This  Literally, Lex. The Podcast Seeking to Make Everyone Feel Seen and Heard.

What's your story?

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In my final experiment I revisited the wounds of my breakup by reconnecting with the soundtrack to my great summer love. As I wrote my feelings into lyrics, I began to consider how music and emotion are intertwined and why. I realized the songs I had listened to when I fell in love were about falling in love, the songs I listened to when I was single felt like they were written about me, and the songs I listened to after the breakup were written by heartbroken women just like me.

The intense emotional meaning behind lyrics and their healing power  inspired me.

I continued What Now? independently in preparation for my final project, but as I invited my friends on as guests I realized I was getting stuck in my break-up, feeling torn between hate and forgiveness. It was as though I was talking myself in circles unable to leave my ex in 2019, constantly re-opening old wounds and when I'd listen to an episode later it didn't feel like it was about me anymore. 

I was answering questions I had about relationships in college, adolescence and emerging adulthood, while also uncovering a lot about myself through hearing my friend's stories. My friends expressed a sense of catharsis associated with being on the show. 

This led me to consider the healing power of storytelling.

The songwriters shared their experiences in love and heartbreak through music and made me feel accompanied by an invisible army of women who shared my experience. I'm not much of a singer and my guitar playing skills have been lost, but I wanted to have a similar impact through my podcast. In order to do that I needed to re-brand it as entirely my own and leave the "crazy ex-girlfriend" version of myself behind me. 

I now seek to tell my stories: past, present and future alongside my friends from college and across my life. I will continue seek to answer understand the meaning of love is in college, how we can change the pressures around what college is "supposed to" be like, and how we can support one another in finding the balance on campus. 

I started What Now? because I got dumped, I was hurt, and I wanted to blow off steam because I felt an injustice.

I'm starting Literally, Lex. because out of the pieces that made up my broken-heart I was able to find myself, my tribe, and my passion for empathy.  

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