Everyday Thin Places
In each episode of Everyday Thin Places, birth doula Elizabeth Varaso and interfaith hospice chaplain Rachael Gallagher draw from their experiences supporting birthing people and dying people to explore with honesty, authenticity and humor how we can all become more truly-living people. Although birth and death are two of the only truly universal human experiences, we often think of them as painful, frightening and best kept behind closed doors. But behind those closed doors Rachael and Elizabeth have experienced the wonder and delight of “thin places” - those points in space and time where the line between known and unknown, between temporal and eternal, between the ordinary and the transcendent become beautifully blurred. No matter if you are the kind of person who finds the topics of birth and death thrilling, terrifying or just not all that interesting Rachael and Elizabeth’s conversations with each other and with guests from all walks of life will draw you in and keep you coming back for more. No topic is off-limits and every episode will have you seeking and savoring the everyday opportunities to visit life’s thin places.
Episodes
We're so excited for another Everyday Thin Places episode after quite a while away! We chat about our energy coming back as we move from winter to spring. We're diving deep into all things spring! The ladies discuss Elizabeth's spring plans of the Broad Street Run, throwing the windows open, spring cleaning on Leap Day, as well as Rachael's "Elderland" update, the relativity of seasons, and connecting...
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso return with guest Rob Bell to discuss Rob's new book, "Where'd You Park Your Spaceship?". Starting with a discussion about this being a departure from Rob's previous works of nonfiction, we assure you that this sci-fi fiction book is very "Rob Bell". We're pretty sure Rob just became best friends with all of his readers as he weaves a story about other p...
It's Red October in Philadelphia, and Phillies fever is spreading. Symptoms include yelling, cheering, and . . . kindness? Elizabeth has been gushing to Rachael about Phillie's short stop Trea Turner for weeks now, so it's only right that we share his story with our listeners and invite you all to jump on the bandwagon of postseason baseball and truly living. But we're not just talking baseball - we're ...
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso interview Nicki Cowan, psychotherapist, end-of-life doula, and co-founder of the Philly Death Doula Collective. In this special episode, Nicki discusses awe, existential intensity, and the greater-than-human world.
It was very interesting for us to learn more about Nicki's perspective. In this episode we cover Nicki's apprenticeship in Botswana, her post-graduate training, how sh...
Rachael and Elizabeth are back with Kay Bruner. They start the episode with some quick life updates from Kay, then begin talking about Kay's favorite aspects of life in the desert, "Agave Watch", and learning how to be okay with letting go.
Featuring:
Reach Rachael and Elizabeth - everydaythinplaces@gmail.com
C...
On this episode, our new friend Josiah Haken, CEO of City Relief in NYC shares about serving those stuggling with housing insecurity and food insecurity. Josiah skillfully walks us through how serving people experiencing homelessness is a thin place and how each of us can offer hospitality to our neighbors regardless of our context.
Mentioned in today's episode:
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso are joined by life partners and creative collaborators, Dan Martin and Michael Biello to discuss telling stories through art, music, and light.
Dan and Michael skillfully walk us through how they create thin places for audiences all over the world and how they're currently working with Rachael and making new songs about growing older.
They remind us that when a piece of art is rig...
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso reflect on this past year and catch up on what Rachael's been doing this year.
Featuring:
- "season" in south Florida and how locals enjoy summertime
- being challenged professionally
- buying a condo on the water in "the Venice of America" and feeling "home"
- therapy
- https://e2mfitness.com/
- a sneak peek of our next episode (SPOILER ALERT: there's an am...
After being coy for a while, on this episode, Elizabeth finally shares what has kept her busy most summers, and what's been keeping her busy this year.
Featuring:
- human milk oligosaccharides
- finally welcoming a baby into the world without a mask!
- https://www.facebook.com/center.nonreligious.spirituality/
- reclaiming and redefining "bedlum" with the Philadelphia Phillies
- Better Call Saul
- Midnight Mass on Netfli...
In this episode, Rachael and Elizabeth talk through the story of calling this episode an "anniversary" and we talk about what to expect in the future from Everyday Thin Places. Thank you for listening and letting us celebrate this special occasion!
In this very special episode, it's time for the Super Bowl. Joining us for the first time is Erik Johanson, Philadelphia sports fanatic. In the last 5 months, Philly fans have gotten quite a bit of excitement with both the Phillies and the Eagles competing in championship games. We talk to Erik about how his love for Phladelphia and it's sports teams developed, and how it has become a thin place for him. And we explore on...
Rachael and Elizabeth react to Everyday Thin Places turning two years old, before reflecting on the amazing guests we have had the privilege to host. Plus, what’s next for Everyday Thin Places?!
As promised, click here to read about the astounding good news announced this week that is a game changer in cancer research.
Elizabeth has been keeping busy making teacher appreciation gifts, and Rachael has been watching her teacher friends on social media as they wrap up the school year. It feels like a great time to talk about teachers and the impact the have made on our lives.
•To share a teacher/student story for a future episode, reach us at everydaythinplaces@gmail.com
•Follow the podcast on Instagram (@Everydaythinplaces).
This is a second episode with Marla Taviano because she HAS A NEW BOOK in the world! We explore the poetry within "Unbelieve - Poems on the Journey to Becoming a Heretic". From "I was wrong" to "God Loves Everyone" to "growing up evangelical" to "chirp chirp", every poem in this new book is eye-opening and relatable and honest and authentic.
Everyday Thin Places appreciates...
Rachael and Elizabeth record an actual conversation about silence! In their conversation, Rachael discusses her thoughts on how silence can be used as a weapon. Plus, Elizabeth talks about how she's gotten curious and open to silence. SPOILER: She's starting to offer spiritual direction and is using silence as a tool.
Don't forget to rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
- You can email...
Nope, this isn't a glitch or a mistake.
We'll be back to talk about silence in our next episode.
But for today we invite you to take 7 minutes of silence for yourself.
Think of this as an experiment.
As a treat.
As an opportunity to experience an everyday thin place.
Because sometimes there aren't words.
Because sometimes silence is the friend that you need.
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso are joined by Angela Dobrynski, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Grief Specialist. While Angela has a wealth of professional experience in the world of grief and loss, this conversation focuses on her own personal story of grief, loss and the surprises that led to her building the family that she has today.
You can connect with Angela on her website angeladora.org or ...
Rachael and Elizabeth talk all about ADVANCING (most notably, the Battle of Little Round Top, chemotherapy, and athletic training). Also, Elizabeth shares about an advance she received in order to help her neighbors and her family.
Everyday Thin Places appreciates its supporters! Want to support? Buy us a coffee! Sign up: https://www.everydaythinplaces.com/donate.html
Follow along on the Everyday Thin Places Insta...
On this very special edition of "Everyday Thin Places", it's finally time for our first ever Everyday Thin Places RETREAT!!!!! We discuss our differing opinions on taking baths, our motivations for being in water, what we think about retreat, and some ideas for small everyday opportunities for retreats before we make the big announcement that we're hosting a retreat!
To register for our upcoming virtua...
Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso break down the everyday thin places we experienced in the Disney film, Encanto. Encanto is amazing, and if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go watch this movie on Disney+. We will share some spoilers in this episode, but the movie is still worth watching even if it's been "spoiled". And of course, because this IS Everyday Thin Places, we talk about birth an...
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