Sisterhood of Common Sense Love with Sara Troy and her guest Melissa Heathers, on air from April 21st
Author & Executive Producer of The Book Crawl
“At the heart of my work is a deep belief that every story holds power, and that authors are not just writers, but thought leaders whose voices deserve to be seen and heard. Through The Book Crawl, I’ve created a platform that brings those voices to life—bridging the gap between the written word and media visibility. My focus is on helping authors step beyond the page and into spaces where their stories can create real impact, connection, and influence. This work is for the writers who have something meaningful to say but need the platform to amplify it, and my message is simple: your story matters, your voice carries weight, and when given the right stage, it can shape lives far beyond what you ever imagined.”
Melissa Heathers is an author, media visionary, and Executive Producer and Host of The Book Crawl, a television and podcast platform that elevates authors as thought leaders. Through her work, she bridges storytelling with media visibility, helping writers bring their voices beyond the page and into meaningful conversations that inspire connection, influence, and lasting impact.
Self Discovery Wisdom is sustained by those who believe in conscious conversation. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe and, if you feel called, make a donation. Your support helps us keep amplifying voices that inspire growth, courage, and compassion. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniorsanthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy. On air from April 14th
When the Mind, Body, and Processing All Speak at Once
ADHD, Fibromyalgia & Dyslexia — Different Expressions, Shared Sensitivity
We often look at conditions like ADHD, Fibromyalgia, and Dyslexia as separate challenges… but when we step back, we begin to see a deeper thread connecting them.
This is not about dysfunction. This is about a system that processes the world differently—more intensely, more deeply, and often all at once.
A Highly Responsive System
At the core of all three is a kind of heightened responsiveness:
ADHD the mind moves quickly, absorbing and reacting to multiple streams at once
Fibromyalgia the body amplifies sensations, especially pain and fatigue
Dyslexia the brain processes language and symbols in a non-linear, often more visual or intuitive way
Different expressions… same root: the system is taking in more than it can easily organize.
Fibromyalgia deep body awareness, empathy, sensitivity to others
Dyslexia visual thinking, problem-solving, storytelling, seeing patterns others miss
These are not small gifts. They are different intelligences.
What Support Truly Looks Like
Not fixing. Not forcing. Not comparing.
But:
Slowing things down
Allowing different ways of processing
Honouring rest without guilt
Creating calm, low-pressure environments
Speaking with encouragement instead of correction
And most of all: being seen without judgment
What It Feels Like (Bring Them Inside the Experience)
“Imagine your mind moving faster than you can organize… your body feeling more than it can process… and words not always landing the way you intend them to.
You are trying… deeply trying…but the world is moving in a rhythm that doesn’t match yours.”
Shift from judgment to empathy.
The Invisible Effort
People don’t often see how much effort it takes.
“What may look like distraction, fatigue, or confusion from the outside… is often someone working twice as hard just to stay present, to stay engaged, to stay understood.”
Reframe the narrative from “not trying” to “trying beyond what you see.”
The Masking Layer
Many people with ADHD, Fibromyalgia, and Dyslexia learn to mask:
pretending to keep up
hiding confusion
pushing through pain
overcompensating
“Sometimes the strongest people you meet… are the ones quietly holding it all together, so no one sees where they’re struggling.”
Language Matters (How We Speak to Them)
Instead of:
“Why can’t you just focus?”
“You need to try harder.”
Offer:
“How can I support you?”
“Take your time.”
“You don’t have to rush here.”
That shift alone can change someone’s entire nervous system response.
A Reframe
This fits with our “knowingness” philosophy:
“This isn’t a lack of ability…it’s a different wiring of brilliance.
When we stop forcing people into one way of functioning, we begin to see the depth of what they truly bring.”
A Closing Invitation
End it in your signature way inviting awareness and action:
“So today, I invite you to pause… to listen a little deeper… to offer a little more grace to others, and perhaps to yourself.
Because understanding isn’t about knowing everything… it’s about being willing to care.”
A Reflection
What if nothing about this is wrong… just different?
What if the mind, the body, and the way of learning are all asking for the same thing:
Space to breathe Permission to move at their own rhythm Understanding instead of expectation
Because when that happens…what once felt like struggle can begin to feel like self-awareness, alignment, and even wisdom.
Self Discovery Wisdom is sustained by those who believe in conscious conversation. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe and, if you feel called, make a donation. Your support helps us keep amplifying voices that inspire growth, courage, and compassion. Thank you.
Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy. On air from April 14th
I thought I would take a tiny look back on my seven decades, and revisit the memories.
Age 20 – Stepping Into the World. The Decade 20–30: The Years That Made Me
There are decades in our lives that quietly pass… and then there are decades that shape us.
My twenties were not a gentle unfolding. They were a leap—into the unknown, into the world, and into myself.
At twenty, I didn’t step out with a clear plan or a mapped-out future. I stepped out with curiosity… with openness… and with a heart that believed in humanity.
And that, as I would come to learn, was both my gift… and my lesson.
The World Became My Teacher
I didn’t learn from books—I learned from life.
Travel opened doors that no classroom ever could. From Paris to Greece, from Italy to Spain, from the United States to the roots of my life in South Africa, each place gifted me something different… something I needed.
I discovered that no matter where we come from—our culture, our language, our beliefs—we are all seeking the same thing:
To love… to be loved… and to live a meaningful life.
There were moments that felt like magic.
Dancing on the steps of Montmartre in Paris, where music seemed to gather around me, people chanting my name, my friend capturing it in art form. It was as if the universe itself was orchestrating the moment… strangers becoming part of a shared joy, a collective rhythm.
Walking alone under the moonlight in Greece, a song rising from somewhere deep within me, only to be joined by a stranger whose voice met mine in harmony—two souls, unknown to each other, yet connected in that moment.
These were not just experiences… they were awakenings.
Love, Connection, and Being Seen
In Spain, I met a man who, for a time, truly saw me.
He didn’t try to fix me. He didn’t judge me. He simply held space for me—to be, to feel, to share.
And sometimes, even a brief love can leave a lasting imprint. Not because it lasted forever… but because, in that moment, it was real.
Those moments mattered.
They reminded me that connection was possible… even if it wasn’t always permanent.
I met my ex-husband when I was twenty-six. From the very beginning, it was tumultuous—there was trauma woven into it—but the attraction was addictive. I had never intended to marry. To me, being with someone was a choice made each day from the heart, not something bound by a piece of paper.
When I was twenty-eight, my daughter was born—she was deeply wanted and chosen. But the external pressure to marry became overwhelming, and so we did. We went on to have two more children.
Yet, it was a marriage that should never have happened, and the pain of it left lasting scars.
The Lessons That Come With Openness
But life has a way of balancing beauty with truth.
I trusted easily—because I believed in people.
And while that brought incredible souls into my life, it also brought lessons… sometimes hard ones.
Not everyone who enters your life is there to honor you.
Some come to take. Some come to teach. And some… come to wake you up.
There were moments of danger, moments of uncertainty—times when instinct had to lead because logic had no time to catch up.
Like the day I found myself lost in a part of Washington no one dared to go… and yet, through presence, connection, and a willingness to meet people eye to eye, fear dissolved into humanity.
Those experiences taught me something powerful:
When we lead with fear, we close doors. When we lead with presence, we sometimes open hearts.
Finding My Way Without Fitting In
I was never academic. That path was never mine.
But what I lacked in structure, I made up for in instinct.
I could walk into a room and feel what was needed. I could see what people couldn’t express. I could serve—not from training, but from knowing.
This got me every job I had, not my credentials, but my essence of being.
Whether working in restaurants or stepping into roles I technically wasn’t “qualified” for, I found my way by connecting with people.
I worked in many jobs, not for a career, but for an experience and to see if I could do it.
I became South Africa’s first female Mobile Oil representative—not because I knew oil… but because I knew people.
And that mattered more.
I realized that service isn’t about knowledge alone… it’s about understanding, presence, and care.
Expression, Joy, and Being Alive
There was joy too—so much joy.
Music, dance, movement… the freedom of expression. Discovery, meeting new people, experiencing things I had never done, tasted, and seen.
I became South Africa’s first official go-go dancer, at the age of 15, at a time when it was still vibrant and alive, before it took on darker connotations. This was the start of my exploration and setting me up to what I do today.
The rhythm of Africa…is in its soul its soil, the beat of music… the energy of the dance floor…
That was life moving through me.
Even when my body struggled—with asthma, with limitations—my spirit still danced.
The Awakening of Knowingness
Through all of this, something deeper was quietly growing within me.
A knowingness.
Not learned. Not taught. But felt.
I began to see that I could sense what others needed… that I could understand things without knowing how I knew.
At the time, I didn’t fully trust it.
I was still looking outward for validation… still trying to fit into a world that was never designed for someone like me. Dyslexia, ADD, Asthma, Eczema, and insecurity.
But the seed was there.
And it was growing.
The Decade That Built Me
Looking back now, I can see it clearly.
My twenties were not about getting it right.
They were about experiencing… exploring… falling… rising…
They were about becoming.
Every high lifted me. Every low shaped me. Every person, every place, every moment—left its imprint.
And through it all…
I was being prepared.
For Anyone Walking Their Twenties Now
If you are in this decade of your life, or remembering it…
Know this:
You are not meant to have it all figured out.
You are meant to live it.
To explore the world… to explore yourself… to make mistakes… to discover your strength…
Because this decade?
It doesn’t define you.
It builds you.
Closing Reflection
My twenties were messy, magical, painful, and beautiful. I got married, had my first child, moved yet again to a new country, traveled explored.
Self Discovery Wisdom is sustained by those who believe in conscious conversation. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe and, if you feel called, make a donation. Your support helps us keep amplifying voices that inspire growth, courage, and compassion. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniorsanthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
I was born on October 6th, 1954, just after midnight. My mother had gone into labor on the Wednesday before and had apparently said, “Thank God she’s not going to be a Wednesday’s child, because Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Well, I waited until just after midnight on Wednesday to be born anyway. Looking back, I can smile at that now, because yes, there has certainly been some woe in my life, but whether we can blame Wednesday for it is another matter altogether.
As I turned ten, life still carried a sense of comfort and familiarity. My father was alive, and we were living in a beautiful home in Louth, England—surrounded by gardens, open space, and a rhythm that felt secure, even though I was away at boarding school for much of the time. Coming home brought a sense of grounding, of knowing where I belonged. But everything changed at eleven. My father suffered another heart attack, and this time, he didn’t recover.
I thought I would take a tiny look back on my seven decades, and revisit the memories.
Age 20 – Stepping Into the World. The Decade 20–30: The Years That Made Me
There are decades in our lives that quietly pass… and then there are decades that shape us.
My twenties were not a gentle unfolding. They were a leap—into the unknown, into the world, and into myself.
At twenty, I didn’t step out with a clear plan or a mapped-out future. I stepped out with curiosity… with openness… and with a heart that believed in humanity.
And that, as I would come to learn, was both my gift… and my lesson.
In my thirties, life wasn’t something I was simply living—it was something I was holding together. On the outside, it looked like I was doing it all: raising my now 3 children, building businesses, clothing shop called Tabytha’s Wear Unusual, creating opportunities, moving between places, traveling back into England and the States. There was movement, there was momentum, there was creation. But beneath it all… there was a constant stretching of self.
I’m your host, Sara Troy, and this is my fifth decade in the series of seven shows reflecting on my seventy-one years of life. Each episode looks at one decade, and this one is my forties into my fifties. If you want the wider life story, with more of the detail and perspective, that lives in my book, Sara’s Self-Discovery to Soul Living. But today, I want to share what this decade truly felt like, because my forties were a very tumultuous time, yet also the beginning of my liberation.
In my mid-fifties into my mid-sixties, everything began to shift. After asking for the divorce at the end of my forties, I stepped into a chapter that was no longer about just surviving—it was about finding my way forward, even when I didn’t yet know what that path would look like.
Self Discovery Wisdom is sustained by those who believe in conscious conversation. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe and, if you feel called, make a donation. Your support helps us keep amplifying voices that inspire growth, courage, and compassion. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniorsanthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
Raising Our Gifted Childrenwith Sara Troy and her guest Dr. Susan L. Blumberg, Ph,D. On air from April April 14th
I help families go from chaos and conflict to mutual trust, respect and connection, and help teens become the successful, independent adults they are meant to be. I help all teens, but love working with neurodivergent and twice exceptional teens.
I also specialize in working with youth and adults with Nonverbal Learning Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
I am passionate about helping people reach their goals. For over thirty years, my goal has been to help children, adolescents, adults, and families to overcome stress, anxiety, depression and other obstacles to find joy and success in their own lives. Why? Because working with families and individuals to achieve their life goals is my goal in life! I find great satisfaction in supporting my clients through their tough times, in helping them think through issues, and in resolving emotional and behavioral problems.
I’m a married mother of two young adult, twice-exceptional children. I’ve lived in Colorado for over 40 years, but I still think of myself as a New Yorker!
My background in cognitive behavioral therapy informs my work as a life coach, as I help people set goals, plan their journey, and achieve success. I worked as a licensed clinical psychologist for over 20 years, in mental health agencies, in private practice, and for the federal government overseeing child welfare and adoption services in the Rocky Mountain region. This has given me a solid and varied background, and extensive level of experience.
Working as a special education advocate for 40 years means I have honed my skills as a negotiator, my ability to collaborate, and my understanding of being a team member. I always put your child first. I have training from the Arc, Wrightslaw, and I was a member of COPAA, the Council Of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. I have sat on both sides of the IEP table, as a professional and a parent, which gives me an unique perspective. Though I am not currrently taking new clients, I am available for consultation as needed.
I am also the coauthor of multiple books, including Fighting for Your Marriage (2010, Markman, Stanley & Blumberg), 12 Hours to a Great Marriage (2003, Markman, Stanley & Blumberg) and Parenting a Child with Sensory Processing Disorder: a family guide to understanding and supporting your sensory-sensitive child (2006, Auer & Blumberg).
University of Denver, MA, 1983; PhD, 1991 Brandeis University, BA, 1980.
Self Discovery Wisdom is sustained by those who believe in conscious conversation. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe and, if you feel called, make a donation. Your support helps us keep amplifying voices that inspire growth, courage, and compassion. Thank you.
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