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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

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

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!

Sky, mountains, trees, water, rock.

Sky, mountains, trees, water, rock.

Another pic from my hike earlier in the week. The

Another pic from my hike earlier in the week. The sound of rushing water always fills my heart and lifts my spirit. It's like my mind empties into the current and my worries and anxieties are carried away for a while. .
Thanks to @winterparkcoloradophotography for the inspiration to post this pic today! (Check out her photos, they are way better than mine! And she's doing an amazing sunrise project right now).
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#coloRADo #leavingplanetearth #creek #forest #willows #appreciatenature #wanderandwonder (close to home)

Lovely day for a local hike. The clouds made for s

Lovely day for a local hike. The clouds made for some beautiful midday reflections. So grateful to live here.
#leavingplanetearth #coloRADo #reflection #experimentalforest

Another pic from my hike yesterday on one of our l

Another pic from my hike yesterday on one of our local trails. I didn't notice the 🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️ until after I took the pic because I was looking at the Divide and the clouds in that Colorado blue sky 💙
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#leavingplanetearth #coloRADo #hikingtrail #appreciatenature #colorfulcolorado

In addition to being a nature lover, my Mom is als

In addition to being a nature lover, my Mom is also really fun and funny. If I'm funny at all, I get it from her. Our very first stop at our first stop (@yosemitenps) on our road trip was Mariposa Grove. We hiked among the Giant Sequoias and Redwoods before heading to the Wawona Hotel for a memorable (and too short!) stay. (Note: it was the Big Trees Lodge while we were there, but is the Wawona again now). Here's an obligatory pic of my mom inside a tunnel tree. I want to take her back to Yosemite someday and stay a little longer.
Happy Mother's Day Eve, Ma!

#findyourpark #yosemite #goparks #MOMumental #ilovemymom #happymothersday #tunneltree

Fall. 📍 Cheyenne and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (U

Fall.

📍 Cheyenne and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) lands

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

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

Another pic from the lake, looking in a different

Another pic from the lake, looking in a different direction.

Last summer I went on a road trip with my Mom. Our

Last summer I went on a road trip with my Mom. Our first stop was Yosemite. My Mom instilled in my brother and me a love for the outdoors, a deep appreciation of nature, a profound joy in the beauty of the natural world, and delight in the simple things we too often take for granted - the smell of duff under your feet on a path in the woods, the scent of rain, the flit of a butterfly across your path, the dandelion growing up through a sidewalk crack, the songs of birds and chatter of critters, the breeze in your hair and warm sun on your face. I love the mountains and grand vistas, I love having my toes in the sand on an endless shoreline, yet what I love most is a walk in the woods, surrounded by trees that remind me of strength and grace, vulnerability and resilience, that have so much beauty in their gnarls and imperfections and so much nurturing in their roots, wisdom in their trunks, striving in their branches.
My favorite place to be anywhere is amongst the trees. I get that from my Mom. Happy Mother's Day Eve Eve Ma!

#findyourpark #yosemite #goparks #MOMumental #ilovemymom

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.

Same view, different viewpoint! Pretty soon this s

Same view, different viewpoint! Pretty soon this shortie of a trail will have some leafed out aspens. I'm looking forward to it 🍃! It's a summer-like day today so hoping to break away from the computer a bit this afternoon to get some more shots (this pic is from Monday). #coloRADo #continentaldivide #stayclosetohome #DoingMyPartCO #leavingplanetearth #protectourwinters #appreciatenature #ilovespring 🌱

Similar pic to my Earth Day pic, but that pic was

Similar pic to my Earth Day pic, but that pic was taken last year and this one was taken on Saturday 💙 Since we're only doing walks from home and not driving anywhere, you're going to keep seeing similar pics 😂 At least it's a gorgeous view though, right? Hopefully you'll enjoy seeing how the landscape changes along with me. .
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#coloRADo #continentaldivide #leavingplanetearth #protectourwinters #appreciatenature #DoingMyPartCO

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.

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Explore Recent Posts

Breaking my silence on racism and antiracism 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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