It’s also the month of back-to-school. However long it's been since I last heard the schoolyard bell, I can still feel the angst and excitement of that first day back. I bet you can, too.

So for your Joy Finders challenges this month, and in honor of this time of year, we’re inviting you to return to a beginner’s mindset — to be a student of life again.

Whether you take on the Tend or Explore challenge this month, the goal is to try something new. Your job isn’t mastery. It’s to have Bambi legs, to wobble if you need to, as long as you take a first step.

And if you're new here:

And speaking of Bambi legs…

September’s New Moves challenge is all about finding a new way — or a very old, forgotten way — to move your body. It’s not about counting steps, tracking your heart rate, or getting fit.

It’s about finding a movement-based way to reconnect with joy.

To prepare for this challenge, I actually took myself roller skating. I’ll be sharing more about that soon, so stay tuned. But you can choose any form of movement you like.

A dance class, a skateboard, a new machine at the gym. Anything goes, as long as it gets you moving in a novel way.

Bonus points for sending us a photo or video and a description of how it went! (Submission form at the bottom).

We can’t wait to hear how you moved your booty in September.

Or you could try moving your money.

I know this one might not sound as fun. But neither was cleaning out your fridge. And yet you all messaged me that it was one of your all-time favorite challenges.

So here we go again, trying something outside of our comfort zones.

For Small Change, the challenge is simple: make one small money move your future self will thank you for.

We’re not asking you to overhaul your finances. The goal is to make one small change that will keep working for you after you’ve done it. You could try:

• Increasing your recurring retirement contribution by a teeny, tiny amount

• Moving your savings to a high-yield account for a greater interest return

• Setting up a small automatic transfer to savings—even $5 counts

• Canceling one subscription you don’t use

• Reading a book about personal finance (my favorite is The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel)

Seriously. it can be as simple as emailing your ex-husband with a bank-related question you’ve been avoiding for six years. (Oops, is that just me? 👀) You don’t have to transform your financial life this month.

You just have to move it an inch.

So now it’s time to choose: New Moves, or Small Change.

Not a member yet? Join us and we’ll get your first badge in the mail:

Subscribe now

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What a month. Beverage Bingo brought out the sippers, the sharers, and the “I tried a drink I’d never normally order” crowd, and we loved watching your boards fill up.

🍹 Beverage Bingo Is Wrapping Up

If you completed your board (or came close and want to celebrate anyway), now’s the time to claim your sticker badge. Please submit before September 7th so we can get your sticker on its way to you.

Haven’t finished yet? No pressure. you still have time to get one BINGO. Just make sure your claim is in by the deadline above.

📅 Next Troop Meeting: September 12th, 5pm PST

Please note the date shift this month. We’ve moved our usual meeting to September 12th at 5pm PST to work around the Labor Day weekend. Same joyful gathering, just a slightly later slot. Save it to your calendar so you don’t miss it.

📝 Tell Us About Your August

Beverage Bingo, The Gift or Sick Day? We want to hear all about them. Share your reflections on the challenge here.

Every response helps us shape what’s next, and we genuinely love reading them.

Thank you for another month of showing up, trying new things, and finding joy in the small stuff. Get ready for September: your new challenges drop tomorrow and we are so excited to see what you choose next.

With so much joy,

That’s how her story started, when I asked how this happened.

They were not, in fact, stitches that never dissolved.

The item protruding from her groin — for five years, with no medical oversight or treatment — was gynecological polypropylene mesh. It had migrated from where doctors had placed it during her 2019 hysterectomy. She’d been keeping it clean on her own, making sure it wasn’t getting infected, all that time.

“Why didn’t you tell your doctor?” I asked, frustrated and incredulous.

“I was embarrassed and felt stupid. And I never looked at it.”

She paused before adding: “You don’t look there.”

The she in this story is my mother, who required a second surgery to remove the mesh. From the woman too afraid to tell even her own doctor, I imagine it took all her courage to tell me.

And so, while she was the inspiration for the Joy Finders’ Vag Badge, I didn’t tell you so. I thought she would die from embarrassment. Yet when I approached her for this newsletter and asked if I could publish it — for 10,000 readers, with her name in it — she gave me an uncomplicated yes.

“If I can help someone, you have my permission. Go for it.”

And go for it we did.

Here’s how you earned your badges:

Kathleen hadn’t seen a gynecologist since her doctor of over twenty years retired — until a friend admitted she’d been quietly waiting for Kathleen to go first.

”A moment of sisterhood solidarity, women supporting women.”

Maggie booked her first full physical in over a decade.

”It was time for a top to bottom check of things.”

Michelle, newly in menopause, finally got the bloodwork and exam she’d been putting off and is now two weeks into HRT.

”Let’s just say me and my vag are purring like a brand new kitten.”

But it wasn’t all gynecological mesh and paper gowns. Some of you had a very good time with this one.

Cally cleared out her entire underwear drawer, bras included, then rewarded herself with a new toy.

”My overall impression of this month is satisfied — very, very satisfied.”

And Cally was not the only one! Some of you sent us updates too racy to include, and others asked to keep your stories private.

Whether Vag Badge felt like an indulgence or a chore, we’re proud of you for prioritizing yourself and centering your body.

The Other Half badge turned that same care outward

Our second July challenge was to send a care package to a friend, paired with a friendship badge split into two halves — one to keep, one to give to your other half.

Julie spent the month quietly collecting the small things her best friend wanted but wouldn’t buy for herself. She tucked each into a Walgreens bag, so it stayed a surprise until later.

Virginia sent her other half a koi fish necklace tied to a shared memory of grounding themselves between work events, plus a sticker with a message worth pinning somewhere:

”Take a deep breath and remember who the hell you are.”

I wish I could have said those words to my mom, in fact. But somehow, she did remember who the hell she was, just in time to ask for help.

I thought surely she would want a Vag Badge to honor her courage.

But no.

“I want to do Other Half, so I can send one to my sister!” she told her once-again incredulous daughter.

What can I say?

Friendship is magical. Sisterhood is sacred. Community is essential.

All of this is what makes Joy Finders so much more than a badge club.

It’s a Sisterhood of the Traveling Panties.

It’s a ripple effect in real time.

It’s one woman passing the baton to another.

And it’s my honor to celebrate you for doing it.

Stay tuned for two new badges, both dropping on September 1st. Make sure you’re a member so you can grab the baton.

Subscribe now

With so much joy,

P.S. We love reading your reflections from your challenges — we couldn’t write this edition without you! — so please tell us how you’re getting on with your August challenges here. I can’t wait to read them.

P.P.S. Beverage Bingo is still going strong, and there’s plenty of time to earn your bonus badge. It’s free to everyone—complete the challenge and we’ll send you a real, physical sticker badge. No strings attached. Just a lot of joy.

Download your Bingo Board here and get sipping.

I don’t know when it started. Maybe when I heard a podcast about expert brand building. Or when I watched the woman who made “7.9 million in six weeks” offer to show me how to do it, too.

I can’t say for sure. I just know I’ve been hearing a little voice lately, coming from the back of my mind.

“Joy Finders would be better off with a business pro at the helm.”

“Someone else would know how to do this better than you.”

You see, I’m a single, divorced therapist who washed up on the shores of 43 with no husband, no kids, no long-dreamt-of published book, and certainly no marketing experience.

Before Joy Finders, I didn’t know anything about sales funnels, retention, or CAC-to-LTV. (Just be glad you don’t know what that means…). I only knew the intermittent, aching feeling that I had somehow reached midlife with none of my childhood dreams realized.

It was getting so painful, I started an Instagram account to shout into the void.

It was getting so lonely, I joked about starting an adult scouting troop.

And then something crazy happened. You all formed a line around the block, asking to join.

If I were more settled in my life — planning family holidays or taking someone’s laundry to the drycleaners — I would have dismissed the moment as a funny fluke that I didn’t have time to take seriously.

But I’m not busy with drycleaning, which leaves a lot of time to sit here and write to you about all of this. And plan your badges. And make sure your stickers go on straight, so you know your letter was packaged with care.

It’s true that I may not have the business skills of a Steve Jobs or Sara Blakely.

I don’t know if that matters. In my darkest moments, I’m sure it does.

But they aren’t my heroes anyway.

Walt Disney and Mr. Rogers are. They built things from imagination, kindness, and an almost unreasonable belief that delight matters.

Those are the values that push me to make Joy Finders better for you every day.

They’re why I pull all-nighters getting your badges ready for you. And why I bite my tongue every time I tell someone about us and they smirk about our “little badge club for women.”

But the truth is, when the self-doubt creeps in, I don’t actually think about Walt or Fred.

I think about you.

When you send me: “I only finished half my challenge this month. Does that count?”

And: “I changed the rules to fit my needs. Do I still get a badge?”

What I hear is: “I don’t know if I fit the criteria. Can I still belong?”

And the answer is always, always yes. When you do Edible Canvas with apples instead of dough. When you paint flowers instead of picking them. When you try taking your Sick Day but end up getting called into work.

It all counts.

Your efforts matter, because you matter.

And when I tell you that your efforts are good enough, I’m reminded that mine are, too.

So I’m not shouting into the void anymore. The calls I put out are met by your resounding chorus, reminding me that this work matters, even when the doubt creeps in.

I like to say Joy Finders is “a place for being and becoming.”

We’re all doing a lot of that around here. Thank you for letting me be and become with you.

Now then, let’s get out there and find some joy.

Your leader,

P.S. Beverage Bingo is still going strong, and there’s plenty of time to earn your bonus badge. It’s free to everyone—complete the challenge and we’ll send you a real, physical sticker badge. No strings attached. Just a lot of joy.

Download your Bingo Board here and get sipping.

P.P.S. And who am I kidding? Sara Blakely is a HUGE hero of mine, and a champion for women in business. Please don’t forward her this email.

We’ve got some fun news, a request, and one last reminder for you. Let’s get into it.

First, the fun news. Our free Beverage Bingo game launched today!

We provide the Bingo Board, you provide the drinks. And if you get even one BINGO, we’ll send you a water bottle sticker-badge for your achievement in the beverage arts.

This challenge is open to anyone who wants to join in on the end-of-summer fun. And yes, we’ll mail you a real badge for completing it. Click the link above for more info.

Second, we want to hear from you.

Our troop meeting this weekend had big laughs, real tears, new faces, and a whole lot of you showing up as yourselves. It’s exactly what we hoped for when we started this thing.

And it made us realize: we miss your stories.

Now that you don’t have to formally claim your badge at the end of each month, we’re not hearing as much about what happened when you actually did the thing.

So tell us.

What did last month’s badge teach you? What surprised you? What made you proud?

Drop your reflection HERE, and stay tuned next week when we recap what you’ve shared in the “We Found Joy” newsletter.

And finally, one last reminder.

Today is the final day to pick your path for this month’s challenge. If you haven’t chosen between The Gift and Sick Day yet, head over and do that HERE today.

As always, so glad you’re here.

With so much joy,

If you’re thinking it hasn’t been a month since the last one, you’re not wrong — we’ve moved Troop Meetings earlier in the month, for a couple of reasons:

• First, we want to celebrate you earning your badges as soon as possible after they arrive.

• Second, we want to talk through this month’s challenges before you have to pick your path by the 10th.

Save the Date
Here are the tentative Troop Meeting dates for the rest of the year. We’ll keep these at 5pm PST for now, but as our international numbers grow, we’ll start adding times that work better for Europe.

• September 5th

• October 3rd

• November 7th

• December 6th — Holiday Party anyone? 👀

This Month’s Meeting

📅 When:
US & Canada — Saturday, August 8th, 5:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM Eastern
Australia — Sunday, August 9th, 10:00 AM AEST (Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne)

If you can make it, you will be the first to hear about our very first:

Read more

I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece from you. You were going to eat it, after all.

But I was expecting a masterpiece from me. You see, it’s my job to oversee the badge design process. And I want every badge you earn to be a work of art you keep forever.

Did I think we'd nail it on the first try? No. But did I think it would become a comedy of errors where the saxophones kept getting louder? Certainly not.

Perhaps I should have had an inkling when we found ourselves without a designer three days before art was due at the factory.

But alas, dear reader, I did not one inkling have.

And this was because we quickly found an amazing new designer and I thought: “What could go wrong now?” And when he sent over a wonderful design — the Mona Lisa! With olives for eyes! — I was even more reassured.

Did it have too much detail for the factory to accurately embroider?

• Indeed it did

Were we using new shapes we’d never tested with the vendor?

• That would be correct

Was there only one person who knew these things and should have communicated them?

• (Who, me? 👀 )

And that was before the factory started making their own errors with each round of revisions…

So many errors, in fact, that “who me 👀” completely neglected to notice that the border color is RED — a color we don’t use. A color I find awkward and glaring against our earthy palette. A color that stared back at me ominously through each revision, yet somehow escaped my notice…

How did I miss this? I think I got overly focused on fixing her clown face.

Whoopsie daisy.

When you see the badge in your mailbox, I know you might have as many questions about her as people have had about the actual Mona Lisa.

Her alien eyes. Her blood-red lips. And a hand that looks more “manual laborer” than “Renaissance icon.”

This is my attempt at answering the explicable, while leaving the unexplainable alone.

So shhhhh… no more questions. Just stand and stare, like they do at the Louvre.

We have come to love her, and we think you will too... see here!

With so much joy,

She told me she was mad at me.

“I want to talk to you about something,” Lisa started, after a long and slightly stilted Chinese dinner, as we cracked open our folded cookies. “And it’s because I want us to be closer.”

I realized my fortune was an uncomfortable conversation, and I felt scared. I’d sensed something was off but figured we’d do what we’d been doing for 25 years — ignore it.

“I feel like an afterthought a lot of the time.”

I’d known she felt this way, but we had never spoken about it so directly. And as frightened as I was to hear what she had to say, I was also relieved to finally air it out.

“Go on,” I said.

We talked for a long time that night, and into the next week. We both shared things that felt painful to say. And we both owned things that did, in fact, bring us closer. Ultimately, we came out of it with the sense that it was safe to get angry and to say so.

Lisa may not have known it, but by telling me she was angry with me, she gave me a huge gift. The gift of her true self. And her trust that I would handle it gently.

This opened up a whole new world between us. And this month, you’re invited to do the same.

Perhaps you learned growing up that expressing anger was at best rude and at worst, dangerous. I did, too. It wasn’t until I became a therapist that someone taught me that:

1. Anger is often sitting on top of something more vulnerable, like hurt. And…

2. When you share it respectfully with someone — especially when paired with the vulnerable part — it’s the opposite of harmful. It’s an invitation to real intimacy.

So to earn this badge in August, express your feelings to someone who’s hurt you. Choose someone who’s a decent listener, or at least willing to muck through something hard with you.

Lisa has given us a wonderful example of how to set this conversation up for success. You can try saying:

“I need to talk to you about something I’ve been feeling. It’s because I want us to be closer.”

And did you notice I put this challenge in the Share category? Because being of service is not just about volunteering or donating. It’s about sharing your heart, even when it’s a little bit on fire.

I recently posted a reel explaining my favorite coping strategy for impossible life moments. I call them Sick Days.

(You can watch that here, if you like).

I explain that Sick Days are not for when you’re sick, but for when you need relief from your responsibilities and permission to be undone. But soon after posting the video, I learned I didn’t need to explain.

As my comment section revealed, you all have your own names for this method.

Jami Days. Sloth Days. Bare Minimum Days. Permission to Feel Days.

The goal is to treat the full day like you deserve the utmost of care. And to frame your ability to slow down or turn off not as a failure, but as a skill.

So put on your favorite movie. Microwave a quesadilla, or order Door Dash. When you feel tempted to do something not-absolutely-necessary, say to yourself: “Today is a sick day. That can wait until tomorrow.”

And if it helps, remember: I’ll be sending you a badge for daring to take care of yourself.

So now it’s time to choose: The Gift, or Sick Day.

Tell us which challenge you’ve chosen in the form below by August 10th so we can send you your badge:

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The Vag Badge

Yes, that’s its real name. Yes, we considered softening it. No, we’re not going to.

Because here’s what I’ve learned after years of sitting with women.

We’ve been trained to whisper about this. We’ll say “down there” and “lady problems” while pointing vaguely at our midsections, as if our anatomy is a rumor we’re not allowed to confirm.

So this month, we’re naming it — hello, Vag Badge.

The challenge was simple: Do one thing to care for your reproductive, pelvic or sexual health. You choose the step. The badge celebrates you taking it.

And here’s why it’s more than a cheeky name.

Women were not required to be included in US clinical research trials until 1993. Nineteen ninety-three. That’s the year the Spice Girls formed. But medicine was still studying men and assuming the results applied to anyone with a pulse.

(So perhaps the anthem should have gone: “If you wannabe be my doctor…” Unfortunately, Evidence-Based Spice hadn’t joined the group yet.)

The consequences of that are not historical trivia. They’re in exam rooms right now.

We wait years for the endo diagnosis while we’re told stabbing periods are just part of the deal. Study after study shows our pain is more likely to be labelled emotional, more likely to be undertreated, more likely to be met with “have you tried losing weight?”

The result? We silence ourselves. We stop asking questions, or demanding answers.

We stop using our voices.

It’s time to change that — to channel a bit more Scary and a little less Posh. To say the actual words — vulva, vagina, cervix, clitoris — out loud to a medical professional.

Which brings me to the time I had to google “what is the butthole actually called...?” while preparing to speak with an advice nurse. I didn’t get a badge for that, but I should have.

And so should you.

So when your Vag Badge lands in your mailbox, I hope you’ll wear it with exactly the energy the name deserves.

Because your health was never a “down there” issue.

It’s an everywhere issue.

And you are worth the appointment.

With so much joy,

P.S. It’s called an anus 👀

The July Vag Badge Challenge is now closed, but we will be running it again soon! To earn this badge next time, join the Vag Badge waitlist.

Short and sweet reminder that our Troop meeting is later today (5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern, and Sunday 10 am AEST)

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This Saturday we’re having our second troop meeting.

Last time we had so much fun meeting you and getting to know each other, we can’t wait to do it again. We got lots of feedback that you wanted more time in the breakout rooms, so we will be doing that this time.

I will have some updates for you and some bigger picture ideas to share.

And don’t forget the prize draw. Anyone wearing their badge(s) will be entered to win. 🏅 So wear them proud! Prize may or may not include the other challenge badge that you didn’t select this month, only because we heard how many of you wanted BOTH!!!

Come exactly as you are. Pants are optional. Bring a beverage of your choosing and something that brings you joy. There are no participation trophies for looking put together.

📅 When:

US & Canada

Saturday, July 18
5:00 PM Pacific
8:00 PM Eastern

Australia

Sunday, July 19
10:00 AM AEST (Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne)

Here’s your link for the meeting:

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When I asked you to take on random acts of kindness and/or bake focaccia art in June, I had no idea it would leave me sobbing at my desk at 11pm, reading through your stories. I was touched by every single message you sent — all 96 pages of them.

And when I tell you I wish I could share them all, well… maybe someday I will.

But for now, it’s your monthly sample platter of the joy you found and the badges you earned, including a 7-hour pay-it-forward chain that I still can’t believe really happened.

So keep the stories coming! I love them so much.

Now let’s dive in, shall we?

Edible Canvas

For our members who took on the Edible Canvas Badge, the challenge was to turn a loaf of home-baked focaccia into a work of art. But the goal was really to turn you all into playful beginners with permission to get brave and weird.

And get weird you did!

Nina almost let perfectionism talk her out of this one. She did it anyway — focaccia in the oven, her girlfriend cooking beside her — and used the moment to celebrate Pride as a member of the LGBTQ+ family, too.

“I wanted it to be perfect and had to let that go... My best is always enough.”

Danica got dough that flat-out refused to rise and a design she calls “abominable.”

“It was a disaster, but in a good way? ... perfect perfect isn’t always the goal. Oh and I burned it 😬”

Shoshauna picked this challenge knowing full well that eating isn’t simple for her — between medication side-effects and ARFID, it’s something she works at every day.

“I did it though. Maybe not as extravagant as I planned, but I made edible art and ate it!”

Small badge. Enormous win.

Erin has wanted to make focaccia for years and never worked up the nerve. This month she just went for it. Twice!

“I LOVE FOCACCIA. My first try ended up a bit dense... so I tried again, and it got a bit better!”

Not a flawless debut. A start. Turns out that was the whole point.

The Ripple Effect

For members who took on Ripple Effect in June, the goal was random acts of kindness. And, well… these stories speak for themselves.

Jessica has spent the last few years carrying a loss most of us can only imagine — and she’s chosen to meet it by giving more, not less. In June, she took her niece to her first concert. She sent cards to grieving coworkers. She chased a hawk away from ducklings, just because she couldn’t help herself.

“I used to think grief would make me smaller. Instead, it’s made me softer... even the smallest acts of kindness can create a ripple effect far beyond what we can see.”

Lindsay paid the cheer fees for her sorority sister’s daughter. A small, private thing. Then a handwritten thank-you note arrived. She said:

“You would have thought I gave her the moon... Brought me so much joy.”

Sarah stopped using self-checkout for a whole month. Instead, every time she shopped, she asked the person ringing her up the same question — “Do you have a favorite animal?”

“Every single person lit up. Every. Single. One.”

Cally from Australia is a CFO, and June is her busiest month of the year. She wasn’t sure she’d manage the challenge at all — then a friend mentioned seventeen little jars from her floristry business that nobody wanted.

“That turned into 17 arrangements being dropped off to my grandmother’s nursing home, onto their dining tables.”

Busiest month of her year, and she still found a way to brighten so many lives.

And there were so many more ripples, all month long. More than I could ever cover here, but every one as meaningful in magnitude.

One of my favorites?

Allison went to Starbucks at 8am and paid for her own coffee, plus the car behind her in line. When she went back at 3pm to get a drink for her daughter, she learned the car in front of her had already paid for her.

Seven hours later and the chain was still running!

Simply amazing.

Thank you for showing up in June, and for putting goodness out into the world or on your own table. It’s clear you’ve brightened so many lives.

But we’re not done yet!

Just as these challenges come to a close, another month opens…

Joy Finders in July is all about caring for your body and celebrating your bestie. Our Vag Badge and Other Half challenges are running now and it’s not too late to join us.

To earn your first badge, sign up here:

Subscribe now

Last Things

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I don’t want you to miss out on your July badge — so this is your chance to let me know which one to send you!

A quick reminder of the two challenges you have to choose from:

Vag Badge

Do one thing to care for your reproductive, pelvic or sexual health. Schedule the pap smear, replace your old undies, anything goes, as long as you’re taking good care of yourself.

Other Half Badge

Put together a care package for a friend. When you get your best-friends-necklace inspired badges in the mail, pop one half in your care package and send it off.

If you’d like to add one of July’s badges to your collection, all you need to do is…

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The first time I saw the 1989 iconic classic “Troop Beverly Hills,” I thought it was about triumphing over the bad guy. (Well, the bad lady…) Troop leader Phyllis Nefler gets bullied by The Wilderness Girls’ leadership, but she ultimately beats them at their own game.

At seven-years-old, I understood that the bullies got what they deserved. But I was too young to understand the real moral of the story: Phyllis was ultimately heroic because she faced adversity and used it to rise above herself. She allowed it to transform her.

I can relate.

I started Joy Finders because I was a bit lost and heartbroken. Like Phyllis before her divorce, I thought I was doing what I was supposed to in life: running a therapy practice, traveling the world, paying my taxes. But in the winter of 2025, I crashed out anyway. I met the arrival of 2026 heartbroken, lonely and — quite honestly — bored.

I started Joy Finders for me, because I needed something to feel good about. Perhaps my motives were a bit selfish, just like Phyllis’s were when she became troop leader.

But then adversity hit.

First the cease and desist that led to our eleventh hour rebrand. Then — three days before our June badge manufacturing deadline — our badge designer quit. I didn’t know what to do.

I sat with both problems and thought, is this it? Is this where it all falls apart?

But here’s the thing about challenges like these. They don’t define us. Our response does. So I got scrappy. I got a little defiant. And I remembered the deeper reason why I started this. Not my heartbreak. Not my boredom.

You.

You showed up in your thousands to tell me what this meant to you. You might not know it, but your stories got me through.

Stories of defiant joy, like these:

• Kristi pushed through real fear this year, the stomach drop kind, to reconnect with people she’d grown apart from.

• Sarah M had her career and her health turned upside down in the same year. A total identity shake up. She found her way back one small challenge, one earned badge, at a time.

• Brandi faced the grief tied up in her fridge and her food, and made real changes to waste less and nourish herself more.

Each of you, in your own way, are meeting the challenges of your lives with grit and courage. Because that’s what Joy Finders do. We claim our joy along the way — not as a detour, but as the whole point.

I call it defiant joy. The kind you choose even when something, or someone, is trying to take it from you.

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Our six: Share, Restore, Tend, Create, Explore, Connect.

They are the core of a well-lived life. Except… what about the body? So, I pondered. Should I make a seventh category? “Move,” perhaps? But then it hit me…

The body can’t be contained by a pie slice on a wheel, because it runs through all the categories. We explore with our bodies. We create with our bodies. We do all our Joy Finders challenges from inside these little earth suits.

The body was never missing. This month — for our Tend challenge — we’re just giving it the microphone. And we’re doing that because you all were LOUD in my comments about wanting this particular badge.

So without further ado, I present to you your…

Vag Badge

Who knew this particular anatomy would come with so much?

So much history. So much privilege. So much heartache. So much joy.

I don’t know about you, but it has taken this 43-year-old approximately four decades to make peace with all that it brings. Or maybe five, if I’m being honest.

This month, we're watering our relationship with the parts of our bodies we were taught to whisper about. Trans sisters, this includes you, too.

The challenge is simple:

Do one thing to care for your reproductive, pelvic or sexual health. You might schedule the pap smear. Read about perimenopause. Have the conversation with your partner that you’ve kept putting off.

Or you might try my personal favorite:

Throw out everything in your underwear drawer that looks like Swiss cheese or an old dusty rag you’d use to wipe the floor. Then replace it with something that reflects the worth and integrity of the body it clothes.

That’s it. Choose one thing and do it.

Your vag will thank you.

Or you might prefer to try this one instead…

Other Half Badge

Remember when there was nothing more thrilling than owning one-half of a Best Friends necklace? What better conveyed belonging, connection, and pride than a tiny piece of silver slung around two girls’ necks?

This month’s Connect challenge is about naming and claiming a relationship in your life that could use a little fairy dust — a little zhuzhing, a little something to mark how much the connection means.

To capture the magic, we’ve made a badge that splits in two.

Here’s how it works:

Tell us you’re in and we’ll ship you the badge ASAP — one half to keep, one half to send. While it’s on its way, put together a care package for your friend: a note, a few small things, anything that says you’re my person. Tuck in the second half of the badge, along with an invitation we’ll include for her to join Joy Finders.

Then send it off. No worries if it doesn’t land until August — there’s plenty of summer left to rock this badge, and a lifetime to treasure what the friendship means.

And that’s your July challenge drop!

Remember, this is a choose-your-own-path troop. We release two challenges each month — you pick one to complete. To choose your path and get your badge:

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A few bits of news from me today!

First, the fun one: I was on KCRA 3 this morning talking all about Joy Finders! I still can’t quite believe it. If you missed it, you can watch the segment HERE.

Second, we have a new website! www.joyfinders.com The lovely part for you is that nothing changes. You don’t need to re-subscribe, update anything, or do a single thing. You stay exactly where you are.

Behind the scenes we’re building a proper community space, somewhere we can all actually gather and cheer each other on. A place where we can organize geographically for those who wish to find other Joy Finders in their area. When it’s ready we’ll bring everyone in and show you the ropes. Substack isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, so if you prefer this platform for its simplicity then you are welcome here.

And a gentle reminder while I have you: there are still 5 days left in June to complete your challenge and claim your badge.

You have time. Claim your badge here.

One more thing! Your May badges went out yesterday and should be landing with you any day now. When yours arrives I would so love to see it. Pop a photo or video on Instagram and tag us (@heyjoyfinder, @heysarahtherapy). Seeing you and your badges is honestly my favourite thing.

That’s everything for now.

With joy,

One opened outward, onto your own neighborhood seen through new eyes. The other opened inward, toward the child you used to be. I expected most of you to pick the easier one. (And there is no shame in that — sometimes we need to).

But you didn’t. Over and over, you reached for the door you’d been avoiding.

And almost nobody described something grand. There were no skydives. No monumental moves. What you sent me instead were small, specific, quietly brave things.

A library card finally claimed after years of putting it off. A lunch eaten alone, on purpose, with a book. A drive down a road you’d never turned onto.

I often encourage you to see the beauty in what’s already around and inside you, like a naturalist tracking what’s hiding in plain sight. And your reflections from May read like dispatches from the field — if the field was your ordinary life.

New Neighborhood Challenge

For the ones who went outward, it wasn’t really about sightseeing.

Submission after submission started the same way — I’ve lived here for years — and ended with a list of firsts.

After 5 years of saying no, Kristi, finally said YES to the Kinetic Sculpture Race and the “Drag Strip Divas” team. She’s already planning on going again next year.

Amy, twelve years in Austin, finally went to see the bats. Cally, five years and three Australian kilometers from a market that’s been running since the late 1800s, walked there for the first time. Judy, twenty-five years in the same city, finally stopped at all the places she used to just drive past and wonder about.

Read closer and it was never about the bats or the markets. It’s about finding joy in your community. Listen to what Jenn wrote, after finding places she didn’t know existed:

“…it just made me feel a sense of joy in my community I haven’t felt in way too long. It might sound silly, but it healed a part of me that I didn’t realize was even broken.”

That’s the secret of the outward door. You think you’re going to find your neighborhood. You come back having found something of yourself.

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Inner Child Challenge

And the ones who went inward weren’t really standing still.

The women who sat down with their younger selves weren’t retreating. They were reaching — out, and back — for someone who’d been waiting a long time.

Allison’s whole reflection was one line:

“I hysterically sobbed. How dare you and thank you.”

Tory wrote her younger self a letter and cried through all of it:

“…because most of it was things I didn’t realize I was still waiting to hear.”

Liza wrote to herself at five and told her that what was coming wasn’t her fault. She signed it:

“You are love and light. I love you, Liza.”

There was a quiet theme running through a lot of your reflections. So many of you wrote: I finally let myself.

Jade let herself go to an event alone:

“It’s OK to say that I want to go somewhere to do something for just me.”

Sarah let herself walk into a thrift store without shame and walked out with a fifty-dollar sequined gown for her 50th birthday. She saw herself:

“…not as the poor kid, but as the kid with unique style.”

Kris let herself do the ballet solo she was never allowed as a child.

Julie let herself set out her great-grandmother’s china for a tea party of one.

Victoria put it most plainly:

“Giving myself permission to put myself first was the hardest thing to say” — and the thing she most wanted to keep practicing.

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And then there were the ones I had to sit with for a while. The ones that moved me to tears.

Nicole, deep in grief after losing her mother, used the challenge to say yes to small joys when joy felt impossible — a movie on a lawn, a beach walk alone she’d always been too scared to take.

“If it sounded joy-like, I did it. There was a lot of power in just saying yes.”

R. started the month with a sound bath and ended it in a hospital bed with sepsis, writing to me on June 1st:

“Life really happened, hard, in May. But I’m ready to find Joy in June.”

Jennifer wrote:

“At first the inner child challenge was terrifying. I don’t have the life I had imagined when I was 10-13 years old… I looked at her hopes and dreams, what she wanted for her life, and her future family.”

Then she wrote down “some new goals and implemented some changes” and picked up a paintbrush — her house will be blue and white by end of summer.

None of those are small, and all of them are. That’s the paradox you keep teaching me.

Whether you walked out your front door or sat down on the floor with the kid you used to be, you did the same brave thing. You decided you were worth the time. You gave yourself permission to take up space.

That doesn’t sound like much.

It is, in fact, everything.

With so much joy,

Finding joy on purpose. One badge at a time.

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P.S. My background as a therapist informs everything we do here at Joy Finders, but this program is not therapy or mental health treatment. It’s a playground for you to explore joyfully, connect meaningfully, and chase everyday enchantment

This Saturday we’re having our very first troop meeting.

We’ll spend some time getting to know each other, share how challenges are going and see what happens when a bunch of Joy Finders end up in the same Zoom room.

We’ll also be making Bingo cards inspired by the Tend and Restore categories, a twist on Ammie Yall’s To-Do List Bingo. So bring a pen, some paper — and if you’re feeling fancy — colorful markers.

And for extra fun: we’ll be doing a prize draw. Anyone wearing their badge will be entered to win. 🏅 So wear it proud!

Come exactly as you are. Wear pajamas. Bring a beverage and your dog. There are no participation trophies for looking put together.

📅 When:

US & Canada
Saturday, June 13
5:00 PM Pacific
8:00 PM Eastern

Australia
Sunday, June 14
10:00 AM AEST (Brisbane)
12:00 PM AEST/AEDT (Sydney & Melbourne)

Here’s your link for the meeting:

Read more

Here’s a quick look at what’s happened this week — in case you missed anything! If you like this type of summary, let me know in the comments so we can turn it into a weekly thing.

🌿 June Challenge is HERE: The new challenge dropped on June 1st and we are so excited to kick off a fresh month with you here. Make sure to tell us what challen…

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Saturday 13th June
🕔 5:00 PM Pacific Time
🕗 8:00 PM Eastern Time

Australia:
🇦🇺 Sunday, June 14
10:00 AM AEST (Brisbane)
12:00 PM AEST/AEDT (Sydney & Melbourne)

You’ll get to meet the women in the chat you’ve been connecting with, share a little bit about yourself, and tell us how the June challenge is going for you.

I also have some exciting news to share about what is coming up for Joy Finders!

I cannot wait to tell you.

And then we’ll each reveal the inside of our fridge. (Just kidding, I would never put you on the spot like that!)

But if you want to bring something for show-and-tell, I would love to see it. A crappy craft, perhaps?

🏅 Wear your badge to the meeting and you could win a prize.

This is going to be relaxed, warm, and a little bit silly. Just come as you are.

RSVPs and the link to the meeting coming soon.

With so much joy,