Episode 397 Tenderness
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I build on the poem I shared last week titled Because by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. The poem is about opening our hearts, even when the world around us temps us to close it or protect ourselves from all the anguish and pain. The poem encourages us to make love matter even when it is easy to fall into despair. I’ve let that poem seep into me and it inspired me to look up more pieces on heart centering and tenderness. May we sit at the altar of our heart. May we breathe deeply, listen compassionately. May we embrace the tenderness that tunes us into our truth, the...
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Episode 396 Love, As If It Matters
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
I share a deeply inspiring poem on this week’s episode. My niece shared the poem with me and her great-uncle shared it with her and he claims that the poem so beautifully captures his beloved wife who died last year. So this poem is charged with loving hands, open hearts and wisdom from this world and beyond. May we take love seriously. May we give love wildly. May we be gentle with our insufficiency. May we stay open in the face of indifference, anger, cruelty and fear. May we love as if love matters, as if the world depends on it. Enjoy the podcast! Links:
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Episode 395 Holding Onto Turquoise
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I describe how soothed I was by the shades of turquoise in the Bahamas. For twelve days on a small island in the Bahamas, these gorgeous colors evoked mystery, boldness, vibrancy and calm. I can’t explain why, but turquoise nourished and healed my body, mind and spirit. May we hold onto to colors, images and words that calm our nervous system, quiet our minds and drop us more fully into the present moment. May we envision life as joy. May we see that life is service. May we behold that service is joy. Enjoy the podcast!
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Episode 394 Arianna Injeian
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is Arianna Injeian. And what an honor to shine light on Arianna, who is shining light on so many others; what an inspiring woman! Her background in Medical Anthropology, Sociology, and Public Health allows her to look at systemic health, particularly in the area of women’s reproductive care. In undergraduate school, she started off with a dual major in anthropology and biology. Her love for travel and learning about other people and cultures, brought her to a masters program at the University of Amsterdam, where she had another dual major: medical anthropology and public...
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Episode 393 LoraKim Joyner
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is LoraKim Joyner, a passionate protector of parrots, who knows that the health of one is interconnected to the health of all beings. LoraKim received her B.S in Avian Sciences, her Doctorate in Veterinarian Medicine, a Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine, which led to meaningful work in bird conservation throughout Central and South America. Years later she saw the need to address human well-being and obtained her Masters in Divinity and was ordained a Unitarian Universalist minister and became certified in NonViolent Communication. LoraKim’s expansive...
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Episode 392 Pascale Jean-Gilles
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is Pascale Jean-Gilles. Pascale and I bumped into each other last week at two local events: a high school student-led protest in solidarity with Minneapolis in our town and at the County Legislature Building with hundreds of people showing up to support the “Safety and Dignity for All ACT”, a bill to ensure guardrails with ICE agents in our county. Having known Pascale since she was 2 years old, it was a pure delight to reconnect with her and learn about who she is as a thoughtful, compassionate, dedicated young woman. Pascale is Chief of Staff for NY State...
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Episode 391 Mea Culpa
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I propose that mea culpa is a good place to start as we honor Black History Month. The Latin phrase mea culpa is an exclamation of apology or remorse, admitting that one has caused harm. For true racial healing to happen in this country, I long for us to own up to the threats, controls and discrimination embedded in our country’s systems. I am relieved to notice more white people expressing their own forms of mea culpa, as they are dedicated to learning, open to admitting harm, and willing to take responsibility. That feels like a meaningful way to celebrate Black...
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Episode 390 Beth Adubato
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is Beth Ellen Adubato. I met Beth last month and was so impressed with her background and dedication to making a positive impact in the world. From her own personal experience of being sexually assaulted in college, Beth has championed women’s issues for decades and created an organization that supports women of domestic violence. She has been a journalist, researcher and professor of criminal justice, at both Saint Peter’s University and Rutgers University, training her students to be critical thinkers, who care for others with empathy. Beth now feels compelled to...
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Episode 389 MLK Day
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode I honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and celebrate this inspiring civil rights leader and his work for racial equality and social justice. I feel it’s imperative to be reminded who Martin Luther King, Jr. was and what he fought for, particularly amidst our current toxic atmosphere of erasure. I highlight 10 significant facts about Dr. King, and play an audio clip of what Dr. King had the audacity to believe. It moved me deeply, as a child, to hear Dr. King speak and now 60 years later, I marvel at how poignantly his words resonate for us at this moment in time. ...
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Episode 388 Justice
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I describe the word Justice that I’ve chosen for 2026. I want this word to be integrated into my thoughts, words and actions this year. I want justice to guide me, inspire me, and empower me to advocate for fairness, accountability, and restorative relationships. Yes, I will start with myself, but, oh how I want to live in a world where justice is upheld and can radiate throughout this country. May 2026 be a year where injustices are no longer tolerated and people are held accountable for their dehumanizing behavior. May we work in solidarity to cultivate...
info_outline Two weeks after our 20-inch snow storm, the snow has been walked on, patted down, rained on, thawed and frozen over once again. My snowy path has transformed into an icy, crunchy, crusty, frozen path. Thank goodness for a pair of crampons a friend gave me about a month ago. It reminds me of putting on an old pair of galoshes, those rubber overshoes to protect our feet from rain. My new crampons have a rubber outline that fits over my boots, with spiked iron chains that cover the sole of my boot to prevent me from slipping on ice and snow. How appropriate for this week’s journaling from Layla Saad’s book “Me and White Supremacy” which focused on white apathy, white centering, tokenism, white savior-ism and optical allyship.
The work of anti-racism and these terms can be as precarious as the icy, crunchy, frozen path I traverse. We use excuses of tiredness, procrastination, overwhelm and fear to avoid engaging in anti-racism practices, like we use excuses to avoid walking in these winter conditions. We find ourselves numb from another black person murdered by police brutality, or opting out of doing the inner work because we are overly sensitive. Both the path of anti-racism and this frozen path are tricky and pull us out of our comfort zone, however each offers healing and beauty, we would otherwise miss out on. We can equip ourselves with resources, so please throw on your crampons, and take a winter walk with me! What we first deemed treacherous is now manageable and worth every step of the journey!
I am equipping myself with courage and crampons, for this frozen path has much to teach me. After all, beneath the layers of crusty, snow and ice, lies the promise of spring! Even though the thick layers of winter snow and ice prevent us from seeing all the seeds of spring that lay below the surface, may we trust in a world that will thaw and transform our racism. As the earth begins to warm up and everything begins to grow, may our hearts warm up so we can cultivate racial healing, equity and justice.
Check out the show notes for links to books and movies referenced.
Links:
“Me and White Supremacy” by Layla Saad
Good Ancestor Podcast
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
How to Be an AntiRascist by Ibram X. Kendi
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
White Rage by Carol Anderson
Make Change by Shaun King
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
One Night in Miami
Judas and the Black Messiah
The 2 Killings of Sam Cooke