The world feels heavier than usual lately. 

A global pandemic and a deepened awareness of the loss of innocent Black lives have taken the veil off of our eyes. There is pain, and there is hurt. And while racism, COVID-19 and the downturn of the economy is undoubtedly affecting some of us more acutely than others, it is affecting us all. And it’s weighing on our collective psyche. 

I know I’m not the only one who has felt more emotional lately, experiencing empathy as carrying the weight of others’ big emotions (not just feeling for them.)

The hardest thing about the concoction of events we’re living through is that it feels like there’s so little we can do, and like we may be part of the problem. It’s easy to feel helpless. It’s easy to wonder whether we are doing enough. 

But I had a perspective shift when I saw a post on Instagram. Here’s what it said: 

Some are posting on social media

Some are protesting in the streets

Some are donating silently

Some are educating themselves

Some are having tough conversations with friends & family

A revolution has many lanes — be kind to yourself and to others who are traveling in the same direction

Just keep your foot on the gas

I couldn’t find who wrote it, but it resonates with me deeply.

Right before the world shut down, I had a She Made It Live event planned with my dear friend Sharon. It was going to be an evening of healing through the experiential practice of Kinsukuroi (you’ll learn what that means when you listen in) and an interview with Sharon, who is a licensed therapist focusing on healing, growth and repairing the brokenness in our lives.

A few weeks ago, I thought to myself, who better to do a live podcast recording over Zoom with than a therapist who can walk us through the feelings and choices we’re all having to navigate right now?

So, on June 17th, Sharon joined me on She Made It LIVE (over Zoom!) for a conversation about empathy, individual and collective trauma, and finding the lane of activism that feels most genuine to you. And now, that webinar conversation is live on the She Made It podcast! 

On this episode, you’ll get to hear Sharon’s wisdom on:

• How trauma and bias are stored in our bodies and how we can process those in a healthier way
• Why Sharon went from being a piano teacher to getting her masters and becoming a therapist
• What “kinsukuroi” means and how it can help us reframe the broken parts of our lives
• How we can both acknowledge our own pain and empathize with others’
• Finding a way to navigate challenging conversations with grace

You can tune in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify,  or you can listen in the player below.