Episode 12 - FEELing to Healing with Carrie Pierce
By Jessica Garrison
There’s so many layers to our next guest, Carrie Pierce. She is tactful, strategic, and observant, constantly caring for others before thinking of herself. Her journey is coated in loss, bravery, vulnerability, kindness, and love. After listening to the episode, you will have a newfound respect for those in your life you might not have realized were fighting a huge battle.
Carrie is vulnerable and opens up about her journey of F.E.E.L, which includes having to be on a special diet after losing so much muscle from not eating. She was a caregiver for her dad who had severe dementia, which is a devastating illness that has affected so many people. She wasn’t eating properly and her body had basically shut down. There was a lot of trauma that went unaddressed in both her mind and body, which began to take its toll. Self care for her was something she could snatch in a second, not really mindful or with purpose. After her parents passed, she began the process of discovering who she was and tending to the needs that were ignored for so long.
Caregivers' needs are often pushed to the side and buried, and Carrie says that becoming a caregiver can be a death sentence because of how often their needs are not met. It’s difficult to remind yourself to stay healthy when all of your focus is keeping someone else healthy, but Carrie gives a great example to remember how important it is to do the work for yourself. When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, it has to take the journey itself to change. If you try to help it get out of its cocoon, it’ll die—you have to wait for it to be ready to emerge on its own. People are the same way with self care and learning to prioritize themselves. They have to be willing to do the work and realize that they’re the ones who can complete metamorphosis rather than someone forcing you to take the steps before you’re ready.
Looking at childhood core wounds is another aspect we have to look into, though it’s never easy to look at the past from that perspective. We all have them in one way or the other, and it’s been mentioned on our show before about the need to heal your inner child. Carrie says that core wounds drive us until we are healed, and we see this day to day with people in our lives, searching for something they might not have had as a child. We can only heal so much physically without healing ourselves mentally and spiritually as well. That’s where the childhood core wounds come in, and we have to dig a little deeper to heal all aspects of our health.
Carrie is a licensed aesthetician, certified color analyst, and has even worked as a Hollywood makeup and special effects artist. There’s a lot we didn’t cover in the blog that Carrie goes into further detail with during the episode, so don’t forget to tune in to hear more of her incredible life. Although there’s been a lot to learn and unlearn, Carrie is finally prioritizing herself to live unapologetically. I hope everyone who reads this and listens to our podcast not only understands the importance of taking care of yourself, but that you are worth the time and effort to take care of yourself.
Ways to Engage: Take time to consider your core wounds starting from childhood. Sit with the emotions that come up during this exploration while remembering that there are no “good” or “bad” emotions—they are clues to help you get to the bottom of the real issue. Healing yourself from the past continues to heal yourself into the future, setting you up for further success mentally, physically, and spiritually.