Have you ever had the realization that you are moving through life on mute? Perhaps you have spent years silencing your own voice just to keep the peace, or maybe you have forgotten just how powerful it actually is.

In this episode of Wide Awake and Wondering, host Kristin Mason sits down with Catherine Sipher, a Boston-based poet, author, and journaling guide. Catherine’s debut poetry memoir, Barely a Whisper, became a number one new release because it strikes a chord so many of us feel: the deep, burning desire to stop self-betrayal and finally listen inward.

Catherine opens up about her ultimate comeback story—the grueling, beautiful journey of returning to herself after leaving an 18-year marriage and a suppressive religious community simultaneously, all while raising six children.

Catherine takes us back to 2019, a period where she found herself drowning in extreme exhaustion, overwhelm, and isolation. As a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother of six within a rigid, evangelical Christian community, she was taught that her own heart was "deceitfully wicked" and could not be trusted. Catherine candidly shares the breaking point—seven words spoken in the middle of deep emotional distress—that exposed the rift in her marriage and catalyzed a massive personal paradigm shift.

When the global pandemic hit in 2020, it provided an unexpected gift: a forced physical isolation that allowed Catherine to completely unravel away from the heavy social expectations of her former community. She terms this her "gooey cocoon phase," where her old identity disintegrated so a new, authentic self could emerge. It was during this dark season that she picked up a notebook and discovered Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Through daily stream-of-consciousness writing, she finally found a direct line to her own thoughts, eventually rebuilding her financial independence by starting a virtual piano studio and stepping into her power as a writer.

Now, years into her freedom, Catherine details how somatic practices like yoga, breathwork, and intuitive movement allowed her to process deep-seated emotional trauma stored in her body. Kristin and Catherine explore the concept of "rebecoming"—not transforming into someone entirely new, but stripping away the "shoulds" to return to who you always were in the first place. Catherine closes the episode with a moving live reading of her title poem, Barely a Whisper.

https://www.catherinesipher.com/

Thanks for spending a part of your night—or your morning—with me. If today’s episode helped you feel less alone in the dark, follow Wide Awake and Wondering on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, leave a rating or review, and share it with a fellow midnight thinker.

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Until next time, keep wondering, and I’ll see you in the middle of the night.

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