Categories
Kim Mooney Personal Stories Podcast TTT Season 4 Storytelling

Season 4 Episode 21: Kim Mooney on Stories of Courage & Resilience

Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia.

Thank you for listening in.

I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. 

Kim Mooney (Photo from Kim’s Website)

I am delighted and thrilled that my long-time friend, Kim Mooney has joined me on Tea Toast & Trivia to talk about her soon-to-be published second book, which is about profound stories of courage and resilience.

Kim has a degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in leadership. Her career has been an eclectic one, moving between teaching and hospital administration and back to teaching.  She retired in 2018 after fifteen years of teaching at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC.  In addition to her academic responsibilities at Royal Roads, Kim ran a consulting practice for fifteen years.

How can we learn from stories? How do we give honour to another person’s story? How do we connect with past stories and how do we create stories for those who come after us?  These are the questions that we will be discussing today.

Thank you for joining Kim and me on Tea Toast & Trivia.  

Kim’s first book, “Hidden Daughter, Secret Sister” is available on Amazon. I am looking forward reading Kim’s second book which will be coming soon.

A special thank you, Kim, for sharing your profound and valuable insight into the need to tell our story and to hear and learn from the stories of others.  As always, your candour and compassion come together to encourage a deeper appreciation and recognition of what it means to live with joy and enthusiasm.

I invite you to meet up with Kim on her website Kim Mooney and on Goodreads.  I know that you will be inspired by Kim’s journey. Until next time we meet, dear friends, stay safe, be well.

Kim Mooney on Stories of Courage and Resilience – Tea. Toast. & Trivia.

By Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

29 replies on “Season 4 Episode 21: Kim Mooney on Stories of Courage & Resilience”

Is this my favourite conversation yet? Possibly. You and Kim brought me to a few tears with your compassion and honoring of stories. I love the concept of holding space and the idea that everyone has an arc of light.

Liked by 3 people

I am delighted that you listened in, Mandy. I loved the idea of holding space, of allowing the words to formulate. Silences within a conversation has always prompted me to talk more than necessary. I am learning to be comfortable in the silences. It seems that it allows me to hear what is left unspoken. Thank you for your heartwarming comments. Hugs!

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

Wonderful episode. It’s amazing how fragile yet resilient people can be. In a culture that thrives on the make believe world of celebrities and politicians, few people know, least understand, the stories behind so many people like those Kim interviewed. Real people with real stories that are tragic and often turn out to be amazing feats of recovery. But so many of those potentially inspiring stories go untold and unnoticed, lost in a culture of following influencers for “me” and who cares about “them”. I think it’s great that Kim is gathering and telling some of those real, relevant and inspiring stories.

Liked by 3 people

Thank you Tim for your profound understanding of what it means to have compassion and empathy in a world that is driven by a need to be relevant in success, in beauty, in wealth, in popularity. I especially appreciated your words: “But so many of those potentially inspiring stories go untold and unnoticed, lost in a culture of following influencers…” Life is ambiguous, uncertain and presents challenges that test our strength and resolve to continue. We need to hear these stories and tell our stories. Together we become stronger, more resilient.

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

This was an amazing conversation. There is so much value in listening to people’s stories, and everyone has one. Kim’s next book will be incredible and will change the lives of others. Well done to put this together and share these stories.

Liked by 3 people

Many thanks, Darlene, for listening in and adding to the conversation. I especially appreciated the idea of “holding space” to listen to others, and more importantly, to ourselves. Your support and encouragement is very much appreciate!

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

This was such an interesting conversation, Rebecca. Kim’s book sound like it will be an interesting collection of stories that meet most of the criteria you started with. Preserving stories, creating stories for future generations. Understanding people’s stories is so important.

Thinking about the leadership stories, is so important. I once heard an executive from Hewlett Packard speaking at a presentation. HP was facing some problems at that time, and he modified a quote he is well known for. Speaking of passing information on to new employees and the next generation, he said, “If HP knew what HP knows, we wouldn’t be having these problems.”

Storytelling sounds so non-business, but often, it’s the only way to convey the information that the next person will need. Formulas and algorithms are great, but knowing why we do something, how we discovered something, why we ruled out A,B,C and D; takes a story.

I love the story of the self-sacrifice of the man in the wheelchair. To not be grumpy, to make his visitors feel good about the visit. That’s amazing and that story touched my heart.

Liked by 4 people

Many thanks for listening in and for adding to this conversation. The quote – “If HP knew what HP knows, we wouldn’t be having these problems” – resonated. I agree , storytelling does not seem to, at first glance, embrace the idea of business. I have sat in those meetings looking at slides filled with grafts, numbers, lines that were straight, curved and sometimes even, squiggled. But as you said so well, it takes a story to bring out the why we do something. It adds an emotional nuance that allows us to relate and connect a story with our personal stories.

Do you remember the short book “Who Moved My Cheese?” By Spencer Johnson. It was a parable where 4 mice – Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw – search a maze for cheese, when they all realize the cheese, that was usually abundant in their area, had disappeared. This simple parable that has been used over and over to consider how to transition and adapt.

I am delighted that you enjoyed this conversation, Dan!! Your support and encouragement of these conversation is truly appreciated.

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

Thank you, Kim and Rebecca for this outstanding podcast! Kim has an outstanding background of teaching and experience that gives creditability to her writing. She already has a book published to her credit; one for which I am now searching. This is a very excellent look at the very important place that stories have in our everyday situations! Through stories from our fellow humans, we learn from their success and also from their mistakes! Telling a life story from our past experience requires that, in a real sense, we have to relive that experience all over again. I appreciated Kim relating her experience taking care on Wednesdays of a man who through surgery had lost his ability to move as he had before. And, so important, he was able to adjust his experience in a positive way enabling him to encourage and help others! ! This experience is perhaps the reason for Kim’s coming book, that no doubt, will be outstanding, Thank you for this story, one that we can all learn from! !

Liked by 3 people

Many thanks for listening in and for your heartwarming comments, Frances. I agree, telling a life story from our past experience requires that, in a real sense, we have to relive that experience all over again. Kim’s ability to listen and tell the story through words is truly remarkable. I have ordered Kim’s first book Hidden Daughter, Secret Sister for you!!! I know you will enjoy reading Kim’s story. I did!!!

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

Thank you for listening in and adding to the conversation, Liz. I agree – listening is the key, giving value and honour to what has been said. I especially appreciated the idea of “holding space.”

Liked by 3 people

By Post Author

I didn’t hear your first interview with Kim, but I sure enjoyed this one. The wife’s story about her husband with a brain tumor was compelling.

I have often thought of my students and wondered why some had survived their awful home situations. It usually came down to their resiliency and having someone else in their life that inspired them.

Liked by 2 people

Thank you so much for listening in to this conversation, Pete. I agree wholeheartedly that resilience and hope are built when someone shows compassion, takes time to listen and empathize. I look back and remember those moments when the right word, a smile or hug gave me courage to continue with whatever challenge I was facing at the time. I especially appreciated the idea of “holding space” – of giving time to put thoughts into words. I believe that we need to hold space for ourselves, to pause and reflect – sometimes it takes time to articulate our thoughts. Your support and encouragement of these conversations is truly appreciated, Pete.

Liked by 1 person

By Post Author

An incredibly moving and heartfelt conversation, Rebecca and Kim. Resilience in the face of the devastation that life can send our way is among the most inspiring and admirable of human traits, even as we acknowledge that feeling bitter is totally understandable. Kim, your upcoming second book sounds like it will be immensely compelling.

Liked by 1 person

I knew that you would enjoy this conversation, Dave. Thank you for listening in and adding so much to this discussion. I especially appreciated Kim’s thought on holding space, of allowing inner reflections to become words. To record history is an awesome task, to be a witness and be entrusted with a story is an honour and a responsibility. Kim does this well.

Liked by 1 person

By Post Author

Hi Rebecca, it is lovely to see Kim featured here again. I really enjoyed your conversation and I agree that some people overcome adversity and tragedy in the most amazing and resilient way. It is also true that listening [or reading] other peoples stories is very special for the sharer and the receiver. My favourite blog posts are ones that share about peoples lives and adventures. I love learning more about people.

Liked by 2 people

I am delighted that you enjoyed this conversation, Robbie. Many thanks for listening in and for your comments. Your love of hearing/telling/supporting stories is a gift to our community. Your bring them to us through your writing, your Youtube Channel, your blogs and Facebook groups. Thank you for sharing your story and inviting and encouraging other to do the same.

Liked by 1 person

By Post Author

Comments are closed.