The Musician Centric Podcast
Two professional violists, Liz O'Hara and Stephanie Knutsen, explore diverse perspectives in the music field through conversations together and with friends. Whether gaining fresh insights from industry innovators or laughing their way through a show like Mozart in the Jungle, Liz and Steph hope to inspire musicians, particularly freelancers, to feel a sense of agency in their lives.
**Note: This podcast was formerly titled the ViolaCentric podcast**
The Musician Centric Podcast
Breaking the Silence: Healing, Health, and Finding Strength After Our Hiatus
Stories? Questions? Thoughts? TEXT us here!
Liz and Steph reunite after an eight-month podcast hiatus, bringing with them powerful stories of personal transformation through health challenges.
With remarkable vulnerability, Steph shares her breast cancer journey—the fear, the treatments, and ultimately the strength she discovered within herself and from her support network. Her experience serves as both inspiration and gentle reminder about the life-saving importance of regular mammograms.
Meanwhile, Liz opens up about navigating life with rare Addison's disease, describing her evolution from merely managing symptoms to exploring deeper healing possibilities. Her realization that autoimmunity requires listening to her body's limits represents a profound shift away from the constant hustle that once defined her professional life. Together, these parallel health journeys have given both musicians a new perspective on what truly matters.
The conversation weaves through serious topics with natural moments of lightness—from Netflix recommendations to memories of watching Celine Dion's documentary together. What emerges most clearly is how this extended break has crystallized their vision for the podcast's future. Though they'll produce fewer episodes moving forward, they're recommitting to the deep, curiosity-driven conversations that have fueled their own personal growth since the podcast's pandemic-era beginnings..
This isn't just a return—it's a renewal of purpose. As they prepare to welcome guests again (with one interview already recorded), Steph and Liz invite listeners to connect beyond social media, through their email list, and direct messaging.
At its heart, this episode celebrates the sustaining power of community during life's unexpected challenges. Have you experienced similar transformations through difficult periods? We'd love to hear your story. Text us above!
Interested in starting your own podcast? We can't recommend our host Buzzsprout enough! Click here for an introductory offer from them!
Welcome to the Musician Centric Podcast. We are two freelance violists living and laughing our way through conversations that explore what it means to be a professional musician in today's world. I'm Steph.
Speaker 2:And I'm Liz, and we're so glad you've joined us. Let's dive in. Oh my gosh, that was a great countdown.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of coming back to me.
Speaker 2:I'll get there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're a little rusty.
Speaker 2:We are a little rusty, aren't we? Yeah, but it feels good to be back.
Speaker 1:It feels really good. We missed you.
Speaker 2:Hi everybody, Hi Whoever is choosing to listen after our big long break.
Speaker 1:You probably opened your podcasting app and you were like what, when have these guys?
Speaker 2:been Well, it's been quite a journey, hasn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, life has happened.
Speaker 2:Lots of life has happened and for those of you who have followed us regularly for one season or two or three or four seasons, we cut our season short last spring and it was for health reasons on my end a good solid eight months or so since we've put anything out there, which is really kind of wild to think about in hindsight, because in some ways doesn't it feel like not that long, but also it's been a very long time.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really feel that For me.
Speaker 1:Midsummer I was diagnosed with breast cancer and so I've spent the last few months, you know, having surgery, doing radiation. I'm very, very, very lucky, very lucky, gosh. I really haven't talked about this. I feel a little emotional. It's been a journey, and a journey through fear and finding strength that I didn't realize that I had and leaning on friends and family to get through a really uncertain time. Anybody who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, everybody's journey is different, everyone's prognosis is different, and I was just very lucky. It was very small, I caught it early, it wasn't aggressive, and so I'm on the other side of all of my treatment. I'm still taking some hormone therapy and I will be doing that for at least five years. But, yeah, I just feel very grateful to be on this side of things and, honestly, to have gone through it. That feels like a weird thing to say, but it's really shown me how strong I am and how much people in my life love me.
Speaker 2:I also think you're such a living public service announcement for taking care of yourself and getting your mammograms and just being on top of your health. You inspire me so much in that way being on top of your health, like you inspire me so much in that way, and I'm obviously so grateful for all the things that you said. Being one of my best friends, like knowing that it was not a severe case, that like all of the treatment worked, that you're on the other side of it, that you're thriving now. I'm so grateful for all of that. I'm sure there are many people who will listen that can totally understand this experience, and I think you're very brave for sharing it. I know that it's not the easiest thing for you to do. My dear friend Steph is pretty private.
Speaker 1:I am, but I really was inspired to share it. I mean, I did share it on my social media eventually, but the main reason is because if I had not gone for my mammogram, I wouldn't know, yeah, and who knows what could have happened. So just encourage you. If it's your time, just get them. It's uncomfortable for about 20 minutes and then you're done and hopefully you never have to go back until the next year.
Speaker 2:Yep, that's right, just add it to your calendar please. And they also have it like down to a science. It's like in and out, you know, it's like a boob pressing factory. Yes, exactly, I got my first one in the spring, everybody. So I never had the joy of that experience. I am now of age to have the joy of that experience.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the club.
Speaker 2:And it's terrible, but it's so short and they really do. It's like you show up for your appointment. They're like get in there, get changed, do the thing. You're out, and it's terrible, but it's so short and they really do. It's like you show up for your appointment. They're like get in there, get changed, do the thing. You're out, and it is. It's like 20 minutes, it's so easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but with all of that kind of managed, as they would say in Harry Potter, mischief managed.
Speaker 2:You feeling good? Yes, I feel good. Also, health in general is just a wild thing. What I've learned in the X amount of months since I was diagnosed with Addison's last spring and, by the way, I really want to say thank you to the people who wrote to us about that you guys are the sweetest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really meant a lot to me to hear someone else's experience. What's crazy about this is it is under the massive umbrella of autoimmunity, but it is very rare. I don't know if I said this in the spring, but I went down a rabbit hole and I was looking things up and I recognized that, if I did the math right, there's only maybe up to five or six people in the entire DMV area who have Addison's, so it's extremely rare and it's hard to find community, and I'm just grateful to hear from people who are going through it as well. I will also say that it's a windy road and it's had its ups and downs even since the diagnosis. So I've been exploring a lot with autoimmunity and what I've come to understand is it's not just about having the medication that I have now, which is, in fact, you know, like life saving compared to where I was in the spring. Choices in lifestyle, and one of those things is just not hustling constantly, and every time I get into a bit of a wave I'm riding of being a little bit too busy or having taken on a little bit too much. My body now likes to tell me that I'm doing too much and it was something I could ignore for a long time, and now I really I can't. But just recently I've been doing a fair amount of work internal work, thought work and things like that. I've started a really great course by one of our former guests, jennifer Waite. She's doing a course called 3D Authenticity. It is eight months long, so I'm sure I'm going to have little tidbits to share here and there along the way.
Speaker 2:But one of the things that came to me just recently, last week and I think this applies to anyone struggling with health issues in the world about autoimmunity, if you have antibodies you test positive, for sometimes you have one, then you have another, then you have another, and so these antibodies just kind of show up. We don't know clinically if there's a way for those antibodies to dissipate in your system, right, like if you can remove them from your body. You don't know, and the way I interpreted that was we don't know if it's impossible. And so it begs the question like is it possible to heal? Is it possible to heal from these things? Is it possible to care for yourself in such a way that you can heal?
Speaker 2:And that was far different perspective for me, just an interesting shift from what I've been thinking, which is I need to manage my disease, and management feels like okay, there's this thing I've got to handle every day. In this case, it feels a little more inspirational. There's something that feels much lighter about that. But this is what I wanted to share with you. So you know, as our longtime listeners know, I'm pretty woo-woo that's like generally speaking. I've been that way for a long time. So you know, I've got my crystals and I've got my candles and I've got my meditations and I've got all my stuff. But I've been watching this Netflix limited series called Apple Cider Vinegar.
Speaker 2:Oh, no I haven't started it because I knew it would be triggering for me. You will be so mad. All right, I want to make a disclaimer right here, right now. Guys, there is a limit. There's a limit to my woo-woo-ness and it is definitely like far before I would ever get down the road of the stuff that is portrayed in this show, and I know it's a dramat dramatization, but it's just really tough to watch. Some of it is really sad actually, but some of it is infuriating because you're like there's a woman who's basically like scamming people because she's faking cancer. Um, and, by the way, if anyone listened to the documentary scamanda, have you has any? Have you listened to this?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Okay, I swear these women were doing the exact same thing around the exact same time, only on two different continents. It's so insane and I just couldn't. I can't stop watching it, even though it infuriates me. I was like they're giving holistic medicine a bad name is what's happening on this show. So, anyway, I wanted to tell you about that. You should watch it. I'm dying to know what your reaction would be.
Speaker 1:I'm in a very Darren Star type.
Speaker 2:That's right. Tell everybody what you've been watching.
Speaker 1:Okay, true confessions. So you many people know emily in paris, right, that was like a big pandemic hit and it was a darren star production. I discovered the previous one, which is called younger, and it was like the mid 2010s and it's about this woman who's like our age more Liz's age and she pretends to be 26 to get a job and all of the hilarity and uncomfortable situations that ensue, and I'm just hooked. There's seven seasons of this woman's antics.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. That's a lot of seasons. That's more than sex in the city.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to suspend disbelief. Really, how dense are these people? Did nobody do a background check on her before she?
Speaker 2:got her job.
Speaker 1:How long can you get away with lying about your age? I don't know how true any of this is, but it's truly entertaining and it's just the right amount of emotional investment. Yeah, investment for me right now. So, anyway, that's my recommendation. Younger, it's on Netflix.
Speaker 2:That's so good. I know you texted me about this and I it's on my list have to get there, but seven seasons well yeah you can kind of use it as your like palate cleanser.
Speaker 1:You've watched your apple cider vinegar? There are only 20 minute episodes no, that's okay, that makes a difference so just watch a 20 minute one, you'll be like you know, it's very light.
Speaker 2:I could totally do that. Oh, do you remember, though, when we had our, our watch party together?
Speaker 1:yeah, we had like a little a texting date to watch the Celine Dion documentary which was really lovely, oh and so heartbreaking.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Yeah, I think either of us would recommend that very heartily, just like hearing her talk about the split between like what her heart desires to do and what her body's letting her do yeah it's so, it's heart-wrenching, it's really heart-wrenching.
Speaker 2:but I also think, inspired, right, like how amazing of her, how brave of her to make this movie, yeah, and show all the the good, the bad and the ugly about it. It was uh it was a lot. So we've been yeah, you know I was thinking just now up to this point we haven't been able to put out recording content in our lives Like it just hasn't. It hasn't been something that we've been ready to do up to now, but we've been learning a lot and experiencing a lot of life, and all of that informs everything else.
Speaker 1:And it's also given us some time, away from the podcast and perspective, to really think about what we want to do, going forward with the podcast. And Liz and I were talking about when we first started this podcast, if you haven't been here since the beginning. We started during the pandemic and it was a way for us to process our feelings and give us a project, an artistic project, but also to stay connected and to learn, yeah, from people literally all over the world, and we really want to get back to that, because we've missed that. We realized that. I realized that this endeavor with you, liz, has been the biggest way that I've grown in these past five years, really opening my mind up, getting out of those cycles that you perpetuate. For some reason, they're serving you, but you need new input. I was just telling my brother this you need new input in order to grow, and so that's what we want to get back to having these deep, wonderful, enlightening, inspiring conversations that trigger something in us, light us up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's something empowering about it and I miss it very much. I mean, there were periods of time where the only focus is taking care of yourself, and so you're not necessarily thinking about what you miss and not to be selfish, everybody but the opportunity for us to talk with these guests. It gives us a lot. We learn so much from them. Yes, steph, you just said it so well, and obviously the hope in putting them out there is that they inspire you too and that you always feel like you have a welcome place at the table, as the two of us are sitting here chit-chatting. In truth, our conversation started offline and they've never really stopped. We may not have been putting them on tape, but we've been having the same conversations we're having right now together all through the break. So the fact that we're putting ourselves out there again, I think actually is really important.
Speaker 2:I will say, for me, I think it's hard sometimes to put yourself out there, especially when you maybe aren't feeling your best or you're struggling, or you're questioning your own self-worth or your own contribution out in the world and I'm getting emotional.
Speaker 2:Now Doing this with you, I think, helps me feel like it's okay to put myself out there, you know, because we're doing it together and and then it makes it easier to be brave and do other things, you know, but I, I really, um, I miss that a lot too, and so we're just kind of starting to envision what that might look like our version 5.0, since technically, this is season. We can share that we face roadblocks when we're making these episodes and, for those of you who know, we've had sponsors in the past. We are so grateful to have had sponsorships that have helped us financially support this endeavor. But ultimately, when it comes down to it, if we really want to express our curiosity like we're just looking at ways to make this a little bit more, I don't know a little bit sustainable a little bit more sustainable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great word. So you know that might look a little different on the back end, but I'm not, we're not sure if it's going to feel all that different for our listeners. It might be exactly the same experience.
Speaker 1:Well, there'll be fewer episodes coming at you, for sure. I mean, that's just yep, that's just reality, but we would like to consistently put out some episodes up through May.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And we want you along for the journey. We want you along for the journey, and so if you want to know what's up before it happens, then join our email list. I'll put a link in the description for exactly how to join that, and we promise not to spam you.
Speaker 1:You can also gosh. We just love hearing from you, and this fan mail thing that our host Buzzsprout provides is such a just a lovely way to stay in touch with our listeners. So also in the description you'll find a link where you can literally just text us right from your phone. So you're listening. Pop over the description, click it, send us whatever's on your mind. You can do so anonymously too. You don't have to sign it and we won't know, but we would just love to hear from you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and to echo the email list for those of you who are subscribed. If you are still subscribed, you probably know that we really haven't sent many emails All 15 of you, the tens of you that are subscribed.
Speaker 2:We've maybe sent like three emails, I don't know. It's not that small, but we were not consistent with emails. But one thing that I think both of us feel kind of an inclination towards is to try to connect in different ways outside of social media. So you'll still see, you know, if you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, you'll still see the reels with clips from the episodes and that kind of content will still be there. But ultimately, we really want to find ways to connect with our community and we have kind of come to the conclusion that you know. Obviously, again, very grateful for sponsorships, but really our community is what sustains us. It's what we're trying to build and, as we've alluded to before, we need support as much as you may need support. So the more we can build that up together, the better it'll be. So, and the other piece of really exciting news is maybe we're not ready to reveal who yet, but we actually do already have a guest episode recorded and will be coming out in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So definitely stay tuned and yeah, we're excited to get rolling.
Speaker 1:Yes, so we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening today. If you loved this episode, consider writing us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, amazon Music, spotify or wherever you listen.
Speaker 1:You can buy all your musician centric merch, including shirts, water bottles, koozies and a variety of other fun items.
Speaker 2:Our theme music was written and produced by JP Wogeman and is performed by Steph and myself. Thanks again for listening. Let's talk soon. Thank you.
