New Podcast, Free Glasses, Daily Dose & Finding Our North Star
Hi friends,
Wow. What a week.
If I had to describe this past week in one word, it would be pulverizing.
It's been a week of immense shedding, incredible opportunities for creation, and some of the most inspiring conversations I've had in a long time.
I feel like I've lived about three months in seven days, and somehow I'm coming out the other side feeling both completely wrung out and wildly inspired.
Funny how those two things can coexist.
Today's Lineup:
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Ten podcast episodes, eight guests, and a whole lot of curiosity
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The unexpected beauty of creating something together
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What happens when our values become our North Star
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Four little habits that can change how we experience our days
Ten Episodes. Eight Guests. One Very Full Heart.
Earlier this week, Gregory and I filmed TEN episodes of our new podcast, The Matter and the Woo, with eight absolutely incredible guest speakers.
And oh my gosh, you guys. I am SO excited for you to meet these humans.
We explored everything from plant medicine and creating epiphany states in relationships to synchronicity versus coincidence, brain mapping, neurofeedback, and even living your life by flipping a coin.
Yes, flipping a coin. You're going to love that one.
One of our incredible guests was Rudy Nassif, founder of VivaRays, a company you may already be familiar with because you've probably seen me wearing their glasses over the years.
I love using my VivaRays glasses when I'm working on computers, traveling, or spending time under fluorescent lighting. They're one of the tools I use to be more intentional about my light environment and support my circadian rhythm, particularly when natural light isn't available.
And here's something fun!
VivaRays is hosting a giveaway for a free pair of their glasses!
If you've been curious about how light influences your internal clock, sleep, and daily hormonal rhythms, this is a wonderful opportunity to explore the topic and enter for a chance to receive a pair.
[ENTER THE VIVARAYS GIVEAWAY HERE]
What struck me most about filming wasn't just the diversity of topics, but how alive I felt inside these conversations.
Gregory and I showed up to each episode with play, curiosity, and a genuine willingness to explore whatever unfolded. There wasn't a need to have all the answers or arrive at some perfectly packaged conclusion.
We just got to be curious together.
And somewhere in the middle of filming, I had this incredibly clear realization:
This is what I want to be doing.
Creating spaces for conversations that many of us don't get to have in our everyday lives. Bringing together people from different worlds, with different perspectives, to explore the things we know, the things we think we know, and the things we can't quite explain.
I want more of this. More podcasts, more events, more experiences where we get to explore, question, laugh, play, and maybe leave seeing the world a little differently.
We're working on bringing these conversations to you soon, and I genuinely cannot wait.
The Beauty of What We Create Together
After filming, we moved into another very different experience.
We hosted an intimate personal development retreat at our home, something we do about four times a year with a group of people who have been exploring this work together over time.
These retreats are centered around consciousness, personal development, and examining the patterns that shape how we experience ourselves and the world.
Some people have been part of this group for a long time. Occasionally new people join. And there's something incredibly special about getting to witness one another through different seasons of life.
The beautiful ones. The messy ones. The ones that ask us to look at parts of ourselves we might otherwise prefer to avoid.
This weekend brought me into a deeper exploration of something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
What do I actually value?
It's a word we use all the time, but I wonder how often we really sit with it.
We say we value health, family, freedom, honesty, connection, creativity. But what does that actually mean in the way we move through our lives?
One of the values that became especially clear for me this weekend was reverence.
Reverence for the uniqueness of each human being. For the perspectives we carry, the experiences that have shaped us, and the different ways we see and interpret the world.
And alongside reverence came another value that feels increasingly important to me: co-creation.
We created art together this weekend, and I found myself fascinated by the simple fact that what we made could never have existed in quite the same way with a different group of people.
The same is true of a conversation, a friendship, a disagreement, a business, or a relationship.
Each person brings their own chemistry, perspective, history, imagination, and way of being. When those things meet, something entirely new becomes possible.
I find that absolutely fascinating.
It's part of what I loved so much about filming the podcast, too. Every guest brought us into a different world, and the conversations became something none of us could have created alone.
There's something beautiful about realizing that our individual gifts become something entirely different when we bring them together.
Speaking of creating things that wouldn't otherwise exist, I thought I'd share a little something with you.
I've been playing around with Suno, an AI music creation tool that lets you turn your ideas, words, and imagination into actual songs.
And oh my gosh, is it fun.
There's something pretty wild about having an idea in your head and then getting to hear a version of it come to life through music.
It's another beautiful example of how technology can become a tool for creativity and expression, allowing us to explore parts of our imagination in entirely new ways.
So, in the spirit of play, experimentation, and sharing what we're creating, here's a song I made.
Enjoy this little piece of my imagination brought to life.
Values Give Us Direction. Habits Help Us Live It.
As I moved through the weekend, I started thinking about the relationship between our values and our daily habits.
Because in many ways, they serve a similar purpose.
Our values help us understand what matters to us. They give us a North Star, something to orient ourselves toward when life gets complicated.
Our habits are the little things we do each day that help us live in alignment with that direction.
And when either one is missing, it's easy to feel like we're drifting.
We can say we value our health, but if we're consistently sleeping poorly, forgetting to drink water, barely getting outside, and struggling to nourish ourselves, there's a disconnect between what matters to us and what we're practicing.
Not because we're lazy or doing something wrong. Often, we're simply living inside patterns that have become so familiar we barely notice them anymore.
Which is why I love the simplicity of something we're introducing inside The Green Door Life.
The Daily Dose: Four Weeks Back to the Basics
Two of our wonderful Green Door Life coaches, Tovara and Sarah, are bringing a new four-week experience to life called The Daily Dose, beginning October 26.
And I think the timing couldn't be more perfect.
The idea is beautifully simple. Four weeks of bringing intention, curiosity, and accountability to the foundations that support how we feel and function.
We're focusing on four things:
Water: Are you consistently giving your body the hydration it needs?
Sleep: What does your sleep look like, and how can you begin supporting it more intentionally?
Protein: Are you getting enough to support your body, strength, and recovery?
Walking: How can you bring more movement into your daily rhythm in a way that works for your life?
Plus, a special bonus on sunlight and circadian rhythm!
We'll explore how natural light helps support your body's internal clock, influencing sleep and wakefulness, energy, and daily rhythms.
These things sound almost too simple, don't they?
Yet I can't tell you how often I see people searching for increasingly complicated solutions while some of these foundational habits haven't been explored consistently.
Of course, they're not a cure for everything, and each person's needs are different. But supporting these basics can make a meaningful difference in energy, recovery, appetite, focus, and how we experience our days.
What excites me most about The Daily Dose isn't just the habits themselves.
It's the opportunity to practice them together.
Because information and application are two very different things.
You can watch a hundred Instagram videos about protein, read all the sleep research, and know that daily walking is beneficial. But that doesn't necessarily mean those things have found their way into your actual life.
That's where coaching and community become so valuable.
For four weeks, you'll have two group calls each week, a dedicated group chat, and a simple daily tracker to help you notice your patterns, build consistency, and learn alongside other people doing the same thing.
There will be encouragement, accountability, shared discoveries, and probably a few laughs along the way.
It's not about doing everything perfectly for 28 days. It's about exploring what happens when we give the things that support us a little more attention and care.
And I love that this is another form of co-creation. Each person brings their own life, challenges, insights, and experiences into the group, making the experience richer for everyone.
If you've been wanting to improve your sleep, feel more consistent with your nutrition, move your body more often, or simply have some loving accountability around the basics, we'd love to have you.
The Daily Dose begins October 26.
🤩One more invitation before I go.
This week inside the Belonging Circle, we're bringing this exploration of values into our community.
We'll be moving through a values practice together, taking time to look at what truly matters to us and how those values can become something we consciously live by.
Our next gathering is Tuesday, October 20, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Central, and you're welcome to join us.
What I love about this kind of work is that it's never really finished. Our values can evolve as we do. We get to revisit them, articulate them more clearly, and discover new ways to bring them into our lives.
After this week, I'm feeling an enormous amount of gratitude for the people I get to create alongside, the conversations that stretch me, and the simple daily practices that help make all of this possible.
Because maybe that's the beautiful relationship between the two.
Our values remind us what we're living for. Our habits help us create the capacity to actually live it.
Nice chat. Let's do it again next week.
Until then, here's to a little more play, curiosity, reverence, creativity, and the beautiful things we get to create together.
All love,
Shannon
P.S. If the basics have been slipping lately, consider this your invitation to return to them with a little support. The Daily Dose starts October 26, and Tovara and Sarah would love to welcome you into the four-week experience.
P.P.S. We're also celebrating a VERY early Black Friday over here. Because apparently, who needs to wait until November?
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