In this heartwarming episode of Jump Start Your Joy, I’m taking you along with me on a journey back to Yale Divinity School for my 25th reunion—a place where old friendships, profound growth, and life’s deeper questions all come together. Reuniting with friends, revisiting cherished memories, and even leading a Labyrinth walk, I found myself reflecting on what it truly means to reconnect with both people and places that have shaped who we are.

I’ll share the magic of the labyrinth as both a spiritual tool and a metaphor for life’s journey—how its twists and turns mirror our own paths and how it can guide us through the beautiful complexities of growth, purpose, and joy.

In this episode, I'm sharing:

• The themes of reunions, self-discovery, and finding one's purpose through heartfelt conversations and experiences from recent events.
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• My recent reunion with her friends from Yale Divinity School and UC Santa Barbara, and the special moments of revisiting cherished places.
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• My deep connection with labyrinth walks and how they have been a source of inspiration and guidance in her life.
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• The journey of her podcast, Jump Start Your Joy, from its inception in 2015 to its current focus on retreats and labyrinth facilitation.
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• The importance of showing up, the transformative power of retreats, and how self-confidence can lead to personal and professional growth.

Resources

Interview with Christopher Freimuth: Gardens, Labyrinths, and Spiritual Journeys

The First episode: Kathleen Davies on 'More Light,' Love and Acceptance

Compassion Quest: Join us on November 23rd

Dr. Aimee, The Egg Whisperer: Choosing to Sparkle Everyday

Morgan Bolander on Singing, Songwriting, and Finding Joy

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Exciting Reunions
01:38 Welcome to Jump Start Your Joy
02:28 Reconnecting with Old Friends
04:34 Reflections on Life and Career
06:22 The Journey of Jump Start Your Joy
12:52 The Power of Showing Up
18:27 Rediscovering Purpose and Joy
25:33 Wrapping Up and Looking Forward

Sister Michelle L’Allier is a Franciscan Sister from Minnesota, and I’ve had the absolute pleasure of getting to know her through leading retreats at San Damiano Retreat here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sister Michelle and I got to know each other over the course of several years, when she was the adviser for the retreat team I led. She’s a person that I feel so very lucky to know; she’s deeply spiritual and also approachable, meeting each person she encounters where they are. I’m really excited to have her on as the last guest of Season 4.

One of the things that I love about our discussion is that we dive into the question of “how do I be myself?” It’s a question that embodies the inspiration, intention, and action that have been the focus of this season. For Sister Michelle, the question of being herself led to the Franciscan faith, and an understanding of love, and what divine love means. For myself, I think that being myself means saying yes to Joy, listening to it, looking for it, and living by it.

In this episode, Sister Michelle L’Allier and I talk about:

• Growing up in Minnesota
• Finding love
• The story of St Francis and Clare of Assisi
• Loving all parts of yourself
• How we can begin to break down walls and dismantle things like human trafficking
• Working through trauma is important for everyone, and how to do it
• How you can learn to talk about emotions even if it wasn’t something you did growing up
• How people bundle a wider range of emotions under a single word, and why that doesn’t serve them
• The gifts of joy and compassion and how they are needed by every person
• How to jumpstart your joy: letting go of the addiction that fuels perfectionism, finding connection and love, and living a life of adventure.

Resources
The Wisdom Jesus:Transforming Heart and Mind -- A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault on Amazon
Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Saint Francis by Richard Rohr
John Duns Scotus on Wikipedia
A Franciscan Moral Vision on Amazon
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford on Amazon
Catholic Means Universal: Integrating Spirituality and Religion by David Richo

Paul Selig joins the show to talk about his journey to become a psychic and channel, and share about "The Book of Truth." Paul channels the guides in this episode, and they share the truth about the nature of joy in the universe.

In this episode, Paul and I talk about:
– his earliest sparks of joy in drama and theater
– his journey to becoming clairvoyant, clairsentient, and then telepathic and psychic
– how he built his practice as an intuitive
– how he channels, and receives the texts that he shares
– what it feels like to sit in channel with The Guides
– difference between channeling, and when he is in the role of a psychic
– if everyone has the ability to tap into channeling
– what The Guides have to say about the pursuit of joy in this life
– what it is like to honor the call of being a channel, and the impact it’s had on Paul’s life
– if The Guides were present in the time of Moses, based on the fact that the phrase “Here I am” is found in the Old Testament, and very similar to what The Guides share in The Book of Truth
– what balance looks, or doesn’t look like, for Paul
– how to jump start joy in your life

Resources
The Book of Truth by Paul Selig (on Amazon)
The Book of Mastery by Paul Selig (on Amazon)
Paul Selig’s Website
Link to the webinars and seminars run by Paul on his website
YouTube Video of an interview with Paul Selig on Waking Universe

Briana and Dr Peter Borten join host Paula Jenkins to share about their new book, Rituals for Transformation. Learn about creating your own sacred rituals, how to get in touch with what matters to you, and how to find enlightenment.

In this episode, we talk about:
- Alexis’ early interest in anything creative that merged with the natural world around her
- How society has found itself in a space where we are frightened by anything that seems different
- That we need to extend our hands as friends and embrace our human neighbors
Judaism’s history of struggle, and basis in a search for ethics
- How we can see the historical message in sacred text and look to apply it to todays world
- That the Quran (also spelled Qu’ran or Koran) is centered in love, and teaches that faith comes with a cultural lens
- That the sacred texts of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all reflect the time in which they were written; but also give direction in living a life based in love for all people, with a core teaching of loving one’s neighbor as oneself
- That Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all share the same base teachings, found in the Old Testament
- How to go about learning more about a religion you may be curious about

Get all of the show notes at www.jumpstartyourjoy.com/episode75

Jann Cather Weaver is an associate professor emerita of worship and theology and the arts at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She's an ordained minister, and has served parishes in Wisconsin and Missouri. A published author, and a former Yale Divinity School professor, Jann and I met at Yale, where she taught one of the most memorable courses I took in my master's program, "The Theology of Art and Film."

This interview was a true delight, for so many reasons. Jann's ministry has been a beautiful dance of art, of exploring the human condition, and of looking for divine communication through many lenses, and many art forms, including photography, music, and film. She is a welcoming presence, and at the same time, a powerful force, truly comfortable in her own person, and yet pushing out toward the radical edge of theological education. It's a joy to witness how she's followed her own heart in pursuing theology and the arts, "not because Ithought there was a career there, but because it was (for lack of a better word) my passion. I could do no other than that."

I hope that you will take a listen, and soak up her words; her journey is one of an artist honing her craft, and I very much resonated with her words about finding a vocation, about pursuing dreams, and about extending radical love, acceptance, and hospitality to all of the creation.

In this episode we talk about:
- Jann's journey to earning her MDiv (Master's of Divinity) at Eden Seminary
- how a T5 tornado that struck Barneveld Wisconsin in 1984 changed her life, and the trajectory of her ministry
- about her time at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California
- how careers change over time, and how the question of "good enough" may crop up more than once in the course of one's life
- Boy George, Torch Song Trilogy, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - and a paper I wrote at grad school
- Lars and the Real Girl, and the theology of this 2007 film starring Ryan Gosling
- Jann's most recent courses, and future plans
- Jann's answer to how to jump start your own joy

And here are the links to download the show or subscribe via iTunes and Stitcher:

Links:
Eden Theological Seminary
Acts 2: the Story of Pentecost
Isaiah 43: Jann preached on this after the events of Barneveld
News footage of the destruction at Barneveld in 1984
War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
Graduate Theological Union
Yale Divinity School
Boy George: Cheapness and Beauty (the album) on Amazon
Boy George's song Il Adore on Amazon (video is also below from YouTube)
Torch Song Trilogy on Amazon
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Amazon
Lars and the Real Girl on Amazon
Jann Cather Weaver's page on United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

I am an Amazon affiliate. Links on this page (ones to items I truly love and recommend) may earn me a commission.

The post Episode 6: Jann Cather Weaver on Radical Gratitude, Acceptance, and Hospitality appeared first on Jump Start Your Joy.