Ah, summer. The season of sticky popsicles and even stickier expectations. It’s supposed to be the time of rest and freedom, but more-often-than-not, it’s anything but. In this solo episode, Kate shares from her very real, very mosquito-bitten summer, exploring the myth of summer as effortless bliss and what it means to resist our culture’s obsession with doing more, achieving more, and smiling through it all.

Instead, what if we embraced a gentler kind of ambition? Kate reflects on the sacred permission of Sabbath, the theology of rest, and how even our underachieving might be a form of holy resistance.

If you’re feeling overcooked, overwhelmed, or just plain over it—this one’s for you.

Relevant Links:
Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Brueggemann
Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day by Kate Bowler
A Blessing for the Burnt Out, Soul-Drenched, and Sun-Weary

Kate's now on Substack! Read her writing here.

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During our summer break, we are re-airing some of our favorite episodes.

In this live conversation recorded at Duke University, the indomitable Liz Gilbert (of EAT, PRAY, LOVE fame) joins Kate for a discussion about the courage to create. Listen as Liz helps us expose our exhausting American need to make everything useful and lets us embrace beauty as a way of really living.

In this episode, Kate and Liz discuss:

• Why we stop ourselves from being creative
• How we are all capable of making anything (badly! medium-well!)
• But how our creativity is best if it is for no reason whatsoever (not for impact or legacy or money or acknowledgement)
• How curiosity quiets fear and control

CW: some spicy adult language

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During our summer break, we are re-airing some of our favorite episodes! In a world that constantly demands more—more work, more achievement, more hustle—how do we learn to pause? Kate sits down with her sister Maria Bowler, a writer, creativity coach, and spiritual director, to talk about the pressures of the “producer self,” that voice inside us all that equates our worth with what we do, fix, or achieve.

This conversation is an invitation to live differently—to embrace rest, love, and the sacredness of simply being. For the overachievers, the caregivers, and the deeply tired (you know who you are): you are already enough.

In this conversation, Kate and Maria discuss:

• How to see one another (and ourselves) through a lens of love

• How to give yourself permission to rest and procrastinate

• The difference between meaningful work and the hustle that leaves us hollow

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love:

• Oliver Burkeman: New Year, Same Me

• Liz Gilbert: Why Your Creativity Matters

• Emma Gannon: The Butterfly Era

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.