On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with community activist, burlesque and drag performer Karla Marx.

We began with how we establish trust, how fragile trust can be when we're mistreated, and unshakeable trust can be when you really find your people.

Then we talked about hate—how strange this current timeline is, how effective hate is as a way to divide people if you want to wield it against folks, and connection and humanizing each other can sometimes help fix it.

And we ended with hope—because good god, what else is there if we don't have some hope. We dug deep to find what makes us hopeful when it doesn't feel easy—can you try and do the same? This conversation felt extra important. Thanks, Karla.

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with local comedian Will Ness.

We started by talking about identity, and how different parts of ourselves are better suited for certain tasks—like our creative side shouldn't be in charge of business decisions and our business side probably shouldn't be telling us what art is worth making or not. (Shut up, capitalism.)

Then we talked about long term relationships…. What makes them work, what makes them hard, and what makes them totally worth it.

Lastly, we tackled a classic fight—we all got into this because we wanted to create something, to perform—but now we're also expected to be social media managers and content creators and event producers and understand algorithms and hey man, that's not what we signed up for! Stop making us do other things too! Oh, that's not an option? Well…. Okay. I guess we'll just do it all?

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with the sweetie Eren Senel.

We had a short one today, so we kicked it off with our first topic—moving—one of the most universally stressful things a person can do. We talked about small moves—just across town, a new apartment—and also big moves, like immigrating, or living abroad for a few years.

Then we talked about time management… why does it come so naturally to some people and is such a struggle to others? Is time blindness a real thing? Is it the key to having a balanced life?

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with the intrepid Rochelle Cote.

We started out complaining about how difficult it is to access mental health resources, and how frustrating it is to still have so many barriers in the way when you're finally feeling ready to try something new.

Then we chatted about DBT treatment and how helpful it can be to equip folks with tangible skills to help respond to overwhelming feelings that would have usually hijacked everything.

We finished up talking about mania, and touched on some psychosis too—how it can feel for the person experiencing it, and how it can feel watching someone you care about struggle with it—and how to try and make the comedy scene safe for folks having a hard time.

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

Hey pals! On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with the host of "Leave Your Troubles" Chris Hudson.

We began by tackling toxic positivity—you know it, you love it—and how it gives good vibes a bad name.

Then we moved on to "usefulness"—how we might sometimes tie our value to what we're able to contribute, and what happens when we maybe aren't in a place to contribute very much—what then?

Last up, we talked about being adaptable! Do you pivot easily, or are you locked in and struggle when plans change? Tune in to find out what we said!

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

Hey pals! On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we hung out with a true delight, Portland comedian Rachelle Cochran.

We started off talking about humor—which makes sense on a podcast about comedy, I guess—and about how we rely on it to get through these…questionable times.

Next up, we focused on joy—how do we define it, hold on tight to it, feel embarrassed by it, and fill our lives with it as much as we possibly can.

Finally, we landed on memory… do we struggle with memory? What are the pros and cons to having a good/bad memory? How does holding onto things we remember serve or hold us back?

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

Hey pals! On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we spent some quality time with Briauna Skye!

We kicked it off talking about friend breakups, which are possibly worse than relationship breakups—they linger in a special way, and are uniquely unmooring.

Then we followed that up with weaponized boundaries, which kind of became a conversation about something else when we realized we weren't totally on the same page.

And we finished up with radical acceptance, even though none of us are ninja turtles. Radical acceptance is a bitter pill to swallow sometimes, but it can also help move processing along—we often say "this is just what's happening now" to each other, which is sort of the same thing.

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.

Hey pals! On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we finally got to hang out with Zachary Clark!

We started with Individualism—how it can make us feel unique but also can get in the way of genuine community and caring for each other.

Then we talked about finding Balance. In this modern world, we have to manage so many things, and it's tough to find balance between all our responsibilities AND the things that bring us joy. It's too much for the number of hours in a day!

Episodes drop weekly when our own mental health lets us. Thanks for listening.