A Thought I Kept
- Episódios
- 65
- Publicação
- semanal
- Último episódio
- 9 nov 2026
Sobre o podcast
A Thought I Kept is a podcast about the ideas that stay with us, long after we’ve forgotten the rest. In each episode, a guest shares the one thought that shaped their life — the one they couldn’t let go of, and maybe you won’t either.
Participantes
Episódios 65
“All of It Makes Sense, and All of It Matters” — Eliza Fricker
“Could try harder.” It’s the sort of thing you might have read on a school report, and it can follow you for years. We might even think about it with parenting, work and even the things we do to feel better …
Notas do episódio
“Could try harder.” It’s the sort of thing you might have read on a school report, and it can follow you for years. We might even think about it with parenting, work and even the things we do to feel better. Reading Eliza Fricker’s illustrated memoir Could Try Harder, I found myself wondering how much the effort we put into life is just to keep up with what we think we're supposed to be doing, even if that doesn't fit with who we or even our children are.
On this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Eliza about growing up as an undiagnosed autistic teenager in the 1980s, and what she came to understand about that girl when she went back to write about her. We talk about what happened when her daughter could no longer go to school, the pressure on parents to stay calm when they’re barely holding it together, and the relief of realising your family can do things differently.
About Eliza Fricker
Eliza Fricker is a Sunday Times bestselling author and illustrator whose work is rooted in neurodiversity, education, and family life. Over more than a decade, she has crafted a body of work that brings together stunning illustration and genuine honesty to give voice to experiences that mainstream culture has too often passed by.
Her debut title Can't Not Won't, which follows a family through the realities of school avoidance, became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller and earned a place on the University of Cambridge Reading List. Her memoir Thumbsucker, an illustrated account of growing up undiagnosed and autistic in the 1980s, extended her reach from advocacy into deeply personal storytelling, earning widespread critical praise for its warmth, wit, and emotional precision.
Her most recent title, Could Try Harder continues this tradition. An illustrated journey through an undiagnosed autistic adolescence, the book arrives at a moment when growing numbers of young people are exploring their own neurodivergence. With characteristic compassion and humour, it invites readers to look back at their own experiences with fresh eyes, honouring the identity they have shaped in response to a world that did not always understand them.
Eliza is also the founder of Missing the Mark, a platform for support, training, and advocacy around autism, PDA, and alternative education. She is based in Brighton, England.
Also mentioned in this episode:
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Ask What Makes You Come Alive” — Dr Shawn Hondorp
When you’re used to noticing what everyone else needs, asking what makes you come alive can feel surprisingly difficult. Perhaps even a little selfish. But what happens when your own desires keep getting left …
Notas do episódio
When you’re used to noticing what everyone else needs, asking what makes you come alive can feel surprisingly difficult. Perhaps even a little selfish. But what happens when your own desires keep getting left out of your life?
This week, I’m joined by clinical health psychologist, coach and host of The Innovative Therapist podcast, Dr Shawn Hondorp. She brings a thought from Howard Thurman that you might recognise: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
It’s the same thought Selina Barker brought to the podcast — a first for the show. I was curious about where those same words would take a different person. With Shawn, they lead us into a generous, personal conversation about people-pleasing, shame, body trust and the possibility of wanting more than simply getting through our days.
Shawn shares her experience of recovering from binge eating disorder, recognising patterns of overworking and finding something in dance that understanding herself intellectually hadn’t quite offered. We explore the gap between knowing we want to stop performing for others and actually feeling able to be ourselves, how creativity can help us recover a sense of choice, and what Internal Family Systems, or “parts work”, has offered her.
Shawn Hondorp, PhD is a clinical health psychologist, coach, and host of The Innovative Therapist Podcast. She helps people move beyond binge and emotional eating, people-pleasing, and patterns of self-abandonment to build deep self-trust, reconnect with their desires, and create lives that feel genuinely nourishing and meaningful.
Her work blends psychology, nervous system awareness, and parts work with a deep curiosity about what it means to be fully alive. Through individual therapy and coaching, retreats, and community experiences, Shawn invites people to question the default ways we've been taught to live, work, and care for ourselves.
Her own journey of reconnecting with dance, creativity, play, and adventure has shaped her belief that healing isn't just about reducing symptoms or fixing what's wrong. It's also about making space for more connection, freedom, joy, and possibility.
Learn more at www.drshawnhondorp.com or listen to The Innovative Therapist Podcast.
Books mentioned in this episode
- The Art of Gathering — Priya Parker
- The Art of Fighting — Priya Parker
- The Big Leap — Gay Hendricks
- How to Be Selfish — Suzy Reading
Keep exploring
Listen back to Selina Barker’s episode, “Ask What Makes You Come Alive”.Find my emotions coaching, workshops and our guided journal at If Lost, Start Here.
This episode includes discussion of binge eating disorder, disordered eating and relational trauma.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Don’t Look Down at the Drop, Look Along the Wave” — Dionne McCulloch
What if you gave a little more attention to what you want, and a little less to everything that could go wrong? For writer and editor Dionne McCulloch, a surfing lesson in her late forties offered a thought …
Notas do episódio
What if you gave a little more attention to what you want, and a little less to everything that could go wrong? For writer and editor Dionne McCulloch, a surfing lesson in her late forties offered a thought that reached far beyond the water: “Don’t look down at the drop, look along the wave.”
This week on A Thought I Kept, I’m joined by Dionne for a conversation about fear, creativity and finding yourself again in midlife. As her three children began moving into adulthood, surfing became a place to rediscover confidence, enjoy her own company and learn that she could do difficult things, even when she spent much of the time falling off.
I first met Dionne at a writing workshop in Bath, where the ideas she shared felt as relevant to life as they did to the page. That thread runs through our conversation: what happens when the thing you want feels too important to admit? From the vulnerability of writing a novel to the discomfort of being a beginner, we explore how wanting something can leave us exposed, why difficulty and joy so often come together, and what it means to keep making room for desire as we get older.
We also talk about storytelling, folk horror and imagining a hopeful future; how community action can build belonging; and why Dionne wants to keep creative work and “heart decisions” human in the age of AI.
In our conversation, we explore:
- Starting something new in midlife and rebuilding self-trust.
- Fear of failure, creative vulnerability and facing the blank page.
- Motherhood, identity and asking what you want next.
- Finding hope and connection through community.
- What fictional monsters can reveal about our real fears.
Dionne McCulloch is a writer, book editor, mother and surfer. Her debut novel, RAYNA, comes out from New Ink in 2027, and her folk-horror story Helminth was published by Dead Ink in Beasts of England. She was shortlisted with special commendation for the 4th Estate/Guardian Prize for a short story that became the novel Rayna. She is a freelance book editor of both fiction and narrative non-fiction and a writing coach. She is also the Associate Director of EMBLAZE-Black Writing Matters out of Bath Spa University, where she also sits on the advisory board of Paper Nations. She has been a judge for two international literary awards and is currently a reader for the inaugural Sareeta Domingo Prize. She lives between Bath and an off-grid cabin in North Devon, England, but she is probably in the ocean.
Instagram: @dionne_mcculloch
Also mentioned:
Island of Stangers film
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"You Are Allowed to Be a Mess and a Masterpiece at the Same Time" — Genelle Aldred
Do you ever come away from a conversation replaying what you said, wondering whether you were too much, too emotional, or somehow not enough? What if being confident didn’t mean getting every interaction …
Notas do episódio
Do you ever come away from a conversation replaying what you said, wondering whether you were too much, too emotional, or somehow not enough? What if being confident didn’t mean getting every interaction right?
This week, I’m joined by broadcaster, communication strategist and author Genelle Aldred, whose thought kept is: “You are allowed to be a mess and a masterpiece at the same time.” It’s an invitation to recognise what we do well while making room for the mistakes, contradictions and unfinished parts of being human.
We explore how to build self-trust, express an opinion without needing everyone to agree, and care about other people’s feelings without also editing ourselves away. Genelle shares why confidence leaves room for changing your mind, why boundaries need to work both ways, and why communicating well doesn’t mean being calm all the time.
This is a great episode for you if you’ve been trying to say the right thing, keep everyone happy, or present a more perfect version of yourself.
In our conversation, we explore:
- Why one mistake doesn’t tell the whole story of who you are.
- The difference between knowing what you think and saying what people want to hear.
- How confidence can make room for uncertainty and nuance.
- What belongs in your private, personal and public life.
- Speaking up before frustration becomes a much bigger conversation.
- The pressure on women to soften, filter or minimise themselves.
- What patience, being unfiltered and care mean to Genelle.
About Genelle and resources mentioned
Genelle Aldred is a broadcaster and communication strategist who helps people and organisations communicate with greater clarity and confidence. She is the author of Communicate for Change: Creating Justice in a World of Bias and the audiobook The Confident Mindset: Unlocking Self-Belief, and hosts Repeat That Again Please.
- Explore Genelle’s work, books and communication training
- Listen to Repeat That Again Please
- Also mentioned: Natalie Lue, a previous guest on A Thought I Kept, and her work on people-pleasing.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Should is the Killer of Joy.” — Liz Mosley
How often do you find yourself thinking about what you should be doing? How you should run your business, show up at work, be more creative, become more successful or even enjoy your life?What if all those …
Notas do episódio
How often do you find yourself thinking about what you should be doing? How you should run your business, show up at work, be more creative, become more successful or even enjoy your life?
What if all those shoulds are getting in the way of living your life?
This week on A Thought I Kept, I'm joined by graphic designer, speaker and host of the Building Your Brand podcast, Liz Mosley, to explore a thought she first heard from joy coach Sophie Cliff: "Should is the killer of joy."
It's a thought that's changed how Liz approaches her business, her creativity and even the advice she gives her friends. And it opens up a much bigger conversation about the expectations we inherit, the stories we tell ourselves and what happens when we begin to define success on our own terms.
We talk about why joy might be the secret to consistency rather than the reward for hard work, why rejection and failure don't have to mean what we think they do, and how to find the confidence to do things differently. We also explore people-pleasing, the pressure to be good at something before we allow ourselves to enjoy it, and why being visible as a woman in midlife matters.
Along the way, Liz shares her brilliant rejection challenge, the freedom she's found in saying no, and why changing just one word — from should to could — can make so much more feel possible.
In this episode, we explore
- How replacing should with could creates more choice, possibility and joy.
- Why comparing ourselves with others can lead us towards someone else's definition of success.
- The relationship between joy, motivation and sustainable work.
- Whether failure is something we get to define for ourselves.
- Why Liz actively pursued rejection and celebrated every no.
- Creative confidence, learning in public and the importance of women being visible.
- Why we don't have to be good at something for it to be worth doing.
- The freedom of saying no, questioning professionalism and trusting our own ways of working.
About Liz Mosley
Liz Mosley is a graphic designer with over 18 years of experience, and has focused on branding for small businesses for the last 10. Her goal is to help small business owners show up more confidently and share what they do online, proudly. She does that through designing branding that feels perfectly like them, or through her podcast, Building Your Brand. She also loves to speak on stages around the world, and particularly loves encouraging creatives and business owners to actively pursue rejection.
Liz's website | Building Your Brand podcast
People and ideas mentioned
Keep exploring with A Thought I Kept
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“The Day You Stop Learning Is the Day You Die” — Nic Redman
Do you like the sound of your own voice?I’ve struggled with mine for years. At different points I’ve worried that it wasn’t posh enough, was too posh, sounded too American after more than a decade living in the …
Notas do episódio
Do you like the sound of your own voice?
I’ve struggled with mine for years. At different points I’ve worried that it wasn’t posh enough, was too posh, sounded too American after more than a decade living in the States and wondered what my voice might tell other people about where I’m from, where I belong and who I am.
So I was fascinated (and, if I’m honest, slightly nervous) to sit down with voice coach and speaking director Nic Redman.
We talk about why so many of us dislike our voices, the social conditioning around what a “proper” or “professional” voice is supposed to sound like, and the ways accent, class, gender, geography and identity influence how voices are perceived.
Nic also explains why our voices can’t be separated from the rest of our lives. Stress, anxiety, tiredness, excitement, our histories and even what’s happening to us today can all show up in how we sound.
Nic shares how curiosity took her from musical theatre to voiceover, stand-up comedy, voice coaching and a career she remains fascinated by and why being an expert doesn’t have to mean having all the answers.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why so many of us hate hearing our own voices
- Whether it’s possible to learn to love, or at least appreciate, your voice
- Accent, class and the idea of sounding “proper” or “professional”
- Why there isn’t one right way to sound powerful
- How emotions, stress and our bodies affect our voices
- The difference between confidence and ability
- Why play and humour can make vulnerable learning feel safer
- Curiosity, mistakes and being willing to change your mind
- Why learning doesn’t always have to be about self-improvement
- What it means to be an expert who is still learning
About Nic Redman
Nic Redman has nearly 20 years of experience in recorded voice performance, voice coaching and directing, helping podcasters, public speakers, and corporate professionals find the vocal style they need to connect authentically with their audience. With an MA in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Nic works with everyone from startup founders to C-suite executives at multinational corporations, as well as global brands and household names. She tailors her approach to each client’s unique message, role, and medium.
As a voice director, Nic helps clients bring scripts to life, ensuring their delivery is impactful and true to their voice. Through her 5-star Voice Coach Podcast and best-selling book On The Mic, Nic shares expert advice on all things vocal health, breath, clarity and how to deliver with confidence.
Mentioned in this episode
Permission to Speak — Samara Bay
How to Do Accents — Jan Haydn Rowles and Edda SharpeYou might also enjoy my conversation with Hilary Salzman, about the stories we tell ourselves and what happens when the story we’re living no longer quite fits.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Maybe You Can Worry and Live” — Sophie Olson
What if you could worry and still live your life?When survivor activist and author Sophie Olson joins me on A Thought I Kept, she brings something incredibly personal: a poem about worry, handwritten in her …
Notas do episódio
What if you could worry and still live your life?
When survivor activist and author Sophie Olson joins me on A Thought I Kept, she brings something incredibly personal: a poem about worry, handwritten in her grandmother's old recipe book. Its message is simple. There's very little point in worrying about things that might never happen. But what if you can't simply stop?
In this deeply personal conversation, Sophie shares her experiences of childhood sexual abuse, mental health difficulties and the extraordinary relationship she developed with her therapist, Patricia Walsh. She explains how an invitation to write a fairy tale helped her find words for experiences she'd struggled to talk about, and how being met with compassion changed the way she understood herself.
We explore the shame we can feel about our emotional responses, the pressure to recover, the role of writing and creativity in processing difficult experiences, and what it might mean to accept ourselves without having to eliminate every difficult feeling.
And we return to her grandmother's poem, which Sophie has come to understand in a rather different way: perhaps you can worry and live.
If you've ever felt frustrated with yourself for worrying, struggled to accept how you feel or wondered what recovery is supposed to look like, there's a great deal to take from this conversation.
About Sophie Olson
Sophie Olson is a survivor activist, author, speaker and founder of The Flying Child CIC, an organisation working to normalise conversations about child sexual abuse through survivor-led training, campaigning and support.
She developed Side by Side CSA, a programme supporting professionals in education, social care and healthcare to recognise and respond to child sexual abuse and its lifelong impacts. Her work challenges conventional understandings of trauma, mental health and recovery and advocates for more compassionate, human-centred support.
Sophie is the co-author with Patricia Walsh of The Flying Child: A Cautionary Fairytale for Adults
Artwork credit: Girl in a Gilded Cage by artist Elise Macdonald. Used to illustrate this episode with Sophie Olson.
Also mentioned: Dale Carnegie: Author of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
Content warning and disclaimer. This episode includes personal accounts and discussions of childhood sexual abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, mental health difficulties and trauma. Please consider whether this conversation is appropriate for you at this time.
Sophie's experiences and views are her own and do not represent those of every survivor. The conversation is intended to encourage understanding and reflection and does not constitute medical advice, psychological treatment or a recommendation to adopt a particular therapeutic approach.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"Ready is a decision, not a feeling." — Victoria Phipps
How much of your life are you putting off until you feel ready?Until you’re more confident. More qualified. More certain. Until the doubts have gone, the timing is better, or you finally feel like the kind of …
Notas do episódio
How much of your life are you putting off until you feel ready?
Until you’re more confident. More qualified. More certain. Until the doubts have gone, the timing is better, or you finally feel like the kind of person who gets to do the thing you want to do.
My guest this week on A Thought I Kept is photographer and podcaster Victoria Phipps, and the thought she brings is one that changed the direction of her life:
“Ready is a decision, not a feeling.”
Before becoming a mother, Victoria had built a fulfilling career around work she loved. She co-founded a charity with her father supporting Second World War veterans and ran a successful wedding photography business. Then came the pandemic, two children in quick succession, and a profound shift in her sense of who she was.
Victoria describes the grief she felt around losing her previous capacity for work, alongside the strange tension of deeply loving motherhood while still wanting something that belonged to her. She had ideas and creative energy, but very little time, a lot less confidence, and no clear sense of what should come next.
So she waited to feel ready.
In this conversation, we talk about what happened when Victoria stopped waiting.
About Victoria Phipps
Victoria Phipps is a family photographer, photography educator and host of the Mum Means Business podcast, where she talks to women building businesses while raising the next generation of humans.
Her photography work champions film, print and the importance of creating tangible family memories, while her Print Over Pixels education helps photographers build a more human, connected experience for their clients.
Find Victoria:
Victoria Phipps Photography | Mum Means Business podcast | InstagramThis is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"A Poem Can Fundamentally Change Someone’s Mood" — Deborah Alma
Can a poem really change how you feel?My guest this week is Deborah Alma, poet, editor and founder of The Poetry Pharmacy, where poems are prescribed for the emotional ailments of everyday life.Deborah’s …
Notas do episódio
Can a poem really change how you feel?
My guest this week is Deborah Alma, poet, editor and founder of The Poetry Pharmacy, where poems are prescribed for the emotional ailments of everyday life.
Deborah’s thought kept is: “A poem can fundamentally change someone’s mood.” It’s an idea that began while Deborah was working with people living with dementia, where she saw how a poem could take someone beyond the room they were sitting in — to the sea, a picnic or flying a kite — and how the feeling created by that experience could remain long after the poem itself had been forgotten.
That idea has carried Deborah from prescribing poetry from the back of a vintage ambulance as the Emergency Poet to creating The Poetry Pharmacy: extraordinary spaces dedicated to poetry, human connection and emotional wellbeing, now found in Bishop’s Castle, York and on Oxford Street in London.
We talk about why so many of us were taught to be afraid of poetry at school, and why we don’t necessarily need to understand a poem to feel it. We explore poetry as a way of living with grief, anxiety, uncertainty and overwhelm; why the right poem is deeply personal; and why Deborah believes poetry can help us notice the small, beautiful and strange things that make up a life.
Deborah also prescribes poems for three feelings I encounter again and again in my own work: joy, overwhelm and feeling lost.
Along the way, we talk about third spaces, independent high streets, dementia, grief, creativity, play, rest, uncertainty and the importance of finding ways to remain distinctly human in an increasingly flattened world.
Poems mentioned
Variation on a Theme by Rilke, Denise Levertov
Also mentioned:
Deborah’s Emergency Poet anthology; her Poetry Pharmacy collections exploring emotional states including calm and joy; the forthcoming “poison” anthologies exploring revenge, vices and darkness; and her anthology Becoming, with poems about finding confidence in your own nature and voice.
About Deborah Alma
Deborah Alma is a poet, editor and the creator of the Emergency Poet and The Poetry Pharmacy. What began with Deborah prescribing poems from a vintage ambulance has grown into The Poetry Pharmacy, with spaces in Bishop’s Castle, York and London, alongside poetry anthologies and collaborations with Macmillan.
If this conversation has you thinking about the emotional side of your own life — whether you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, uncertain or a little lost — you can explore more at If Lost, Start Here
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Choose Which Bits You Hear” — Hannah Wilson
How do you deal with criticism without letting it change how you see yourself? And what happens when becoming more visible means becoming more open to other people’s opinions of you?This week on A Thought I …
Notas do episódio
How do you deal with criticism without letting it change how you see yourself? And what happens when becoming more visible means becoming more open to other people’s opinions of you?
This week on A Thought I Kept, I’m talking to leadership development coach, trainer and author Hannah Wilson about a piece of advice she was given early in her leadership career: when you put your head above the parapet, people will have something to say about you. The important part is learning to choose which bits you hear, which bits you leave, and which you can reframe into something useful.
It’s a thought that opens up a much bigger conversation about criticism, confidence, women in leadership, visibility, belonging and our desire to be liked. Hannah talks about being the youngest and only woman on a senior leadership team, being described as “emotional” and learning to reframe that as emotional intelligence, and why she eventually adopted the mantra: “I’m here to be respected, not liked.” We also explore why so many women struggle to receive positive feedback as readily as criticism, and what happens when we make room for ourselves — and other people — to be seen.
Hannah is the founder and director of Belonging Effect and the author of Cultivating Belonging in Schools. Our conversation moves from the personal to the societal as we explore what belonging actually means, why diversity, equity and inclusion still matter within that conversation, and how we can have courageous conversations when we’re frightened of saying the wrong thing. We also talk about psychological safety, allyship and advocacy, taking risks, leaving a successful career at 40, and why sometimes the most important thing you can do is say the thing everyone else is afraid to say.
If you’ve ever found yourself replaying someone’s criticism long after they’ve forgotten saying it, struggled with being visible at work, worried about being liked, or wondered how to stand more confidently in who you are without becoming closed to feedback, this conversation is for you.
In this episode, we talk about
- How to handle criticism and decide which feedback is actually useful
- Why confident women can attract particular kinds of criticism
- The difference between being “emotional” and emotionally intelligent
- Why Hannah chooses respect over likability
- Women, leadership, visibility and taking up space
- How to receive compliments instead of brushing them aside
- Psychological safety and having courageous conversations
- What belonging really means — and why it’s more than simply fitting in
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)
- Allyship, advocacy and becoming an accomplice or co-conspirator
- Risk, resilience and Hannah’s decision to leave headship at 40
- How we can use our own influence to make more room for other people
About Hannah Wilson
Hannah Wilson is a leadership development consultant, coach and trainer, and the founder and director of Belonging Effect, formerly Diverse Educators. She is co-founder of #WomenEd and #DiverseEd and has spent 20 years teaching and leading in secondary state schools, including roles as Vice Principal, founding Headteacher and Executive Headteacher. Her work now focuses on leadership development, DEIB, psychological safety, courageous conversations and coaching senior and executive leaders.
Hannah is the author of Cultivating Belonging in Schools and co-editor of Diverse Educators: A Manifesto. Her new book explores belonging across society, school systems, staffrooms, classrooms and curricula, with practical ways educators can create more inclusive cultures.
Find Hannah:
Hannah Wilson on LinkedInBooks, ideas and resources mentioned
What White People Can Do Next — Emma Dabiri
Radical Candor — Kim Scott · Fierce Conversations — Susan Scott · Daring Greatly — Brené Brown
Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors — Dr Rudine Sims Bishop
Also mentioned: #WomenEd · #DiverseEd · iAmRemarkable · emotional intelligence · psychological safety · unconscious bias · microaggressions · allyship · advocacy · DEIB.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"This Should Be Fun" — Anne Ditmeyer
What if fun wasn’t something we earned after we’d done the difficult, serious or important things but part of how we found our way through them?My guest this week is Anne Ditmeyer, an American writer, creative …
Notas do episódio
What if fun wasn’t something we earned after we’d done the difficult, serious or important things but part of how we found our way through them?
My guest this week is Anne Ditmeyer, an American writer, creative coach and workshop facilitator living in Paris, whose work asks one wonderfully disruptive question: What if there was another way?
In this episode, we talk about
Creativity, play and why they matter beyond childhood · getting lost and learning to trust yourself · Anne’s grandfather Charles Stark Draper and the Apollo missions · our own “internal guidance systems” · questioning society’s expectations of success · why life and careers rarely happen in straight lines · dancing with discomfort · letting go of timelines · grief and allowing multiple emotions to exist at once · creating a spacious life · connection and community · perfectionism · mapping your own path · and, naturally, drawing maps on bananas.
About Anne Ditmeyer
Anne Ditmeyer is an American writer, creative coach and workshop facilitator based in Paris, France. A designer by training, her work draws from graphic design, design thinking, UX, storytelling and global communication to help people think differently, explore possibilities and find their own way forward.
She founded Prêt à Voyager in 2007 to explore the intersection of travel and design and has since created workshops including Mapping Your Path and Write Your Own Rules. In 2024, she self-published her first book, OVERRIDE! What If There Was Another Way? A Pocket Playbook for Possibility, which she also wrote, illustrated and designed.
Anne describes herself as a “creative connector”, and her work is grounded in curiosity, experimentation, human connection and a willingness to shake up the status quo, sometimes by asking people to draw maps on bananas.
Anne Ditmeyer — website & work
Mapping Your Path
OVERRIDE! What If There Was Another Way?Books & people mentioned:
Priya Parker — The Art of Gathering
Tina Roth-Eisenberg / CreativeMornings
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"There Is No One Right Way to Be" — Alice Thompson-Boyd
What if the problem isn’t that you haven’t found the right way to live, work or be but that there isn’t one?My guest this week is Alice Thompson-Boyd, therapeutic coach, podcaster, psychotherapist-in-training …
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What if the problem isn’t that you haven’t found the right way to live, work or be but that there isn’t one?
My guest this week is Alice Thompson-Boyd, therapeutic coach, podcaster, psychotherapist-in-training and co-founder of the social enterprise Social Bite. Alice spent her twenties helping build an organisation that went on to have an extraordinary impact on homelessness in Scotland. But alongside the success, awards and recognition, she was struggling with anxiety, burnout, panic attacks and a growing sense of disconnection from herself.
After leaving Social Bite, Alice discovered the Enneagram, a system for understanding the different patterns, motivations and internal worlds that shape how we move through life. For Alice, it offered something she had been searching for: a way to understand herself without making herself wrong.
This is a conversation about understanding the patterns we get caught in and finding a little more freedom to be ourselves within them.
In this episode, we explore:
- What the Enneagram can teach us about ourselves and other people
- Why Alice left Social Bite after a decade of building it
- Burnout, anxiety and losing yourself inside meaningful work
- People-pleasing, resentment and the hidden expectations behind giving
- Why self-knowledge isn’t the same as self-improvement
- Letting go of the idea that we need to “fix” ourselves
- Purpose, fulfilment and Alice’s desire for a smaller life
- Finding conviction instead of constantly looking for external validation
- Why Alice believes doing less can sometimes give us more
Show notes & things Alice mentions
- The Enneagram Institute
- Truity
- The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
- Sarah Cumings episode of How To Be
- How To Be
- Social Bite
Alice Thompson-Boyd co-founded Social Bite, the social enterprise cafe chain supporting the homelessness community and implementing housing policy reform in Scotland, attracting the likes of George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Harry & Meghan as celebrity ambassadors.
But behind the public story was a harder one: burnout that led to a severe breakdown, including a mental health crisis that reshaped how she understands behaviour, motivation and healing. She tells her story warts and all.
Today Alice is a certified Purpose Coach & Enneagram Facilitator with over 2000 hours of experience, working with individuals and teams through periods of change, crossroads, and burnout. Her Deep Work Coaching Programme blends the Enneagram, cognitive behavioural coaching, neurobiology, breathwork, and Internal Family Systems.
She's certified in Applied Neurobiology and Brené Brown's Dare to Lead, and is training as a psychotherapist deepening her expertise in helping people to do shadow work, find meaning, and create positive change.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
“Put Yourself in the Queue First” — Nicky Marshall
What happens when you spend so much of your life helping, caring for and making a difference to other people that you forget to include yourself?My guest this week is Nicky Marshall — speaker, mentor …
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What happens when you spend so much of your life helping, caring for and making a difference to other people that you forget to include yourself?
My guest this week is Nicky Marshall — speaker, mentor, publisher, wellbeing facilitator and author of No One Is Coming to Save You. Nicky’s thought kept is: “To make a difference in this life, I had to put myself in the queue first.”
It’s a thought she came to through experience. After surviving a coercive relationship in her twenties, Nicky had a disabling stroke at 40 following a scuba diving accident. Her recovery took three years and required her to reconsider what resilience really looks like, how much we can ask of ourselves, and what happens when we stop waiting until everything else is done before tending to our own needs.
We talk about the difference between resilience and simply pushing through, why we so often look outside ourselves for the next person, programme or quick fix to make us feel better, and how we can begin to hear what we actually need. We also explore burnout and the small signals our bodies send us before they have to shout, people-pleasing, self-trust, learning to say no, and Nicky’s beautifully practical ways of putting herself back into her own day.
And we go somewhere else too: into spirituality, tarot, intuition, vision boards and the idea that perhaps what we are seeking might also be seeking us. Nicky talks about discovering paganism in her twenties, reconnecting with intuition and finding her own way of holding spirituality alongside a very busy, entrepreneurial life.
I loved where this conversation eventually landed: not on achieving some perfect state of balance, but on bounce. The possibility that our energy will change, life will change, we will sometimes lose ourselves a little — and we can learn how to come back.
If you’re someone who is very good at knowing what everybody else needs but finds it harder to put yourself into the equation, this conversation is for you.
In this episode, we talk about: self-care and putting yourself first; burnout and recognising your own warning signs; resilience after a major life change; self-reliance and asking for help; people-pleasing and saying no; intuition and self-trust; spirituality, tarot and paganism; vision boards and creating a life that actually feels like yours; and what it means to rediscover your bounce.
Books mentioned in this episode
No One Is Coming to Save You — Nicky Marshall
How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body — Dr David R. Hamilton
A Witch Alone — Marian Green
Tabby Turns the Tables — Nicky Marshall
If Lost, Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain — Claire Fitzsimmons & Amanda SheerenListen next
Nicky’s book No One Is Coming to Save You makes an interesting companion to my earlier conversation with Edwina Jenner, whose thought kept was also “No one is coming to save you.” Two women, the same words, and different ways of exploring what they might ask of us.
Find Nicky
Nicky is an award winning, international speaker and best-selling author, born in Bath and now living in South Glos. Nicky is a mentor, workplace facilitator and keynote speaker, inspiring people to discover their own brand of Bounce. She has helped thousands through her books and keynotes, wellbeing and leadership development in the workplace. Nicky is also Editor In Chief at Discover Your Bounce Publishing, helping budding authors to write and publish their books.
Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Website | Substack | Writing Courses | Reclaim Live
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"Ask What Makes You Come Alive" — Selina Barker
Are you burnt out, exhausted by work, or wondering whether the life you’ve worked so hard to build is actually making you happy?This week on A Thought I Kept, I’m talking to career and life design coach Selina …
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Are you burnt out, exhausted by work, or wondering whether the life you’ve worked so hard to build is actually making you happy?
This week on A Thought I Kept, I’m talking to career and life design coach Selina Barker about burnout, energy management, career change and what it really means to create a life that makes you feel alive.
Selina and I talk about why burnout and exhaustion have become so normalised, why women in particular can become caught in patterns of over-giving and self-sacrifice, and how easily we can find ourselves pursuing someone else’s definition of success.
We also explore:
• Why managing your energy can be more useful than managing your time
• The five types of energy: physical, mental, emotional, motivational and spiritual
• How to recognise when work, a career or a business is no longer working for you
• Why burnout can be a sign that something needs to change
• Career change, uncertainty and finding the courage to do things differently
• Letting go of external validation and redefining what success means to you
• Why rest, creativity, pleasure and presence matter
• What it really means to thrive — rather than simply copeSelina also shares what’s happening in her own life right now as she questions the business she has spent years building, lets go of an old version of success and makes more space for reading, drawing, playing the piano and simply being.
If you’re feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, stuck in your career, depleted by work or unsure what you want from the next chapter of your life, this episode offers another possibility: perhaps the goal isn’t to become better at keeping up. Perhaps it’s to pay attention to what makes you come alive.
Selina Barker is a coach, author and founder of the Project You journals. She has spent the past two decades making it her business to help people break free from the daily grind and create lives and careers they love. She has coached a long list of clients from Google, Apple and UN Women, to recording artists, best-selling authors, and leaders in the tech, finance, creative and music industries.
Her book Burnt Out: the exhausted person’s six-step guide to thriving in a fast-paced world was published in April 2021 and has been translated into multiple languages. She is creator of the Audible Series The Career Change Coach and founder of the Project You journals.
Selina and her work have been featured in the Telegraph, Independent, Sunday Times Style magazine, Red, Psychologies, Stylist, Grazia, Metro, BBC and many more. She lives in London with her husband and their 10 year old son.Another Way with Selina Barker on Substack
Also mentioned on the show:
The Success Myth by Emma Gannon
The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
"Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New" — Sadia Ghazanfar
What if confidence isn't where we begin? What if courage comes first?This week on A Thought I Kept, I'm joined by women's leadership and career development coach Sadia Ghazanfar, founder of Slay …
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What if confidence isn't where we begin? What if courage comes first?
This week on A Thought I Kept, I'm joined by women's leadership and career development coach Sadia Ghazanfar, founder of Slay Your Dragons, to explore the thought she has carried with her for years:
"Be brave enough to suck at something new."
Together we unpack why so many of us wait to feel confident before we start, how perfectionism keeps us stuck, and why learning, making mistakes and asking for help might be the very things that help us grow.
We talk about what happens when we're overwhelmed, burnt out or at capacity, why women often struggle to express anger, and how courage, rather than confidence, can become the foundation for meaningful change. Sadia also shares her own experience of burnout, career change and learning to stop carrying everything alone.
Whether you're navigating a career transition, feeling held back by self-doubt, experiencing imposter syndrome, or simply wondering if it's too late to try something new, I hope this conversation offers a compassionate reminder that confidence is something we build—not something we need before we begin.
In this episode we explore:
- Perfectionism and the pressure to get everything right
- Confidence vs courage: what really comes first
- Burnout, overwhelm and emotional capacity
- Women in leadership and navigating uncertainty
- Why asking for help is an act of courage
- Emotions, self-compassion and learning to begin again
- How to stop waiting until you feel ready
About Sadia Ghazanfar
Sadia Ghazanfar helps women in leadership stop abandoning themselves to lead others.
She is the founder of Slay Your Dragons and a PCC-accredited coach (ICF) and Certified Positive Intelligence® Coach. She came to this work the way many of her clients do: leading others while forgetting herself, navigating workplaces not built with her in mind, unable to see the conditioning that was causing her pain. Burnout forced her to stop, and what she found on the other side became the work.
Sadia doesn't teach women to be more confident or palatable. She works with what's underneath; the conditioning that runs so quietly most women mistake it for their personality. Her work doesn't add more to a woman's experience, it removes what was never hers to carry. She believes courage comes before confidence, and that when a woman changes, nothing around her stays the same.
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Substack
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Learn to Matter Too with Lois Jackson
What happens when you spend so long supporting everyone else that you begin to lose sight of yourself?In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to coach and charity co-founder Lois Jackson about caregiving …
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What happens when you spend so long supporting everyone else that you begin to lose sight of yourself?
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to coach and charity co-founder Lois Jackson about caregiving, identity, emotional wellbeing and learning to matter in your own life too.
In 2017, Lois’s fiancé, former professional rugby player Ed Jackson, suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury. Lois threw herself into supporting his recovery, repeatedly telling herself: “It’s not about me.” Her thought for this episode turns that belief around: “It is about me.”
We talk about what it means to care for others without losing yourself, the pressure of being “the strong one”, and why acknowledging your own emotions and needs can feel so vulnerable. Lois shares how honesty helped her reconnect with herself and her relationship, and what she has learned about self-trust, identity, boundaries and finding your way forward when life changes unexpectedly.
We also explore trauma and recovery, grief, hope, the healing power of nature and community, and why progress is often measured in millimetres rather than mountains. This is a conversation about the people who hold everything together, the gap between being fine and feeling fulfilled, and the possibility of caring deeply for others while making space for yourself too.
If you have ever wondered where you have gone in your own life, this conversation might offer a gentle reminder: perhaps it gets to be about you too.
Lois Jackson is a resilience and identity coach who works with people who've spent a long time being everything to everyone and are quietly wondering who they actually are underneath all of it.
With an ICF certification and an NLP Practitioner qualification she brings genuine depth to the work. But what she brings more than anything is lived experience of caring, of losing, of rebuilding, and of learning, later than she'd like to admit, that she was also allowed to be in the story.
Lois co-founded Millimetres 2 Mountains with her husband Ed, a charity that helps people discover what they're capable of through outdoor challenge and community. Which tells you something about how she thinks identity is best rebuilt: not just in a therapy room, but moving through something hard, preferably with good people and a decent view.
Lois’s website | M2M Website | Instagram
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How Mothering Becomes a Radical Act with Elinor Cleghorn
Motherhood is often talked about as something instinctive, natural, or inevitable. But what if the stories we've inherited about mothering tell only part of the story?In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I …
Notas do episódio
Motherhood is often talked about as something instinctive, natural, or inevitable. But what if the stories we've inherited about mothering tell only part of the story?
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I sit down with feminist cultural historian and bestselling author Elinor Cleghorn to explore the hidden history of motherhood and the women whose experiences have so often been left out of the historical record. Together, we talk about caregiving, identity, freedom, resilience, and what happens when we begin to see mothering not as a private experience, but as a force that has shaped history itself.
Elinor's thought kept is a beautiful one. What begins as a reflection on writing, research, and creativity soon opens into a much wider conversation about motherhood, care, legacy, and the unseen labour that shapes both our lives and the lives of those around us.
Dr Elinor Cleghorn is a feminist cultural historian and the bestselling author of Unwell Women. Her latest book, A Woman's Work: The Radical History of Mothering, traces the history of motherhood across centuries, revealing the women, stories, and acts of care that have helped shape the world we live in today.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Reclaim Movement in Everyday Life with Wendy Welpton
What happens when movement stops being something we measure, earn, optimise or squeeze into a busy day, and becomes something much simpler?In this episode, I’m talking to Wendy Welpton about the idea that …
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What happens when movement stops being something we measure, earn, optimise or squeeze into a busy day, and becomes something much simpler?
In this episode, I’m talking to Wendy Welpton about the idea that everyday movement matters just as much as exercise. It’s a conversation that begins with movement, but quickly becomes one about trust, self-compassion, ageing, wellbeing, and our relationship with our bodies.
Wendy shares her own experience of living with chronic pain, the fear and frustration that came with it, and how it led her to rethink everything she thought she knew about movement and exercise. Together, we explore what happens when we become disconnected from our bodies, why so many of us have absorbed limiting messages about ageing, and how we can begin to rebuild confidence in ourselves through small, everyday acts of movement.
Whether you’re navigating chronic pain, feeling disconnected from your body, wondering how to stay active as you get older, or simply tired of wellbeing becoming another thing on your to-do list, this conversation offers a gentler way of thinking about movement, health, and everyday life.
Wendy Welpton is the founder of Reclaim Movement, host of the Make Movement Matter podcast, and author of Move Well for Life: Unlock the Life-Changing Power of Everyday Movement. Through Wendy's coaching, writing and teaching, she helps people rediscover movement as something that supports wellbeing, confidence and freedom throughout life.
So if you've spent the morning sitting at a desk, if your shoulders are somewhere near your ears, or if you've ever wondered whether movement could feel less like a task and more like a companion, I hope you'll stand up, walk around and join us.
Mentioned in this episode
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
When Being Good Is Exhausting with Alice Bramhill
There are times in life when trying to be a good person can become exhausting.A good daughter. A good mother. A good friend. A good employee. A good partner. A good citizen. So much of our lives can be shaped …
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There are times in life when trying to be a good person can become exhausting.
A good daughter. A good mother. A good friend. A good employee. A good partner. A good citizen. So much of our lives can be shaped by trying to meet expectations, keep the peace, and make other people comfortable. But what happens when being good starts pulling us away from ourselves?
In this episode, I talk to Alice Bramhill about the thought she has carried with her from Carl Jung for decades: "I'd rather be whole than good."
Alice is a psychotherapist, mental health nurse, writer, podcaster, and advocate for deep feelers and big-hearted people pleasers. Together, we explore the hidden cost of constantly trying to get things right, and the relief that can come when we stop treating parts of ourselves as problems to solve.
We talk about people-pleasing, self-trust, sensitivity, boundaries, burnout, and the long process of learning to listen to ourselves again. We explore why so many of us struggle to know what we really want, how assumptions shape our lives and relationships, and why acceptance may be far more powerful than perfection.
Along the way, we discuss late-diagnosed neurodivergence, creativity in midlife, visibility, rejection sensitivity, motherhood, and the everyday work of becoming more fully ourselves.
What I loved about this conversation is that it isn't really about self-improvement. It's about self-acceptance. About letting go of the exhausting performance of being who we think we should be, and making room for who we actually are.
Alice Bramhill is a registered mental health nurse, psychotherapist, writer, podcast host, and creator of a thriving community for deep feelers and big-hearted people pleasers. Diagnosed with ADHD at 47 and autism at 50, she specialises in supporting late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults around relationships, boundaries, self-trust, masking, rejection sensitivity, and burnout. Her first book, I Need My Space But I Like You Too, is out later this year.
Whether you're navigating anxiety, emotional overwhelm, people-pleasing, or simply wondering how to feel more at home in yourself, I hope you'll find something in Alice's thought that stays with you too.
Pre-Order I Need My Space (But I Like You Too!) | Community & Newsletter | You Tube | Podcast on Spotify | Podcast on Apple | Instagram | Website
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Stay Creatively Conscious with Claire Venus
In a world that often feels noisy, fast-moving, and full of other people's expectations, how do we stay connected to ourselves? How do we know what's truly ours, what lifts us up, and what might be …
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In a world that often feels noisy, fast-moving, and full of other people's expectations, how do we stay connected to ourselves? How do we know what's truly ours, what lifts us up, and what might be shifting us into someone we were never meant to be?
This week, I’m joined by Claire Venus, writer, mentor, Substack strategist, and founder of Creatively Conscious. Claire is someone I turn to often for encouragement and guidance on creativity, community, and showing up online in ways that feel more human, more intentional, and more like ourselves.
The thought Claire brings to the podcast is to stay creatively conscious. Together, we explore what that means in practice and how creativity can become more than something we do. We talk about building a life that feels like our own, the freedom that comes from questioning the rules we’ve inherited, and the importance of paying attention to what uplifts us rather than what leaves us feeling depleted. Along the way, we touch on self-trust, visibility, nervous system awareness, burnout, creative expression, motherhood, and the challenge of staying open and curious in a digital world that can sometimes feel overwhelming.
Claire Venus is an award winning Engagement and Audience Development Consultant, author, Substack Expert and Mentor. She lives on the Northumberland Coast in the UK with her husband, two children and dog; a blue whippet called Stella. In 2015, Claire left the city and followed the call to live rurally, buying a 100 year old home that needed renovation, stepping into her lifelong vision to live by the sea. After a twenty year career in worldwide festivals and events, she pivoted to start her company ‘Creatively Conscious Ltd’ and expanded her brand to work with artists, writers and female founders globally online.
Claire is the author of 6 books including How to Build a World Class Substack, an Amazon bestseller, and Invisible Trust. She has been featured in The Telegraph, The Sunday Times and ipaper. She writes to an email audience of over 19,000 subscribers and has popular social and YouTube channels too.
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
Brené Brown's TED Talk on vulnerability
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Find Our Way Back From Burnout with Dr Jillian Bybee
Burnout is often described as being too busy, working too hard, or having too much on our plates. But what if it has as much to do with how we relate to ourselves as it does with how much we do?In this episode …
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Burnout is often described as being too busy, working too hard, or having too much on our plates. But what if it has as much to do with how we relate to ourselves as it does with how much we do?
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Dr Jillian Bybee, a paediatric intensive care physician, certified coach, writer, and host of the Humans Leading podcast. Having experienced burnout twice herself, Jillian brings a thought that completely changed the way she understands wellbeing: wellness is not a state of being, but a state of action.
Together, we explore what happens when we stop thinking of wellbeing as a destination we eventually arrive at and start seeing it as something woven through everyday life. We talk about the difference between stress, overwhelm, and burnout, why so many of us keep pushing through long after we've run out of energy, and what it means to build small moments of restoration into busy lives.
Along the way, we discuss emotional suppression, self-compassion, nervous system regulation, perfectionism, motherhood, leadership, and the challenge of caring for ourselves in cultures that often reward self-sacrifice. Jillian shares why five minutes can sometimes be enough to begin, how burnout can disconnect us from joy as well as difficult emotions, and why rest is about far more than simply taking time off.
This conversation is full of gentle reminders that wellbeing doesn't live somewhere beyond our lives, waiting for us to finally get everything right. It is something we practise, imperfectly, in the midst of work, family, grief, responsibility, and ordinary days.
Whether you're feeling emotionally exhausted, navigating stress, recovering from burnout, or simply wondering how to care for yourself in a more sustainable way, I hope you'll find something here that stays with you.
Dr. Jillian Bybee is a busy pediatric intensive care physician, toddler mom, certified coach, and creative who uses what she’s learned from recovering from burnout twice to help other ambitious women live less stressed, more satisfying lives. Her Substack publication and podcast, Humans Leading, aim to remind us that, although we can do amazing things, we are not machines (and even machines get regularly scheduled maintenance). She believes that we all need and deserve rest, joy, and time away from work. If you are looking to make a change in your own life, Dr. Jillian offers 1:1 coaching, group coaching for teams, and workshops.
You can find Dr. Jillian in the following places:
Substack: Humans Leading | Jillian Bybee, MD | Substack
Instagram: Jillian Bybee, MD (@lifeandpicu)
LinkedIn: Jillian Bybee, MD | LinkedIn
Website: Jillian Bybee, MD- Physician Leader, Coach, Speaker
Podcast: Humans Leading
Books and papers mentioned in the podcast:
Burnout: Solve Your Stress Cycle by Emily & Amelia Nagoski
Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
Rehder K, Adair KC, Sexton JB. The Science of Health Care Worker Burnout: Assessing and Improving Health Care Worker Well-Being (2021).
Duke Well-Being Toolkit Resources
Forty-five Good Things — Sexton et al.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
When Wanting Something Is Reason Enough with Rachel Hartigan
What happens when wanting something is reason enough?In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I’m joined by writer and journalist Rachel Hartigan to explore a thought that has stayed with her for years: “I do it …
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What happens when wanting something is reason enough?
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I’m joined by writer and journalist Rachel Hartigan to explore a thought that has stayed with her for years: “I do it because I want to.”
This opens up some surprisingly big questions: How often do we feel the need to justify what we want? How do we separate our own desires from expectations, responsibilities, fear, or the stories we’ve absorbed about who we should be? And what changes when we stop looking for a better reason?
Rachel’s thought comes from Amelia Earhart, the pioneering aviator at the centre of her new book, Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life. As we talk, Amelia’s story becomes a way into a much broader conversation about curiosity, self-trust, adventure, identity, and the unfinished stories that continue to hold our attention.
Together, we explore the tension between doing what feels comfortable and doing what feels alive, the challenge of knowing what we really want, and the ways curiosity can help us navigate uncertainty when we don’t know what comes next. We also talk about visibility, creativity, midlife, motherhood, freedom, and the vulnerable experience of releasing something deeply personal into the world.
Along the way, Rachel reflects on the years she spent researching Amelia Earhart, the pull of unanswered questions, and why some stories stay with us long after they should have faded.
Rachel Hartigan is a writer and journalist who spent more than a decade at National Geographic and previously worked for The Washington Post Book Review. Her latest book, Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life, explores both the enduring mystery of Earhart’s disappearance and the people who continue searching for answers nearly ninety years later.
This is a conversation about curiosity, courage, self-trust, and what it means to follow the things that call to us, even when we can’t fully explain why.
Lost | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
Capítulos (4)
How People Pleasing Stops Us Choosing Ourselves with Natalie Lue
My guest this week Natalie Lue is known to many people for her groundbreaking work on people pleasing, boundaries, emotional baggage, and relationships through The Baggage Reclaim Sessions and her book The Joy …
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My guest this week Natalie Lue is known to many people for her groundbreaking work on people pleasing, boundaries, emotional baggage, and relationships through The Baggage Reclaim Sessions and her book The Joy of Saying No.
We talk about the emotional roots of perfectionism and over-responsibility, the pressure to keep proving yourself, and the exhausting belief that you have to “earn” permission to change. We explore what happens when you realise you’ve over-identified with being useful, successful, capable, or needed and how frightening, freeing, and vulnerable it can feel to let some of that go.
There’s so much in here about anxiety, control, people pleasing, emotional patterns, self-worth, and learning to trust yourself even when you don’t fully know what comes next. We also talk about art, midlife, changing careers, the stories we inherit about work, and the difference between striving and actually feeling alive.
Natalie Lue is a writer, artist and podcaster best known for The Joy of Saying No and her long-running platform Baggage Reclaim, which has helped many people navigate relationships, boundaries, emotional unavailability, and people pleasing over the last two decades.
Website | The Joy of Saying No | Let Go | Baggage Reclaim Sessions
Also mentioned in this podcast:
Financial Recovery by Karen McCall
My episode with Gabrielle Treanor
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
When Self-Help Becomes Something We Do Together with Toni Jones
This week, I talk to Toni Jones about all things self-help. Toni is the founder of Shelf Help, the world’s first self-help book club and over the last decade she has read 1,000 self-help books while building a …
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This week, I talk to Toni Jones about all things self-help. Toni is the founder of Shelf Help, the world’s first self-help book club and over the last decade she has read 1,000 self-help books while building a global community around reading, reflection and connection.
We explore the difference between trying to optimise yourself and actually learning how to care for yourself. Toni shares why she thinks curiosity, experimentation, and connection can shift our approach to endless self-improvement culture.
We also talk about emotional avoidance, self-trust, and the experience of becoming more visible to other people after years of keeping parts of yourself hidden. There’s a beautiful conversation here too about friendship, community, relationships that deepen over time, and the vulnerability of letting yourself be seen.
Toni Jones is a journalist-turned-bibliotherapist and the founder of Shelf Help Club. She hosts The Bibliotherapists podcast and has spent the last decade exploring how books, reflection, and shared conversation can support emotional wellbeing and personal growth. Her new book, You: A Beginner’s Guide, brings together many of the ideas we explore in this episode.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by wellness culture, exhausted by trying to hold everything together, or wished someone would just say, “you don’t have to figure this out on your own,” I hope this conversation keeps you company.
Shelf Help | You (A Beginner's Guide) | The Bibliotherapists Podcast
Books, authors, podcasts and talks mentioned in this episode
• Paul McKenna, Change Your Life in 7 Days
• Brené Brown, Rising Strong
• Brené Brown, TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability
• Brené Brown, TED Talk: Listening to Shame
• Glennon Doyle, Untamed and the podcast We Can Do Hard Things
• Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love and Big Magic
• Amir Levine, Attached and Secure
• Alexandra Elle, The Company We Keep
• Shahroo Izadi, The Kindness Method
• Will Bowen, A Complaint Free World
• Suzy Reading, Self-Care for Tough Times
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Live Between Belief and Doubt with Hiroko Yoda
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Hiroko Yoda about grief, Japanese spirituality, uncertainty, ritual, belonging, and what it means to live somewhere between belief and doubt. We explore the idea …
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In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Hiroko Yoda about grief, Japanese spirituality, uncertainty, ritual, belonging, and what it means to live somewhere between belief and doubt. We explore the idea of “half belief, half doubt” — the Japanese concept of hanshin hangi and how it can offer a more spacious way of relating to uncertainty, spirituality, and even ourselves.
Hiroko shares how the death of her mother became the beginning of a deeper spiritual awakening, not through certainty or doctrine, but through noticing. A walk in the park. A shrine glimpsed through the trees. A feeling that perhaps we are less alone than we think.
Together we talk about the everyday rituals that help us feel connected when life feels overwhelming: making coffee, eating a meal, taking a walk, speaking kind words aloud. We explore how Japanese ideas of kami — spiritual presences that exist in nature, objects, and everyday life — can shift the way we think about grief, anxiety, happiness, emotions, and connection.
We also talk about anger, darkness, feminism, ghosts, belonging, and why playfulness can sit alongside spirituality rather than oppose it. This is a conversation about learning to live with uncertainty without rushing to resolve it, and about finding comfort in what cannot always be fully explained.
Hiroko Yoda, a Japanese cultural historian and journalist whose work has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN and PBS, offers a path to joy and peace through the peculiar flexibility of Japanese spirituality. In her new book Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan Hiroko takes readers on a journey to her homeland’s sacred core, revealing an essential part of Japan rarely experienced by outsiders – yet has much to offer those on their own quest for meaning and resilience, wherever they are.
Website | Instagram | Eight Million Ways to Happiness
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
Hope, Hulp and Human Tricky Things with Jacky Power
In this episode, I talk to Jacky Power about feelings — the ones we hide, the ones we soften, and the ones we’re not always sure we’re allowed to have. We explore what it means to be seen, and why that can feel …
Notas do episódio
In this episode, I talk to Jacky Power about feelings — the ones we hide, the ones we soften, and the ones we’re not always sure we’re allowed to have. We explore what it means to be seen, and why that can feel both deeply wanted and quietly risky. There’s something here about the tension between expression and protection — how we might say things sideways, through poetry or humour or busyness, and hope someone understands anyway.
We talk about loneliness, and the difference between being alone and feeling emotionally unseen. About anxiety and overwhelm, and what happens when we start to understand our emotions not as problems to fix, but as signals from a nervous system trying to find its way back to safety. And we spend time with the idea of “hulp” and why it can be so hard to ask for help, even when we need it most.
Jacky Power is a therapeutic poet, trauma therapist, and transformational speaker working at the intersection of psychology and performance poetry. With an MSc in Addiction Psychology & Counselling and advanced EFT training, she has spent years helping "cycle breakers” - people interrupting intergenerational patterns - find language for what they've been taught to swallow. She is the creator of the HULP to HOPE framework, host of the Words in the Wilderness podcast, and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe with her one woman show ’Stop the world I want to get off’ and has a poetry collection out under the same name. Her next book, From Hulp to Hope, is due out this summer 2026.
Substack | Website | Instagram
We also mention: The work of Dan Siegel | Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird | Deb Dana, Polyvagal Theory bk | Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart | We’re Going on a Bear Hunt | Charles R. Snyder's hope theory
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
When You’re Here and Not Quite Here with Cathy Rentzenbrink
There are days when you’re here, fully in your life, in your conversations, in the small, ordinary moments, and days when part of you feels somewhere else entirely. That's what I get into with Cathy …
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There are days when you’re here, fully in your life, in your conversations, in the small, ordinary moments, and days when part of you feels somewhere else entirely. That's what I get into with Cathy Rentzenbrink this week. We explore what it means to live a life that feels both grounded and slightly unreal at the same time. We explore the tension between being present and being pulled elsewhere and how easy it is to lose sight of what’s right in front of us.
We talk about anxiety and emotional overwhelm, about the loud pressures of modern life, and the small things that can tip us over the edge. We explore creativity as a way back to ourselves, reading as a kind of refuge, and the idea of “selfing” — trying to be who you are without turning that into another thing to get right. At the heart of the conversation is the thought Cathy has kept since childhood: that moment of realising how easily our attention can be pulled away from the people and lives we love, and how, in hindsight, we wish we had stayed closer to what mattered.
Cathy Rentzenbrink is an amiable bookworm, a writer of fiction and non-fiction who chairs literary events and speaks on life, death, love, and literature. She is best known for her memoir The Last Act of Love, as well as Dear Reader and Write It All Down. Unusually extravert for a writer, she likes talking to strangers, is a lover not a fighter, and is determined to cling onto her faith in humanity. Twice divorced, she lives in Cornwall with her son and cat. She has been extremely keen on Agatha Christie since she was nine years old and her next book The Agatha Christie Cure will be out in September.
Instagram | Website | Cathy's Sunday Sessions: A monthly work-out for your writing self | Books by Cathy | Also mentioned: Dr Gavin Francis: The Unfragile Mind
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
How We Learn to Trust Things Will Be OK with Tanya Lynch
In this episode, I talk to Tanya Lynch about hope, resilience, and the ways we hold ourselves through change. We explore what it means to believe that things will be OK, not as a forced positive mindset, but as …
Notas do episódio
In this episode, I talk to Tanya Lynch about hope, resilience, and the ways we hold ourselves through change. We explore what it means to believe that things will be OK, not as a forced positive mindset, but as something lived and felt over time. Through stories of heartbreak, midlife, motherhood, and starting again, Tanya shares how this trust has been shaped not just by ease, but by everything she’s had to move through.
We talk about the emotional reality of life’s harder seasons—grief, uncertainty, anxiety—and how those experiences can sit alongside beauty, connection, and even moments of calm. There’s something here about being in nature, about looking up instead of down, about the small, everyday ways we find steadiness again. We also explore journaling, creativity, and the spaces Tanya creates through her retreats, where women can feel held, seen, and a little lighter.
Tanya Lynch is a mother, a ridgeback owner and the founder of Ease Retreats. Tanya collaborates with authors and creatives, hosting retreats in beautiful venues across the UK. A year ago she became a certified bibliotherapist offering book prescriptions and launched The Bibliotherapists podcast with her co-host Toni Jones. Tanya is also a therapeutic journalling coach and through her programme ‘Rage on a Page’, she helps midlife women channel their emotions into something more positive and creative in less than 60 days. Each Thursday Tanya hosts an online journalling club ‘Journal with Ease’. She’s usually near a beach walking the dogs, hosting retreats, writing in her journal or hanging out on Substack.
Website | Instagram at Ease Retreats and Tanya Lynch
If you’re in a moment that feels uncertain, or you’re learning how to trust yourself again, this is a great episode for you.
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
When Trying is Enough with Imogen Partridge
What if trying — in your work, your parenting, your creativity — was already enough?There are time when it can feel like you’re doing everything you can, and still wondering if it’s enough. The days where …
Notas do episódio
What if trying — in your work, your parenting, your creativity — was already enough?
There are time when it can feel like you’re doing everything you can, and still wondering if it’s enough. The days where you’re holding work, parenting, and life all at once, trying to build something, care for others, and look after your own mental health in the middle of it all.
In this episode, I talk to Imogen Partridge about what it means to try, and how we begin to recognise that effort as enough. We explore the emotional weight of trying — how it can go unseen in busy lives, especially in motherhood, business, and everyday wellbeing — and how powerful it can be to pause and give ourselves credit for it.
We talk about creativity as a practical wellbeing tool rather than something reserved for artists — a way to regulate emotions, ease anxiety, and reconnect with yourself. Imogen shares what she’s seen in her creative workshops, where people often arrive believing they’re “not creative,” and what shifts when they allow themselves to begin anyway. We also explore how creativity can sit alongside other mental health practices — from walking and journaling to community and conversation — as part of a more personal, flexible approach to wellbeing.
This conversation is for anyone who is looking for more ways to support your mental health, reconnect with creativity, or navigate the overlap between work, parenting, and wellbeing.
Imogen Partridge is a watercolour illustrator and creative workshop host based in the UK. Before illustration, she spent over a decade as an interior designer, a background that shaped her belief that creativity is a tool for storytelling, connection, and meaning. She now works with both individuals and businesses, running workshops for corporate teams and events, and creating live illustration and bespoke commissions. She's also a mum of two, keen (but chaotic) allotmenteer and currently training for the London Marathon in aid of Mind.
Website | Instagram | Linkedin | Substack | Photo of Imogen was taken by Katie RhonaThis is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
Why Life Feels Better When We Do It Together with Laurence McCahill
There’s something that changes when we stop doing life on our own. Maybe that's an idea that only makes sense once it’s shared, a feeling that softens when someone else is there to hear it, or the magic …
Notas do episódio
There’s something that changes when we stop doing life on our own. Maybe that's an idea that only makes sense once it’s shared, a feeling that softens when someone else is there to hear it, or the magic that comes from being a room of likeminded people singing Queen.
In this episode, I talk to Laurence McCahill about connection in its most everyday form and what it means to gather, to listen, and to create spaces where people can be themselves. We explore why life can feel lighter, clearer, and more alive when we do it together, and why so many of us are quietly craving that kind of connection now.
We talk about friendship across decades, the difference between being around people and truly connecting with them, and the subtle shift from doing things alone to letting other people in. There’s something here too about midlife — about reaching a point where success or productivity matter less, and being with the right people matters more.
Laurence shares the thought he has kept: that he is the glue that brings people together. Not by being the loudest voice in the room, but by listening, noticing, and helping others feel at ease. It opens up a wider question of how we each bring people together in our own lives, often without even realising it.
This episode is for anyone wanting more connection in their lives and hoping for places where it might be found.
Laurence McCahill is co-founder of The Happy Startup School, an alternative business school and thriving community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs and leaders. He's a designer, coach and community builder, and the creative force behind their legendary gatherings Summercamp and Alptitude. He spends much of year mentoring founders towards a more fulfilling path on their flagship Happy MBA program.
The Happy Startup School | Summercamp | Alptitude | Happy MBA
LinkedInLaurence also mentioned How To Know a Person by David Brooks and we talk about this episode from Georgina Jones
This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer, author and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As a Certified Coach and Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.
Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here.
Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here.
Find out how to work with Claire here.
Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.
The music for all episodes from August 10th was made by Leon in the Wilderness.
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