Personal Update: The Pause Button

Cathy shares a personal update about her absence from the podcast as she takes time to heal and find stillness after eight years of non-stop caregiving, including Denis's recent stem cell transplant recovery. She explains her decision to pause – not quit – the podcast to reconnect with her body, rediscover joy, and learn what it means to simply be rather than constantly do.

• Operating at high speed for almost eight years through caregiving, loss, podcasting, and creating
• Realized she had forgotten what stillness felt like and couldn't sit still or pause
• Gave herself permission in mid-June to just be – no schedule, pressure, or podcast deadlines
• Currently in a healing season trying to figure out what joy and energy feel like in her body again
• Denis is okay, Cathy is okay, and she will return when the time is right
• Misses the podcast community and interactions with listeners
• Encouragement for others who may be in seasons of stillness, burnout, or discovery

Thank you for being in this with me. You are part of what makes this community feel like home, so take care, take good care of yourself, and I'll talk to you real soon.

Chapters

• 0:00 Personal Update After Silence
• 0:37 Eight Years of High-Speed Living
• 1:11 Permission to Pause and Heal
• 2:16 Missing the Community
• 3:27 Gratitude and Temporary Goodbye

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, hello my friend. It's Kathy here on a very short update on the Caregiver Cup podcast. I just wanted to pop into your ears today and give you a really personal update. You've probably noticed things have been really quiet here and I've seen and heard from many of you. If you've reached out via email, messaged me or sent me a fan mail text, I want to say thank you. I've read every single one and they've meant more to me than you know. So what's been going on?

Speaker 1: 0:37

Well, these past few months I've been deep in caregiving as Dennis is recovering from a stem cell transplant, and in the quieter moments, which I've had more of lately, I've realized something powerful and hard. I've been operating at high speed for almost eight years now, through caregiving through loss, through caregiving through loss, through the Caregiver Cup podcast, through creating, through giving and much more. And then, somewhere along the way, I forgot what stillness felt like. I couldn't sit still, I couldn't just pause. And so why am I pausing? Because of that. So mid-June, I gave myself permission to just be, to just pause, not quit, not walk away forever, just pause and listen to my body and let my body heal. So I've committed to no schedule, no pressure, no podcast deadlines, just me in this healing season trying to figure out what joy is, what energy feels like in my own body again, energy feels like in my own body again. So what to expect from me is I don't have all the answers yet, so I can't tell you what that looks like yet, but I'm sure when or how I'll return to this space. I will definitely let you know.

Speaker 1: 2:21

But I didn't want to stay silent and have you think something is seriously wrong. It's not. I know you've walked beside me for four plus years in the Caregiver Cup podcast. You deserve to know. I'm still here, I'm okay, dennis is okay and I'm figuring it out, dennis is okay and I'm figuring it out. And I think this has been the longest I've ever been still and it's driving me crazy, but I'm figuring it out.

Speaker 1: 2:53

But, most importantly, I miss you. I miss talking to you, I miss interacting. I miss, you know, emailing back and forth, but I know sooner or later I'll figure out the space and I'll be back, hopefully in a whole new way. So in closing today, if you are also in a season of stillness or burnout or discovery, please know you are not alone. I'll keep sharing little updates here and there when it feels right. Until then, though, my friend, thank you for being in this with me. Thank you for anybody who's checked in on me. I appreciate it. Or you just are you, or you were thinking about me. You are part of what makes this community feel like home, so take care, take good care of yourself, and I'll talk to you real soon. Bye for now.