What in your life feels brutal… and beautiful at the same time?
Hey y’all, welcome to More Lovin… the podcast that brings more laughter, light, and love into everyday life. I’m your host LeAnn Austin, and together we’ll rediscover the beauty of connection to your body, your mind, your spirit, and the people you love.
Today’s episode #211: Brutiful: When Life Is Hard And Beautiful
So glad you’re here today. I want to start with a word that has been showing up in my life again and again. A word that somehow names something we all feel, but don’t always know how to say. The word is Brutiful.
And if you’ve heard my friend Chris Rich, you’ve probably heard her say it, because she uses this word often. The first few times I heard it, I remember thinking: Oh that is it, that is the word. Because it captures something real.
Now, what does Brutiful mean? Brutiful is a mashup of two words: brutal and beautiful. It became more widely known when Glennon Doyle used it to describe seasons of life that are incredibly hard and still meaningful. Not either/or. But both.
And what I love about this word is that it gives us permission to stop choosing sides. Life doesn’t have to be all good or all bad to matter. So many of us feel pressure to look on the bright side, find the lesson quickly, be grateful even when it hurts. And listen, gratitude is good. Hope is good. But sometimes moving too quickly to the “beautiful” part causes us to skip over the truth.
And brutiful says: You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to clean it up. You can tell the whole truth. That’s where More Lovin begins.
Brutiful is honest living. And here’s what bruitful allows: Parenting that’s exhausting and meaningful. Healing that hurts and brings freedom. Grief that breaks you and deepens your love. Growth that stretches you and strengthens you.
If you are in a season like that right now, I just want you to hear this. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re living honestly. Your body knows brutiful too.
I think this is really important because brutiful isn’t just emotional, it’s physical. When something is brutal, our bodies feel it; tight shoulders, shallow breathing, heaviness in the chest. And when something is beautiful, our bodies feel it too; softness, warmth, ease. And brutiful moments, they live right in between.
This is why checking in with your body matters. Not to fix it, but to notice it. And this is actually why I created the Lovin Check-in, because in beautiful seasons, we don’t need more pressure to be okay. We need pauses. Moments where we can ask: What am I feeling right now? Where am I holding tension? What would feel like a little more loving in this moment? The Lovin Check-In isn’t about solving the hard, it’s about staying connected while you move through it.
Here’s a simple practice you can try today. Ask yourself: What in my life is brutiful right now? Don’t overthink it. Let the answer be messy. Maybe it’s a relationship, a transition, a season of waiting, your own healing. Naming it doesn’t make it harder. It usually makes it lighter.
Now brutiful isn’t a word you put on a throw pillow. It’s more like a word you whisper to yourself when you’re doing the dishes or driving or sitting alone thinking this is way harder than I expected. And also I am still here. That matters.
So if you’re walking through something brutal. I want to invite you to practice More Lovin with yourself. Less judgment, less rushing, more honesty, more compassion. And if it helps, use tools that support you ~ like your breath, like pauses, like checking in instead of checking out.
If you’d like a gentle guide for that, the Lovin Check-In freebie is HERE. It’s there for the moments when life feels tender and tangled ~ when both things are true. So if today feels heavy and meaningful, painful and precious, hard and holy, you don’t need to pick a side. It might just be brutiful. Hmm, something to think about.
Here’s to Brutiful and More Lovin. Have a good one y’all.
Thanks for tuning in. If you are ready to take what we talk about here and make it personal, let’s work together one-on-one. I’ll help you calm your nervous system, strengthen your relationships, and create more loving, laughter and calm in your life. You can find all the details at leannaustin.com
Until next time. Keep choosing fun, connection, and a whole lot More Lovin. Have a good one y’all.