My guest today is an amazingly hard worker with a giant heart. Her name is Tonia Tewell and she’s the Founder and Executive Director of Holding Out Help. Tonia is incredibly giving, dedicated, and personable. For over 14 years, Tonia and her husband have been serving individuals who have escaped from religiously polygamist backgrounds. My conversation with Tonia was incredibly intimate, and I found her to be both understanding of others’ circumstances and genuinely empathetic to their needs. Tonia is a fantastic leader and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. I hope you enjoy it as well.
In our conversation, we discuss polygamist communities in Utah and the surrounding states, my families connection to this history, how people often seem crazy but are not, Mormon apologists, putting yourself in other’s shoes, the religious fear of being or doing enough, growing up isolated from others, public school, social learning, feeling normal after leaving polygamy, intentionally creating a persona, abuse and fatigue of abuse within religion, shelves or drawers in which to put religious doubts, emotional intelligence, joy and happiness, walking away from a self-sustaining society, the architecture of one’s reality, honesty of people who have hit rock bottom, the types of people you can trust, relating to others, children’s souls, external worlds and emotions, trauma from emotional neglect, not being allowed to feel, our bubbles becoming us, courage and blessings, becoming a whole person, reality and our perception of it, father’s becoming daddys, and our trial making us who we are today.
Episode Details:
Guest Name: Tonia Tewell, Founder and Executive Director of Holding Out Hope (HOH)
Website: https://holdingouthelp.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holdingouthelp/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holdingoutHELP/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HoldingOutHELPinc
Gong Sound: 68261__juskiddink__bell4.wav
Where to find The EXPLORER POET Podcast:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explorerpoet/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplorerPoetPod
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIQxs0F0mGoEJYNNJx4ph5g
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Explorer-Poet-105087492172066
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Z9WKzUIWbq5qOJE1zmRJQ
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-explorer-poet-podcast/id1621189025