m0THeqFPWGAsBAvAcSWtk0S5j8D2cwdcwrMxN2uQqp4 The Reality You're Responding To - The Reality Between Us

Episode 6

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Published on:

5th Aug 2026

The Reality You're Responding To

How many times have you been absolutely certain you knew what someone meant...only to find out later that's not what was happening at all?

In this episode, we're exploring how the state we're in changes what we think we're seeing. Because sometimes we're responding to what's actually happening. And sometimes we're responding to the lens we're looking through. Learning the difference can change our relationships...and ourselves.

In this episode

  • Why two people can experience the same interaction and walk away with completely different realities.
  • How the state you're in changes what you think is happening.
  • Why slowing down before reacting matters.
  • What it looks like to recognize when someone else's state is driving the interaction.
  • Simple ways to start noticing the state you're bringing into your day.

Episode Thoughts To Sit With

"You and the person are literally in two different realities thinking you're in the same reality."

"The state is the way you perceive the world."

"Don't observe yourself and then chastise yourself or criticize yourself. We're literally just observing."

"Sometimes they are too activated in their own stuff...that doesn't mean you have to be."

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might need to hear it.

To connect, ask a question, or share your thoughts, email: ajarutledgecoaching@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening to The Reality Between Us.

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About the Podcast

The Reality Between Us
Exploring the hidden dynamics behind love, conflict, and connection.
The Reality Between Us explores what happens underneath relationships.
Through the lens of trauma, nervous systems, self-awareness, and relational patterns, Aja Rutledge examines the forces quietly shaping how we connect, conflict, communicate, avoid, trust, and make meaning of our experiences. Most relationship advice focuses on behavior. This podcast explores what's driving the behavior.
Rather than offering formulas or quick fixes, The Reality Between Us looks beneath the surface of our relationships, with partners, family, friends, coworkers, and most importantly, ourselves, to understand the hidden dynamics influencing how we show up and why we keep repeating the patterns we do. Because what happens between people rarely starts between people. Most relationship advice is looking in one place. We're going to look somewhere else.

About your host

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Aja Rutledge

Aja Rutledge is a writer, facilitator, and student of human behavior with a deep curiosity about what shapes the way we relate to ourselves and each other.

For years, she has explored the intersections of trauma, self-awareness, emotional safety, and relationships—both through her professional work and her own lived experience. Her previous podcast, She Said We Shed, focused on the healing journeys of Black women navigating relationships with narcissistic and emotionally immature mothers.

As the host of The Reality Between Us, Aja brings honest conversations about the hidden dynamics behind love, conflict, and connection. Through a blend of personal insight, observation, and reflection, she explores the patterns, assumptions, protective responses, and experiences that quietly shape our relationships.

Her work invites listeners to look beneath surface-level advice and develop a deeper understanding of themselves, the people around them, and the realities that exist between us.