Releasing Her Podcast
Ready for healing? Find inspiration as Ola Moore has turned her pain into purpose. Gain insight into the power of vulnerability and the importance of sharing personal stories. Connect and relate with her as she embarks on a personal journey of exploration and growth.
Releasing Her Podcast
EP2 - Introducing Ola: Finding Hope in Stories of Struggle
What happens when life throws you challenges that seem insurmountable? Ola Moore, host of "Releasing Her," invites you to explore a journey of resilience, strength, and self-discovery as she shares her deeply personal story. Growing up in Grover, North Carolina, Ola faced a childhood marked by complexity and adversity, from navigating child abuse and toxic relationships to living with multiple sclerosis. Yet, through candid storytelling, she reveals how these experiences have forged her path toward emotional and mental recovery. Ola's narrative is not only a testament to the power of vulnerability but also an invitation to find joy in mindfulness and solace in spirituality.
Join Ola as she reflects on pivotal moments that shaped her desire to make a positive impact, particularly influenced by her brother's battle with addiction and the loss of her father. She explores how these events spurred her to embrace her own inner strength while balancing it with grace and compassion. Through the metaphor of a cruise ship navigating turbulent waters, Ola emphasizes our shared human experience and encourages listeners to release what holds them back. This episode is a heartfelt reminder that, together, we can find strength in our imperfect journeys and emerge as the people we were meant to be.
My name is Ola Moore and you're listening to Releasing Her. Join me as I share my journey of overcoming trauma, the power of resilience and self-discovery. My hope is to encourage and empower one to not give up. Are you ready to heal and reclaim your power? If so, let's be vulnerable and grow together as we are Releasing Her.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Releasing Her podcast. I'm Olamore. Today I'm going to try to make things light, as I am in the process of trying to get the courage to put my quote unquote cape back on and dive into some of the deeper, darker episodes that I have in store in regards to my grieving. So today I'm going to take the time to make it light, a little cheery hopefully and discuss and go over who is Ola Moore? Who exactly are you listening to? So I made a short interview of myself and here we go. You may ask who exactly is Ola Moore. You don't have to, because I already asked myself why would anyone want to hear what I have to say? For some time now I've shared snippets of my life to people I'm close with, and sometimes strangers, if I felt like it helped and, surprisingly, the feedback I've always gotten is share your story. Someone needs to hear what you've been through.
Speaker 2:I am from a small town called Grover, north Carolina. Some may see the signs if you ride 85 north from Atlanta. We had no stoplights in one school, which was the elementary school. I grew up running around outside barefoot and, yes, I ate grits and cornbread. I do consider myself a country girl that is well-educated and mannered. I'm just a regular person that has realized that my struggles may help someone. I have a fur baby named Charlie, who you may hear from time to time because she doesn't like to let me cry too much. I consider myself a positive person and most people that I know would say that I'm always smiling. I learned real early to focus on the positive and not dwell on negative things. That's all I had sometimes, you know.
Speaker 2:So, moving forward, today, I'm going to continue with this interview and I ask myself what would most people think that they know about Ola? I believe most people would say that I had a good life, being that I grew up in a two-parent household, again, graduated from college, had a good career and I own my own house. Those are really superficial and looks can be deceiving. Yes, I have all those things, but the house I grew up in was a tale of two parents, but the house I grew up in was a tale of two parents. I had a father who loved and adored me, and his unconditional love was never a question. Then there was my mother. I know she loved me, but she didn't know how to love me the way I need it. Her love was like giving me a couple full of water and what I needed was the whole bottle. At some point. To me it just seems like she gave up and tapped out of being a parent. I cannot speak for my other two siblings, but that's how I felt. I didn't grow up like the hustables, but more like the brown version of the Connors from Roseanne, with snippets from Mommy Dearest from time to time.
Speaker 2:I am not currently married. Even with that and what I've been through, I would definitely love to be married and become a mother. I'm just a natural nurturer. I've been told plenty of times that I should have been a nurse or a teacher. My heart aches for those in need and I can always see the good in anyone. At times it feels like that can be a blessing and a curse. As you will later find out, my past has affected my timeline to become a wife and a mom. So this smile that I carry on my face every day is genuine and I earned it. My smile is like my reward. Many have tried, but no one can take that from me.
Speaker 2:The next question I ask for myself, for you, is why did I choose the topics for this podcast? I chose these topics because they are what I am dealing with as an adult and what I have dealt with as a child. Have dealt with as a child. My trauma is from the child abuse and neglect from my childhood, toxic relationships. As an adult and being diagnosed and living with a chronic illness, which is multiple sclerosis. And for a lot of people right now, this may be the first time that you are finding out that I have MS. I always just want everyone to see me healthy and not weak, and for those that are dealing with any health issues, you understand that. So now you know, I look back and I'm able to identify that I was depressed a lot as a child. Given my environment, I also experienced depression after my MS diagnosis Losing many loved ones, dreams that fell to the wayside, lots of relationships and even jobs.
Speaker 2:Recovery is something that I'm dealing with every day. I did have the courage to ask for help. I practiced mindfulness and self-awareness. My relationship with God has also given me the strength to not give up. Now I could say I have fully recovered from all that. I've been through that I've been through, but I am able to be honest and transparent with myself and say I'm just a work in progress.
Speaker 2:Mental and emotional wellness can pretty much include all that I have just mentioned. This is something that I also work on daily, or at least try. I always strive to be my best emotional self. You know, keeping a smile on my face is not easy. I just want to maintain the joy that I've been given and earned as I share my stories, and maintain the joy that I've been given and earned as I share my stories. I will not only include what I've gone through, but I can reflect on what seemed to be happening to my parents, to my friends and siblings. I was telling my therapist the other day that I'm just tired of always being the responsible one but yet Always also get the short end of the stick. I'm tired of always being strong and I get to the point. You know I just want to live.
Speaker 2:Breaking cycles is a topic that resonates with me. I personally refer to it as breaking generational curses. That phrase, I know, is talked about a lot among African Americans, especially in churches. So for those that are not familiar, when I say curse I just mean bad habits or behavior that has been passed down from generation to generation, and sometimes the people who have raised us have unknowingly planted those habits in us Because that's all they know. And personal development there is so much from keeping fit eating habits, appearances and just being healthy and fighting this god awful sweet tooth I inherited from my father. It's not as bad as it used to be, but every once in a while I do want a cookie and I actually will drive to get to it.
Speaker 2:And then there's finances, from getting out of debt to trying to build that generational wealth that I desire for my family, especially the children I know and those in the community. Unfortunately, childhood trauma has also affected my relationship with money. So I go to my next question Ola, what is your hardest challenge? My hardest challenge is just trying to not let myself become my worst enemy. It's funny because I tell people this all the time. I know it's a lot like calling you know the old saying the pot, calling the kettle black.
Speaker 2:You see, when I was younger my parents had a lot on their plate dealing with my older brother. Unfortunately, he went down a path that my parents did not prefer. He went down a path that my parents did not prefer. He got in a lot of trouble at home, at school, just in general. Basically he had a drug habit that began at an early age and it just seemed like once he started spiraling out of control, he couldn't stop Seeing that, as a child, did something to me. It's funny how children think this because I took on that burden of not being another burden ironically, especially to my dad. My father had so much to deal with with my mom, my brother, and still tried to be a support to the family and friends he grew up with. So in my head as a child I just wanted my dad to see I was okay. I kind kinda felt like if my dad would've seen me break down or if I told him that I needed help all the times that I did, it would've some way made him less assured of himself. I know it's crazy, but I feel like I needed it in some way to protect him.
Speaker 2:Having that mindset, I just did not ask for anything. When I was asked, ola, are you good? I would always respond and say yes, I got it. I think really a lot of it was just the environment and some was my personality was just the environment and some was my personality. I remember my mom was telling me a story of me trying to walk and she was trying to help me. She said that I had snatched my hand and told her that I got it. As you see, I put my cape on as a super woman as a very, very early age, and the cape grew as I got older. I know for me the cape can be strengthening and a hindrance at the same time. So when those times arise and I'm weak, it is hard to give myself grace and compassion for anybody out there that feel the same way. When you agree.
Speaker 2:My next question, ola, what have you learned about yourself recently? Now we'll say to this question I answered this a year ago, so I'm gonna read through it and I interject as needed. I have. Well, I've learned a few things. I should have been in therapy sooner rather than later. I still agree with that. Living through a lot of grief has made me realize how short life is, and I'm not one to put it with a lot of things like I used to. Unfortunately, sometimes a part of you dies as you lose someone or something, and I can say that's true for me and that still applies.
Speaker 2:Since I lost my father, I know that I want a strong man in my life that can lead, protect and provide, like he did trust me. My daddy made sure that I was very independent and friend for myself. So a strong man is a want, not a need. Okay, yes, I've learned that I'm a lot stronger than I realize. For those that work out, it's like going to the gym and someone asks you to max out on the exercise, like bench press or squats. You know you start and when you get past a certain weight you're like oh my god, I didn't know I was this strong. I've always known that I was a strong person, confident in myself and very independent. But over the last couple years I've had to learn who I am again. I had to really step back and say who do I want Ola to represent? When people look at me or hear my name, what do I want that first thought to be? I'm going to pause for a second, not necessarily pause. I'm gonna pause for a second, not necessarily pause, but just I want people to see me and hear my name and say if she did it, I can do it too. If Ola went through that, I can do it too. If Ola went through that, I can make it. That's why I'm here, sorry.
Speaker 2:Next question, Ola what motivates you To get up in the morning? Just the simple fact that god blessed me with another day. I can wake up every morning and say god has something for me to do, so I'm supposed to touch a life some way somehow. And, yes, I get caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle quote unquote but at the end of the day, I want to be able to contribute to the world and leave my footprint.
Speaker 2:When my alarm clock goes off in the morning, I pray, I thank God for waking me up and I also ask him to put people or situations in my life that is going to help fulfill the purpose that he has for me, because without that, everything else doesn't make sense. And my next question, ola, what is one final thought that you want to leave with your listeners? And the only thing I can say is I'm just me. This podcast, once again, is not polished and I will have hiccups. I just want to be a messenger when you have those days or random thoughts of not again. Why me? Or why can't I just catch a break, as I've done myself so many times in my life and sometimes?
Speaker 2:it happens several times in a day or week. I know that the details and the circumstances may be different, but I want to say this it's like us being on a cruise ship no matter what room or level you and I may be on, we're in the same boat or somewhere you know, maybe in the boat with me, and we're gonna ride this out together. Hopefully, you can listen to my stories and relate, so that you know you definitely know that you're not alone and that you're not the only one. Every time you tune in, I want you to release A little bit Of whatever is holding you back, so the real you Can be released, and I say that to you as I'm saying it to myself Are you ready to release her? Bye.