![Episode 25: Belonging in Our Bodies with Cindy Goncalves]()
July 29, 2019
Cindy Goncalves is a Luso-American queer, feminist twenty-something, the daughter of immigrants currently working as a school counselor.
In today's episode, she and I talk about her experience of sex education growing up, and what she later learned as a sex-positive educator. We talk about how she “stumbled upon” her own sexuality as a teenager, the symbolic power of cutting her hair short, and how she shows her students that queer people can lead happy, successful, meaningful lives full of love.
And we also talk about the hard stuff—her experience of being outed to her family, their long journey to acceptance, her struggles with body image, and experiencing burnout as a mental health professional.
We explore the limited and limiting messages our dominant culture perpetuates about what is “normal” sex and sexuality, and we discuss how sex is about so much more than a certain action or outcome.
We talk about feeling that we belong in our bodies and our bodies belong to us, and how we can all connect to a sense of creativity, intimacy and aliveness.
To learn more about Cindy and topics covered/references made in this episode, visit the Shownotes page.
![Episode 24: Containing Multitudes with Grisel Acosta]()
July 22, 2019
Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta is a woman containing multitudes. She’s an Afro-Latina tattooed professor-poet, a leader and a loner, a fighter and lover who evades easy categorization.
In today's episode, we're talking about the influence of Grisel's activist parents and what it was like to grow up in Chicago as a minister's daughter and a punk rocker who loved sci-fi and dancing. We also talk about her life as a Latina intellectual and her new anthology, Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity (Routledge 2019).
Grisel and I talk about what it's like to move fluidly among different communities and spaces, especially niche spaces that are often coded white and male--the punk rock movement, sci-fi, academia. We discuss the ways that diving deep into what you love, yet always standing a little apart from it, can allow you to freely explore and never lose your identity or sense of self.
Also, Grisel makes a ton of amazing references throughout the episode, by far the most of any guest yet--check them out on the Shownotes page.
July 15, 2019
I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "healing" I often think of serene images: meditating on a beach at sunrise, receiving a gentle massage, drinking a cup of herbal tea.
But as Lauren Roberts says in today's episode, healing is not pretty. It's not linear, it's not easy, and it can be downright confusing, especially in the realms we're talking about today: substance abuse and sexual trauma.
Lauren is a coach, facilitator, yoga teacher and trauma survivor who shares practices that she’s learned along the way for staying resilient, no matter what. After years of self-medicating with marijuana, Lauren decided to commit to sobriety; in this episode, she talks about her up-and-down, winding path of recovery and what she chooses to say "yes" to when she says "no" to numbing and avoiding pain.
To learn more about Lauren and today's episode, visit the Shownotes page.
July 5, 2019
In today's episode, I'm sharing some bits of wisdom from the book currently on my nightstand: The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
This weekend, I'll be making a trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and celebrating my 28th birthday. With thoughts about journeys and lessons and Tolkien's words all percolating in my mind, I decided to record an episode reflecting on some of my wisdom-takeaways from the book. I talk about the importance of accepting help and welcoming miracles, how some things are more important than being comfortable, learning to feast and rest whenever we can, and doing what we love even if it doesn't seem to matter.
For more information about topics covered and references made in this episode, visit the Shownotes page.
