make them more productive. We distinguish solvable and perpetual conflicts and explore how unpacking our personal histories can help with navigating conflicting values and goals.

Encanto, The Four Tendencies and Healthy Relationships with Rev. Christopher Watkins Lamb

Rev. Christopher Watkins Lamb explores the hit movie Encanto through the lens of Gretchen Rubin's four tendencies (The Obliger, The Upholder, The Questioner, The Rebel) to help us better relate with the inner and outer characters that make up our lives.

How to Apologize

Rev. Gretchen explores the mechanics of a good apology and how whole-hearted attempts at repair have the potential to heal and set us all free. Rev. Elaine also guides us in a prayer that integrates the four parts of a good apology.