Sean Loots | Starting Over and Life Changes Something Shifted | Stories of Identity, Loss and Life Transitions

Something Shifted | Stories of Identity, Loss and Life Transitions

There's a moment where your life splits in two.

Before the diagnosis. Before the loss. Before the divorce, the burnout, the caregiving role, or the sudden change you never saw coming.
And then after.

Most conversations about grief, trauma, and resilience focus on how to move forward. But the deeper question so many people quietly live with after a lifequake: Who am I now?

Something Shifted is a documentary-style podcast about identity after interruption. The psychological and emotional reconstruction that happens after major life changes reshape the person you thought you were. Each episode tells a deeply human story of someone navigating grief and healing, rebuilding identity after loss, recovering from trauma, finding purpose after hardship, or learning how to start over in life they never expected to be living.

Because sometimes the hardest part of a sudden life change isn't the event itself. It's becoming someone new afterward.

Hosted by South African broadcaster Sean Loots, Something Shifted blends immersive storytelling with reflective narration to explore what happens when identity changes through crisis, caregiving, diagnosis, parenting, survival, and loss. At the center of the show is the idea of the Lifequake: the moments that interrupt the expected path of a life and force a person into identity transformation.

These are stories about emotional resilience, meaning after hardship, and finding yourself again after everything changed.

If you're navigating life transitions, coping with loss, or trying to understand who you became after a major life change — this show is for you.

Episode Topics Include: Identity Reconstruction, Trauma Recovery, Life Transitions, Starting Over In Life, Grief And Healing, Meaning After Loss, Losing a Dream, Emotional Resilience, Caregiving Burnout, Special Needs Parenting, Finding Yourself Again, Life After Diagnosis, Creative Burnout
Monthly English South Africa Personal Journals · Documentary
53 Episodes
1 – 20

"Some version of alright, eventually." | Losing a dream

Kojo Baffoe had a dream that shaped much of his life, until it didn’t. In this story, he reflects on what it means to lose something that once gave your life structure, meaning, and momentum. This episode explores loss, identity shifts, and the emotional process of letting go when the…
2 Jun 30 min

"As I walk through the darkness" | Faith and a stillbirth

Marilize De Clercq had prepared for a life she was about to meet. A nursery ready, a name chosen, a future imagined. Then everything changed. This is a deeply personal story about stillbirth, grief, and the emotional reality of losing a child before birth. It explores pregnancy loss, faith in…
19 May 21 min

"You've Always Just Been This Way." | Late autism diagnosis

Jess Hinds became a mother while quietly struggling with overwhelm she couldn’t explain. That was until an autism diagnosis reframed her entire life. This episode explores late autism diagnosis in adulthood, neurodivergence in mothers, and the grief that can come with finally understanding yourself. It’s a story about identity discovery,…
5 May 35 min

"Harder to kill." | Brain cancer, identity and survival after diagnosis

Conn’s life changed in a single moment when subtle symptoms revealed an aggressive brain tumour requiring emergency surgery. This episode explores brain cancer survival, identity fracture, and what happens when the self you know is suddenly interrupted by illness. A story about survival, uncertainty, and rebuilding identity after trauma. www.somethingshifted.co.za…
24 Feb 33 min

"If Chickens Can Do It" | A case for optimism.

What does optimism actually mean, and can it be learned? In this episode, astrophysicist-turned-author Sumit Paul-Choudhury explores the psychology and science of optimism, drawing on research, history, and lived experience. This conversation looks at hope, meaning-making, and the role optimism plays in navigating uncertainty and loss. A story about choosing…
6 Jan 20 min
 bonus  

I phoned The Chaeli Campaign for Podcasthon 2025

My plan was to visit The Chaeli Campaign HQ. But life happened. So instead, I picked up the phone and spoke to the CEO, Zelda Mycroft. Zelda shares The Chaeli Campaign's mission to drive social justice and inclusion for people with disabilities. Highlighting the crucial role of advocacy in changing…
24 Mar 2025 26 min

"Pick up your pen and write a different story." | Courage and creativity

What if your life suddenly changed course, not by choice, but by force? In this episode, host Sean Loots introduces Verity, a woman who decided to rewrite her life after a personal lifequake. Through courage, creativity, and deep self-reflection, Verity learned that we always have the power to author a…
10 Mar 2025 29 min

"Half my face had collapsed." | Identity after Bell's palsy

In this episode, we explore how Lesego’s life changed when he developed Bell’s Palsy, and what it took for him to reframe identity, hope, and resilience If you've been listening to something shifted for a while, you've probably wondered about your own life quake. For Lesego, there are two distinct…
24 Feb 2025 26 min

"Whose afraid of little old me?"

Today’s story is a little different to some of our previous episodes. We generally meet guests post-life quake, who have the benefit of hindsight, and we learn how "That Big Thing" has changed the direction of their life - but we meet them on stable ground. Not everyone is on…
10 Feb 2025 28 min

"I became a living upcycled human."

When Jasper underwent a liver transplant in 2015, he didn’t just survive; he transformed. In this deeply human story, Jasper calls himself a “living upcycled human,” and shares what it means to carry a second chance inside your body. Host Sean Loots explores the emotional, physical, and spiritual journey that…
27 Jan 2025 25 min

"You don't say no to that."

In the adventures we seek out for ourselves, or the chances that we say yes to, deep down we know that things will change. But we can never fully grasp how much they will change. An enthusiastic yes today will obviously start a domino effect, but where will the yes…
13 Jan 2025 27 min

Motherhood fuelled her Olympic Dream.

For most, becoming a parent is a seismic shift, a lifequake that transforms everything we thought we knew about ourselves. It's a journey that challenges us to re-evaluate our priorities and make some tough decisions. Like how to balance our own dreams with the responsibilities of raising our children? In…
31 Dec 2024 27 min

12 Tremors Before Christmas

Year-end brings with it feelings of nostalgia and reflection. And while lifequakes are big events that permanently alter the course of a life, we want to recognise the smaller shifts and shakes - tremors, if you will, that sent us on a detour. This episode is a compilation of 12…
16 Dec 2024 36 min
1 – 20