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Speaker, educator, advocate

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About Jo
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Making sense of pain through science and stories. Bridging the gap between patients and health professionals.

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Explore Nature

The clouds were pretty unreal while I was in RMNP

The clouds were pretty unreal while I was in RMNP on Friday.
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It is a sky we all live under, yet not all of us have equal access or equal opportunity to get out and explore and breathe in nature.
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We must do something about that. Being antiracist is not a partisan issue. We should all be against racism, no matter our politics. This is a human rights issue. A human dignity issue. A public health issue. This is about our common humanity.
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Racism can be a very hard and uncomfortable thing to talk about. Yet we have to talk about it. And then we have to do more. But it starts with talking. With hard conversations. With acknowledging we're uncomfortable and then exploring why we're so uncomfortable. With educating ourselves. With LISTENING to black people and people of color. Just listen.
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If you need a place to start, please follow @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends and perhaps join her book club. The first book is Ghost Boys and it is incredible, I read it in one sitting. Even if you don't join the book club, I highly recommend the book.
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Marcie also provides history lessons for adults, history many of us were never taught in school, at @mockingbirdhistorylessons .
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We don't have to do this hard work alone, but we do have to do this work.
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#solidarity #blacklivesmatter #antiracism

Whenever I'm out in nature I find myself tilting m

Whenever I'm out in nature I find myself tilting my head up toward the sky, closing my eyes, taking a long, slow breath. And I always think 'I can just breathe'.
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As I thought that yesterday, I heard George Floyd saying 'I can't breathe. Please, I can't breathe' as he lay dying with a white man's knee upon his neck. I think of Eric Garner saying 'I can't breathe' as he died with a white man's arm around his neck. I can't breathe.
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I think of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Of Freddie Gray and Michael Brown. Of Philando Castile and Sandra Bland.
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We have real work to do in this country to get at the root cause of these deaths. To root out racism, systemic and otherwise. To know our real history, to confront our own biases, and our own silences. We need to stand up. Fellow white people, we need to stand the fuck up and do this work.
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William Barr, the US Attorney General, had Eric Garner's federal case dropped, while he freed Michael Flynn. Our current president supported the ARMED white men ('very nice people', just like in Charlottesville) storming my home state of Michigan's capitol (he even told 'that woman from Michigan' to give them what they want). But he suggested those protesting George Floyd's murder - a murder at the hands of a white man in a position of authority - be shot and called them 'thugs'.
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Do you see the difference?
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So many white folk were up in arms when Colin Kaepernick took a knee to peacefully protest police brutality and racial inequality. Will those same folk rail against the white knee upon George Floyd's neck? For almost 9 minutes, while he was handcuffed? For minutes after he was unconscious? After he was dead?
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My heart is so heavy. I am filled with outrage and sorrow.
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Will white folk stand up? Speak out? Will we act?
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#georgefloyd #ahmaudarbery #breonnataylor #saytheirnames #blacklivesmatter #demandjustice #standup be #antiracist and please #vote

This is Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park in

This is Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park in November- I can't believe I never posted a pic! I took a few so I'll post a little series over the next few days to see which you like best. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place.
Olympic National Park is pretty incredible. Over the course of two days I went from high alpine along Hurricane Ridge to this lovely lake (visited in the evening and the morning) to the Hoh Rain Forest to the Pacific Coast (I stayed one incredible night at Kalaloch Lodge). And there was so much I didn't have time to do!
This trip fell in the midst of a very busy time, so I took these few days to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature, and with myself. That's probably why I only posted one pic back when it happened 🤷🏻‍♀️ I hope to make it back here one day.
#OlympicNationalPark #washington #PNW #findyourpark #goparks #protectourparks #nationalparks #protectourwinters #wereallinthistogether

Destination of our bike & hike on Saturday. Still

Destination of our bike & hike on Saturday.

Still trying to figure out my ig life. Don't feel much like posting, yet I think I'll enjoy looking back on these pics someday.

Went on a hike with my buddy @keith.mccarroll Thur

Went on a hike with my buddy @keith.mccarroll Thursday. We had more snow than we expected! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes hiking up and across snow and that just seemed wrong. Snow and mosquitoes? 🤔But very worth it for this view! (Which I pretty much slid down to on my ass on more snow.)
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I'm so grateful to get to hike and take pictures. Especially with my pain pal Keith. Back in the worst years of my pain this seemed utterly impossible. It was getting back out into nature again that helped me heal. It was looking at this beautiful, rugged, resilient, and fragile world we live in through the lens of my Galaxy S7 (still!) that helped me to see the world again, as if for the first time. Photography helped me heal, too.
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There are so many people in pain right now. Black people in our country have suffered for centuries at the hands of racist power. How do we become an antiracist nation? How do create equity in our environment, society, systems, policies, institutions, distribution of resources, and access to opportunities? How do we assure that no one is denied the resources, support, and opportunity to heal?
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There is much work to be done. For my pain peeps, I am creating a course in ethical pain care. If you would like to share or talk about what that means to you, hit me up.

Views along my walk to pick the FJ up from its reg

Views along my walk to pick the FJ up from its regular service. Somedays I'm continually awed by everything I see. Yesterday was one of those days. The clouds and snow capped peaks of the Divide so white and picturesque against the backdrop of that Colorado blue sky. The weather was lovely, the birds were singing, the critters were running about and chattering. It was pretty darn wonderful!
#coloRADo #continentaldivide #colorfulcolorado #leavingplanetearth #appreciatenature #grandcounty

Sky was a beauty tonight. . . . . #leavingplanetea

Sky was a beauty tonight.
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#leavingplanetearth #sunset #afterglow #coloRADo #mountains #silhouette #colorfulcolorado #noedit

Different lake, different camping trip (went campi

Different lake, different camping trip (went camping twice the last two weeks), more mellow yet still beautiful sunset.

Another pic from our bike & hike Saturday. The hik

Another pic from our bike & hike Saturday. The hike was beautiful, the flowers were gorgeous, the lake was peaceful, the rain held off, the snacks were tasty. A pretty darn good day.

Love this pic from our adventure yesterday, smoky

Love this pic from our adventure yesterday, smoky skies and all. So grateful to all the firefighters, hotshots, dozer operators, air ops crews, and management teams that are fighting the fire close to us here in Fraser and to those fighting the fires all over Colorado, California, and the West.
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📍 Cheyenne and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) land

Same view after sunset.

Same view after sunset.

Just a bit of mountain mindfulness and cloud lovel

Just a bit of mountain mindfulness and cloud loveliness. I'm so grateful for nature.

Sky, mountains, trees, water, rock.

Sky, mountains, trees, water, rock.

A pic of one of my favorite views along the Fraser

A pic of one of my favorite views along the Fraser River Trail. We are so lucky to have this beautiful and well-maintained in-town trail. Thank you @officialfraserco and @happytrails_hta!

My favorite pic from our camping trip for John's b

My favorite pic from our camping trip for John's birthday. It was a smoky, hazy, beautiful few days.

📍 Eastern Shoshone and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) lands

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Explore Recent Posts

Some thoughts on racism and antiracism – and how it relates to pain advocacy June 3, 2020
Challenging patient, part deux. My chat with PT Matt. October 18, 2019
Healing and curing ~ reflecting on the words of Rachel Naomi Remen June 22, 2019
Wholeness, stories, service, compassion – initial reflections on SD Pain 2019 March 2, 2019
The challenging patient… January 31, 2019

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