Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and her guests David Kaye and Elle. On air from August 4th
“Did you know wind makes sound?”
After being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and a rare genetic variation, Ella Coonen learned that she would eventually lose her hearing completely. In early 2025, she received her first hearing aids and, for the first time, heard the world as others do. Knowing time was limited, Ella created a bucket list of sounds she wished to experience for the first—and perhaps last—time. This film follows her moving journey to fill her heart with the beauty of sound while she still has the chance.
Ella Coonen is a recent high school graduate living life with profound hearing loss and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She has spent the last year going on a journey of sound discovery. David Kaye is a filmmaker and longtime family friend of Ella and her mother. He has had films in festivals throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Australia. The Sound of a Bucket List is his first feature.
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 join Our Forgotten Seniorsanthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on airJune 2nd
Graduation is not just about caps, gowns, diplomas, or walking across a stage. Graduation is life’s way of saying, “You have grown beyond where you once were.”
Right now, thousands of young people are stepping out of schools and into a world that feels uncertain, demanding, exciting, and sometimes overwhelming. They are told they must know who they are, what they want, and where they are going. But truthfully, life is not a straight staircase, it is a series of graduations.
We graduate from innocence into awareness. From fear into courage. From limitation into possibility. From surviving into living
From doubt to clarity
And the beautiful thing is, we never stop graduating.
For our young people, this moment can feel both thrilling and terrifying. Some are celebrating with certainty, while others are silently asking themselves, “What now?” Some are stepping into university, trades, travel, work, or entrepreneurship. Others are simply trying to figure out who they are in a world constantly telling them who they should be.
But perhaps the greatest graduation is not academic at all.
It is the graduation into self.
The moment we stop living only by expectation and begin listening to our own knowingness. The moment we understand that success is not merely measured by money, titles, followers, or status, but by whether we are becoming whole within ourselves.
Life itself is an ongoing upscaling.
Each challenge asks us to grow larger than the fear. Each heartbreak asks us to deepen in compassion and understanding. Each failure asks us to become wiser and listen in. Each success asks us to become more responsible with our gifts and use them wisely.
Upscaling is not about becoming “better than” others. It is about becoming more fully aligned with who we truly are.
For many graduates today, the pressure is immense. Social media has created a world of comparison where people feel behind before they have even begun. Yet every soul has its own timing, its own curriculum, its own classroom of growth.
Some people graduate early in wisdom. Some graduate through adversity, lack of health, wealth, connection . Some through loss and fear, facing the inner devil. Some through service, understanding their unique role in life. Some through love, self love , love of life, love of whom you serve in life.
And many adults listening today may realize they too are graduating right now, from old beliefs, old careers, old identities, old wounds, or old limitations
Life keeps calling us forward.
Perhaps we need to stop asking children, “What are you going to do?” and instead ask, “Who are you becoming?”
Because when people know who they are, what they do begins to align naturally.
This show is a celebration not only of school graduates, but of every person willing to rise into the next version of themselves. Every person choosing growth over stagnation. Every person brave enough to begin again.
Graduation is not an ending. It is an invitation.
An invitation to explore. To discover. To stumble and rise again. To trust your own voice. To bring your gifts to the world. To understand that life itself is a continual education of the soul.
And no matter your age, you are never too old to upscale your life, your thinking, your compassion, your purpose, or your dreams.
So to all graduates of every age and stage of life:
May you walk forward not in fear of the unknown, but in curiosity of what is possible. May you understand that your worth is not dependent on perfection. May you remember that every experience is shaping your wisdom. And may you always allow life to keep graduating you into greater awareness, service, and truth.
Because the real diploma in life is not paper. It is the wisdom we embody.
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 May 18th
An honest talk around emotional fatigue, masking pain, burnout, and the liberation that comes from authenticity.
May is Fibromyalgia Awareness Month, and after living with fibromyalgia for over thirty years, I felt it was important to speak openly about the wearyness of living with a debilitating disease that so often goes unseen, misunderstood, or dismissed.
Fibromyalgia is not simply about pain. It is an exhaustion that settles deep into the bones, the muscles, the mind, and the spirit. It is waking up tired no matter how much sleep you have had. It is trying to function through brain fog, chronic fatigue, hypersensitivity, emotional depletion, digestive issues, and a body that can change from one moment to the next without warning. Some days, even the smallest tasks can feel like climbing a mountain carrying invisible weight.
What makes it even harder is that many people living with fibromyalgia become experts at masking it. We smile, show up, continue caring for others, continue working where we can, and continue trying to participate in life while silently calculating energy, pain levels, recovery time, and limitations. People often see the face we present, not the internal battle we fight every single day.
Living with a long-term illness also carries grief. Grief for the life you thought you would have, the energy you once had, the spontaneity lost, the misunderstandings from others, and sometimes even the isolation that comes from people not fully comprehending what chronic illness does to the body, mind, emotions, and identity.
But within that wearyness, there is also resilience. There is adaptation. There is courage in continuing on when your body constantly asks you to stop. There is wisdom learned through pacing, listening, adjusting, and discovering what truly matters. Living with fibromyalgia teaches compassion in ways many cannot understand unless they too have walked this path.
This conversation is not about seeking pity. It is about awareness, understanding, and giving voice to the millions of people who live daily with invisible illnesses. It is about acknowledging that behind many smiles are people carrying extraordinary burdens quietly and bravely.
And perhaps most importantly, it is about reminding those who live with fibromyalgia that they are not weak, not lazy, not imagining it, and not alone and you are so much more than the desease.
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. Become an author on ouranthology Our Forgotten Seniors and help to bring this book to awareness.
Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on air from May 12th
From sixty to seventy, I stepped fully into my purpose and into a life that finally felt like my own. This decade was no longer about searching—it was about living, serving, and sharing the wisdom that had been forged through every previous chapter of my life.
By this time, podcasting had already begun to anchor me. Starting in 2012, and truly building momentum from 2014 onward, I committed to this path of conversation, connection, and contribution. What began as a spark in my late fifties became a full expression of who I am. Week after week, year after year, I showed up—interviewing people from around the world, sharing their stories, their courage, their insights, and their purpose.
The years that followed brought profound personal change.
In 2015, my mother passed at the age of 95. She had been bedridden, and when the time came, it was as if the Angels came for her. With open eyes and open arms, she embraced them. It was a moment of peace, of grace, and of release.
My best friend took me to Mexico in March 2015 for two weeks, it was wonderful and and after Mums death a welcome divertion.
In 2016, I lost my beloved companion, Kokomo, my border collie she was 14.7 years old. To this day, I miss her deeply. She was love, heart, soul, and spirit, and she loved me in a way that was pure and unwavering, a bond that will always stay with me. January of 2017 our beloved cat Sativa left us at the age of 17.7 years old.
In 2017, my ex finally moved on, closing a long and difficult chapter. We had been living together, but the relationship itself had ended seven years prior. That same year, I left Vancouver. This was not just a physical move, it was a transition into a life more aligned with who I was becoming. Vancouver held many memories, both beautiful and painful, but I knew it was time to step into new spaces, both externally and internally.
Late 2017, I went to Toronto for a short time to be closer to my eldest daughter. It brought a very different energy, busy, loud, and demanding. It reminded me of the vastness of the world, the diversity of people, and the constant movement of life. It echoed the work I was doing through my podcast, connecting with voices from all walks of life. But I only stayed three months, it was simply too cold, and for me, perhaps forty years too late.
In February 2018, I moved to Victoria, where I would spend the next six years. Victoria became a place of reflection and integration. Its quieter pace and connection to the sea allowed me to breathe more deeply, to look inward, and to let the dust of previous decades settle. I lived with an extraordinary woman named Audrey, who was 84 at the time and a true example of how to live life fully. That chapter gave me space—not to escape my past, but to understand and integrate it.
Throughout this decade, Self Discovery Wisdom truly grew into what it is today. It became more than a podcast, it became a platform, a community, an Orchard of Wisdom a Self Discovery, where voices could be heard and wisdom could be shared. I was no longer just finding my voice; I was helping others find and share theirs.
Living with fibromyalgia remained part of my daily reality. The pain, the fatigue, the unpredictability—they never truly left. But I learned to live with it, to work with my body instead of against it. I learned to pace, to rest, and to honour what I could do rather than mourn what I could not. It became part of my rhythm, not my identity.
This decade deepened my understanding of knowingness, of listening, feeling, and trusting that inner guidance. Everything I had gone through—the trauma, the loneliness, the rebuilding, the illness, had led me here. I could see the threads clearly. Nothing had been wasted. Every experience had shaped my compassion, my insight, and my ability to hold space for others.
There were still challenges—financial struggles, managing my health, carrying so much independently, but my relationship to those challenges changed. I was no longer defined by hardship. I was guided by purpose.
I embraced my role as the Wisdom Weaver of the Airwaves. Through thousands of conversations, I witnessed the resilience of humanity, the courage of individuals, and the power of shared stories. I saw again and again that people are not broken—they are often simply unheard, unsupported, or disconnected from their truth.
Eventually, I moved to Nanaimo, where I now live just ten minutes from my daughter and grandsons. My life is beautifully divided between podcasting and grandparenting, and I feel full. I owe a deep sense of security and gratitude to my daughter and son-in-law, who helped provide me with a home where I truly feel at peace, and where my grandsons can come and play.
This decade taught me that sometimes we need to change our environment to truly see ourselves. Vancouver showed me who I had been. Toronto reminded me of the world I was serving. Victoria gave me space to feel and heal. And Nanaimo has given me a sense of home, family,grounding and belonging.
Through it all, I remained committed to my purpose, sharing stories, weaving wisdom, and reminding others, as I remind myself, that our journey is not defined by where we are, but by who we become along the way.
From sixty to seventy-one, I wasn’t just moving through places.
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.
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