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This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

By: Erica J. Schmidt
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Welcome to This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life! In this podcast, writer Erica J. Schmidt talks to people who may—or may not—have had the chance to transform their lives into spectacular TED talks. Cherished guests include Erica’s beloved grandmother, talented fringe performers, and more fascinating folks from across generations and communities. Discover new takes on creativity, morning routines, art, mental health, eating disorder recovery, perfectionism, and healing, plus a loving advice column segment in almost every episode. Oh, and sometimes there are tiny singsongs!

About the host: Erica J. Schmidt is a writer, translator, storyteller, and recovering gifted child living in Montréal. She is currently querying a novel about that time she fell in love with her eleventh therapist. To learn more, check out Erica’s generously personal essays at ericajschmidt.com/blog

Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • True Stories to Save the World With Nisha Coleman

    True Stories to Save the World With Nisha Coleman
    Jun 12 2025
    An interview with Nisha Coleman—I have only been dreaming of this since I started the podcast. At long last, we welcome Nisha to This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life. Nisha is a superstar in the Montreal artist and storytelling community. We all know and love her as an accomplished author, actor, translator, storyteller, and master of the one-woman show.It all started on a swamp in rural Ontario. Born to hippie parents with minimal TV, Nisha learned how to make her own stories and games. Though she was a bashful child, Nisha grew up to discover the power of telling the truth.Secret teenage journals transformed into the magnificent storytelling performances she brings us today.As wars rage on our melting planet, it’s a hard time for sensitive creative souls. Nisha opens up about her struggles with mental health, her grief for our suffering earth, the genocide in Palestine, and the redemption she finds in art, learning, and community. But despite the heavy topics, our conversation is full of giggles and gentle wisdom. Listen to the end for Nisha’s coveted advice on learning a language, reigniting the creative spark, plus a pile of inspiring routines that sometimes involve vacuuming.Thank you so much, Nisha. This was as wonderful as I imagined.CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of mental health struggles, death fantasies, and suicidal ideation.Full shownotes at ericajschmidt.com/podcast/true-stories-to-save-the-world-with-nisha-colemanLinks and ResourcesFollow Nisha on Instagram @nishacolemanand check out her website at nishacoleman.com.Buy Nisha Coleman’s children’s book, Dear Humans: A Letter from the AnimalsNisha’s teenage journals on Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids: “Puberty has taken her!”Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy Chill Creative Flow With Jeff Gandell, Crochet for Peace with Montréal’s Most Adorable and Edgy Comedian (and Winner of Best Baby Face), Shosho Abotouk, and Painting Boundaries with Bean Nunnerley. Lydia Davis Daily Journalling Practice: Every day write down seven things you noticed, seven things you did, one thing you heard, plus a little doodle. Listener Question from Writer’s Block Survivor Actually Stuck This TimeDear Nisha and Erica,For the past six months, I’ve been in the worst creative rut of my life, and I don’t know how to get out of it. Back in the fall, I released my first album, but since then I’ve only managed to finish one song — maybe six minutes of music total — even though I’ve been working almost every day. I usually write slow, but this has been really discouraging.Not long after I launched my album, I lost a close friend, and I guess I kind of fell into a depression. While I’ve written through hard times before, this time it feels different. I keep generating little ideas, but they all seem terrible, and now I’m starting to wonder if I’ve just lost the spark. I was hoping to release another album by next year, but now I’m doubting whether I’ll ever get there, or if music composition is just over for me.Have you ever gone through a stretch like this, where the well just feels empty? If so, what helped you find your way back?Love, Writer’s Block Survivor Actually Stuck This Time.Thank you so much for listening! To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button.Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events,Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment. And infinite thanks to you, my dear listeners! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to followThis Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • No Surrender with Hollis Peirce

    No Surrender with Hollis Peirce
    May 22 2025

    Today’s guest is the bright light, podcast host, historian, athlete, and disability advocate, Hollis Peirce. With Hollis, disability is neither a tragedy nor a motivational speech. He offers a refreshing, real, and uplifting take on living with muscular dystrophy.

    Early on, a doctor told Hollis’s mother that her child would suffer from an “inability to thrive.” Instead, he developed what the experts might call, a lifelong case of thriving.

    In our all-dressed conversation, Hollis talks about everything—why it’s a waste of energy to get too hung up on language, what it’s like to lose your best friends to a less forgiving version of your condition (long live Dino and the No Surrenders), how he confronted his own ableism when faced with the choice between six months of palliative car or a ventilator to help him breathe. (“I picked the vent! Otherwise, my sister would have killed me!)

    My favourite part was our impromptu discussion on mortality, complete with dark humour and a sense of wonder. We also totally nailed the listener question: I Can’t Accept My Disability and I Feel Like Nobody Around Me Understands. Don’t worry, we banish the phrase, “look on the bright side.” And yet, as Hollis always says, If you’re alive you can thrive.

    (Erica: But thriving doesn’t have to be a pull-up and a PhD!)

    Thank you, Hollis for this dreamy interview—the perfect episode for our inaugural YouTube video! Everybody, make sure to check out Hollis’s show—Twenty-First Century Disability—which explores the transformative power of embracing disability in our modern times.

    Twenty-First Century Disability on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow the show on Instagramand Facebook.

    Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places. (Full shownotes at ericajschmidt.com/podcast/no-surrender-with-hollis-peirce)
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Alexia and Erica Can’t Fix It.But We Have Thoughts.(Wedding/Baby Edition)

    Alexia and Erica Can’t Fix It.But We Have Thoughts.(Wedding/Baby Edition)
    May 1 2025
    The cherished Alexia Côté is back for another ever-popular all-advice episode. Why do weddings make everyone regress to five years old? What is the difference between reasonable boundaries and Bridezilla territory? Does it make any sense to have children when the planet is melting and your favourite thing to do is read books and travel? Alexia and Erica can’t fix it. But we have thoughts.Tune in for Listener Questions From: I Feel Like the Dad Card Just Won’t Cut It. She’s been saving up for a destination wedding in Italy. But now her bf’s ex is refusing to take care of his seven-year-old and he says they should just stay home.Am I a Bridezilla or Is My Brother Being a Turd? Her brother is pouting because AIABOIMBBAT didn’t invite his short-term, mean-girl significant other to her tiny, low-budget wedding. Who is the jerk here?Meant to Be Mother-to-Be? A classic vascillation over the pros and cons of kids with the call of library books at the end of the world. To get in the spirit of Alexia’s imminent wedding, our very half-bad ukulele segment is DANCING QUEEN. Listen to the end, turn down the volume, and sing along!Alexia has an imminent Fringe show, and she’s fun fun fun. Follow her on Instagram @sidealexia so you don’t miss a beat. Scroll down for the full listener questions. If you get cut off, visit the extensive shownotes on Erica’s website.Mixing, Ukulele, and Cover Art by Erica J. Schmidt in Montréal, Quebec.Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.More Alexia on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful LifeEpisode 10: Wishing on a Star with Alexia CôtéEpisode 20: Alexia and Erica Can’t Fix It. But We Have Thoughts (First Edition)Episode 30-something: Alexia and Erica Can’t Fix It. But We Have Thoughts (Summer Sprinkles Edition) Listener Question from I Feel Like the Dad Card Just Won’t Cut ItDear Erica and Alexia,My boyfriend is 39 and I am 26. We’ve been dating for five years. He has a 7-year-old-daughter. A close friend of mine is getting married in Italy this June, and we’re invited. It’s a child-free wedding. I’ve been saving up and counting down the days to this trip. But last night, he told me his ex suddenly changed her mind and won’t switch custody weeks with him, meaning he’ll have his daughter during the wedding. I asked why, and he said she just changed her mind. Then she suggested that we pay for her and their daughter’s tickets and accommodations so she can come along and watch their daughter while we enjoy the wedding. I was upset. That makes no sense. Just switch the weeks and it’s all good. I don’t want his ex to come on vacation with us.My boyfriend’s solution? Skip the wedding. I told him no. First, the RSVP date has already passed. Second, I really want to go to this wedding and visit Italy. So, I’m going.He says it makes him uncomfortable if I go alone because it looks bad for me to show up solo. I told him if it bothers him that much, then maybe he should figure something out with his ex so he can come too. He says he’s tried everything, but she won’t budge, and he doesn’t want to feel like he’s abandoning his kid.I’m so frustrated. What should I do at this point? I’ve rarely asked for anything that was important to me in our relationship, and I feel like he is not being very receptive to my preferences here. Love, I Feel Like the Dad Card Just Won’t Cut ItListener Question from Am I a Bridezilla or Is My Brother Being a Turd?Dear Erica and Alexia,My partner and I are expecting our first child this fall and have decided to have a small intimate court wedding with family only. Literally just his parents, my parents, his sister + common law partner and my brother. No best friends, extended family or extras as this is us just exchanging vows, signing legal documents and going for lunch afterwards. We figured we want to keep it as small and as stress free as possible for me since I’m pregnant and I had a miscarriage in the past due to high levels of stress, plus next year we'll throw a party to celebrate with everyone and it will be a great way to introduce our child. However, my brother is having feelings about his new girlfriend (of 6 months) not being invited. He says he doesn't want to feel like she's not welcome and that he would love to bring her especially since my partner’s sister is bringing her partner. I explained the situation and explained that she would be invited to the party next year and then if we have a baby shower (still up in the air) she would be invited to that. My partner’s sister’s partner has been part of the family for the past 2 years. We just want to keep the ceremony small plus financially we are a bit tight this year. It’s a lot for us to pay for the whole thing ourselves as well as treat the family to lunch afterwards. Even though we're doing it ...
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