The Dangerous Comfort of Judgment: Responding to Tragedy with Humanity [episode 85]
Listen to The Dangerous Comfort of Judgment: Responding to Tragedy with Humanity on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | your platform of choice
**Trigger Warning: This episode was tough for me to record, and it may be tough to listen to. It includes topics of homicide and suicide.
I’m sharing some details about the tragic death of Bailey Koch (a woman I met years ago through the blogging world) and her family. Bailey and her husband, Jeremy, were mental health advocates, openly sharing their story through their platform, Anchoring Hope for Mental Health. A few weeks ago, their story unfortunately ended in heartbreak.
Since the news broke, I’ve seen both compassion and judgment online, and I felt called to dig into more of my thoughts here.
In today’s episode, I’m talking about the dangerous comfort of judgment and responding to tragedy with humanity. While I get the instinct to say, “I would never,” I also know that judgment gives us FALSE comfort. It creates distance and soothes our fears… but it doesn’t help us respond with humanity.
This conversation is about way more than one tragic event – it’s about the deeper patterns of silence, shame, and isolation in our culture (especially in rural life). We need safe spaces for people to talk, to be real, and to ask for help. We need more compassion, NOT more criticism.
If this stirred something up in you, I want you to know that’s okay! Let those feelings soften you. You can hold space and ask honest questions.
This is the time to say less and listen more. Above all, let’s choose to meet heartbreak with grace because that’s how we start to make a REAL movement.
In this episode, The Dangerous Comfort of Judgment: Responding to Tragedy with Humanity, I cover:
- Why judgment is often our reflex + how it gives us a false sense of control
- What to do when we catch ourselves in that space of quick judgment
- Risks of staying silent and ignoring red flags in ourselves or others
- How we can create safer + more compassionate spaces for those struggling with mental health
Resources & Links:
- Download your free guide to Handling Hard Conversations!
- Join the Good Movement Collective
- Good Movement music by: Aaron Espe
- Podcast produced by: Jill Carr Podcasting
Connect with Terryn:
- Follow on Instagram @terryn.drieling
- Check out my website
- Send me an email at terryn@terryndrieling.com
Related Episodes:
- Episode 63: Breaking the Stigma: Redefining Strength in Rural Communities
- Episode 46: Cultivating Resilience + Fighting Well: Dannel Wissler on Mental Health and Family Dynamics in Rural America
- Episode 6: Rethinking Mental Health with Ashley Machado
More about the Good Movement Draws Good Movement podcast:
In stockmanship (the art and science of handling cattle in a safe, effective, low-stress manner), we have this phrase . . . good movement draws good movement.
It’s this thing that happens when we ask a small group of cattle, maybe a cow, or a pair to move out in a certain direction and their movement draws the whole herd into moving in the same direction.
Good movement happens when we approach the cattle with a positive attitude, read and really listen to what they’re telling us, and communicate accordingly.
We don’t approach the aware, flighty cattle the same as we do the tame, docile cattle. We adjust ourselves, our energy, and approach, and communicate with each differently.
These adjustments help us effectively draw good movement from each, which then draws good movement from the herd. But it starts with us.
The same is true for humans. Good movement starts with us.
Welcome to Good Movement Draws Good Movement, the podcast where farmers, ranchers, and rural folks can grow relationally through awareness, understanding, and effective communication.
Hey, it’s me – T. I’m your host, and I, along with my guests, will be covering topics related to drawing good movement – things like self and social awareness, brain science, positive psychology, extending grace, and so much more.
We’ll share tools that can help you understand why you are the way you are, why others are the way they are, and how you can use that to step out of self-told lies with grace and compassion to draw good movement in conversations, relationships, and life in rural America.
Tune in every Tuesday and make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode! Let’s go draw good movement!
