Craving Happy

Long time, no talk! If you’re like me, you’ve being doing a lot of introspection, reading, protesting, documentary-watching, and maybe crying a bit more than usual. What a painful time for this country, but also what a time for growth and change. I am lucky to be finishing out my first year in a doctoral counseling psychology program where social justice is at the core of our education and training. Being in a program like that, plus having an amazing advisor, has provided a great space to reflect, process, and learn.

I certainly don’t have many answers, but I did want to share some ideas and resources that have helped me over the past few weeks. Keep in mind that my identity as a white woman has shaped how I’ve educated myself and what resources I’ve chosen so what I’m writing below might not fit for you. Please comment with any resources you’ve found helpful or if you have critiques about any of the resources. I’d be excited to learn from you!

This photo from The Conscious Kid and I’ve been glad to see it floating around Facebook or Instagram. You might have already seen this, but it is powerful and moving to read through.

I have also found many resources through this document, Scaffolded Anti-racism Resources (SAR) It is an amazing resource compiled by others and shared with me by my advisor. Please think about donating to the organizations cited at the top if you do make use of it. What I love about SAR is that it helps you think about where you are in your learning process to determine what resources might be most helpful for you. The document provides some detail about this, but the different levels (i.e.”scaffolding”) come from the Helms’ White Racial Identity Model. I highly recommend you check out this model if you are a white person who wants to learn about where you are and how best to educate yourself.

I won’t take up time and space here, but I encourage you to seek our resources created by Black people (and support them for those resources in the ways that you can).

I’ve been trying to listen to fewer news-related podcasts recently. I typically limit my news consumption to NPR’s Morning Edition combined with a short evening update from NPR to make sure I’m aware of any major events from the day. I find that scrolling through endless articles or engaging in the 24 hour news cycle leaves me feeling drained and anxious. I usually stream podcasts through the NPR One app or download and stream them through Spotify. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

1. Unlocking Us with Brené Brown: My mom told me about this podcast and highly recommended that I listen. At first I was hesitant because I feel like I have plenty of podcasts that I enjoy, but I decided to give it a try since I love Brené Brown (and my mom has great taste).  I usually try to listen to podcast episodes in order, but this time I decided to jump in with an episode my mom loved–“I’m Sorry: How to Apologize & Why It Matters.” As I said earlier, my mom has great taste in people and podcasts, and the two part series on apologizing was incredible.

2. Modern Love: This is one of my favorite go-to podcasts. I discovered it while in college and find the short essays to be engaging, entertaining, and relaxing. I often finish an episode with a feeling of happiness and hope! The podcast is based on the Modern Love column in the New York Times and the essays are read aloud for the podcast by various actors. Most episodes will either bring you to tears or to laughter!

3. How I Built This: Here is another NPR podcast that I love! This podcast focuses on the story of founders behind big companies, like Whole Foods or Impossible Foods. I love learning the backstory on how these companies became successful and the personal journeys of the founders are super interesting!

4. On Being: Krista Tippett, the host of this podcast, has arguably one of the most soothing voices out there. If you are feeling anxious or down, this is a great one. On Being episodes are basically a conversation between Krista Tippett and guests who come from all walks of life (e.g. John Lewis, Ruby Sales, Indigo Girls, Bessel van der Kolk) that revolve around philosophy, life, wisdom, and love.

5. WorkLife: My advisor actually recommended this podcast to me after we had a conversation about burnout. The host, Adam Grant, is a fantastic writer (his book Give and Take is one of my favorites) and his podcast episodes are equally compelling! Even if you are not as interested in psychology in the workplace, this podcast is relevant to all spheres of life.

 

***

What are some of your favorite podcasts? Were there any podcasts on this list that you had not heard of?

This Ted Talk was actually a video that was assigned to me for one of my courses. I have not shared too many details about where I am, but in case you’re curious…I am currently a first-year graduate student pursuing my PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville. I absolutely love my program and have learned so much since I started nine months ago. After watching this talk for my class, I was so excited to share it here. I think Dere’s philosophy extends beyond the field of mental health; we can all learn something valuable from her message around culture and humility. I particularly  love her idea of taking a “stance of informed curiosity.” I hope you enjoy!

***
What were your initial assumptions about Pat? Was did you take away from this talk?