232 Five days. No talking. No technology. Just awareness.

Nadine shares her powerful experience from a five-day silent Vipassana retreat—and what emerged when there was nowhere left to escape. From boredom and resistance to unexpected joy, grief, and clarity, Nadine opens up about the emotional and spiritual breakthroughs that unfolded in stillness.

She reflects on self-compassion, non-reactivity, and the freedom that comes from releasing expectations and the constant desire for things to be different. A moving loving-kindness meditation becomes the catalyst for deep emotional release and insight, revealing a simple but radical truth: happiness doesn’t live in the future—it’s available now.

This episode is an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and discover what silence can teach us about presence, peace, and being fully alive.

Get access to the full episode when you become a paid subscriber on Substack.

Covered in this episode:

1. Why she chose to do a silent retreat for the second time
2. What was different (and disappointing) this time
3. What it was like to renounce technology
4. The rules she broke
5. The breakthroughs she had
6. The shocking vision that made her weep

Reclaim your writing time with the following offerings in 2026:

1. Revision Made Easy: A 3-Step Process to Up-level Your Writing Virtual, Feb 28
2. Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column...

What happens when you don’t fully step away — but you stop rushing forward?

Nadine reflects on the key takeaways from her semi-sabbatical: a year of working part time, studying deeply, and intentionally becoming a beginner again. Instead of chasing output, she followed curiosity. Instead of mastering, she practiced.

This episode explores what a slower, experimental year taught her about identity, learning, rest, and growth — and why becoming a beginner might be one of the most transformative choices we can make.

If you’ve been craving space to learn, try something new, or rethink your relationship with work and productivity, this episode is for you.

Covered in this episode:

1. How jealousy inspired her sabbatical
2. What she scaled back on and give up completely
3. The silly and scary things she wanted to try in 2025
4. How she funded her sabbatical
5. What her fears were
6. The unexpected experiences that unfolded
7. What changed when productivity wasn't driving everything
8. The key lessons she learned

Reclaim your writing time in 2026:

1. Publish the Personal (Virtual): Fridays Jan 23-Feb 27
2. Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

On the next episode of Heart of the Story, Nadine shares takeaways and surprises from her Sabbatical Year, 2025.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings, Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a weekly column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

229 While the show is on a holiday break, catch up on any episodes you missed!

Reclaim your writing time with the following offerings in 2026:

1. Tiny True Stories, Micro Memoir workshop (virtual) Jan 15
2. Publish the Personal (Virtual): Fridays Jan 23-Feb 27
3. Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

228 In 2025, Nadine interviewed bestselling authors Catherine Newman, Jen Hatmaker, Molly Wizenberg, and many more! Now, Nadine chats with her producer about their 12 favorite episodes and which bits of guest wisdom impacted them the most. Learn how their personal and creative lives have changed as a result these impactful conversations.

While the show is on a holiday break, catch up on any episodes you missed!

Reclaim your writing time with the following offerings in 2026:

1. Tiny True Stories, Micro Memoir workshop (virtual) Jan 15
2. Publish the Personal (Virtual): Fridays Jan 23-Feb 27
3. Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

227 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout 2025. In this 11th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from November, which was a month of tackling things she's been avoiding. She breaks down the major reasons for avoidance and her strategies for taking baby steps towards the very things we ignore.

Join Nadine in her next round of Publish the Personal and at her next retreat:

• Publish the Personal (Virtual): Fridays Jan 23-Feb 27
• Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

Covered in this episode:

• The major things Nadine's been avoiding
• The 4 reasons we avoid
• How to take small steps towards the things we avoid
• How to access difficult material on the page

Access the full episode and the other Sabbatical Yr episodes when you become a paid subscriber on Substack.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

226: How do you turn a daydream into a life? Tricia Leach has been doing exactly that for the past decade. What began as a bold leap into full-time RV living became a family adventure that took Trish, her husband, and their kids through all 50 states and beyond—stories they’ve shared with a worldwide following through their beloved YouTube channel, Keep Your Daydream.

But the journey didn’t stop at the state lines. Along the way, Trish launched her own line of spice blends and published two cookbooks (including her newest, Tastes of the States). Now, she and her husband are dreaming even bigger: they’ve purchased a property that will soon become the Daydream Depot café, opening its doors in 2027.

This episode dives into how curiosity, courage, and a willingness to start small can turn an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

Register for Nadine's Micro Memoir course on Jan 15!

About Trish:

Tricia Leach is the co-creator of Keep Your Daydream, a travel-and-lifestyle brand inspiring millions to chase adventure. She’s the author of two cookbooks: Small Space, Big Taste and the latest Taste of the States, which celebrates America’s regional flavors and the stories behind them. Whether she’s on the road in the US in an Airstream or baking croissants at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Tricia reminds us that daydreams are meant to be lived.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

225 Want to see your words in print but don't know where to begin? Or maybe the rejections are racking up and you don't know why. The world of publishing can feel illusive at best and cutthroat at worst, but once you know the unspoken rules, you can get published in no time.

Learn how Nadine has gotten her writing in top mags and how she's helped hundreds of writers get published in places like The New York Times, Vogue, The Sun, Brevity, Boston Globe Connections, the Chicago Tribune, Hippocampus, Longreads, Writer's Digest, and more (and how they’ve gotten nominated for major awards like the Pushcart Prize).

Covered in this episode:

• Why your typical approach isn't working
• The 4 ways to make your writing stand out
• What has helped Nadine and her students get published in major mags
• What Nadine has learned about publishing in her 20-year writing career (first as a Chicago magazine intern, then as a writing professor, a published writer, and a writing coach)

If you want to finally publish your personal essays, look no further! Sign up for Publish the Personal, which will run on Fridays, Jan 23-Feb 27. In this 6-week intensive, we’ll write, workshop, revise, and submit 2 of your personal essays to major publications.

Success Stories mentioned in this show:

Margaret Ghielmetti

Sally Schwartz

Barbara Phillips

Sarah Robertson

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.