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b'Mental health isn\\u2019t a subject that\\u2019s addressed among church congregations all that often. But if it was up to Reverend Barbara F. Meyers, that silence wouldn\\u2019t be the norm. A Sidewalk Talk volunteer and author of the book Held: Showing up for Each Other\\u2019s Mental Health, Rev. Meyers\\u2019 goal with everyone she meets\\u2014from the sidewalk to the sanctuary\\u2014is to make the world a little friendlier place.\\xa0\\nListen to today\\u2019s episode as Traci talks with Meyers, her longtime friend, about Meyers\\u2019 own mental health struggles, putting Held out into the world, and her biggest wish for everyone listening. Especially if you work in or are involved with a church, this is an important conversation you won\\u2019t want to miss!\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nEpisode Milestones\\n[00:09] Intro\\n[00:57] Meet Rev. Barbara F. Meyers\\xa0\\n[03:48] Barbara\\u2019s mental health story\\xa0\\n[13:15] Intro to Held book\\xa0\\n[15:15] Barbara\\u2019s Sidewalk Talk stories \\xa0\\n[20:32] Differences between church, clinic, and sidewalk when it comes to mental health conversations\\n[26:32] Barbara starting her own Sidewalk Talk groups in Freemont, CA\\xa0\\n[29:12] How to listen, but not take in, everyone\\u2019s personal angst\\xa0\\n[32:38] Barbara\\u2019s wish for you\\n[33:41] Outro\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nResources Mentioned\\nHeld: Showing up for Each Other\\u2019s Mental Health\\xa0\\nMission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation\\xa0\\nLife Reaching Across to Life Peer Support Center\\nStandout Quotes from the Episode\\n\\u201cMy fondest wish is that people would read [Held] in their congregations and find ways of helping other folks to follow some of the lessons, or not do some of the things that I say are harmful.\\u201d\\u2014Barbara Meyers\\xa0\\n\\u201cWhen we first started sitting out on the sidewalk, I think people were really wary of us! They probably thought, \\u2018what are these two white, elderly ladies doing here?\\u2019\\u201d\\u2014Barbara Meyers\\xa0\\xa0\\n\\u201cI\\u2019m just there for a couple hours a week, but you think of the people that are there every day out on the sidewalk\\u2014sometimes out there all night long, too\\u2014and wow, what they have to deal with in their life is just unfathomable. If there\\u2019s any way I can make the world a little friendlier for someone like that, I will.\\u201d \\u2014Barbara Meyers\\xa0\\n\\u201cI wish you would find something in your life that you were meant to do on this earth. Because once you find that and you know that\\u2019s who you are and why you\\u2019re here, nothing\\u2019s going to stop you from making it happen.\\u201d \\u2014Barbara Meyers\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nConnect:\\nFind | Sidewalk Talk Podcast\\nAt sidewalk-talk.org\\nOn Instagram: @sidewalktalkorg\\nOn Twitter: @sidewalktalkorg\\n\\xa0\\nFind | Traci Ruble\\nAt Traciruble.com\\nOn Instagram: @TraciRubleMFT\\nOn Twitter: @TraciRubleMFT\\nOn Facebook: @TraciRubleMFT'