Ep. 128: A Season of Joyous Justice Transitions

In this special conversation, we share some important announcements about transitions that all three members of the Joyous Justice team are embarking upon. In this season of emergence and introspection, all of our transitions are both unique, and sacredly timed and interwoven. April also describes how she’s releasing shame around how her mind works. And, we share our appreciation for Joyous Justice, this podcast, and the potent transformation that we’ve experienced and is to come.

Discussion and reflection questions:

1. What in this episode is new for you? What have you learned and how does it land?
2. What is resonating? What is sticking with you and why?
3. What feels hard? What is challenging or on the edge for you?
4. What feelings and sensations are arising and where in your body do you feel them?

Visit https://joyousjustice.com to learn more about Joyous Justice, LLC, our team, and  get connected &  involved in our community!

Join our online community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/590922415522750

Submit a question, insight, or topic or guest suggestion at https://joyousjustice.com/connect

Find April’s TikTok videos here: https://www.tiktok.com/@aprilavivabaskin

Follow us on Instagram (@joyous.justice), Twitter, (@JoyousJustice), or Facebook (www.facebook.com/joyousjustice365)

Visit https://joyousjustice.com to learn more about Joyous Justice, LLC, our team, and  get connected & involved in our community!

Want to work with us? If you are considering one of our group or executive coaching packages, but want to talk it through, you can schedule a no-obligation zoom with April: https://calendly.com/aprilnbaskin/chat-w-april

Transcript

0:00

Hi friend tuning in. We have a special conversation that we want to have today with each other. And with you, we have some announcements and updates that we want to share and a little bit of reflection that we want to do together. As you will hear us discuss more in this episode. I really love how some of the joyous justice team members rhythms and journeys right now are tracking very poetically and beautifully with patterns in nature. So with that, let's dive in and You're listening to the Joyous Justice podcast, a weekly show hosted by April Baskin with Tracie Guy Decker, in a complex world in which systemic oppression conditions us to deny others and our own humanity. let's dedicate ourselves to the pursuit and embodiment of wholeness, love and thriving in the world. And in our own lives, it's time to heal and flourish our way to a more joyously just future. Alright, Tracie, so my thinking about this episode has evolved a bit a bit as I shared before, we began recording and as we included in woven to the intro, but I'm still thinking that it makes sense to start with you sharing an update. And then for me to also share a couple additional updates, and then be in conversation about that a bit. Because I think that our friends listening in both care about us and also also care about the meaning we're making of the terrain that we are navigating both in terms of challenges and opportunities and making space for new possibilities. That sounds great April. So for For my part, we have talked on the show before about the advice that my mom gave me when I was a kid about always trying to move toward what you want and not away from what you're afraid of. Yes. And lately, nothing is seriously wrong. So I just want to like anybody listening, like, Don't worry, like I am okay, and everyone in my world is okay. But we're not great. And I'm pulled thin in a lot of ways. And I'm realizing I actually don't know what I want in order to move toward it. And so, April, you already know this, but for our listeners, I asked you, I let you know, I was thinking it's a good idea for me to sort of pull back from some of the things that some of my commitments so that I can spend more time with my family and myself and kind of figure out what that is that I want so that I can move toward it. So with this episode, we're announcing that I will be taking sort of a half step back from my duties such as justice, not a full step, I'll still be around backstage, but no longer no longer in the spotlight, at least for a little while. So that's my sort of announcement and my thinking behind it. Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that Tracy Shrimati. I just think it is thoughtful and courageous and models what we talk about and champion here at joyous justice, which is honoring and championing the fullness of our humanity. And having big dreams and goals and what helps to facilitate those big dreams and goals is really deep care. And I appreciate your mindfulness around this and choosing to prioritize some of what matters most. I have some of my own thoughts to share that are both different and aligned with what you shared Tracy but before I start to share some of that is there anything else after like having a pause hearing what I said that you additionally want to say about this in particular way? I think that there are some things once I share my bit I think there's some conversation for us to have but I wanted to make space If there's anything else that surfaced while I was talking, I'm not exactly sure. This isn't a fully formed thought. But I've been thinking a lot and reading about the role of a Sofia. Like, what happens if a scribe makes a mistake in a scroll. And like I had the mistaken, understanding that if a scribe makes a mistake, they have to like scrap it or not, but bury it and then start over when working on a torus, well, that's not actually true. Like you can scrape off and fix the mistake, except in God's name, God's name cannot be erased, we don't, even if there's a mistake. And something about that is really resonating for me in the idea of like, starting over and correcting course, correcting that which is human, and that was just divine is what it is, and sort of stays as a constant. And that's feeling really resonant for me, as I'm trying to figure out what's next. And sort of, to your point, like focusing on what matters and what doesn't change. So thank you for the opportunity for sharing. That's what was cooking in my head while you were talking? Wow, I just, you know, I got full body chills when you shared that I really I don't think it makes sense for me to fully go down that avenue. But I would say as you said that just now it, it's so resonates with core themes that I've been thinking a lot about around. And at least for me, and I don't know about for you, you know, like I think about, okay, this is the models, these are some of the models I've been using right now, I've been using today. And I think it's time for new models in different ways or revised models, and some of my models I love and there are other ones where I want to radically shift them, which is what you know, which is a little bit of my update, which is to say that Tracy just shared this update, and again, Shrimati. And we honor that. And you are not the only person with updates on the joyous justice team, everyone enjoys justice. But all three of us have updates to share. But basically, each of us in our own ways, are in a process of emergence and sacred reflection at toward the end, mid end of this winter season. And starting to move into spring and for each of us in different ways, as Tracy shared, and also feel free to correct me Tracy like there's certain things for you that feel not visible yet like below the ground surface. And I would say for me, some of its visible and also some of it is also subterranean that has yet to surface I can feel its presence. And I don't fully know what it is. But I'm going to need to step continue to move forward and step into this season of emergence and introspection. And I'll talk a bit more about that specifically in terms of what is cooking and shifting for me. And so Sarah will share some updates. But Sarah too, is moving on from the team. So right now, as Tracy shared, Tracy is taking a break for a bit is taking mostly a step back is still going to be helping with some things. And Tracy is still going to be in the joyous justice orbit which is great, but in a reduced and simplified capacity so that she has space to focus on other things that are really sacred and important and need some additional attention. And Sarah is ready. After two wonderful years of contribution and growth and leadership on the Joyce justice team. Sarah is going to be stepping into her next professional adventure, which makes sense and we'll see how that continues to evolve for them and they will share or have shared. By the time most people listen to this, they will or will have shared more in their own words. And we'll let them we'll let them manage that as they choose and want to. And all of this feels obviously bittersweet in some ways and also really potent and sacred for me. Because as I have one team member departing Oh, but also yay, spread your wings and fly Sarah. And as Tracy is taking more time. It's creating space for me to fully acknowledge that I They have been in a massive as Tracy and Sirika. Both affirm and they've been so great about it. I've been in a state of metamorphosis for like at least a year and a half to two years now ever since I before and especially once I joined my coherent ordination program, and I am moving toward ordination. I go ahead and priestess program, and I'm moving towards becoming ordained, this August, Goddess willing. And for my coconut project, I did a lot of work around my indigenous coming home work around more, more deeply integrating the spiritual and intuitive lineages that are a part of the fullness of my existence into my day to day living. And that has meant a number of different things. And I have shifted and we've shifted our content in different ways. And I've been able to you know, I've been very clear about the purpose of this company of joyous justice since I started it. And I was very clear when I first launched it that I wasn't ready to be fully open about it, I wasn't the person and the leader who was fully ready to fully own and lead that body of work. And yet, I knew that was my path and my calling. And that I needed to step into it and get ready along the way. And I've been doing that getting ready. And I've reached different milestones. You know, Tracy and I had a wonderful sacred experience over a year ago, almost exactly a year ago, a little over a year ago, as we've each been on our own journeys and took time to visit the mikvah together. And I'm approaching I don't know about for you, Tracy. But I realized this morning, as I was talking to one of my trauma peer counselors, they actually raised it and it was coming up in different ways. I had the thought. And then beloved Rabbi Carrie Chaplin posted how they had gone to the mikvah within the last week, and how amazing it wasn't, I was like, Oh, are they when I was I didn't fully catch like, this is a divine breadcrumb like this is a synchronicity. And then I shared as a part of the new and good portion of, of my check in with my trauma counseling one of my trauma counseling buddies, that this week, I've I've, I've experienced what feels like at least two, if not three, massive, spiritual and professional milestones around clarifying who I how and who I want to be and how open I am about the fullness of, of different parts of me. And and they said, and they come from a different tradition, but all traditions have these moments. And they said, you know, how are you going to honor that? How are you going to celebrate that? And I'm so in the flow of the ongoing emergence. I was like, Oh, you're right, actually, like, it's still, I will still be I will forever be in a state of becoming and and now this is the third time like, okay, you know, the magic three, this is the third time this week now. First, I got the nudge, then Rabbi Carrie Chaplin affirmed this. And now my partner is saying what bridge? And I was like, ah, you know, and I think I think I want to think I had this thought, and I think I want to do a mikvah experience in the ocean to honor some of these things. So I don't want to take too much more time. And I feel like I haven't actually said my thing, which is so me, but that's one of the things that I'm working on embracing now is rather than is releasing some of the shame. I feel around how I'm different than how I was conditioned to be I think that that is the next or the current frontier of my ongoing rewilding re indigenization. decolonization, the assimilation process is no longer shaming how my mind works. And I'm actually really curious to see and I tried this out yesterday in our grounded and growing program. And I was able to see in real time on that call, the brilliance that was able to come through when I wasn't trying so hard to press myself into a mold. That is not me. And it's so obvious when I say it like this now on the other side of the insight, but when I was navigating it, I didn't, it didn't feel like internalized oppression. It felt like it was was me trying to be responsible and, and the best leader I can be. And I just noticed, actually, I think this is not helpful. And I think it gets in the way in a lot of different ways in my living and leadership. And so I want to engage openly in a process of rewilding. And by that, I mean, there I, and I've been trying to do this now for a year, but I'm more ready. I'm more solid around other parts that I was, in the process of becoming have solidified within me now. And I feel a lot more whole. And like I've been staying, and not even consciously, subconsciously, I've been staying small in different ways. And starting to feel resentful about different things happening or not happening around me. And I'm now noticing, in the midst of different shifts happening and things happening, that this is a time where I can start to release barriers that were still in place within me that I didn't I wasn't even fully conscious of that I now see. And I'm like, these aren't serving me anymore, and have space to step into my power more and release some additional, persnickety and visible now not invisible chronic shame. Maybe still a little invisible at times, but starting to notice, like, oh, that actually that thought isn't true, which doesn't mean I can't still adapt. But what does it look like when I start to lead on this podcast in any context, context over email and any number of spaces when I'm not trying, when I'm not coming from the frame, implicitly or explicitly that the way I'm doing it is wrong. And said, Actually, maybe what I'm doing is just fine. And let me live into that. And let me Let that energy move through me. And then from there from a place of appreciation and full acceptance, see what comes through. And it might be exactly what it's been, or it might be something new. But I haven't had time to do that. Because anytime I started to be that full part of me, I shut it down, because I mislabeled it as wrong. So, you know, I'm going to pause here for a second and invite you to share other thoughts, Tracy, but my sense is, is that for Sarah, Tracy, and me, these are so into individual and specific and Sacred Journeys and details, much of which deeper details each of us have entered necessarily, might not necessarily go into, that are so specific to us and our loved ones and our dreams. And there's also something about this that just feels so aligned to me with the season. And I suspect with other experiences, whether it's around similar or different topics, like right now, for all of us, it's definitely at least in the, in the professional sphere. And I think for all of us, it's also showing up around personally who and how we want to be and how that then gets mirrored back in the ways that we are doing our work and leading, but I suspect that likely, for those who are listening in for you listening in that these themes have relevance for you to whether it's for you or someone in your life, whether it's around business, or a relationship or some other facet of what you're going through. So I wanted to note that, that both like individual and collective uniqueness and also universality of some of these themes that also align with flowers starting to bloom and plants starting to bloom or things starting to warm below the earth. So there's also an aside there that I won't get into about the impact that global warming has on seasons, but still that just this just feels specific to each of us and also like a shared it's not a universal but something that we are not alone in about really appreciating where we have been and also noticing that needs and the various things external and also internal to us have shifted as we've been in a state of evolution and we want to take space and time to live into that and give that space to bloom and then figure out where we how we move from strength to strength. For me, I'm really thinking about that return to like the core. The core competency as a core needs the core one you know, like I think professionally and personally when we try to do too many things and then we can't do any of them well so like return back it that's that's what I'm really thinking about is like and I'm really thinking about it as a returning to myself To what is best and, and sacred and brings me joy and is me like what is the best me that I can be? That's what I'm endeavoring, endeavoring to do. Yeah. And that really resonates for me in different ways, specifically both. For me, and specifically me as it shows up in the work and professionally as the founder and owner of this company, that I'm just so clear right now that me doubling down and going all in is exactly what I need to do around really giving myself the permission and empowerment, it's not the space because part of its space. And part of it's just about, like, these different parts of me are already here, like I've been developing them, but they're now here. And it's like, do where do I want to be leading from I want to be leading from the fullness of all that I am. And the way that I set up the company initially was before I developed in these different ways. And so I need, I think I will both miss having both of you your light and contribution and analysis and joy on the team. And I also think I need some space to take up more space and take on certain things. And notice, like, oh, yeah, in time, like I still want help with this, or go through an awkward moment. And then notice, actually, this is actually something that I needed help before that I actually don't need help around. Now, and it hasn't been. And it's been great to have members of the team for different facets. And also, because of that now that now in the absence of that I can see like, Oh, I think I need to can reconfigure how I'm operating and also how I envision how I want to structure the company moving forward. And so all of this to say this is tender generative, mindful time for each of us and for the company. And I'm also genuinely, like, I'm, it's like, I'm so humbly excited, like it feels to your point earlier, I feel like I'm going through a season and in general moving forward in my life. And this has been a theme now for over a year of, and it's been really heavy in the past few weeks. And in this moment, of how much it's paradoxical in a way but about but about how much of this is about deep surrender to divine guidance and to the soul lessons that are being placed in front of me and for me to do my spiritual homework. And part of what I've been talking about a moment ago is me doing my spiritual homework is me. Claiming the divinity that is within me that I miss took from some deeply from since I was a little kid in school, received deep messaging around didn't have a place and, and reclaiming that. And that that is that is both deeply sovereign and sovereign. And that is also to me a part of both divine surrender and reclamation of my own of the divinity that exists within me. And I think in similar and very different ways that each of us are doing this work. And it feels that I got off track a little bit or like I didn't see that see that. It took that brief detour. But it feels so exciting. And also awesome. Like, it's it's big, it's big. And there can be some scariness with that. But to me, it also feels so rich, with potential. Like, I'm genuinely really excited. I have no idea what it's going to look like, Tracy, but I'm excited for the insights that are going to emerge for each of us. And what when we, you know, because we're, you will still be in the orbit a little bit. But I think my sense is, is that like, I'm thinking of this is sacred spaciousness for you, right? And so, even though we might have brief touch points, I'm just really looking forward to for all of us and each of us, for us to continue to update each other and just share because I think there's both things that we're going to be doing and I think there are things that are coming through for us in different ways, whether it's insight or developments. And it just feels like a very fertile time, is what I'm trying to say or like a nascent ly fertile time and I'm humbled by the feeling that I have no idea per se, I have like a feeling, but I really don't know what it's going to look like. But I also am excited because it feels like it's going to be good and purposeful and in service of our dreams and of the collective good. So, do you want to start to move us to our close, Tracy? Guys, I just want to say a word of appreciation. I had the same thought I had the same thought. Yeah. Cool. So I want to appreciate you April for the opportunities that have come through, like through the podcast through joyous justice, for me for our, our friendship, and our connection and my connection with all of you listeners, it has been really amazing. And honestly got me through crappy time in the world, and in my life and all kinds of stuff. So just deep gratitude. Likewise, and just to be clear, like Shrimati, and I'm curious from like, as you were listening to me, because as you're saying that it like, I guess because like, we don't fully know what's going to happen on the other side of this, but it's, um, yeah. And so. And I think for me, in terms of appreciation, yeah, I would. I'm so appreciative and grateful for the magic making, that you and I have done together in terms of this podcast. And in terms of getting joyous justice to the powerfully strong and solid place that it is right now. All of the social justice, analysis and creativity that you and Sarah have brought to this team, the incredible holy soundboards, you have been to me and thought partners, and just wonderful champions, and collaborators and CO conspirators in this work that we've been moving forward in the world. And so yeah, there's just immense appreciation, because I'm, I'm really happy with where joyous justice, and we as a team are right now. And I'm grateful that we are each engaging in a process of transformation and shift in a way that's truly moving from strength to strength and noticing, hmm, there's some things that either could be better and or, I think I think there's an opportunity here to like, take this even farther. But we need to give it some spaciousness and roominess to like, let it futz around a little bit and move and stretch and see. And yeah, just profound appreciation. And finally, for you, phenomenal listener, thank you so much, to you. Thank you so much for joining us along this journey, especially if you're someone who's been here for the whole of it, or much of it also, if you've recently joined, and for a number of you, who also participate in our programs, and take us up on our sacred invitations to engage in courageous, loving and compassionate, rigorous work to advance justice through our lens of wholeness and deep collective belonging. So And lastly, just appreciation for the divine and for the different facets of sprawl, the cooperative components, our families, and our friends who supported us over the past few years of doing courageous work, and backed us with our bold visions, and who will continue to do so as we continue in this and, and I think I'll just to close by saying for Tracy, for you, for Sarah, for me, for you, listener for our world. I wonder what wonderful things are going to happen in the coming days and weeks. I'm excited to see and I'm excited for us to do that journey together, perhaps in a similar configuration, to where from where we've been and also potentially in a very different configuration and also still maintaining these connections as we evolve and give ourselves space to be all that we can be. Much love. Thanks for tuning in. To learn more about Joyous Justice LLC, our team and how you can get involved with our community. Check out the info in our show notes, or find us at joyous justice.com If you enjoyed this episode, show us some love. Subscribe wherever you're listening. Tell your people share what you're learning and how your leadership is evolving. Stay humble, but not too humble. And keep going because the future is ours to co-create.