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We are living in a time when it is increasingly difficult to trust what we see. Like the image above. The photo is real but AI created the rest.

Social media filters reality. Artificial intelligence can manufacture images, voices, and stories. Political division asks us to distrust one another. Everywhere we turn, someone or something seems to be competing for our attention, and attempting to tell us what is real.

But beneath all that noise, there is another kind of intelligence available to us.

We can learn to trust what we feel.

When we slow down, become intentional, and reconnect with ourselves, joy becomes more than a temporary emotion. It becomes a beacon. A North Star. A compass guiding us toward what is true, alive, and aligned within us.

Your truth matters.

And your joy can be a powerful regulator, director, and guide.

Joy is real.

Joy is life force

Joy is energy.

Joy is a sacred and uniquely human experience.

It can arrive as laughter that catches you by surprise. It can be the warmth of the sun on your skin, the wind moving through your hair, or the smell of freshly cut grass. It can be the sudden goosebumps that remind you that you are here—alive, present, and able to feel.

Joy does not require a perfect life.

It does not ask us to ignore pain, injustice, uncertainty, or grief. Joy is not denial. It is not forced positivity. It is not pretending everything is okay when it isn’t.

Joy is our capacity to remain connected to life even when life is complicated.

It gives us energy for the road ahead. It restores what the world depletes. It helps regulate our nervous systems and reminds us that our lives are not problems to be solved, but gifts to be experienced.

Joy invites us back into relationship with ourselves.

You are the steward of your joy

Joy is not something the outside world can reliably deliver.

Other people can celebrate with us. A beautiful place can awaken something in us. Music, movement, food, and connection can help us remember. But lasting joy is not something we receive only after the world gives us permission.

Joy is owned and allowed internally.

We have to become stewards of our own joy.

After more than 20 years of marriage, my husband will sometimes remark that my joy has rubbed off on him. I love that he feels more joy in my presence, but the truth is, my joy did not become his.

He allowed himself to tap into the joy that was already inside him.

I am not responsible for anyone else’s joy. I cannot create it for them, manage it for them, or force them to feel it. What I can do is become an advocate for joy. I can create an invitation. I can remind people that they deserve to feel good.

And I can remind myself:

I deserve to feel good.

That sentence may sound simple, but for many of us, it is a radical declaration.

Joy may be human, but permission is learned

One of the women I am excited who is going to be attending the REAL JOY Retreat Experience we are hosting October 13-18th in Mexico, was raised in an Eastern European country. She shared that the concept of joy felt foreign within the culture in which she grew up.

She had been taught to push her emotions aside. Joy was not something people talked about, practiced, or intentionally cultivated.

Her story reminded me that while joy is inherently human, our permission to express it is shaped by our families, cultures, religions, and communities.

Some of us were taught to be quiet.

To be useful.

To be careful.

To work hard and prepare for what could go wrong.

We may have learned that visible joy attracts judgment. That pleasure must be earned. That play is childish. That rest is lazy. That being expressive is embarrassing or inappropriate.

But joy does not disappear simply because it was excluded from the conversation.

It remains within us, waiting and desiring to be acknowledged.

You can learn to allow more joy to flow through you and toward you. You can create new patterns. You can practice receiving what feels good without immediately questioning, minimizing, or apologizing for it.

But first, you have to give yourself permission to open.

Joy is already there, just as your life force is there.

Let it flow.

A practical guide to growing your joy

Joy becomes stronger when it becomes a priority, a practice, and an intention. You do not have to overhaul your life. Begin with small moments of attention and permission.

1. Joy starts with one intentional breath

Take a deep breath, not because you are trying to fix yourself, but because it feels good to breathe.

Allow your lungs to fill completely. Let your shoulders soften. Exhale slowly.

You can also invite the people around you to join you. One shared breath can interrupt the momentum of stress and return everyone to the present moment.

Sometimes joy begins with enough spaciousness to remember that we are alive.

2. Ask what gives you joy

Talk openly about what brings you joy.

Ask yourself:

What makes me feel more alive?

Do not judge your answers. Joy does not need to be impressive, productive, sophisticated, or understood by anyone else.

Perhaps your joy is dancing in the kitchen, singing too loudly in the car, swimming, gardening, wearing bright colors, watching birds, telling ridiculous jokes, or lying in the grass.

What gives you joy matters because it is yours.

3. Joy expands when you enjoy being in your body

Many of us have been taught to experience our bodies through judgment. We evaluate how they look, compare them with other bodies, and carry the burden of external expectations.

What if, for a moment, you surrendered those pressures and simply enjoyed being in your body?

Feel your feet touching the ground. Stretch out your legs. Roll your shoulders. Open your arms. Notice the air on your skin. Let yourself move in a way that feels good.

Your body is not merely something to be observed. It is how you experience the gift of being alive.

4. Practice joy without embarrassment

Visible joy can feel vulnerable.

You may worry that people will think you are too loud, too playful, too emotional, or simply too much. You may have experienced judgment when you allowed your joy to show.

If someone points at your joy critically, remind yourself:

I will not let anyone rob me of my joy, because they did not give it to me.

Their discomfort does not determine what you are allowed to feel.

Your joy belongs to you.

5. Notice joy before waiting for happiness

We often imagine happiness as a future destination: when the work is finished, when our bodies change, when the relationship arrives, when the children are settled, or when the world becomes less uncertain.

Joy is available in smaller increments.

Look for the moment that feels lighter. The first sip of something delicious. A familiar song. A warm shower. A kind exchange. A belly laugh. The quiet relief of taking off uncomfortable shoes.

These moments are not insignificant. Noticing them teaches your mind and body to recognize joy while it is happening.

6. Become an invitation of joy

You do not have to be responsible for other people’s joy to advocate for it.

Remind someone that they deserve to feel good. Celebrate what lights them up. Invite them to breathe, dance, rest, laugh, or play with you.

Let your life communicate that joy is welcome here.

You are not giving others your joy. You are helping create the permission for them to discover their own.

Put joy back in the driver’s seat

Joy is a daily practice.

Joy is alignment.

Joy is a choice, not because we can choose every circumstance or emotion, but because we can choose to remain available to what is life-giving.

Joy is worth it.

This is the intention behind the REAL JOY Retreat Experience in Mexico: a powerful, playful invitation to put joy back in the driver’s seat of your life. To learn more visit www.RealJoyRetreats.com. Fill out the inquiry form to learn more.

The retreat experience is an opportunity to step away from the noise and external pressures long enough to hear yourself again. To reconnect with your body. To breathe deeply, move freely, play openly, and remember what it feels like to be fully alive.

Joy can encourage alignment with your higher self. It can energize your life, clarify your truth, and help you experience more fun and freedom within the gift of your existence.

But you have to open yourself.

Really…Just Open Yourself.

Open your arms.

Stretch out your legs.

Expand your lungs with a deep, full breath.

Open yourself to a new possibility, not because you know where it will lead, but because opening feels good.

Your joy is not frivolous. It is not selfish. It is not something you have to earn.

It is your life force asking to move.

Let it flow.

Enjoy In Joy….

Susan Leahy-Patrick

If you feel ready to reconnect with your joy in a playful, intentional, and deeply embodied way, consider this your invitation to join us for the REAL JOY Retreat Experience in Mexico. Come as you are, and come willing to open. Visit www.RealJoyRetreats.com today!

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AI scares many people…and rightfully so.

It is advancing faster than most of us can comprehend. It will take jobs, disrupt industries, and reorder our livelihoods. It raises serious questions about power, inequality, identity, and what happens to people when the work they depend on disappears.

I am not pretending to have answers to all of those questions.

I am also not offering what follows as the truth. It is simply a perspective that leaves me feeling surprisingly uplifted and excited about the future.

I invite you to Just Open Yourself to it.

JOY.

We Have Been Human Doings for a Very Long Time

For centuries, societies have relied on human beings to perform exhausting, repetitive, and sometimes brutal labor.

We used people as equipment to build everything from pyramids to skyscrapers. A person could spend an entire life dragging stones to construct a monument for a king or emperor they would never meet. Women would clean tirelessly for hours washing, cooking, cleaning repeat. A life of labor and and out of the home.

Much of civilization was built through slavery, coercion, withheld freedom, poverty, and cheap labor. Even today, countless people exchange most of their waking hours for enough money to survive.

Human beings have always had to do.

Dig. Carry. Build. Paint. Clean. Harvest. Repair. Repeat.

The work was necessary, but someone had to sacrifice their time, bodies, and often their dreams to do it.

What if, for the first time in history, technology could allow us to begin putting down some of those proverbial stones?

Robotics and AI may will perform much of the physically demanding, repetitive, and necessary work that has consumed human lives for generations. The work could still get done, but a person will no longer have to surrender their one precious life to doing it.

That possibility is disruptive. It is also extraordinary.

What Will We Do If We Don’t Have to Work?

As AI advances, one anxious question echoes everywhere:

What are we going to do when AI takes our jobs?

The question makes perfect sense. Our work is connected to our income, stability, status, identity, and sense of worth. Losing a job can be genuinely frightening, particularly in a society that has not yet created reliable ways for people to live without one.

But perhaps there is another reason the question feels so disorienting.

We have been human beings doing for so long that we may have forgotten how to simply be.

If productivity is no longer required from us in the same way, who are we? If our value is not measured by how much we produce, what makes us worthy? If we suddenly have more space in our lives, how will we fill it?

These are not small questions.

Yet hidden inside them may be an opportunity no previous generation has been offered: the opportunity to experience life without spending nearly all of it trying to earn the right to remain alive.

What If the Empty Space Is Not Empty?

People frequently complain about work while longing for more time.

More time with their children.
More time with their partners.
More time to create, rest, travel, learn, dance, play, heal, and dream.
More time to discover who they are when no one is demanding anything from them.

We have pushed pleasure, joy, love, and playfulness out of our crowded schedules. We treat them as rewards to be enjoyed only after the “important” work is finished.

But the important work is never finished.

What if AI helps create time we have been asking for?

The empty spaces left behind by work do not have to become meaningless. They could be filled with friendship, curiosity, creativity, community, contribution, and care.

They could give us more time to know ourselves.

More time to connect with our energy and life force.

More time to explore the possibility that our worth has never been determined by what we do, but by who and how we choose to be.

Time Does Not Equal Money

In my coaching and training programs, I ask people to complete this equation:

TIME = ?

Inevitably, someone answers:

TIME = MONEY

For much of our lives, that has felt true. We sell our time for money because we need money to live.

But there is a larger truth:

TIME = LIFE

Our time is not merely a resource. It is our existence.

Every hour we give away is an hour of life we will never receive again. So what if we could become excited, not only frightened, by the possibility that technology might eventually give some of that time back?

Time for what?

Time for life.

Of course, having more time will not automatically create joy. We still have to build social and economic systems that allow people to share in technology’s abundance. If AI performs the work while only a small number of people receive the benefits, then technology will not liberate humanity, it will deepen our divisions.

The transition will matter. How we distribute resources will matter. Human dignity will matter.

Still, before we can build a better future, perhaps we must allow ourselves to imagine one.

Joy May Be Our Most Human Gift

AI can calculate, organize, generate, optimize, and imitate. It can help us accomplish astonishing things.

But AI cannot stand at the edge of the ocean and feel wonder move through its body. It cannot hold someone it loves and feel time disappear. It cannot laugh until its stomach hurts, dance because the music is irresistible, or feel sunlight on its face and suddenly become grateful to be alive.

AI can describe joy.

Human beings can experience it.

That is our gift.

Maybe our future value will not come from competing with machines at what machines do well. Maybe it will come from becoming more deeply human.

To engage with life from a place of joy is not frivolous. It is powerful. Joy opens us. It connects us. It makes us creative, generous, resilient, and alive.

Perhaps joy is not merely a bonus we receive after completing the work.

Perhaps joy is the point of it all.

Just Open Yourself

I can imagine someone reading this with cynical eyes.

You may already be listing everything that could go wrong. Those concerns are real, and we should not ignore them. We need honest conversations about displaced workers, concentrated wealth, responsible development, education, and how people will meet their needs.

But fear does not have to be the only lens through which we view the future.

Just open yourself to another possibility.

What if technology is offering humanity something no previous generation has experienced on this scale?

What if we are being offered time?

What if putting down the heavy stones allows us to pick up the neglected parts of ourselves?

What if we are entering an age in which pleasure, love, play, connection, and enjoyment are no longer squeezed into the margins of life?

I do not know exactly how the future will unfold. None of us do.

I only know that this perspective feels empowering to me, and I believe empowering perspectives deserve a place beside our fears.

So, as the world changes, I invite you to remember:

TIME = LIFE.

And perhaps our task now is not simply to ask what we will do with the time technology gives us.

Perhaps it is to discover who we can finally become when we have the space to be.

Joy is not just a bonus. Joy is the goal.

Enjoy your life.

In-Joy.

Susan Patrick

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Because man, I do.

And what’s interesting is that so many of my girlfriends are saying the same thing.

It feels like we can see the finish line. We can see the light. We’re not exactly sure what’s waiting for us on the other side, or what this next chapter is going to look like, but we can feel that we’re on our way.

The problem is, I’m a GSD woman.

Get. Shit. Done.

Give me a problem and I’ll find a solution. Give me a challenge and I’ll make a plan. Give me something to fix and I’m in my element.

But what do you do when there’s actually nothing to do?

When pushing harder won’t make it happen faster?

When the only thing being asked of you is to wait, observe, trust and ride the wave, even when that wave feels painfully slow?

Honestly, it’s a little frustrating.

But I’m starting to wonder if that’s exactly the point.

Maybe this holding pattern isn’t really about waiting for the next thing to happen. Maybe it’s giving us the space to become the woman who’s ready for whatever is coming next.

And that has me asking some deeper questions.

Who am I meant to be in this next chapter?

If things have slowed down, what is the purpose of that?

What am I being asked to let go of?

What am I meant to learn?

And who am I becoming while I wait?

I don’t have all the answers yet. But I do know how incredibly grateful I am to have amazing women around me who are asking many of the same questions.

Women I can have the big, messy, honest conversations with. Women who remind me that I don’t have to have it all figured out. Women who can sit beside me in the unknown while we support each other through this strange, uncomfortable and, dare I say, possibly exciting in-between.

Maybe we’re not stuck at all.

Maybe we’re in the space between who we’ve been and who we’re about to become.

And maybe the holding pattern is part of the journey.

This Week’s Podcast - The Real Joy Retreat

And speaking of that strange space between who we’ve been and who we’re becoming, this week’s podcast could not be more perfectly timed.

Susie is back, and we ended up having a really honest conversation about what so many women we know seem to be experiencing right now.

We’ve been through A LOT.

Parents dying. Relationships changing. Businesses not working the way they used to. Financial stress. Kids growing up. Health challenges. Reinvention. And underneath all of it, this persistent question:

What’s next for me?

The funny thing is, the world doesn’t seem to know what’s next either.

So maybe the answer isn’t to figure everything out right now. Maybe it’s to get quiet enough to hear ourselves again.

And that is exactly why Susie and I created the Real Joy Retreat in Mexico this October.

This isn’t a conference-room retreat where you sit under fluorescent lights taking notes about how to transform your life.

We’re taking just 15 to 20 women into a beautiful, intimate corner of Mexico that most tourists never experience. We’ll swim by candlelight in a cenote, experience sound healing and a temazcal, stand on a virgin beach with nothing but nature around us, eat beautiful meals together, talk about women’s health and longevity, calm our nervous systems, have the big conversations and, most importantly, create the space to ask:

Who do I want to be now?

Not who does everyone else need me to be.

Not what should I be doing next.

But what do I want the next chapter of my life to feel like?

Maybe that’s what some of us need when we’re in a holding pattern. Not another strategy. Not more pushing. Not another bloody to-do list.

Space.

Space to exhale. Space to be nurtured for a change. Space to reconnect with ourselves. And the company of incredible women who are asking the same questions.

That’s what Real Joy is about.

If something in you is reading this and thinking, God, I need that, please listen to this week’s podcast. Susie and I share much more about what we’re creating and why this retreat feels so important right now.

And if it speaks to you, fill out the short inquiry form on the Real Joy website - realjoyretreats.com

We’re personally speaking with every woman who’s interested because we want to curate a group where everyone feels seen, heard, and completely at home.

Maybe your next chapter doesn’t need to be figured out.

Maybe you just need the space to hear what it’s been trying to tell you.

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I was in Sedona having dinner with a group of new friends. The food was wonderful, but it wasn’t what made the night unforgettable. It was the people. The conversations. The setting. A warm summer evening under an almost-full moon, surrounded by that unmistakable Sedona energy that seems to invite deeper conversations.

At one point, I found myself talking with a woman around my age, and we were laughing about how different this stage of life feels compared to what we imagined when we were younger.

Fifty and sixty no longer feel like the beginning of the end. They feel like the beginning of something extraordinary.

With everything we now know about health, hormones, supplements, peptides, longevity, and brain health, so many of us are healthier, more energetic, and more mentally sharp than generations before us. Add to that the wisdom that only comes from living, loving, succeeding, failing, starting over, and growing... and it’s hard not to feel excited about what’s still possible.

Most of the others around the table were much younger—in their thirties—and every one of them was building something that genuinely had the potential to make the world a little better. They weren’t chasing success for the sake of it. They were following a calling.

As the conversations unfolded, I noticed something fascinating.

Despite our different ages and backgrounds, every single person shared the same underlying philosophy. They had learned to notice the signs. To listen to the nudges. To trust the whispers—and sometimes the unmistakable shouts—from Source, God, the Universe, Divine Intelligence... whatever name feels right to you.

None of them had forced their path.

They had surrendered to it.

And then I noticed something else.

Every person around that table had a lightness about them. They were genuinely happy. They were glowing. There was an ease in the way they spoke about their lives because they weren’t waiting for some future destination before allowing themselves to feel joy.

They were living it now.

It reminded me of something I’ve been learning myself.

Maybe this season of life isn’t asking us to hustle harder, grip tighter, or force more outcomes.

Maybe it’s inviting us to loosen our grip.

To take our hands off the wheel just enough to trust that what’s truly meant for us is already making its way toward us.

To follow what lights us up.

To pay attention to the signs.

And to enjoy the ride instead of constantly worrying about the destination.

So let me ask you...

Are you still trying to control every turn in the road?

Or are you beginning to trust that life might know the way a little better than you do?

The Real Joy Retreat - Real Life, Real You, Real Joy

What if you gave yourself permission to listen?

One of the biggest takeaways from my evening in Sedona was this: every person who was truly thriving had stopped trying to force life and started trusting it. They were paying attention to the nudges, following what felt aligned, and allowing themselves the space to hear their own inner wisdom.

That’s exactly why we created the Real Joy Retreat.

This isn’t just a beautiful getaway (although you’ll be surrounded by breathtaking nature, incredible food, and wonderful women). It’s a chance to step away from the noise of everyday life so you can reconnect with yourself. To slow down enough to hear your own intuition again. To remember who you are beneath the responsibilities, the expectations, and the constant doing.

If you’ve been feeling like life is trying to tell you something, but you haven’t had the space to listen, this retreat is for you.

Come spend a few unforgettable days with us, surrounded by women who are also choosing joy, connection, and possibility over hustle and overwhelm. You don’t have to have it all figured out before you arrive. You simply have to be willing to say yes to yourself.

If this speaks to you, fill out our short interest form. We’ll personally connect with you to see if the Real Joy Retreat is the right fit for this next chapter of your life.

Come play with us!

This Week on the Podcast: Joyful Dreams

Have you ever woken up from a dream and wondered if it was trying to tell you something?

This week, I sat down with my dear friend, bestselling author and dream expert Kelly Sullivan Walden, for a fascinating conversation about how our dreams may be one of the most overlooked tools for finding more joy, clarity, and direction in our lives.

We explore why dreams aren’t just random stories our brain makes up while we sleep, but powerful messages that can help us move beyond fear, reconnect with our intuition, and even support the life we’re trying to create. Kelly also shares simple practices you can use before bed to influence the quality of your dreams and wake up feeling more inspired instead of emotionally exhausted.

If you’ve been looking for guidance, feeling stuck, or simply curious about what your subconscious has been trying to tell you, I think you’re going to love this conversation.

Sometimes the answers we’re searching for don’t arrive when we’re trying harder... they arrive when we’re finally quiet enough to listen.

For Our Paid Subscribers: Deeper Dreams, What They Mean

What if your dreams weren’t random at all... but one of the most powerful tools you have for creating a more joyful, aligned life?

In this week’s deeper conversation, Kelly Sullivan Walden and I move beyond why dreams matter and get into the practical side of how to work with them every single day. Kelly shares her simple step-by-step method for remembering, interpreting, and applying your dreams so they become a source of clarity, confidence, and personal transformation, not just interesting stories you forget by breakfast.

We also explore how your dreams can reveal the next version of yourself, help you move past fear and self-consciousness, and guide you toward the life you’re truly meant to live.

If you’re ready to stop dismissing your dreams and start using them as a roadmap for more joy, purpose, and possibility, this conversation alone is worth becoming a paid subscriber.

Come join us. Your subconscious may already know the way.

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Before I sit down to write these newsletters, I usually take a look at what women are searching for online that week. I want what I share with you to feel connected to the conversations women are already having and, perhaps even more importantly, to the questions they are quietly asking themselves.

This week, the searches caught my attention.

What am I doing with my life?

How do I start over at 55?

How do I reinvent myself?

Why do I suddenly want to quit everything?

At the same time, I’ve been doing a deep dive into something called Barbault’s Basket, a rare planetary configuration that many astrologers believe represents the beginning of a long period of rebuilding, reinvention, and the creation of entirely new ways of living.

Whether you believe in astrology or not, I find the timing fascinating.

Because I don’t think women in midlife are simply waking up one morning and deciding they want a completely different life.

I think we’re waking up and realizing that the life that once fit us no longer does.

The roles we played, the relationships we accepted, the dreams we postponed, the responsibilities we carried, and even the version of ourselves we worked so hard to become may no longer feel like who we are now.

And strangely enough, I’m not finding that realization frightening.

At 57, and single again, I don’t feel alone. I’m not sitting here worrying that I’ll never find love again.

I feel free.

I feel independent.

I feel as though I’m rebuilding my life from the ground up, but this time, without all the old restrictions, expectations, and rules about who I’m supposed to be.

I’m stepping outside my comfort zone and, delightfully, discovering that I rather like it out here.

I’m becoming far more discerning about who I spend my time with and where I place my energy. I’m learning to choose people, experiences, and opportunities from a place of genuine desire rather than habit, obligation, or fear.

And I’m spending real, quality time with myself, not just being alone, but reconnecting with that deeper, quieter part of me that may have been drowned out by years of doing, achieving, supporting, solving, and taking care of everyone else.

I hardly have the words to describe how good I feel at this stage of my life.

Not because everything is perfectly figured out.

But because, for the first time in a long time, I feel completely open to what comes next.

And that is part of the reason Susan and I have decided to create a retreat experience for women who are moving through their own version of this transition.

Women who may be grieving an old life, questioning what comes next, rebuilding after a difficult season, or simply feeling the pull toward something more honest, more joyful, and more aligned.

Because perhaps we’re not falling apart.

Perhaps we’re finally becoming free enough to create what comes next.

The Real Joy Retreat - Real Life, Real You, Real Joy

If you’ve been reading this newsletter and quietly thinking, “This is exactly where I am right now,” then perhaps it’s time to do something different. Susan and I created the Real Joy Retreat for women who know they’re standing at the beginning of a new chapter but don’t want to navigate it alone.

This isn’t just a luxury getaway; it’s an opportunity to step away from the noise of everyday life, reconnect with yourself, calm your nervous system, build meaningful friendships, and rediscover the joy that’s been waiting underneath it all. Because spaces are intentionally limited to just 20 women, we want to make sure it’s the right experience for everyone who joins us.

If this speaks to your heart, simply complete the short reservation form, and one of us will personally reach out to chat with you. Together, we’ll explore whether this retreat is the right next step for your journey. Your next chapter deserves more than another promise to yourself; it deserves a place to begin. Learn more and reserve your spot at Real Joy Retreat.

This Week on the Podcast: A Joy Message from The Council

This week on the podcast, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with my dear friend, Christy Whitman, for a conversation that couldn’t have come at a better time.

We talk about why so many of us feel stuck when life gets hard and why trying to leap straight from fear and overwhelm into gratitude often just doesn’t work. Instead, we explore the importance of first calming your nervous system, finding a place of neutrality, and taking small, gentle steps toward feeling better.

Along the way, we share practical tools, personal stories, and a refreshing perspective on manifestation that begins with joy, not struggle. If you’ve been feeling emotionally exhausted, navigating a major life transition, or wondering how to move forward without forcing it, I think this conversation will leave you feeling lighter, calmer, and full of hope.

For Our Paid Subscribers: Channeled Joy

Christy opens herself up to channel a live message from The Council a collective of higher consciousness that offers a beautiful perspective on navigating life’s challenges, reconnecting with joy, and remembering the incredible power you already have within you.

Their message about why joy is always available, even in the middle of life’s hardest seasons, honestly gave me goosebumps. We also talk about overcoming adversity, strengthening your faith through life’s toughest moments, and why everything you’ve survived has been preparing you for this next chapter.

If you’ve been feeling like life has been testing you lately, I have a feeling this conversation will land exactly when you need it. It’s one of those episodes you’ll want to come back to again and again. Upgrade today and join us for this deeply inspiring conversation.

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This weekend I experienced something that stayed with me long after I walked out the door.

It was an art installation in Los Angeles called the Hospital of Emotions. An old hospital had been transformed into an immersive experience where more than 70 artists were each given their own hospital room and invited to explore a single emotion through their work.

As I wandered from room to room, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster.

Of course, I was naturally drawn to the rooms exploring joy, gratitude, love, compassion, and hope. They felt expansive. Familiar. Like coming home.

But it was the rooms dedicated to fear, anger, sadness, and jealousy that surprised me the most.

Some were confronting. Some were heartbreaking. Some made me stop in my tracks.

It reminded me of something I think we often forget.

We tend to label emotions as either “good” or “bad.” We chase the ones that feel comfortable and try to avoid the ones that don’t. But every emotion exists for a reason.

Fear can protect us.

Anger can show us where our boundaries have been crossed or motivate us to make a change.

Sadness helps us process loss and reminds us how deeply we’ve loved.

None of these emotions is the enemy.

The challenge isn’t feeling them.

The challenge is believing we have to live there.

One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is permission to feel whatever is true in the moment without judgment. To cry when we need to cry. To be angry when something matters. To acknowledge fear without pretending we’re fearless.

And then, when we’re ready, to gently choose our next emotion.

Not because we’re denying what happened.

But because we remember that no emotion was ever meant to become our permanent address.

Lately, I’ve become even more aware of this in my own life. After everything that’s happened over the past year, I could easily have stayed in grief, stress, or uncertainty. Those emotions were real, and they deserved to be felt.

But they don’t get to decide the rest of my story.

Joy isn’t about never feeling the hard emotions.

Joy is knowing that after you’ve felt them fully, you can still choose hope.

You can still choose gratitude. You can still choose wonder.

So this week, give yourself permission to feel all the feels.

Just don’t forget that you also have permission to keep moving toward joy.

This Week on the Podcast: Tapping into Joy Anytime

What If the Unknown Wasn’t Something to Fear?

If you’ve been feeling like the world is changing faster than you can keep up, this conversation is for you.

This week, I’m joined by the incredible Jennifer Hough for one of those conversations that completely shifts the way you look at life. We explore why so many of us feel caught in uncertainty right now, and why the answer isn’t to control what’s happening but to change the way we relate to it.

Jennifer shares a beautiful idea that has stayed with me ever since we recorded: What if your love affair with the mystery became greater than your need for certainty?

We also dive into why joy is a choice, how to stop getting pulled into the chaos around us, why creating space for stillness is more important than ever, and how taking even one small step forward opens the door to possibilities you can’t yet see.

It’s one of those episodes that doesn’t just give you something to think about—it gives you a whole new way of seeing what’s possible.

I can’t wait for you to listen.

For Our Paid Subscribers: The Daily Practice That’s Changing Everything

The free podcast was full of paradigm shifts.

But in our deeper conversation, Jennifer takes us from understanding these ideas to actually living them.

She shares the simple daily exercise she’s been using, which she says has transformed her relationships, expanded her sense of abundance, and completely changed the way she navigates life’s challenges. It’s unlike anything I’ve heard before.

Then she walks me through the exercise live.

Together, we explore what it feels like to step into the future version of yourself, the woman who has already moved through today’s challenges and is thriving because of them. Not by focusing on what she owns or achieves, but by discovering how she thinks, how she moves through the world, how she shops for groceries, drives her car, chooses her clothes, wakes up in the morning, and experiences joy in the ordinary moments.

It was one of those conversations where I found myself thinking, “Why am I waiting until my life changes before I start living like that version of me?”

If you’ve been feeling stuck between where you are and where you know you’re meant to be, this episode will give you a practical way to begin bridging that gap starting today.

Become a paid subscriber to unlock this episode, along with our entire library of deeper conversations, practical tools, and exclusive content designed to help you reconnect with more joy, purpose, and possibility every week.