1KHO 746: Yesterday Is a T-Shirt That Shrunk in the Dryer | Tanner Olson, Getting Through What You're Going Through

Summary

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The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Episode: 1KHO 746 – Yesterday Is a T-Shirt That Shrunk in the Dryer:

Guest: Tanner Olson – Getting Through What You're Going Through

Host: Ginny Yurich
Date: March 22, 2026

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode features a heartfelt, often humorous, and deeply reflective conversation between host Ginny Yurich and poet, children’s book author, and adoptive father Tanner Olson. The main theme is about navigating life’s ups and downs—finding hope in hardship, the healing power of nature, the importance of slowing down, honest relationships, and authentic faith. Ginny and Tanner explore the transformative journey of “getting through what you’re going through,” drawing deeply from Tanner’s newest collection of poems and notes. Listeners are invited to ponder the value of being present, embracing change, and fostering real connections with family, friends, faith, and the natural world.

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MAJOR DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. Nature as a Foundation for Wellbeing

• Childhood in Orange Groves: Tanner recalls his childhood in Florida, spending time outdoors in his grandfather’s orange groves. These early experiences deeply influence his appreciation of slowing down and enjoying life’s simple, sensory pleasures.
  • “Growing up in Florida, I was the best. My grandfather had some orange groves…right in his backyard. It was wonderful.” (02:00-02:25)

2. Becoming a Poet & the Power of Words

• Unexpected Career Path: Tanner didn’t set out to write poetry; he wanted to be in the NBA or a punk band. When those didn’t work, he discovered a passion for words.
  • “I became a poet because I never made it to the NBA… but I loved words so much and so I just started writing.” (02:58)
• Accessible Poetry: Tanner’s style: conversational, personal, intentionally simple, and direct—“like a handwritten note slid across the table right to you.”
  • “My style of poetry feels more like… a handwritten note… I just want it to sound good and be as personal as possible.” (05:57–07:50)

3. The Book’s Design and Message

• Tanner’s book, Getting Through What You’re Going Through, is visually unique with alternating black and white pages, some featuring his own handwriting.
  • “We scanned [my handwriting] in for the book because I wanted it to feel personal… I’m basically encouraging people to step outside, open your hands, and look up.” (08:49–09:16)
• Central themes: stepping outside, slowing down, resilience, and hope.

4. Coping When Something Feels “Off”

• Tanner’s Remedy:
  • “When I feel like something is off, …always step away from what you’re doing. Go outside. Pet your dog. Walk your dog. Put your hands in the dirt. Remind yourself you are alive.” (10:38–11:57)
• Quote:
  • Ginny (reading Tanner’s poem): “Some days I feel like nothing's wrong, but something just isn't right. Some days I feel like a glass half full, but the wrong glass.” (10:13)

5. The Power of Presence and Relationships

• Everyday moments—like looking for yogurt in the fridge—become metaphors for the importance of guidance and empathy in relationships.
  • “Sometimes we need help seeing what we’re looking for, especially when it’s right in front of us.” (13:16, Ginny quoting Tanner’s writing)
• The Gift of Empathy:
  • Rather than offering platitudes, sometimes the best support is simply: “I hate this for you.” (15:48, story about receiving empathy during an infertility struggle)

6. Going Deeper: Asking “How Are You, Really?”

• Conversations often stay surface-level due to distraction or discomfort; breaking through requires persistence and presence.
  • “We’re so good at asking people how they’re doing, but we’re really bad at giving the answer. To come around a second time and say, ‘But really, how are you?’” (20:24)
• Modern Distractions:
  • “If I’m talking to anybody who has an Apple Watch, I know it’s not going to last very long because I know it’s gonna buzz and they’re gonna be gone.” (21:15)

7. Faith & Simplicity in Prayer

• Tanner shares his favorite simple prayers from the book:
  • “God, I don’t know. Amen.” (26:38)
  • “We question almost everything, but God never questions if he loves us. You are loved regardless of your performance.” (28:02, Ginny quoting the book)

8. Navigating Change & Hope

• Change is inevitable, sometimes harsh, and often formative.
  • “I am made of changes…when a new season rolls back around, I am prepared. I am tired, but I’m ready. …Hope is the thing that gets us through what we're going through.” (29:58–31:38)
• Major theme: keeping hope alive amid uncertainty and pain.

9. Poetry as a Bridge for Connection

• Live shows blend poetry, storytelling, and humor, aiming to create community, slow people down, and offer shared hope. Poem highlight:
  • “When I say everything will be okay, what I mean is, in the end, everything will be okay. Along the way, it will not all be okay. You already know this… Even if everything isn’t okay today.” (33:29–35:35)

10. Letting Go of the Past

• Ginny reads “You Cannot Go Back to Your Old Life,” exploring the necessity and bravery of embracing change.
  • “Yesterday is a T-shirt that shrunk in the dryer…A life lesson turned hand-me-down for someone else’s future tomorrow…” (41:46-43:16)

11. Celebrating Small Joys & the Power of Attention

• Quote:
  • “Do not let the little things go unnoticed. Look for them. Slow down to see…” (43:36–44:22)
• The best gifts we give our kids are time, attention, and the chance to experience and marvel at life’s analog, natural, and sensory wonders—not just digital distractions.

12. Boredom, Slowing Down, and the Modern Family

• “The best gift I can give my son is probably the gift of boredom. Let him play and figure it out and live something analog.” (46:17)

13. Community and Hospitality

• Tanner and his wife host a college group in their small home, offering food, support, and space for honest conversation.
  • “We have a 1200-square-foot house in Nashville…We pack it in. These college kids hang out with us and they end up teaching us more than we could teach them.” (52:12–54:36)
• Pulling another chair to the table, sharing a slice of cake—small acts, big impact.
  • “I have found the secret to living a full life. It begins with slowing down and breathing deep…and involves pulling another chair to the table and remembering hope remains and saying yes to another slice of cake.” (50:34)

14. The Importance of Encouragement

• Tanner shares the story of his friend Barrett Greebing, who not only encouraged Tanner to pursue writing, but walked alongside him to make it a reality.
  • “It is kind of people to say, ‘Hey, you can do this.’ But it’s different when someone says, ‘Now let me help you do it.’” (54:43–56:08)

15. Ending with Full Circle Memories

• Childhood memory: Picking oranges with his mother and grandfather—“She wasn’t just teaching me how to start my day with fresh-squeezed orange juice. She was teaching me how to live…” (58:29)
• The value of sensory memory—“God uses hands, sensory things, to trigger your memories…Even without technology, the memories resurface.” (58:44–60:03)

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NOTABLE QUOTES

• “When I say everything will be okay, what I mean is, in the end, everything will be okay. Along the way, it will not all be okay…But everything will be okay, even if everything isn’t okay today.”
  — Tanner Olson (33:29–35:35)

• “If discomfort is a sign of change, then we can expect growing pains to come with becoming…Nothing is wasted. I cannot be who I was just like today cannot be yesterday but who I was made me who I am.”
  — Ginny (reading Tanner’s poem) (41:46–43:16)

• “Do not let the little things go unnoticed. Look for them. Slow down to see the way the clouds move and how the birds fly…”
  — Tanner Olson (43:36–44:22)

• “The best gift I can give my son is probably the gift of boredom.”
  — Tanner Olson (46:18)

• “She wasn’t just teaching me how to start my day with fresh squeezed orange juice. She was teaching me how to live, how to squeeze life dry, how to get everything it has to offer.”
  — Ginny, recalling Tanner’s essay (58:29)

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TIMESTAMPS FOR KEY SEGMENTS

• [02:00] – Tanner’s childhood in orange groves
• [05:57] – Tanner’s approachable, “handwritten note” style of poetry
• [09:16] – Writing and designing the poetry book
• [10:13–11:57] – What to do when something feels “off”; practical ways to reset
• [13:16–15:48] – The “yogurt in the fridge” story: on empathy and seeing what’s right in front of you
• [20:24] – The importance of asking, “How are you, really?”
• [26:38] – Simple faith and prayer: “God, I don’t know. Amen.”
• [29:58–31:38] – Facing change and holding on to hope
• [33:29–35:35] – Poem Reading: “When I say everything will be okay…”
• [41:46–43:16] – Poem Reading: “You cannot go back to your old life…”
• [43:36–44:22] – “Do not let the little things go unnoticed”
• [46:17–46:18] – The importance of boredom in the digital age
• [50:34] – The “secret to living a full life”—slowing down, gratitude, cake, and community
• [54:14–56:08] – The impact of genuine encouragement on Tanner’s writing career
• [58:29] – Recounting childhood memories as lessons for living fully

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CLOSING REMARKS

This episode gently but powerfully encourages listeners to pause and embrace life’s messy, wondrous, sometimes painful journey. With warmth and wisdom, Tanner reminds us to slow down, lean on each other, nurture faith and hope, and never stop pulling up another chair at life’s table. The real work of “getting through what you’re going through” is less about finding answers and more about cherishing the small, persistent acts of connection, kindness, and attention—often found outside, beneath the changing sky.

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Transcript

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Jenny Y]

Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Jenny Y. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and I'm so excited. A children's book author and a poet and a standup comedian and an adoptive father and an all around cool guy, Tanner Olsen. That last part was so cheesy, I wish I didn't say it. Okay, Tanner Olsen. And he just came out with this book. It's notes and poems. It's called getting through what you're going through. Tanner, welcome.

[Tanner Olsen]

Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I have so many friends who listen to this podcast. I listen to this and so it's like they're like, you're going to be on. I'm like, yeah, I don't know how we got here, but I feel like collide.

[Jenny Y]

Look at that.

[Tanner Olsen]

That's so fun.

[Jenny Y]

Well, hello to all of your friends. Can we kick it off with a nature thing? And I love this part of your story that you are in Nashville now, but when you were a kid, you got to spend time in orange groves. Like your grandpa's orange groves.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, yeah. Right outside the backyard. The beautiful. Here's the thing about Florida Is it. Is it has a bad reputation for good reasons. But there's also a lot of, like, hidden corners of Florida. The backwoods, the orange groves, like, far from the beach, far from Disney World. And it was just like, like growing up in Florida, I was the best.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

And walking outside. Yeah. My grandfather had some orange groves and it was just right in his backyard. It was wonderful.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. So this is like tying into the COVID of the book and this whole premise of just like slowing down so that you're, you know, you're growing up, you got these orange groves, you know, you're with your grandpa and you're going to go squeeze your own orange juice and you're like, you know, good things take time. So this is like a big part of the story. Can you give us the backstory about becoming a poet? I'm so. I know. I'm sure that everybody asks.

[Tanner Olsen]

No, it's a good question. Because I don't. They're not. There's not a lot of people who grow up being like, you know what? I'm gonna be a poet. I became a poet because I never made it to the NBA. Like, that's the real big thing. The hope growing up was like, I was gonna be in the NBA. And then I was like, well, maybe that won't work out. So maybe I'll be in a punk rock band, but apparently have to play, know how to play music and sing, and I can't do either of those things. But I loved words so much and so I just started writing and. And then I started sharing. And then along the way, people would say very kind things, like, this mattered to me. Or, hey, like, what else do you have? Or, hey, keep doing this. And so, you know, I've been doing this for the last almost 15 years now of just writing, putting words on the Internet, getting up in front of, you know, audiences and sharing poetry, telling stories, and like we were joking about earlier, making jokes. Not that I am a branded standup comedian, but I try, I try.

[Jenny Y]

And it's just now you just need to brand yourself. That really is, you know, like, people will say, I am the thought leader in this space. It's like you just say it.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, this is. I'm a. I'm a stand up poet. Theologian is how. My friend called me one time and I said, I think I need to make new business cards.

[Jenny Y]

Okay, so why did you love words so much?

[Tanner Olsen]

I think I. Well, I know I was a kid who had just a lot of feelings and I didn't know what to do with them. And when you stumble upon words that reflect how you feel, it kind of helps you take that next step forward. And so the punk rock bands that I was listening to, they said things that I felt. And so something inside of me just kind of unlocked and changed that. And so I wanted. I thought that was like. That's like the best. One of the best gifts you can give somebody is. Is your time, but then like helping them find language for how they feel. And so that I. I couldn't help but do it. And then I just really liked telling stories and I'm very good at rhyming light with night. And so I figured I can just keep doing that in different ways.

[Jenny Y]

So, you know, the only. I guess I have just never really been a poetry person, though I did really love your book. And the book is called getting through what you're going through. The only poetry I remember from childhood is, and I think it's poetry is Shel Silverstein, where the Sidewalk Ends. And I did like that. There's something also about the. It's about the rhythm of it.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Jenny Y]

And the sort of the phraseology. But then even it's. The way that it's presented on the page is different. Can you talk about that part? And how does that work when you're creating a book of poetry? So this book is actually like. Got a really cool design to it. It's got obviously this orange on the front. But it goes from like these pages that are white pages with black text to occasionally a page that's black that's

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

got white text on it and it

[Jenny Y]

kind of alternates through.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

So like this page, it's like. Looks like handwriting. Right. So can you talk about the. Some of them are like left justified and presented on a page in a certain way. And then some of them are not.

[Tanner Olsen]

I'm a lot like you. Like, I didn't like poetry. It wasn't like a big. I wasn't a big fan of it. I wasn't a big fan of school on Brand. I liked being outside. I'd honestly just wanted to be outside. I went to school to make jokes. I went to school. School to make friends. And when it came time for like tests and learning, I was like, well, that's. I'm not sure we need to be doing that today. Like, today's a good day to go have recess again. But as, as I. I was. As I was in college, I just kind of found myself being drawn to just words in general. I studied ministry and theology in college. I did not study poetry. I did not study writing. So I kind of stepped into this as someone who's like, I'm just going to give this a shot and see what happens. And so my style of writing, my style of poetry is very. Maybe what you understand or what your brain goes to when you hear the word poetry. After every single event that I do, anytime I share poetry on stage, anytime somebody reads my book, the number one comment I get is, I don't like poetry, but I like yours. And that's because, like, my style of it feels more like this. Like a handwritten note that is slid across the table right to you. You know, like, it's words that are written for you. Because I wrote this book because I needed it, and I'm not super concerned about, like, oh, it has to be just like this. It can be this many words, whatever. I just want it to sound good and to be as personal as possible. And I think that's kind of what makes it poetry. And of course, there is some rhyme. There is, you know, some stuff that we do with the text to kind of make it more appeal to the eye or to help you sit with it for a little bit longer. Yeah, I really think that's the big thing of, like, when I think about poetry, I think of, like, something that is going to help me slow down but not give me answers. Ooh.

[Jenny Y]

Ooh, I like that. So what's the process like with. You know, because when you write a book and you are right now in this period of traveling, you're going and doing, you're reading this out loud. I mean, this is like your book launch season, and you're traveling and you're doing these events, and also you're doing podcasts, right? Because, you know, this is the type when you're, like, marketing your book and it, like, it just came out. Go grab. Grab a copy. This one's called getting through what you're going through. What is it? So for me, it's like, well, I just send my words in, and then they're going to send it back laid out. Is it a pretty big process that you're involved in in terms of the. It's like artistic.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

It's like artistic layout of words.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, it really is. I mean, we walk through each page and we're kind of like, okay, we want it to, like, lay out like this or look like this. Especially, like, as you were. As you were flipping through the book, you could see how there are some. Where it's the black background with the white, and that's my handwriting, so that's like my unique style. Been sharing on Instagram for a long time. Yeah. So that's my handwriting.

[Jenny Y]

Definitely. Like a font.

[Tanner Olsen]

Well, it's a font now, but, like. Yeah. So I would. I would write all of those out, and then we scanned them in for the book because I wanted it to feel personal. I mean, the whole. The book is titled getting through what you're going through. And I don't know about you, but, like, the last. I mean, six, seven years have just been. It's. It's a lot to be a human being. And as you read through the book, I mean, I think you would appreciate this, but, like, a lot of the times I'm. I'm basically encouraging people to step out outside, open your hands, and look up.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

Because I don't have. I mean, and that's one of the gifts of being of a poet. Or maybe one of the curses of being a poet is we really don't. I'm not trying to give you answers. I'm really just trying to invite you to come close and see that somehow, some way, everything is going to be okay one day, even though everything is not obviously okay right now.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah, the nature references were abundant, that's for sure. You know, get outside. Get outside. Go on a walk. Here, you know, here's a recipe to cure another defeating day.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

41 minute.

[Jenny Y]

41 minutes exactly of walking outside underneath the sun amidst many other ideas. Okay, so let's talk about some of the topics that. That stuck out to me. I'm always like, oh, I just get to pick whatever we want to talk about. I like this topic about when you feel something is off. So you wrote, maybe it feels like. Okay, now I'm.

[Tanner Olsen]

Use your poetry. Use your. Use your poet voice.

[Jenny Y]

Thanks, Tanner.

[Tanner Olsen]

You just got to slow down and really go for it.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah, I'm not very slow. Maybe I've been drinking too much coffee and not enough water. Maybe it's because I look at my phone more than the sky. Maybe it's because I'm stuck in the past and forget to be in the present. Some days I feel like nothing's wrong, but something just isn't right. Some days I feel like a glass half full, but the wrong glass. So I know you're not giving answers, but what do you do when you feel like something is off?

[Tanner Olsen]

When I feel like something is off, it feels very similar to the answer I give when somebody asks me about writer's block. It's always step away from what you're doing. Go outside, Pet your dog. Walk your dog. There's a poem in there at some point where I basically say, put your hands in the dirt. Remind yourself that you were here and that you were alive. And I think that's just a big game changer. I mean, I don't know what life is like for anyone who is listening, but I know for me, like, I spend more time than I want to on my computer and I spend more time than I want to on my phone or thinking about what I should have done rather than just like, enjoying this gift of a life. And so, if anything, this book is one long encouragement to enjoy this gift of a life. And I know that sounds like so hobby lobby, put a sign on your. In your living room. But I mean, isn't it true of like, this is the gift and we get to enjoy it. And I know things are not perfect and sometimes you feel like the glass half full, but the wrong glass, but you're still here. And so go outside or, or lay on the couch.

[Jenny Y]

I mean, I think I like that. I like it because it. I just talked to this woman this morning. Her name is Michaeline Ducliffe. She's one of my favorite authors. And she wrote a book called Hunt Gather Parent, but a new one that's coming out called Dopamine Kids. And the whole premise is that we have been turned into people who want wanting, like, the things that we are wanting so much. And our kids like more time on the video game and more time on the screen and more time on Netflix that none of it actually satisfies.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

It's always.

[Jenny Y]

It's meant to be that way. It's meant to, like, get you close. I almost have enough Instagram followers, you know, and. And I lost a couple or what, you know, and. And so you constantly like pursuing wanting without. And she talks about it's the same with ultra processed foods, but they don't ever really satisfy. And so I do think that those answers of petting the dog, that actually is, you know, if you like dogs, that's really going to satisfy you.

[Tanner Olsen]

I mean, you go with cats too, if you want or if you're like a snake person, but let's not do that.

[Jenny Y]

Right? Yeah. So I love that. So that's one of the topics that comes up in this book of notes and poems. I loved when you talked about relationships. I. I actually thought this was relatable, like funny and relatable, but also really deeply profound round, which is when you can't find the yogurt in the fridge.

[Tanner Olsen]

True. Story. Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

I was like, oh, it's a true story for a lot of people, I'm sure, because it's right in front of you. But you said this, and I thought, oh, gosh, I would have never related these two. You said, sometimes we need help seeing what we're looking for, especially when it's right in front of us. So obviously the yoga is kind of a joke. Yeah, But. But. But a very relatable one.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

Can you talk about another instance where. I mean, I think this probably happens a lot. We're kind of, like, shrouded in our own despair and by having relationships and someone who can come in, like, I've got one friend who, like, anytime you are, start to, like, go down the path. She's. She can always. I was like, what is this, a spiritual gift? She'll be like, here's the bright side.

[Tanner Olsen]

I love. I love the bright side. Sometimes I want someone to sit with me in the dark side for a little bit longer, though. But I think, like, with. With, like. I mean, we can talk about the yogurt being the thing that's right in front of us, or you can talk about the heavy thing that you're working through in your life and just trying to, like, see. To find the. The goodness, the hope, the bright spot. And I think that's the. The. The. The. The beauty of having honest and vulnerable conversations with people. I wrote a lot of. I wrote a lot of this book while my. My wife and I, so we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. And then after, you know, a long time of, like, you know, season of grief, asking God how and why, we eventually led to adoption, and it was wonderful. Before we entered into the adoption process, though, I was sitting down with a friend. His name is Phil. And Phil and I are very different people. He would. He would never read a book of poetry or write a book of poetry. He knows how to do a lot of things with his hands. I just write. I don't. I'm not. I'm not changing the oil. He can change the oil. I can't do that. But he sat down and I told him. I was like, hey, man, this is what's happening in life. And it's heavy and it's hard. And the way that he pointed out the yogurt, if we're going to run with that. That was right in front of me is all he said. He didn't try to, like, Jeremiah 29:11 me. He didn't just tell me, everything's going to be fine. Whatever. He just said, I hate this for you. I hate this for you. And I can't tell you the number of times that I have now told that to other people and they have come back to tell me that that is also what they needed to hear. I think sometimes it's just to sit with somebody in the, in the hurt or in the thing that they just don't want it to be. And then I also think about like, you know, the morning that I was looking for the yogurt, I was looking all over the place for where it could be when it was right in front of me and I just needed someone to like calm me down and point it out.

[Jenny Y]

I hate this for you. Yeah. And then you're like, well, that person empathizes. It really actually communicates quite a bit just those couple words.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Jenny Y]

One of the things that you talk about in the book is, like, when you first meet someone and you're like, how you doing? When you first see them, not when you first meet them, like for the very first time, but someone you already know. Like, how. How are you? And that's the conversation. Stay surface for X amount of minutes. And then something clicks and you're like, how are you really? And you talked about the power of that word, really.

[Tanner Olsen]

It really is important.

[Jenny Y]

Well done.

[Tanner Olsen]

That was right in front of me. We had to go with it. But I think that's it, though, is like, we're so good at asking people how they're doing, but we're really bad at giving the answer. And so to come back around the block and ask it one more time and to say, like, but I actually. I really want to know how you're doing. And I'm. I don't have any plans. So, like, what's, like, what's the thing that's like, what's the thing that you're getting through? What's the thing that you're going through?

[Jenny Y]

Yeah, Yeah. I think that's really deep. And I just. It's like, you got to stay with it. And it's difficult in this day and age because you're really distracted by our devices. But.

[Tanner Olsen]

Well, that's the thing too, is like all of a sudden, like, you're making eye contact with somebody and then their phone buzzes if anytime. If I'm talking to anybody who has on an Apple watch, I know it's not going to last very long because I know it's gonna buzz and they're gonna be gone. And I'm just like, I. Or have you ever tried to have a conversation with somebody who has an AirPod in.

[Jenny Y]

No.

[Tanner Olsen]

What are we doing? Like, what are we doing? I can't do this. Like, I'm just. I'm ready. I. Like, I know you're kind of here, but, like, I kind of. And maybe that's a selfish thing for me. Like, I want your full attention. But isn't that how it's supposed to be, maybe. And so I mean I think that's one of the, as a writer and I think you know this as well. You're always, you know, you're taught to pay attention, to find new stories or insights or like what's the thing behind the thing? And so if I'm sitting there with somebody and they have like their phone is face up on the table rather than face down, I know at any moment like our conversation gets interrupted, derailed,

[Jenny Y]

and then, yeah, it's not.

[Tanner Olsen]

And then it's hard to get back if you get derailed, it's hard to get to any depth. And I think that's what we really want is we want. And that maybe that's kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier about like the video games, the dopamine kick is it gets you just far enough.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

But like what we really want is like to enter into that, that connection, that, that deepness. Yeah, it's really hard when distraction or enters into the picture.

[Jenny Y]

I talked to this man just before you actually like just like 15 minutes ago. And he's a, he's a neurosurgeon. His name's Dr. Lee Warren.

[Tanner Olsen]

Wait a second, you went from talking to a neurosurgeon to talking to me

[Jenny Y]

to a stand up comedian?

[Tanner Olsen]

What a step. I, I promise I won't use any words that are longer than nine letters.

[Jenny Y]

He was the only neurosurgeon. I don't think I've ever talked to one before. I also today got to talk to a meteorologist, so that was pretty cool too.

[Tanner Olsen]

Wow.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

It's been a good day.

[Jenny Y]

Stand up comedian, poet, meteorologist, neurosurgeon. But he, this neurosurgeon told me about this story because I was asking him about, you know, he has to deliver news to people like that their loved one has passed away or that they only have an X amount of time to live. You know, they've got these tumor that's incurable or whatever the situation is. And he said, I said, how did you learn that? And he said, well, I got to observe some people who are really good at it and some people who are really awful at it. And he told this story about how there was, it was their friend, their friend's daughter needed a heart transplant. Like a little girl, she needed a heart transplant. And so they'd gone with their friends to the hospital and insert like the surgery happens, then the surgeon comes out and, and this guy I know, Lee Warren, he said, you know, you could Kind of tell from the surgeon's face that maybe it hadn't gone well. And so he comes over to the family and he said, I'm sorry, I don't think she's gonna make it. And then his phone rang and he just left. And I was like, oh, that's like an extreme example of, you know, what we're talking about. But I was like, my gosh, you know, like, how devastating. I mean, it's like that really matters. Like, that's the time when you're gonna let your phone go.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, that's maybe a time to leave your phone back and then.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah, yeah. To come out and have that conversation. So I agree with you. And I think it's something to teach our kids too.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, I'm very. We have a two year old and I, I try so hard. My, My wife and I, we both work and I try so hard to leave my phone either in the other room or somewhere else. And it is like, it's, you know, weird. Draw to it and I don't love that. I do not love that.

[Jenny Y]

You got to read the dopamine. Read the Dopamine kids book, because that's all about that. That's what the whole book is about.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

What's next?

[Jenny Y]

What's next? What's next? I need to check my email and like, how to, like, sever that well,

[Tanner Olsen]

and there's just so much of like. And that's. I mean, one of the reasons why I put this book out is like, hopefully you can put your phone down and just sit and be for a little while. And I think that's one of the things that poetry does. And I know a lot of people are like, well, I don't like poetry, but I think if you read this book, like, it'll help you, like, slow down, like, come back, like come back to yourself. I watch our son and I'm like, I am so jealous of him. He's very cute. That's number one. Number two. But like, he also doesn't know. He's never checked his email before. Yeah, he's never, like, he gets to be a kid and I can't wait for the day when I get to be a kid again. Again.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. Yeah. I do love the thought of slowing down. And that was one of the pieces of advice is with all of these technologies, they're so fast. And that is what makes anything that's addictive more addictive. It's like if the gambling, if the games come faster, you know, how many slot machine thing, I, I don't know, I've never gone, but like, how many you pull something.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

And I'm like, there's cherries. I don't know, you know, however fast it goes. And I'm like, that's what's happening with us with our kids. It's so fast. Or how quickly can you eat, you know, a can of Pringles?

[Tanner Olsen]

I mean, really, that's the thing that's like taking up space in the back of your mind, which really takes up space in your whole body of like. Well, we don't. Maybe we don't need that tab open. Maybe we can close out a couple of these tabs so that we can be a little bit more present.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. So one of the things that you talk about in this book is your faith. And I have had a really cool year of. It's been brief, but, like, reading people's books and just grabbing a prayer from their book. It's been two people. This lady named Danielle Cardes and this other lady named Jenny Allen. And I was like, these are two really good prayers. Like, I want to incorporate them in my life. And you have a really cool prayer in this book, and I love it. It's just this God, I don't know. Amen.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yep.

[Jenny Y]

Can you talk about the power of that prayer? That's a simple prayer, but I think it's something people could really incorporate in their lives.

[Tanner Olsen]

Well, I think that's the. It's an all the time kind of prayer. It is one of faithfulness, it is one of hope, it is one of the obedience. When I think about prayer. And, you know, I wrote a children's book of, you know, all brow prayer. And it's basically just like, you can talk to God anytime, anywhere, about anything. And so what that looks like then is like I can give him these three words of I don't know and then rest in that. One of my, One of my best friends, he taught me the. The best prayer that I've ever heard. And it is just one word. It's Father. Like, that's what he's. And you just say that over and over again. And then for me, with this prayer, like I. I wrote this. I've been saying this prayer for the last, I don't know, 15 years because I feel like I just don't know. And it is like this invitation to. To be drawn closer of I don't know, I don't know. We'll come close. It's me turning my hands up. It's me admitting that I need help. It's me sharing, like, the thing that I don't want anyone else to know, you know, like. But then when we begin to say, I don't know, a cry for help, we begin to see how God continues to. To come close and work in the ways that he does.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. You have some beautiful reminders in here. We question almost everything, but God never questions if he loves us. You are loved regardless of your performance. We try and put our phones down and look up and see the colors God has swirled in the sky. And another prayer, another short one, is make me whole. But then you talked about how the little broken pieces, those reveal light, you know, the scattered and shattered pieces can become seeds that grow shade for others to rest beneath. So that's beautiful. A lot in here about faith and trust and the steps that are to come. One of the things you always talk about is change.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah. Do you love it as much as I do?

[Jenny Y]

Have you related to the seasons? You're like, oh, my gosh, look at the trees. I'm like, I don't care.

[Tanner Olsen]

Well, you live in Michigan, so you get. You get all four seasons.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

That. It's most beautiful and it's most harsh.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. They're not, like, equal in length, and that's the problem. The problem is that the winter one is rather long. And like, the beautiful fall one, it's

[Tanner Olsen]

like three days, maybe.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

Like.

[Jenny Y]

And all the leaves are gone.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah. You can't. You can't travel at the wrong time in Michigan because you either. Yeah. You might miss the beauty. Yeah. You're not gonna miss winter, though, though.

[Jenny Y]

It's a whole thing. So obviously you've had a lot of change in your life. Like, you said, you went to ministry and theology. You were hoping to be in the mba, and here you are, a poet, comedian. Can you talk about. And then you talked about the infertility, which is a really common. Yeah, I don't actually want to say that. I don't know how common it is.

[Tanner Olsen]

It's not. It's not as uncommon as you think. It's very. It's becoming more common, I would say.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. A lot of people are struggling with it in different ways, and actually we have a. Like, a friend of the family who just lost a bit like a lost a baby almost full term. It's just a heartbreak breaking. There's so many things there, so many layered things. So can you talk about. There's a lot of change you've gone through in your life on how you have dealt with that? You know, that kind of Immense change.

[Tanner Olsen]

Well, I think it. You know, we kind of just talked about it a little bit with the prayer of God. I don't know. Amen. I find myself leaning more and more into, like, the kindness of God and knowing that he does listen and he does care. But I also know, like, everything is not going to go perfect on this side of heaven. Like, life is just a lot. Like. I mean, I get to travel all over the country, and I find myself saying the same things over and over again. That makes sense. But it's like, it's just a hard and heavy thing to be a human being. Like, none of us know what we're doing here, but we're continuing to, like, hopefully take those small, faithful steps forward, trusting that the one who cares for us, loves us, is going to meet us and guide us through the change. Change is like, changes come coming whether you want it to come or not. But as I write about in the book, like, I'm. I am made of them. Like, I am made of changes. And so I know that when a new season rolls back around, like, I am prepared. Like, I am ready. I am tired, but I am prepared. And I am, and I am, and I'm ready. And I want to face that. That change and that challenge or that new season with hope. And that's also, like, one of the major themes of this book is. Is. Is hope. And hope for hope is, you know, explained in a lot of different ways. For me, it's like the full assurance that God is with me in this. So I'm not. I am not walking through this alone. The darkness does not win. The light gets the final say. And holding on to hope as I continue to navigate all that is uncertain and all that is, you know, unknown allows us to kind of come out on the other side. Hope is the thing that gets us through what we're going through.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. And that's another big part of the book, too, which is just about getting through, just getting through, especially when things feel like they're not as they. As they should be. And a lot here is about hope, and a lot of it is about getting outside and marveling at the kindness of God. So you're putting out these. This book of poetry, notes and poetry. And like we talked about at the beginning, people are like, not really my thing, but I like yours.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

So I'm intrigued that you're like, I'm gonna take this show on the road.

[Tanner Olsen]

Oh, yeah. Well, so that's. I mean, I. I first. One of the reasons I got into poetry is because I saw somebody perform a spoken word poem. I stepped out onto the stage, they shared it, and I was like, I wanna. I wanna do that. Something inside of me just unlocked when I saw that happen. I didn't know that was a job, and I'm still trying to convince myself that it is a job. So I. I mean, I mean, I think that a lot of people are looking for a few things. They're looking for ways to connect. They want to hear. They want someone to put into language, into words, kind of what they're thinking, what they're feeling, what they're going through. And then, you know, there are some people out there who are just like, are down with poetry. I often travel with other singer songwriters because I know this, this is a business move. I know people aren't going to show up to a night of poetry. I can tell you that right now. I tried that for many years and they were like, it was really good. I wish more than these seven people showed up. And I would say, me too. But now we're like, you know, going around and I'll travel with a couple of different singer songwriters and we'll pack out churches and it'll be an evening of music, of poetry and stories. And so I'll. I'll tell stories. It's like a. I mean, it's basically like a Netflix show. So I'll. I'll share a poem, tell a story, tie it all back into each to it. Can I. Do you mind if I share one of the poems from the book?

[Jenny Y]

I would love if you did.

[Tanner Olsen]

Okay. This is one of the poems. We talk about it every night. And it's not. There's. It's not. This one's not funny at all. But it's. It's shorter. But I talk about in the. In the evening how, you know, we've all gone. We've all gone through something. And I talk about our story with. With unexplained infertility and how we were led into adoption and, you know, kind of how when you tell somebody the hard, heavy things that are happening in your life, we often just say, oh, everything's going to be okay. Like, we just kind of pass it away. And you wonder when somebody says that if they're actually listening to you. And so this is titled what I mean is on page 125 of the book. It goes like this. When I say everything will be okay, what I mean is, in the end, everything will be okay. Along the way, it will not all be okay. You already know this. There will be sadness and death and failure. There will be brokenness and moments that feel beyond repair. There will be pain and fear and unwanted changes to your story. There will be seasons when you feel far from okay and moments when you wonder if the last line of this poem is true. And of the little I know, one thing I know for sure. Through it all, there is hope. And hope invites us to lean in. In and hold fast to a light that continues to last. It moves us to love and dream and give and continue and stay for another day. It leads us to pray and forgive and cling to grace and believe. The last line of this poem is true. Everything will be okay. Even if everything isn't okay today.

[Jenny Y]

I love that when I had that one in my notes.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah, that's. And that one, I think is kind of helps sum up the book a little bit, because I don't. Like I said at the beginning, I'm not someone to give answers, or at least I don't think that they're answers, but just like this encouragement that you can continue, that you can keep going, that everything will be okay, even if everything isn't okay today. And you know, when I talk about everything's going to be okay. Well, that's my faith. That's talking. Talking.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. Can we go back and forth? My turn? Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

You're gonna read a poem.

[Jenny Y]

Well, then I'm like, can you read other people's poems?

[Tanner Olsen]

I can do that. I can try.

[Jenny Y]

Well, I want to read yours. That's what I meant.

[Tanner Olsen]

Oh, I would love it. Yeah. This is great. What are you gonna read?

[Jenny Y]

Is that what people do? Do they read other people's poems?

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

Like, when someone reads your poem, you're like, in your mind, you're like, that's not the rhythm I thought. I'm trying. I'm trying anyways.

[Tanner Olsen]

All right, I'll tell you what I think.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. March is a month where we pause to celebrate women. And I've been thinking a women I'm raising, my daughters. The strength I see in them, the creativity, the courage. And I want them to grow up knowing that caring for their emotional health isn't weakness, it's wisdom. Women often grow up learning how to be everything for everyone else. The helper, the organizer, the steady one, the one who smooths things over. And while that strength is beautiful, it can also be exhausting. Therapy offers a place to step out of performance mode, to reflect on the roles you play, the expectations you carry, and the pressure you feel. It can help create balance, build boundaries, and reminders you that your needs matter too. Better Help connects you with fully licensed therapists in the US who follow a strict code of conduct. They handle the matching process through a short questionnaire so you can focus on your goals. And if you need a different fit, you can switch anytime. With more than 30,000 therapists, over 6 million people served worldwide and an average 4.9 out of 5 rating across 1.7 million reviews. The support is there. Your emotional well being matters. Find support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10 off at betterhelp.com 1000 hours that's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P.com 1000 hours okay, I have been waiting to say this. Womb Bikes is the official 2026 bike partner of 1000 hours outside. And it just makes sense because here's what I know when kids fall in love with riding bikes, something shifts. They go from hesitant to flying down the sidewalk with total confidence. And that confidence spills into everything else. These bikes are lightweight, thoughtfully designed and built so kids can actually succeed. The brakes fit their hands. The geometry fits their bodies. They feel capable right away and in a world pulling our kids towards screens, bikes pull them toward freedom. So we are kicking off spring with a 100 hour ride challenge. We'll release a special tracker to log 100 hours outside on bikes and yes, app members. We're working on bringing that right into the 1000 hours outside app. It's going to be so fun if you've got younger riders. The Womb Go bikes are perfect for beginners and come in six bright colors including including a brand new powder pink that just screams spring. If you're working toward your 1000 hours outside this year, a great bike makes it a whole lot easier. Womb designs lightweight bikes built just for kids so they can ride farther and ride happier. Go to womb.com that's W-O-O-M.com and use code outside 10 at checkout for 10 off your bike purchase. Excluding the womb. Wow. Excluding the Womb. Wow. That's outside 10 for 10 [e-mail] the start of a new season always makes me look around and think, how can this house function better? Not fancier, just better. And honestly, Wayfair has become my go to when we're ready to level up a space without overspending, we tackled organization first, like closet systems, garage storage and shelving for a work from home setup that was slowly being overtaken by stacks of books wayfair's filters make it incredibly easy to narrow by dimensions, finish, and by budget. I could compare pieces side by side, read reviews and feel confident before clicking order. Then we layered in a few lighter touches for spring, like updated bedding, simple decor, and a couple pieces for the patio so we're ready to be outside more. I love that you can find everything in one place, from big furniture upgrades to functional decor that actually solves a problem. Delivery was fast, assembly was straightforward, and there are even options if you want installation handled for you. It just feels streamlined. Find furniture, decor and essentials that fit your unique, unique style and budget. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[Jenny Y]

All right, you cannot go back to your old life, which I think is a really another. It's like you hit on so many of these human experiences that are really relatable. I talked to this woman, she's a singer songwriter named Jenny Owen. So we have the same name, which is an uncommon name. So it's really excited. Exciting. In fact, actually, I did a piano competition. This is so random. Okay, I have to tell you this. I did a piano competition last weekend, which I haven't done.

[Tanner Olsen]

You play piano?

[Jenny Y]

I play piano. I've not done a piano competition in decades. I did it when I was a kid and I've been motivated to like show my kids that adulthood is really cool and that you can still learn and grow. And so my kids are taking piano lessons. And I was like, you know, up. I'm gonna do it too. I'm just gonna get back into it. And the kids were doing this piano competition and there was an adult division. I was like, I'm gonna go for it. So anyway, I signed up. Turned out there was only one other person that signed up. It's like a head on head, two person competition championship round. So it was. And so I, when I looked into the program, her name was Carol. I was like, she's old. It's going to be an old lady. Because I don't know anybody named Carol. I'm sure you don't know anybody.

[Tanner Olsen]

I think if your name's Carol, you're born at 70.

[Jenny Y]

So anyways, but then my name is Virginia. So it was like Carol versus Virginia. She's probably like this lady's 106. Anyway, I did win. I played Fly Away and I have a trophy. Anyway. Okay. But I brought all that up, this stupid tangent because I Talked to this

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

woman named Ginny Owens, and she's a singer, songwriter, her.

[Jenny Y]

And she's blind. And I didn't actually know that about her. I just knew that we had the same name.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

So I liked her.

[Jenny Y]

And she was. She wrote a book. It's all about when things happen and you can't change it. You know, like someone had done a poor operation on her when she was three and she completely lost her vision. It was already not that great, but like, that changed her life forever. And it's not ever going to change back. And I thought nobody ever really talks about when it's never going to change. Change back. And then I read your book and I was like, oh, Tanner talks about when it's never going to change back. So I'm gonna read your poem, but then I want you to read do not let the little things go unnoticed. You got it on page 161.

[Tanner Olsen]

You got it.

[Jenny Y]

So we're going back and forth, okay? You cannot go back to your old life. And that is a good thing because it no longer fits. Yesterday is a T shirt that shrunk in the dryer a life lesson turned Hand me down for someone else's future tomorrow. What I have come to know is that it's hard to hold what today is handing you. If you're still holding on to yesterday, you must let it go. If. If discomfort is a sign of change, then we can expect growing pains to come with becoming. And through the stretching and testing I've learned nothing is wasted. I never would have grown if it wasn't for what has been the mercy, the pain, the wonder, the long nights, the frustration, the wrestling, the waiting, the morning light. Nothing is wasted. I cannot be who I was Just like today cannot be yesterday but who I was made me who I am. So here's to letting the past rest in peace and welcoming today with grace. Here's to continuing to change with the change Knowing what's ahead is worth the letting go. Here's to moving forward with eyes white. How often do you mess up on stage?

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Never.

[Tanner Olsen]

No, I've never messed up before. This is.

[Jenny Y]

Here's to moving forward with eyes open wide Trusting that God is a God of surprise what is won't last and you'll begin to see how brave it is to leave behind what was meant to stay in the past soon you'll begin to see how it is brave to leave behind what was meant to stay in the past Okay, I had two mess ups.

[Tanner Olsen]

You did great. It's great. It's a Lot of it takes a lot of practice.

[Jenny Y]

What do you do? Do you practice them on your own?

[UPS Store Ad Voice]

Own?

[Tanner Olsen]

I do.

[Jenny Y]

And it's your own words, too.

[Tanner Olsen]

It. It is. And this is part of just. What I do is just read out loud, which is wild because I was always afraid to read in school out loud.

[Jenny Y]

Did they do the popcorn game?

[Tanner Olsen]

Oh, my gosh. You mean the anxiety game? Oh, now. So I have to, like, follow along and I'm not. Anyways, this is. Do not let the little things go unnoticed. Noticed. And I. It goes like this. Do not let the little things go unnoticed look for them Slow down to see the way the clouds move and how the birds fly Notice the blooming flowers and the leaves as they change and fall and spin from the tree Watch the sky fade before the stars begin to shine Listen for the laughter in the distance and the dreams being whispered and sung in your soul hold the world with your bare hands Hands and be amazed by the little beautiful, beautiful things God gives and gives again.

[Jenny Y]

I think you did that on purpose.

[Tanner Olsen]

I did it on purpose just for you. Yeah, I've never actually. Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

Did you do it on purpose?

[Tanner Olsen]

This. This is a live podcast.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I love that one.

[Jenny Y]

Do not let the little things go unnoticed. It's hard.

[Tanner Olsen]

It is hard. That's the whole, you know, pay attention, slow down, look for the thing. Keep your phone in the other room.

[Jenny Y]

Isn't it amazing how many of these topics interweave?

[Tanner Olsen]

I think it's just like, hey, you're a person. Yeah, these are. This is what it looks like to. This is going to sound super hippie dippy, but, like, live out your humanness. Right? Like, this is what it looks like. Doesn't it sound a little hippie dippy?

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I'll go for it.

[Tanner Olsen]

But, like, I mean, go live your gift of a life. Like, this is. I think that's what I keep getting back to again and again. Maybe because I get frustrated with myself or how often I. I want to look at my phone or, like, the direction that I see, like, the world going. I had a conversation. I also. Also, do I have kids poems that I'll share at schools and stuff, and I'll read my children's book for them. And it's really. It's really fun. But just this week, earlier this week, I was. And, like, it was about to start, and so I was talking to all the kids, and I was like, what'd you all do this morning? And this little girl, she's. She was in first grade, and she told me about her morning Morning routine. And she was like, I woke up, I got myself ready, and then I got to be on my iPad. And I was like, I'm so glad you're here. And it just. Something inside of me, and I, Like, I, I. I am learning how hard it is to be a parent and also to. To work. And I don't know the whole story there. Yeah. But it has stayed with me, and I don't think it's gonna leave me. And I think, like, what's the best. The best gift that I can give my son is probably the gift of boredom.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

Like, let him play and figure it out and live something analog rather than going, he's gonna have a digital life. It's probably gonna happen. It's not gonna escape it. But for, you know, how does he enter into that? When does he enter into that? That, and how much of him can be formed by what has been grown and not just been manufactured?

[Jenny Y]

Now, Mikaleen was talking about her own story with this book, Dopamine Kids, and she said that, like, her daughter loved Lego Friends that like a cartoon so much that she was like, oh, it's her favorite hobby. Like, she likes it so much. She's so upset when it turns off. She asks about it all the time. Time. And then she said, when I realized that it was just a want of wanting that she'd been hijacked, basically. She was like, it gave me so much freedom. And I thought, oh, that's so relatable. Like, how often our kids ask for things that don't satisfy and someone's making money off it for them to pursue, pursue, pursue. To have so much motivation, whether it's the food or whether it's the screens that in that to break the cycle, I mean, really, the big. One of the biggest keys in the book was slowing down. So I love this. I love this about poetry. There's a huge topic that you bring up in this book, getting through what you're going through. Tell us about the Diamond Dogs.

[Tanner Olsen]

In the thank you section. Yeah. Have you ever watched Ted Lasso?

[Jenny Y]

Nope.

[Tanner Olsen]

There's, like, four guys in there, and they call themselves the Diamond Dogs. And so I got three friends in Nashville, and we'll get together every now and again. And so our group text thread is the Diamond Dogs.

[Jenny Y]

I love that. Okay.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah. Shout out to Justin, Joe, and Adam.

[Jenny Y]

All right, The Diamond Dogs. Tell us about your dog's name.

[Tanner Olsen]

Pancake. We got Pancake the day the pandemic started. He is a golden doodle. He's a special boy. He yeah, we. So as you know, we were navigating what we were going to do, what life was going to look like for us with this diagnosis, and we're like, we got to get a dog. And I don't know if you know anything about goldendoodles, but you basically got to put your order in and then wait for the day.

[Jenny Y]

I know they don't shed.

[Tanner Olsen]

They don't shed, which is great because I'm allergic to dogs, but I'm somebody who needs a dog. My personality is also dog. And so we got Pancake. He came home the day the pandemic began, and it was so sweet, you know, and so we named him Pancake because I have a poem that I share. It's not in this book, but it's like an introduction poem that I share on stage, and I kind of talk about how I watched a dog run into a glass door over and over and over and over again. And one day we got a dog, and we named him Pancake.

[Jenny Y]

So are most of your poems memorized?

[Tanner Olsen]

No, I'm a terrible memorizer.

[Jenny Y]

Oh.

[Tanner Olsen]

I am not a good memorizer. So I'll read a lot on stage. But I've also found that when you read somebody a poem, rather than perform it for them, they might have an easier way to. To digest it because it's not like this intense, you know, monologue. It's like, yes, or like, why did he just make eye contact with me? You know, nobody really wants. Nobody's, like, looking forward to having a poet make eye contact with them when he's reading a book poem. You know, I don't think that's, like, a bucket list thing. So.

[Jenny Y]

I love that part in the book where you talked about pulling up another chair to the table. You said, I have found the secret to living a full life. It begins with slowing down and breathing deep and giving thanks. And it involves pulling another chair to the table. Can you talk about the college group

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

that you have at your house?

[Tanner Olsen]

Wasn't there. Isn't there a line about eating the cake, too?

[Jenny Y]

Well, I have. I have. Dot, dot, dot. Tanner. I'll open it up and find it on page 153. Okay.

[Tanner Olsen]

Okay. Here, let me read it for you. Now that you. Not to say you were doing it. You did a great job.

[Jenny Y]

It was like I ran out of time for notes, so I put. But I did say, beautiful. Do you know I wrote in your book of poetry? Is that fine?

[Tanner Olsen]

Look at that.

[Jenny Y]

I loved this one. Yeah, it does say something about cake. So you can do it better.

[Tanner Olsen]

I have found the secret to living a full life. It begins with slowing down and breathing deep. Deep in giving thanks. And it involves pulling another chair to the table and remembering hope remains and saying yes to another slice of cake. I'm a big cake guy, so that's why we need to. I just wanted to honor all the sweets in this podcast just so we

[Jenny Y]

know what kind of cake?

[Tanner Olsen]

Honestly? Yes.

[Jenny Y]

Any kind. Any kind. Like vanilla?

[Tanner Olsen]

Any kind. Chocolate first. Chocolate Far and away.

[Jenny Y]

All right.

[Tanner Olsen]

Vanilla's great.

[Jenny Y]

My dad will only eat cake if it's vanilla. Vanilla. He will not eat chocolate.

[Tanner Olsen]

I like. Also, if you ever like lemon cake. Oh, look, I'm a big lemon guy these days. I think that means I'm getting older.

[Jenny Y]

Okay.

[Tanner Olsen]

You.

[Jenny Y]

You have a college group. I actually think this is super special. I loved reading about this because when I was in college, we went to these people's house. Same thing. I actually think college is really tricky. We are on the cusp of our oldest being college age. But he's probably not gonna go to college. And I am, like, petrified is probably an overstatement. Okay, but, like, mildly nervous about, like, social. Well, like, what's gonna happen socially, right when all the safety nets fall away and then you don't have your basketball team or whatever? You age out of everything. Except for the piano competition. You can still do that with me and Carol and anybody else who wants to drink, but you age out of a lot of things. And I. When I was in college, I did go to college, but I commuted. So I went into this college group, and the people said their house was so small, and they just said, so many people want to be in a place that's functional.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

That's all they care about.

[Tanner Olsen]

We have a 1200 square foot house in. In Nashville, which means our living room is, like four square feet. And we. We started doing this, like, five years ago, and the first year was, like, five students. And now it's like 25 kids. Kids come into our house. We just pack it in. Like, I just went. My son and I went grocery shopping this morning to get a bunch of breakfast food to make them breakfast for dinner. And we just. We just gather together. And this is one of the things, like, one of the reasons why I do what I do. Going to churches and conferences and sharing poetry, because it's like, can we just get together and gather around something honest and hopeful and true and remind each other that, like, we were all getting through this together and that there is a greater hope beyond all of this. It's. Our Thursday nights are our favorite night of the week because these college kids hang out with us and they ended up teaching us way more than we could ever teach them. But then at the same time, they just, they're. I mean, they're. They're still looking for. For people to help walk with them and guide them. Them.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

And also one of the cool things is a lot of their parents message us and just thank us.

[Jenny Y]

Oh, I'm sure.

[Tanner Olsen]

Because we're just like thrilled. We're just like, we're super happy to have them and to create a space where. Where they can talk about where we can open up God's word. But also, like, how, like what. What's life like for you these days?

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

What are you walking through? And then the way that they support each other and care for each other, it's been just. It's been incredible. Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

I mean, they can make friends. That was my whole thing, you know, that's their community. Yeah. There's just not as, you know, especially if you don't go away to school, there's just not as much. And so, yeah, from a parent perspective, I would be like, thank you, Tanner. You know, I mean, and wife Sarah. Thank you, Tanner and Sarah, for like supporting in this fairly large transition. Supporting solid relationships.

[Tanner Olsen]

College is so hard, and I can't imagine what it's like. I mean, high school and college right now, just the amount of things that you have to do. Like their to do lists are insane. I'm surprised they have time to come over on Thursday night. And when they get over here, oh, they're so wanted. It's their big exhale. They're not on their phones. They're just like, I'm here. Talk to me.

[Jenny Y]

I love that you do that. I love that. I think that's so important. What was the conversation with Barrett Greebing that changed your life?

[Tanner Olsen]

So my friend. So Barrett is a. He's a pastor down in Texas and we were living in Austin for a couple of years and he was the pastor of the church. And I did a lot of other, like, I. I ran like the community groups and some stuff on Sunday and spoke every now and again. Every day I would wake up at 5am to write. And every day I would get home and at like 8 or 9 o' clock I would just sit down to write. And I wanted to be a writer. That's all I've ever wanted to do. I just wanted to write. I wanted to put out books. And one day he. We Sat down, we had a staff meeting. And after the meeting, he was like, when are you gonna do this? Like, when are you gonna give this, like, the fair shot that it deserves? And then he didn't just tell me that I could do it. He was like, what if you did this and this and this and this is something that else you should probably think of. Like, he wanted to walk me through it while encouraging me at the same time. It is a. It's very kind of people to say, hey, you can do this. But it's different when somebody says, now let me help you do it. And there's. And so he was somebody who's like, let me just help you. You do this. And that's when I really began to think, like, well, maybe I can. Maybe I can be a writer. Maybe this idea of being a full time poet isn't as laughable as I think it is. And then for him to say, like, hey, your work and your words, it matters to me. And I think it can matter to a lot of other people. So he, he and his family will always hold a, a forever special place in our lives.

[Jenny Y]

Gosh, that's huge. You never know. You never know the words that you breathe life into someone. Like, where that's gonna go. So can you tell people where they can find you? You've got your substack. You're on the road. My friend Megan, who helps to schedule, she is so amazing. She's like from my childhood youth group and she came to your show in Ann Arbor with her middle daughter the other night and got to meet you. And she sent me a short video

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

and it was so cool to see.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

The poetry from the stage, I got to get, get a glimpse of it. And she goes out and like finds incredible guests and, and she's got all these ideas and like, if I have an idea, she can find the person. Huge blessing. And so she loved it. She came to your show the other night.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

You're on the road, you've got a substack, you've got this book all getting through what you're going through. But you also have a kids book. All Things I say to God. Am I missing anything? You have Instagram.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Where can people find you?

[Tanner Olsen]

The Internet, you know, written to Speak.com is my website on Instagram. I am just at Written to Speak and I post a lot of hopeful words on there all the time. Time. And I'm always touring. I don't know when this episode's coming out, but I'm about to be in Texas and Iowa and all these other states. So if you're in the area, come out to a show. Most of them are. Are put on by the church and are free.

[Jenny Y]

Ah, I love that. Yeah. An opportunity to come see you in person and just have a night that slows down. And my friend Megan, she came with her daughter, so like, that's a special thing that you could do if you got probably like, what do you think? 12. 12. 11 year old. 12 year old.

[Tanner Olsen]

12 and up is probably good. Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah. You can come with your child and have that night together. It's an honor to finally meet you finally. And we cannot.

[Tanner Olsen]

We cannot unmeet. This is a forever. This is our locked in now.

[Jenny Y]

It is true. Can you. I know you talked. We talked briefly before we started. But like, your wife's got all these experiences at this camp in Michigan, which is cool, Camp Acadia. We always end our show with a question about a favorite childhood memory of

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

yours that was outside.

[Tanner Olsen]

There is a. In the book. There's a short. There's a short writing or essay in the book about me and my mom picking oranges from my grandfather's backyard and then making orange juice together. And that's something that lives in my mind.

[Jenny Y]

Oh, that's where we started. We started and ended in the same spot.

[Tanner Olsen]

That's called a callback in the podcast, the business. So I'm just trying to keep up with you.

[Jenny Y]

You wrote she wasn't your mom. She wasn't just teaching me how to start my day with fresh squeezed orange juice. She was teaching me how to live, how to squeeze life dry, how to get everything it has to offer. How to make a mess, clean it up and start again.

[Tanner Olsen]

I tried to read that whole essay on the stage the night, and I completely broke down and had to take a moment, which, I mean, is there anything more? Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

So, yeah, isn't it amazing? Someone, her name's Aaron Lynam, she told me that like, God uses hands. I mean, this makes sense, right? Like sensory things to trigger your memories. And I was like, oh, I never would have thought about that because now we've got our phones and we take pictures of like every single thing. You know, you got your Google Glass. Actually, someone was telling me the other day they got invited to an Amish picnic or something, an Amish event. I was like, how do you get invited to an Amish event? And Amisha, they don't want you taking pictures of them. Just I. I don't know. All the reasoning, but no pictures. So then they were like, well, what if I just wore glasses that were. Because they're like, I want people to see the yodel. You know, whatever. I was like, oh, I know you can't. You probably can't.

[Tanner Olsen]

Like, no, they'd find you.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah, they would find you and they would not be happy.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

And I get that they don't want that.

[Jenny Y]

But, you know, in a day and age where you're almost at a spot where you could record everything.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yeah.

[Jenny Y]

That. You know that the fresh squeezed orange juice, that's going to take you back, talking about it, experiencing it, and I thought, oh, that's really cool. Like, that God made a way for our memories to resurface, like, even without current technology. So I love that story.

[Tanner Olsen]

That's good.

[Jenny Y]

Yeah.

[Tanner Olsen]

Thanks for having me on your podcast. It really means a lot.

[Jenny Y]

Thanks for coming on. It's been an honor to talk with you and people can come see you live.

[Tanner Olsen]

Yes.

[Jenny Y]

Thanks for being here.

[Tanner Olsen]

Thank you.

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[Tanner Olsen]

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[Brittany (Family Road Trip Trivia Podcast Host)]

Calling all trivia nerds, Brittany here and I host the Family Road Trip Trivia Podcast with my best friend, Meredith. Is your next car ride looking like a snooze fest? We've got the cure. Three rounds of awesome trivia every week. Harry Potter, Disney Science, Sports, you name it. No more silent car troubles. The Family Road Trip Trivia Podcast. Connect, connect, laugh and learn with your kids, big and small. New episodes every week. Wherever you get your podcasts, search for the Family Road Trip Trivia Podcast.