“[Reemerging after Covid lockdown] is like the re-entry process from outer space. It’s fiery and bumpy and you don’t know where you’ll land.” -Michaela Ayers
Lara chats with friends of the show Michaela Ayers and Jennifer McCord. We get real about how we’re navigating our awkward re-entry into the world as Covid restrictions lift. How we’re reconnecting with our people, our work, and ourselves after two plus years in pandemic isolation. And why astronauts might have advice for how to get back out there.
More About Michaela and Jennifer:
Michaela Ayers (she/her), a social justice facilitator turned entrepreneur, is revolutionizing the way individuals, organizations, and communities think about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Michaela is the founder of Nourish, a social impact organization that is advancing DEI education through experiential learning and human connection. She is also the creator and host of Black Her Stories, a podcast that reshapes Black history through the inspiring stories of women you may never have heard of. Through nourishing conversations with leading writers, artists and entertainers, Michaela investigates what possibilities exist when creativity meets history.
Jennifer McCord (she/her) is an audio producer and editor/co-producer of She Knows the Way. She’s also worked as a project manager, a human resources professional, an apparel product line manager, and an improviser – so she’s spent most of her adult life figuring out how to listen. Jennifer is particularly interested in telling stories that are rooted in a sense of place, that map the gap between our thinking and our actions, or that explore the inextricable relationship between equity and design.
Highlights
- What our reemergence into the world has to do with outer space – and why we kind of feel like there’s a parrot on our shoulder
- The tension between wanting to recover the familiar selves we know and love while not ignoring that we’ve changed over these past 2+ years
- How to stay true to who you are as you evolve into the next version of yourself
- The art of staying grounded during a bumpy reentry – and some specific practices that might help
- How we’re approaching reconnection and repair with friends who have drifted during the pandemic
- What happens when doing what you need to do to feel safe and centered creates distance between you and those you love
- Why moments of introduction feel so important right now – and how they’ve changed since before the pandemic
- Jennifer and Lara share their experiences of attending their first large public events since Covid – and how they showed up in a way that felt right for them
- How where we lived during the pandemic is impacting our decisions about what’s next – and about what home even means
- How reconnecting with ourselves is helping us stay grounded through all of the messy awkwardness of reemergence
- Bonus treat: A meet and greet with Jennifer’s dog Caroline!
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Jon Kabat-Zinn (wisdom teacher Lara mentioned)
Priya Parker (expert on gathering Jennifer mentioned)
Connect with Michaela | Connect with Jennifer
Thank You for Listening!
This episode was produced by Lara Dalch and Jennifer McCord.
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xo,
