Laura Joyce Davis started her podcast, Shelter in Place, just as the pandemic shut California and the United States down on March 17, 2020. We talk about finding joy in hard times, defining the meaning of home, and sheltering in place as parents.

Laura is a Minneapolis native who now calls Oakland home. She is an award-winning fiction writer, a Fulbright scholar, a WNYC Podcast Accelerator finalist, and a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She is a mom of three young kids who believe that anything is possible if you have a cape, a crown, and a very good book (she doesn’t disagree). In past lives she’s been a collegiate running coach, a Big Ten athlete, an award-winning a cappella singer, and a blue ribbon winner at the 4-H county fair. Both at Shelter in Place and in Laura’s past writing are grounded in the conviction that changing our communities begins with changing ourselves.

In this episode, Laura and I talk about:

• what sheltering in place was like with children
• the overwhelming impacts of the fires in California in August 2020
• Laura's family moving to Massachusetts during the pandemic
• the first two seasons of Shelter in Place the podcast
• how we look to define "home"
• the three ways that Laura jump starts joy: playing, speaking, and listening

Resources:

Shelter in Place Podcast website

KASAMA Collective

She Podcasts Live

Claim Pod Parity

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In this interview, I am so honored to be joined by author Sonya Renee Taylor. Sonya is the author of the the New York Times Bestselling book, “The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love.” She just recently released an updated version of that book, and the “Your Body is Not an Apology Workbook: Tools for Living Radical Self Love.” Sonya is joining me to talk all about radical self-love and joy. And, she shares that when we start to love ourselves, we can transform how we interact with others in the world.

Sonya Renee Taylor and I talked about:
– her early joys of creating radio shows with her friend
– slam poetry festivals, and how entering them fed her soul
– how “The Body is Not an Apology” got started
– how the Genesis story in the Judeo-Christian tradition relates to shame and body image
– how to tell if your joy is coming from an altruistic place, or if it may have residue on it
– embracing radical self love
– why radical self love is not easy work
– the indoctrination of all of us in a society where the hierarchy has a vested interest in keeping us from embracing self love
– giving from your overflow, and how that can help you steer clear of burnout
– that choosing to spread radical self love feeds itself, and creates room for more radical self-love

Resources

Sonya Renee Taylor’s Website
The Body is Not an Apology Website
Support The Body is Not an Apology by making a contribution
Sonya Renee Taylor on Unlocking Us with Brene Brown

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for mindbodygreen, and she has just released the amazing book, Return to Nature: The New Science of How Nature Landscapes Restore Us. In it, she shares the different kinds of landscapes, how they effect your mental health, studies about why they improve your mental health, and things you can do to counter-act the effects of climate change on these landscapes. This discussion fits so well into this month’s theme of “finding home,” and I hope you love this conversation about the return to nature with Emma Loewe.

Read the full show notes on my website.

In this episode, Emma Loewe and I talk about:

• How the idea of this book came about
• A profound memory Emma has of a maple tree in her yard growing up, and why many of us have anchoring memories that revolve around nature.
• My resonance with the landscapes of oceans and coasts and forests and trees.
• What a forest bath is, and how to experience one
• The fractals in trees, and why that is soothing to humans
• How to handle grief and anxiety over climate change in an effective and non-overwhelming way

Resources

Emma Loewe’s book, “Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us” on Bookshop.org

Emma Loewe’s website

Emma Loewe on Instagram

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Fred LeBlanc is back for the third time on Jump Start Your Joy, and he’s joining me this time to talk about his new single, “Mardi Gras State of Mind” and his reflections on how things changed for him (and all of us) during the pandemic. In refreshing Fred style, we also dive into talking about the influences that shape people (including Elvis and Anne Rice), and how dreaming big can change the world.

Read the full show notes on my website.

In this episode, Fred LeBlanc and I talk about:

• His time during the pandemic: getting married, shelter in place, doing online concerts, and revisiting music
• Playing Lundy Gras and the Jazz Festival
• Tupolo Mississippi, the birth place of Elvis, and how our environments have a profound impact on our lives.
• Anne Rice, and how she was a friend of Cowboy Mouth
• The inspiration for Mardi Gras State of Mind
• His excitement about touring again.
• Their San Diego, CA concert.

Resources

Mardi Gras State of Mind by Cowboy Mouth

The Things You Wanted to Do by Cowboy Mouth

The Secret of Life by Dr.Joseph Murphy

Cowboy Mouth’s Website

Fred LeBlanc’s Frist Two Interviews On Jump Start Your Joy

Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth on Learning to Create Your Own Joy From the Inside Out (Open Wide)

Energy, Joy, and Cowboy Mouth with guest Fred LeBlanc

Love the show, and what to show your support?

Buy me a cup of coffee, and I'll give you a shout out on the next episode.