Episode 9: Finding Everyday Joy, Right Where You Are with Tamu Thomas
“Happiness happens, joy just is”
Tamu Thomas is founder of the lifestyle brand ‘Three Sixty’, aimed at busy women in their late 30s and 40s that want to simplify life and create space for everyday joy. She guides women to amplify their inner voice in order to work with themselves rather than against.
In this episode:
How low mood and other symptoms turned ‘everyday joy’ into a survival strategy
Intuiting that she didn’t need a more medical approach, but that her soul was feeling empty
Joy from the things that were already in plain sight
Everyday joy as a north star or compass
Feeling more grounded and whole from tapping into ‘everyday joy’, each day
Achievement and productivity isn’t fulfilment
Scanning the world for everyday joy until it became automatic
Joy as a foundation, rather than fleeting moments
“Happiness happens, joy just is”
Discerning a joyful quest, versus coming from a place of lack
Searching for everyday joy enables you to slow down as you need to slow down to be able to notice
You’re not doing less by slowing down
The experience of women in their late 30s and early 40s, who’ve had their childhoods in an analogue age and their adulthood in a digital age
How ‘feeling feelings’ instead of bottling things up, and seeking support is encouraged for younger people
Transitioning into the next season of life
How 40 years old today looks nothing like 40 in our mothers’ era
Giving ourselves permission to live our life
Saying ‘no’
The power of not having to be the superhero and save people
Inward facing time to recharge
Even lions/ lionesses aren’t ‘on’ all the time.
The need for rest, and even scheduling naps!
Social anxiety with networking
Productivity as a measure of worth
Comparison, especially as part of the immigrant experience
The media narrative that thriving is for an elite few, and the rest are just surviving
“Thriving is all of our birthright”
The importance of black and brown people, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and marginalised people taking up space, especially in the wellness arena
Shifting the concept of what it means to be well
Standing up and taking up space and being the truest expression of herself as a black woman
Allowing ourselves to make mistakes
Soul care and body care are intertwined
“Live is a verb”
Dropping down into connection with the earth’s core in order to connect with the ancestors
Resources:
If you’d like to connect with Tamu, on social media, you can find her here:
Tamu’s podcast ‘Three Sixty Conversations’
Keep in Touch with Avni:
Sign up for my free course ‘5 Days to Wellness with Ease’