Rooted and Rising

What happens when something changes your life—but Tuesday is still Tuesday?

The emails keep coming. The bills are still due. People still need things from you. And somehow, while part of you is trying to understand what just happened, the rest of the world keeps moving.

In this deeply personal Sunday Seed, Dr. Carmela Maxell reflects on navigating pain while life refuses to pause—and the complicated reality of experiencing heartbreak and joy at the same time.

She explores the difference between functioning and healing, what it means to actually practice the grace we so easily offer other people, and the quiet ways we begin finding ourselves again after something has changed us.

Because healing isn’t always the moment the pain disappears.

Sometimes, it’s the moment your life becomes large enough to hold something besides the pain.

And sometimes rising isn’t a triumphant comeback.

Sometimes it’s simply realizing:

I’m still here.

🌱 Sunday Seeds of Thought — Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell

Aging With Dignity: Mental Health, Autonomy & the People Our Systems Overlook

Airing September 1, 2026

What does it really mean to care for people as they age—not simply keeping them safe, but protecting their dignity, autonomy, identity, and right to continue directing their own lives?

In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell sits down with Alison Laird Craig, Program Manager of the Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations, for an important conversation about aging, mental health, and the ways older adults are too often overlooked in healthcare, behavioral health, and social service systems.

Together, they explore ageism and its impact on mental health, the growing need for professionals trained to work with older adults, decision-making capacity and the difference between protection and unnecessary loss of autonomy, and the unique challenges faced by older adults experiencing homelessness, incarceration and re-entry, poverty, disability, serious mental illness, and other forms of marginalization.

The conversation also examines an especially important distinction: making a poor decision is not the same as lacking the capacity to make decisions. Preserving dignity and civil rights must remain central to how families, clinicians, and systems support people throughout the aging process.

At the heart of this episode is a simple but powerful reminder: aging does not erase personhood. Older adults carry entire lifetimes of relationships, culture, loss, resilience, accomplishments, mistakes, identities, and stories. Good care should ask more than, “How do we keep this person safe?” It should also ask, “How do we help this person continue to live with dignity, autonomy, connection, and meaning?”

Resources & Upcoming Trainings

Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations
The Elder Education Institute provides continuing education and professional development focused on the mental health, autonomy, and unique needs of older adults.
https://soundgenerations.org/eldereducationinstitute/

Strategies of Support for Unhoused Older Adults
This workshop focuses on the unique challenges facing unhoused older adults and practical strategies for providing more effective, responsive, and dignity-centered support.
https://soundgenerations.org/strategies-of-support-for-unhoused-older-adults-with-jams-stuivenga-lswaic-gmhs/

It’s Complicated: How to Best Support Older Adult Clients Leaving the Carceral System
This workshop examines the complex realities facing older adults transitioning from incarceration back into the community, including mental health, housing, reintegration, and systemic barriers. Dr. Carmela Maxell will also be presenting as part of this workshop.
https://soundgenerations.org/its-complicated-how-to-best-support-older-adult-clients-leaving-the-carceral-system-with-lena-campagna-phd-angela-murolo-phd-and-special-guests/

Stay rooted in who you are, and keep rising into who you’re becoming.

Sunday Sleep Is NOT Your Rest

We put a lot of pressure on the weekend to save us from the week. We’ll catch up on sleep, finally slow down, take care of ourselves—and somehow emerge Monday completely restored.

But what happens when the weekend isn’t actually rest? It’s recovery.

In this Sunday Seed, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the difference between resting and recovering from a life that repeatedly exhausts us, asking: What can we change about Tuesday so Sunday doesn’t have so much work to do?

Take the nap. Sleep in. Put your phone on silent. Read the book.

But don’t ask Sunday to save you from Monday through Saturday.

Maybe you don’t need a better weekend. Maybe you need a week you don’t have to spend the weekend recovering from.

🌱 Stay rooted in who you are, and keep rising into who you’re becoming.

What if the reason people keep pulling away isn’t because they’re intimidated, jealous, or incapable of handling the “real” you?

What if—stay with me—you’re sometimes just… not that likeable? 😂

In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell takes on the uncomfortable difference between authenticity and a complete lack of self-awareness. Because being unapologetically yourself doesn’t mean you never have to consider what it feels like for other people to experience you. 

We’re talking about confidence versus self-importance, vulnerability versus emotional dumping, honesty versus cruelty, and why your intentions don’t erase someone else’s experience of your behavior. We also get into the patterns we’d rather not examine—especially when the people and circumstances change, but somehow the same conflict keeps following us from room to room. 

And no, this isn’t about shrinking yourself, becoming more “palatable,” or trying to make everyone like you. It’s about something much harder: self-awareness.

The question at the center of this episode is simple:

What does it feel like to be on the other side of me?

Do people feel heard? Is there room for them? Can they disagree with you? Can they shine without you competing? Can they tell you that you hurt them without having to defend their experience in court? 

This one is funny, uncomfortable, occasionally a little ruthless—and probably going to make you think of at least one person you absolutely should not send it to. 😂

🎙️ Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell
You’re Just Not Likeable: The Difference Between Being Authentic and Being Insufferable

New episodes every Tuesday. 

Nothing extraordinary happened today.

There was no major milestone. No big announcement. No life-changing moment.

There was lavender growing in the front yard. A busy bee. Tiny hands helping cut flowers. Laughter. A vase by the window.

And somehow, that was enough.

In this Sunday Seed of Thought, Dr. Carmela Maxell reflects on how easily we can rush through the ordinary parts of our lives while waiting for something bigger to happen. We celebrate milestones, achievements, and major transitions—but most of a lifetime is made up of the quiet moments in between.

What if the life we're waiting to enjoy is already happening?

This episode is an invitation to slow down, notice what's around you, and stop treating the present like a waiting room for a better future.

Because one day, some of the ordinary things surrounding you right now may be the very things you'd give anything to experience again.

🌱 This week's seed:
The ordinary moments of today may become the treasures of tomorrow.

Listen, follow, and share Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell, and tune in every Tuesday for new full episodes.

And remember: stay rooted in who you are and keep rising into who you're becoming.