The Big Heart Journey With Taes Leavitt

Taes (Tess) Leavitt is known and loved as the founder of The Big Heart Journey and “Boots” in the wildly popular children’s music duo, “Splashnboots.” She is also my darling and extraordinary big sister. Friends and fans of Taes can rejoice in this VIP, family-friendly episode. Sister-to-sister, we talk about:

• What it’s like to grow up in the metropolis of Perth, Ontario: Why Taes developed a case of Special Person Syndrome, and how to take the pressure off the drive to excel and be perfect.

• Memories of high school drama club, and why Taes did not grow up to become an opera singer.

• The true story of Splashnboots: How the two-time Juno winners used to be married, but then they realized this was not quite the right thing, so they got divorced, and guess what? Sometimes, divorce is excellent news.

• The beautiful story of the Big Heart Journey: How Taes discovered mindfulness and immediately wanted to share the practice with children. How she was inspired to create a welcoming space where children can learn how to move through their big feelings.

• Listener Question from Missing Grandma: Hear some of Taes’s Big Heart Journey tips for a mother whose child is struggling with the recent loss of her grandmother.

Plus, get the inside scoop on celebrity morning routines, cleaning routines, and Taes’s secrets for getting through transitions with reasonable serenity. My sister is a miracle. What a blessing that she made it onto the show.

While we were recording this episode, my celebrity dog friends and podcast sponsors Lil and Bud were sleeping at our feet and it was the best. Don’t forget to order your Lil and Bud dog cards at ericajschmidt.com/merch

Lil and Bud, celebrity dog friends

Follow Taes on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out her programs at The Big Heart Journey.

And hit up Splashnboots when they’re in your neighbourhood. Splashnboots.com/tour

Taes’s Big Heart Journey Meditation on Grief: The Seed

The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup (Book about grief. Please support your Indie bookstores)

Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. Send a spicy or serious listener questions to any of these places and make Erica’s day.

Thank you so much for listening! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.

Mixing, Ukulele, and Cover Art by Erica J. Schmidt in Montréal, Quebec.

Special thanks to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events), and my dearly departed Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment.

If you would like to join Lil and Bud and become a podcast sponsor, ericajschmidt.com/merch, I would love to plug your product, service, or project as long as it doesn’t harm any people or their bodies. Please get in touch via my website or Instagram.

Listener Question from Missing Grandma

Dear Erica (and Taes),

My mother-in-law died unexpectedly this past spring. Every summer, my partner and our two young kids spend at least a month at the cottage with my in-laws. So far, this year—the first year since Gran died—has been tough. My oldest daughter Lyla is seven and she was very close to my mother-in-law. They had a special wake-up and bedtime routine and would spend all day together, swimming, baking, going on adventures and eating their favourite snacks. 

This year, my daughter has been acting out. Since there are fewer grownups to go around, she has to adapt to doing activities with her younger three-year-old sister, and she has started to get rough with her, hitting her with toys at her and calling her names. 

"I hate all the games," she wails. She says "The cottage is stupid" even though it used to be her favourite place. 

Bedtime has been especially hard. My father-in-law has tried to take over the bedtime routine but she sulks at every book and song suggestion and it takes almost two hours to get her to settle. She breaks down crying and says she misses Gran and wants to go home. We try to talk to her about missing Gran and say that we miss her too. We’ve made a memory photo book and try to do special activities to remind her of our wonderful memories. But she is just so sad. Can you think of anything that might help? 

Love, Missing Grandma