Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey y'all, I'm Dr
Julie Merriman and welcome to
Soul Joy.
Kind of excited about today'stopic.
Not gonna lie, I'm prettypassionate about the importance
of it.
So in today's episode, y'all,we're going to talk about hot
and sexy creativity.
This is a very necessarycomponent of holistic,
(00:24):
sustainable self-care, alsoknown as wellness.
Okay, so, hey, welcome totoday's episode.
That song just wants to playagain.
Welcome to today's episode.
Song just wants to play again.
(00:47):
Welcome to today's episode.
I appreciate you taking the timeout of your busy day to tune in
and spend a couple of minuteswith me.
So it's been a hot minute sinceI've visited with y'all.
You know I took some time offat the holidays, a much needed
and yummy break.
Then, in all honesty, I justcould not get my ass back in
this chair, back to thismicrophone.
(01:09):
But you know, really, I guess,when I think about it.
Actually I got really busy withmy day job as a program
director for a counselingdepartment at a university.
I've been working on writing aK-Crip self-study If I have any
counselor educators listening.
Y'all knew what I'm talkingabout Got to get that department
(01:29):
accredited Counselors that's avery important thing if you're
in a counseling program.
But blah, blah, blah got thatdone and I am back.
So let me get you caught up onwhat's going on at the house
here with the Merrimans.
Kelly, my beloved best friendand husband, got some really
(01:50):
good news last week.
Y'all so excited.
His cancer is all gone, exceptfor a couple of little bitty
spots in his stomach, and theoncologist says those are
shrinking with each PET scan.
So that is phenomenal.
Oh, oh oh.
And my three goat yogas, goatyogas, yoga, goats had babies a
(02:14):
couple of weeks ago, maybe aboutthree weeks ago now.
We had two sets of triplets andone set of quadruplets, so I've
got 10 babies out there.
Oh my heaven, they are pureheaven.
I sit out there with all thosebabies and I watch them.
(02:35):
It just brings complete joy.
They crawl on me and sniff atme and the mamas come up and
talk to me and the daddies.
We had to put him separate fromthe.
He's there with them, butthere's a there's a separation.
So he got a little rough withthe babies but he is proud of
them now and it is just pure joy.
If you're ever in the area,look me up for Sunday Goat Yoga.
(02:59):
We do meditation, mimosas andyoga and it is a really
grounding day.
So that's what's been going onwith the Merrimans.
So okay, professional helpers,this podcast is dedicated to
preventing and overcoming theoccupational hazards of the
(03:20):
career.
We chose specifically burnoutand compassion, fatigue and
vicarious trauma.
So that having been said, ourtopic today is hot and sexy
creativity.
Now, if you happen to have mybook In Pursuit of Soul Joy,
(03:41):
it's on around around I talkabout this stuff on around page
44 in the book.
If you don't have the book,please hop on over to my website
, juliemerrimanphdcom or Amazonpreferably my website and grab
you a copy.
It's well worth the 10 bucks.
But the topic is hot and sexycreativity and I'm going to give
(04:04):
a real quick disclaimer.
I'm going to get a little realin this episode, so it's going
to be about a rated R episode.
If you happen to be listeningin the car or around some babies
, you might put on a headset.
We're going to talk real andhonest about sexuality because
we are sexual beings and we needto be comfortable with this.
(04:27):
So y'all the Hubs and I, we'vebeen together since 1992.
Hot, creative sex has been ourgo-to ever since then.
I smile when I think about ourfirst few years, but I mean it
still about our first few years,but I mean, it's still Hot.
Creative sex has been our go-toand 34 years later, it still is
(04:58):
.
Recently y'all around Christmaswe thought we'd try to spice
things up a bit and we joined aservice that sends playful sex
ideas and items each month.
Playful sex ideas and itemseach month.
And imagine, to our dismay aswe've opened these boxes and
read through the things theysend We've got nothing new.
There's been nothing like oh,we hadn't tried that.
(05:18):
I mean there's nothing new.
Oh, don't get me wrong, it'sstill fun to go through the
boxes and play with the stuff.
But we've been prettyadventurous over the years.
We're still crushing on eachother after all these years 34
years, three and a half decades,years, three and a half decades
(05:45):
we have made hot and sexycreativity a cornerstone of our
relationship.
In fact y'all, I cannot countthe times strangers come up to
us to comment on how sweet it isto see a couple, especially now
in my 60s he's a little bityounger than I am, but he's
still in his 50s to see a coupleso in love with each other.
And many ask us what our secretis.
And again, I've got to tell youour secret is hot and sexy.
(06:09):
Creativity, that's what oursecret is.
And keeping the relationshipphysical and respectful and
bringing playfulness in and notbeing afraid to talk about sex.
I mean every little thing.
Talking about it.
Who else am I going to talk to,except the man I've been
(06:32):
married to for over 30 years?
That is my partner.
I mean you've got to talk toyour partner years.
That is my partner.
I mean you got to talk to yourpartner Over the years, y'all
over the years.
As a therapist, I've beenstunned by the amount of couples
(06:52):
that I've done, couples therapywith that are full of shame.
They don't talk about sex, theydon't look at each other naked,
they don't feel comfy in theirskins.
Sex is something that justhappens.
They don't talk about it, theydon't let each other know what
they enjoy.
And no wonder they're inmarriage, counseling about
looking at divorce because theyhave not taken advantage of this
(07:17):
thing, this beautiful gift thatGod gave us.
I think shame wrecks sex lives,and let me just underscore
again sex is a gift from God.
Now you might be asking okay,merriman, good to know,
(07:37):
interesting, but what in the SamHill, as my grandfather used to
say, does this have to do withburnout Everything.
Good sex with the one you loveand adore makes the world's
troubles melt away.
To be snuggled up with myhusband, to be snuggled up with
(07:58):
my husband clothed or unclothed,to be held by that man makes me
feel so safe, so secure, soloved.
That's all I have to thinkabout in that moment.
So, plus y'all, with sex, somany wonderful hormones dump
(08:19):
into your system.
It gives you a complete boost.
We have a completely amazingpharmaceutical company, if you
will, within our body.
If we're taking care of ourself, we're eating right, we're
exercising, we're being hot andsexy, creative and taking
advantage of the beautiful giftGod gave us in sex, we will feel
(08:43):
wonderful when we enjoy thosehormones.
Sex allows you to relax, itallows you to feel loved, it
allows you to love, it allowsyou to purr, to be present in
the moment and to feelcompletely alive.
It's a necessary ingredient inholistic, sustainable self-care.
(09:09):
Y'all, I could go on for daysabout this.
I mean for days, because Ibelieve this is an eminently
important part of a healthyrelationship.
Sweet soul, if you're havingtroubles being comfortable in
your skin, especially around sex, get with a good counselor.
(09:32):
I know most of y'all alreadyare counselors, but I spent two
hours with mine last week.
I mean we have to keep acounselor.
If we're counselors, youdeserve a fabulous sex life that
is built on hot and sexycreativity.
I'm really toying with, I'm notlying.
(09:56):
I've really been thinking aboutmy next book being about living
a hot and sexy life over 60.
I keep hearing people talkabout 60-year-olds and
70-year-olds, even 80-year-olds,like life has already passed by
.
But I promise all the thingsyou enjoyed at 20 are happening
at 60, except you have the lifeexperience to freaking, do it
(10:20):
right and really enjoy it.
We are so very much alive andhave so much life experience and
y'all that makes sex evenbetter.
So remember, hot and sexycreativity in the bedroom is
part of holistic, sustainableself-care, aka wellness.
(10:47):
So the activity for today, fortoday's podcast, is all about
releasing shame, shame.
I really think shame gets inthe way of our hot and sexy
creativity.
That gets in the way of usreally being able to enjoy our
sex lives.
Body shame, shame about beingnaked, shame about sex, shame
(11:10):
about being naughty.
Shame, shame, shame.
It needs to go to the waysideNow.
As I mentioned earlier, I talkabout this a lot in my book In
Pursuit of Soul Joy.
So again, if you don't have one, go grab a copy.
I go deep into inner child workand really this is needed for
releasing the shame that I'mspeaking of.
(11:30):
For now I want you to create atimeline.
Go back to the first time youremember feeling shame For me.
I can remember it vividly.
My brother and sister werebabysitting me.
They're five and six yearsolder.
They had locked me out of thehouse and our back door had
(11:53):
these little window panelsprobably 10 by 10 window panels,
you know, made up the top ofthe door.
That was glass.
Anyway, they had locked me outand I was pounding on that glass
panel and it broke and my handgot all cut and it freaked my
siblings out and I guess theythought they were going to get
(12:13):
in trouble.
Anyway, they were like oh myGod, you're going to be in
trouble, you better run away.
So I packed my little raggedyend suitcase and I go hide in
the backyard.
We had this big, big, big bushin the very corner of the
backyard.
It was my fort, it's where I'dplay.
Anyway, I went and hid in there, didn't come out for hours.
(12:36):
When mom and dad finally foundme, what I needed was a hug, but
what I got was being made funof and laughed at and I just
felt really shamed.
Now I'm not.
If you read my book, it's myparents they're one.
My mom and dad, my brother andsister are all wonderful people.
They were not being mean, it'sjust.
(12:56):
It's something.
I experienced, it you know, andI'm not going to negate my
feelings there.
But anyway, that's my firstexperience of really feeling
shame.
So if I were doing thistimeline, I would start there.
But on that timeline and onceyou mark the spot where you
(13:17):
remember feeling shamed, I wantyou to look at the time prior to
that, focus on that and then onthat timeline, I want you to.
Now you're working backwards,you're not working towards your
age, you're working back fromthe time of feeling that shame.
But I want you to mark thetimes where you felt joy, you
(13:37):
felt whole, you felt playful.
Zero sense.
Whole, you felt playful, zerosense of being self-conscious,
you were just fully yourself.
Mark all of that on thattimeline.
And once you're done, first Iwant you to be curious and go
hmm, look at that, because itshould be.
For me that was probably aroundage probably eight, and so
(13:59):
those first eight years I canlook back and see that I felt
very complete and whole and Iwas just me.
I was honest.
No shame in being me.
I was just me, fully living me,living me.
(14:26):
So I want you to think aboutthat and once you've been
curious about that, I want youto go to your journal and
journal about how free you feltbefore that shaming grabbed you.
Just you know, before all theworld polluted, who you were.
How did that feel?
Write about that.
So once you've done yourjournaling take some time, maybe
.
This is the next day, next weekI want you to get a balloon,
(14:52):
just a simple balloon.
This is a deflated balloon,it's never been blown up and on
a very small piece of paper Iwant you to basically write a
message to shame.
That's basically telling it togo to hell.
I want you to release it.
Just write whatever you need towrite on that little piece of
paper.
And then I want you to roll upthat little piece of paper and
(15:13):
stuff it into that balloon andthen blow up that balloon, tie
it off and go outside and sayout loud whatever you wrote on
that balloon and release thatballoon and just scream guttural
.
If you need to, whatever youneed to do, just release.
And then I want you to take adeep breath, stomp your feet on
(15:36):
the ground, get very groundedand feel that confidence
overtake you Feel that shame,leave your soul, and I want you
to embrace your hot and sexycreativity.
Okay, that's it for today.
Please subscribe to my email.
(15:58):
All you have to do is go to mywebsite, wwwjuliemerrimanphdcom
and sign up, and I will send youa weekly email that also
contains pdf with the activitiesthat I share.
And again, that's it for today.
(16:19):
Please subscribe to my podcast.
Wherever you listen, leave areview, and I'd love to hear
from you.
So until next time, take careof you.