Onstage & Paddling Underwater: On Doing a Talk Show

Dear Readers, I write today's blog post from my bed. I've been in L.A. for just over two weeks, and admittedly I'm pooped.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month (my peak season in the employee assistance world), and what I didn't exactly have on my bingo card was doing an entire talk show episode on the topic! I feel so extremely grateful that Lifestyle with Roy Ice (a nationally syndicated life coaching talk show) featured me as a subject matter expert on mental health at work. I got the opportunity to work with the sweetest crew imaginable, from the "Glam Squad" to the director to the brilliant episode producer, Heather Hale. (Also, the hosts were genuinely wonderful humans!!!)

Despite the pressure, I'm proud to report I made it through, laughing and tap dancing along the way.

Every time I do anything that resembles a performance, I look back and think, "My word, it takes a lot of work to make a few minutes look easy!"

I mean, just think of swans, who get their elegant reputation from effortlessly gliding across the water. Yet, under the surface, they're #relatable—vigorously paddling to just stay afloat.

I can only imagine that hidden effort makes their own experience of "grace" feel anything but graceful.

What doesn't get shown (in many cases) is my own paddling feet:

• The weekends I've given up to get media trained

• The hundreds upon hundreds of mental health talks I've done in preparation for one episode

• The speaking scorecards I've had to review and the constructive feedback I've had to process, even when it's been... *ouch*

• The therapy that I regularly require to sustain my career

• The performing arts skills I've worked so hard to acquire since age three

• The back-and-forth trips to Home Depot that were needed just to find the right lightbulb temperatures to create a home studio to record the content that helped people know I existed in the first place

  
  

  (This list could go on and on...)

  
  

So, while I'm completely floored that I unlocked a lifelong dream last week, I'm also ready for a nap.

✨ This must be the stuff that "invisible effort" is made of. ✨

Maybe you've felt this way before, too. What’s your version of "paddling beneath the surface" right now?

How can you show yourself a little more grace, especially when no one sees the work you're putting in?

Scroll down and let me know in the comments! 💗