We spend so much of our lives in between -- between milestones, between jobs, meetings, relationships, seasons of our lives, versions of ourselves. Isn't it time we get comfortable in the gap between where we left and where we're going?

Join the community on Instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/vfmspodcast/ or email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com 💕

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Today I'm diving into my theory (which has probably been said before) about the appeal of trashy "reality" shows. No shame here, I'll never say no to a little Too Hot to Handle or The Circle or (unpopular favourite) Marriage or Mortgage.

If you want extra good vibes coming your way, click on this link to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

Let me know if you think I left anything out! Email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com on reach out on Instagram @francescsivilotti :)

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This week we talk about actionable ways to get started on actually working on yourself, featuring my housemates doing their laundry. <3

References:

CMHA Fast Facts on Mental Illness: https://cmha.ca/fast-facts-about-mental-illness#:~:text=In%20any%20given%20year%2C%201,some%20time%20in%20their%20lives. 

For more information on stress and health, read Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky. 

National Institute on Alcohol Use and Alcoholism on AUD: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-use-disorder 

Keng, S-L., Smoski, M. J., and Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: a review of empirical studies. Clinical psychology review, 31(6), 1041-1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006

Interesting resource on mindfulness from the Mind & Life Institute: https://web.archive.org/web/20140322013413/http://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues/past-conferences/ml18/

University of Oxford podcast, Mark Williams on the Science of Mindfulness (2011): https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/science-mindfulness 

Ten Percent Happier podcast with Dan Harris: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast 

Suggested reading/listening:

Jonathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis: https://www.amazon.ca/Happiness-Hypothesis-Finding-Modern-Ancient/dp/0465028020

Brene Brown’s books & podcasts: https://brenebrown.com/books-audio/

Unf*ck Your Brain podcast with Kara Loewentheil: https://unfuckyourbrain.com/ 

Ten Percent Happier podcast with Dan Harris: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast 

Super Soul podcast with Oprah, baby! : https://open.spotify.com/show/0nMF1JL5tNJW7B0teIFWxV 

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos: https://open.spotify.com/show/3i5TCKhc6GY42pOWkpWveG?si=WZwBujpbRWODLxJNZ1NmmA

Anna Akana on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnnaAkana 

Psych2Go on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Psych2GoTv

The School of Life on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/schooloflifechannel 

Connect with me on Instagram: @francescsivilotti or by email: theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com

What does it actually mean to be "working on myself"? This two-part series delves into this confusing but essential process.

TL;DR: Perfectionism is the armour that you think will protect you from seeming flawed to the rest of the world, but that is actually so heavy and cumbersome to carry around that it won’t even let you move. Be gentle with your flawed self, and the flawed selves of others. Also, read Brené Brown's books.

References:

Daniel Gilbert, The psychology of your future self, TED 2014. https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_psychology_of_your_future_self/transcript?language=en 

Brene Brown, I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t). Avery, Penguin Random House LLC, 2007.

Sebene Selassie, The difference between pain and suffering, Ten Percent Happier. https://www.tenpercent.com/meditationweeklyblog/the-difference-between-pain-and-suffering 

Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor, 1995. 

Thank you to Adam Sunavsky for editing help, check out his YouTube channel on finances & the stock market! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKFR7GuFImvoFJm-1iX9pg

Reach out to me anytime at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com if you're Brené Brown and want to collab, or if you're anyone else and you just want to say hi :)

This week we dive into our happiest memories to answer Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence thought experiment! Also, we learn how to pronounce "Nietzsche." [I’m so sorry that I say the words “hold space” three times in this episode. I know it’s kinda gross and self-help-y but that was what resonated with me today.] Happy Thursday!

References:

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1882. 

Philosophize This! Podcast by the delightful Stephen West (episode #128: Gilles Deleuze pt.4 - Flows). 

Drake, “6PM In New York”, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015 Cash Money Records). 

Don't forget to leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

Reach me anytime at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com with your stories, topic suggestions, or just to say hi!

Ever wondered where the picture on the cover of this podcast comes from? That story, and more. And happy 91st birthday to my one and only nonno! Thank you for your gentleness and for always staying near me no matter the distance.

References from today's episode come from Gregory Hayes's translation of Meditations, as well as Ryan Holiday's podcast The Daily Stoic.

As always, you can reach me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com with questions, topic suggestions, feedback, or even just to say hi :)

I forgot to plug in my microphone and only realized after I was done, so I apologize if the audio sounds gross. This is my "gift of imperfection" for you today (Brené Brown would be so proud)! Now go forth and embrace your own imperfections!

Email me anytime: theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com

You can also find me on TikTok but I'm not going to link it because it's cringy and I'd honestly pretend the account doesn't exist, so you can find it if you'd like, but I'm not gonna make it easy.

Favourite moment of this episode? "Your precious eyeballs." ... It tasted good in my head, but not in my mouth. Chloe, if you're reading this... you know.

We're trying something new this week and oh baby, this one's fun. I don't even know what to write here - just listen. Listen, then think for yourself.

As always, email me anytime at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com and tell me all the ways you disagree with me.

Please consider leaving me a review on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

References:

Randy E. Barnett, Restitution: A New Paradigm for Criminal Justice, 87 Ethics 279 (1977) https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1558/ 

John Howard Society, Financial Facts on Canadian Prisons, 2018. https://johnhoward.ca/blog/financial-facts-canadian-prisons/ 

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: Mental Illness and the Prison System, n.d. https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/mental-illness-and-the-prison-system 

If you go to Dalhousie University, I highly recommend HIST 3226: Law & Justice in Canada to 1890.

Resources:

Police-reported crime statistics in Canada up to 2019: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2020001/article/00010-eng.htm 

Canadian DOJ on the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system: https://www.justice.gc.ca/socjs-esjp/en/ind-aut/uo-cs

BLM Legal Resources: https://blacklivesmatter.ca/legal-resources

Some tough love (and a dash of stoicism) to help you ward off the Sunday Scaries. Happy week 9; don't forget it's all optional and life is meaningless!

“The wealth required by nature is limited and easy to procure. But the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.” ~ Epictetus, Principle Doctrine #15

Sorry about how many times I say *y'all* in this episode. Also, sorry if the way I pronounce "exercise" aggravates you.

Email me anytime at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com , let's vibe!

We were never meant to be bombarded with bids for our attention during every minute of our lives. But in today's attention economy, stillness, and idleness, is a skill and a talent.

This evening, we meditate on dishwashers, seasonal depression, and Truman Burbank (with spoilers).

Connect with me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com and tell me about the angst-inducing cycles in your life!

Happy reading week everybody. Yours,

Francesca

An examination of different definitions of "health", an attempt to holistically define this elusive Holy Grail, and plenty of unsolicited advice along the way.

References:

Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis. Basic Books, 2006. 

Kara Loewentheil's Unf*ck Your Brain podcast (highly recommended)

Further reading:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Aristotle: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#DoctMean

The School of Life on rupture & repair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgQvqi6aYD8 

Email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com to connect!

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed psychologist or health care professional and my services do not replace the care of psychologists or other healthcare professionals. If you think you may benefit from speaking with a healthcare professional, you probably would.

"Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow."

- Langston Hughes

Hold onto your dreams, friends. Especially on those days when you can't see past the tip of your own nose, when you fold in on yourself the way you'd fold cheese into a roux. That's when you need your dreams the most; that's when they are the final thread that connects you to the rest of the multiverse.

Vincent Van Gogh said: "I dream my painting and I paint my dream." Go paint your dream, everybody. Happy humpday.

theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com

Keep it simple, stupid. That's it, that's the episode.

Find me on instagram @francescsivilotti or email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com to get in touch! Always love hearing from y'all.

To support the show, you can leave me a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

Cheesy title? Maybe. Important message? Definitely. A brief, psychology-backed discussion of what it means to compare yourself and why you should f*cking STOP already.

Email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com to connect!

References:

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. Houston, Texas.

Purdie-Vaughns, V., Eibach, R.P. Intersectional Invisibility: The Distinctive Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Subordinate-Group Identities. Sex Roles 59, 377–391 (2008).

Special thanks to Adam Sunavsky (BScH) for reviewing the science and deeming it "spot on" (Sunavsky, A., 2020).

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed psychologist or health care professional and my services do not replace the care of psychologists or other healthcare professionals. If you think you may benefit from speaking with a healthcare professional, you probably would.

The nitty-gritty of where I'm coming from and what this show is all about, plus a bit of a tangent about epistemic humility (i.e., remembering that you might be wrong). Someday, I will have a better intro. That day is not today. 😌

Send me feedback! Introduce yourself! theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com

In lieu of show notes, I'd like to formally apologize to Simone de Beauvoir and Frantz Fanon, because existentialism isn't just the stuff of old white males. As these two remarkable individuals showed, women and POC have also contributed notable works to the body of knowledge concerned with the questions into which we dip our toes in this first episode of this new virtual soapbox. Welcome!

Are you stuck in the past? Obsessed with the future? Absorbed in the present moment? Today we’re unpacking the various time zones of our thoughts and exploring the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. I’d like to be where my feet are; what about you?

Also, this is funny, if you ffwd to 7:21 it really sounds like I'm saying "I'm always going to be on a journey to whatever snacks." I'm not even gonna bother correcting that because I fully stand by that.

Sources:

Davidson, Richard J. PhD; Kabat-Zinn, Jon PhD; Schumacher, Jessica MS; Rosenkranz, Melissa BA; Muller, Daniel MD, PhD; Santorelli, Saki F. EdD; Urbanowski, Ferris MA; Harrington, Anne PhD; Bonus, Katherine MA; Sheridan, John F. PhD Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation, Psychosomatic Medicine: July 2003 - Volume 65 - Issue 4 - p 564-570 doi: 10.1097/01.PSY.0000077505.67574.E3

Tang, YY., Hölzel, B. & Posner, M. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat Rev Neurosci 16, 213–225 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916

Find me on instagram @francescsivilotti or email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com to get in touch! Always love hearing from y'all.

On the permission to feel, prefrontal cortex v amygdala, the freedom in freaking out, and the wisdom of your inner being. Fair warning: today we get a little woo-woo.

References:

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Emily & Amelia Nagoski

Email: theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com

Instagram: @francescsivilotti

Ask me about my Wealthsimple link!

Do you think life is beautiful? Do you think life’s not fair? Are those two views mutually exclusive? This week we dive into what it means to cultivate radical hope, and why it’s so essential. Also, my apologies, I realize I was talking a bit too close to the mic, I’ll fix that next time. In the meantime, enjoy my very hard p’s.

If you want extra good vibes coming your way, click on this link to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

Let me know what you think about the topic! Email me at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com on reach out on Instagram @francescsivilotti !

References:

Saphire-Bernstein, S., Way, B. M., Kim, H. S., Sherman, D. K., & Taylor, S. E. (2011). Oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is related to psychological resources. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37), 15118-15122. 

Haidt, J. (2006). The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02802-3.

Lear, J. (2008). Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674027466.

Maria Popova’s article on Radical Hope: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/11/28/radical-hope-jonathan-lear/ 

Are you more afraid of not being liked, or of not mattering? Trigger warning: this episode contains a good dose of existential angst. And if you were on my hockey team, hey bestie!

If you want to support my podcast, please share it with a friend, subscribe wherever you’re listening so you never miss an episode, and leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It really goes a long way for me. You can also reach out to me on Instagram (@francescsivilotti) or by email (theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com); let me know what’s been inspiring you lately!

Further listening/reading:

Kara Loewentheil's brilliant podcast that I refer to all the time: https://unfuckyourbrain.com/podcasts/ (check out the episode on social anxiety, "UFYB 55: Social Anxiety").

Top book recommendation I give to people: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (I personally like Gregory Hayes's translation).

We naturally gravitate towards things we're already good at. What would life look like if we challenged ourselves to go back to square one, if we allowed ourselves to be beginners more often? In this episode I make a case for being a "lifelong beginner" and striving not to take yourself too seriously.

Reach me on instagram @francescsivilotti or by email at theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com , I love hearing all your thoughts, ideas, book recommendations. I appreciate you all, and exciting things are coming!

In this episode I unpack why I think it’s silly to say you “find inspiration;” it’s always there, you just have to pay attention. I also share some of my biggest sources of inspiration lately, in these rough times, as well as the grocery store scene from the movie of my life.

References:

Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/ 

Big thank you to shorty for the neuroscience edits!

Further "reading":

Mary Oliver, Wild Geese: http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_wildgeese.html

Didn’t make the cut for today, but I’m getting really interested in Dr. Angela Duckworth, psychologist, CEO and author. Here’s her TED talk on grit and success: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance?language=en 

If you want to support my podcast, please share it with a friend, subscribe wherever you’re listening so you never miss an episode, and leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It really goes a long way for me. You can also reach out to me on Instagram (@francescsivilotti) or by email (theviewfrommysoapbox@gmail.com); let me know what’s been inspiring you lately! 

Exams are tough. Take a moment to check in and reflect on where you’re at right now before you wrap up the semester. TL;DR: (1) We are human beings, not human doings; (2) Check where you’re operating from and what you’re working for; (3) Life is meant to be enjoyed, not suffer through; (4) We’re all doing our best, yourself included. 

Best way to support the show? Leave me a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-view-from-my-soapbox/id1549425603 

Find me on Instagram @francescsivilotti for episode alerts and pictures of food!

Thanks for your support, your attention, your kindness. Happy Friday <3