The Spiritual Cupcake Podcast · Candace Dunaway

Rooted in gratitude

·32 min·2 clips

She says self-love was the missing piece and calls herself her own biggest bully.

1. The Spiritual Cupcake Podcast episode "Rooted in gratitude" centers on Candice Dunaway’s gratitude practice and how it changed over time. 2. Candice Dunaway is the host, and she speaks as a teacher, parent, and journal-keeper because she reads from her own notebooks and classroom routines. 3. The episode asks what it means to be "deeply rooted in gratitude" after starting from a less grateful and more self-critical place. 4. She says her teenage years included being "deeply joyful" and "deeply sad," along with loneliness and depression. 5. She links ages 17 to 20 with "dancing on tables" and "drinking way too much" as a coping mechanism. 6. She says many of her regrets are tied to alcohol and that she now keeps drinking to "drinks here and there." 7. She describes other ways of working through emotions, including therapy, music, nature, walking barefoot in grass, and talking with a friend. 8. She says she used to judge, gossip, and get pulled into negative conversations, then feel "really shitty afterwards." 9. She reads the first journal entry from December 30th, 2015: "This morning, Brayden ate eggs without me tricking him." 10. She later reads entries from April 15th, 2020 and September 21st, 2021, including "Friday date night with the hubby in the garage" and a note about Corey Rich. 11. She says the journal changed how she saw the world, how she walked, and how she carried herself. 12. She explains that gratitude started showing up in her classroom as a morning routine with gratitude journals. 13. She says students in grades one through six responded with subtle changes and stronger connections when they shared what they were grateful for. 14. She argues that self-love was the missing piece because she was a cheerleader for others but her "biggest critic" at home. 15. She says being "who you were born to be" and shedding "the big backpack" makes a person feel more magnetic. 16. She challenges a claim she paraphrases as "toxic positivity" by saying pain alone does not always create change. 17. The delivery is a solo, reflective monologue with repeated phrases, journal readings, and conversational asides like "let me flip open another journal." 18. The energy stays intimate and personal, with examples from family life, teaching, and her own notebooks rather than guest dialogue. 19. People building a gratitude habit or classroom routine would likely connect with this. 20. Listeners wanting a fast interview or a newsier topic might skip it.

As heard by us

A calm gratitude reflection that stays anchored in everyday change.

The episode treats gratitude as something that takes root before it shows, and the tree-root image gives that idea real shape. It works best when it moves from the broad theme to ordinary practices, especially journaling and the quieter habit of noticing small things differently…

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a gratitude reflection rooted in journaling, perspective, and small ordinary things.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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