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About Jo
Speaker, educator, advocate

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About Jo
Speaker, educator, advocate

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MyCuppaJo.com

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

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Explore Nature

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.

Went for a hike yesterday. I've spent much of the

Went for a hike yesterday. I've spent much of the last few weeks listening, learning, unlearning. I'm astonished by how much I don't know about US history. About how much I didn't know about the long standing racial injustices and racist ideas built into our institutions, our laws, our policies, our beliefs.
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I shouldn't be surprised. I first learned about systemic racism, though I didn't call it that, my freshman year of high school during one of my JV basketball games. There was a commotion in the stands, involving my dad. That wasn't surprising (if you know my dad, you know this), but embarrassing all the same. At least until I learned what it was about.
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One of my Black friends was being threatened by kids from the school we were playing. They were going to jump him in the parking lot, with baseball bats. And OUR school's hall narc was kicking him out of the gym. Our school's official was kicking out one of our Black students to get jumped in the parking lot.
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My dad wasn't going to let that happen. He faced off with the hall narc and was himself kicked out. He sure as hell wasn't letting J go into that parking lot alone. They went out together, and the White boys from the other school didn't jump them.
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That was bad enough, but the next day OUR principal made my dad apologize to the athletic director and to us athletes. He made my dad apologize for sticking up for one of OUR students, on our home turf. Ain't that some racist shit?
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That same year I was brought into the coaches office and told I was hanging around the 'wrong people', which I knew meant my Black and Brown friends. So I've long known racism exists, and that people in power often hold racist beliefs and enact racist policies.
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I've long known that racism is wrong. I was taught by my parents that we are all equal. But for too long, I thought not being racist was enough. IT IS NOT.
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I didn't learn of the Tulsa Race Massacre until I saw it on Watchmen. I learned of a real massacre on US soil, perpetrated by White US citizens, watching a TV show based on a comic book.
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That's f'd up.
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It's not enough to not be racist. We must learn our history. We must be antiracist.

Last night in Cali with my mom, with a pretty spec

Last night in Cali with my mom, with a pretty spectacular sunset before heading back to the snow!
#sunset #Carlsbad #surfer #SoCal #grateful #afterglow

One more from this little Lake Crescent series! I'

One more from this little Lake Crescent series! I'll have another three the next few days from the same spot, looking in another direction.
These last three, including this one, were all taken very near to each other. I spent forever in this spot, and largely had it to myself. It was pretty magical. One thing that amazed me during my time on the Olympic Peninsula was all the driftwood and beach logs. I could explore for hours just looking at all their unique shapes. I'll share some in another series ;) I especially loved this little driftwood piece. There is so much art in nature! .
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#OlympicNationalPark #PNW #washington #olympicpeninsula #findyourpark #goparks #nationalparks #lakecrescent #driftwood #reflection #appreciatenature #protectourwinters #protectourparks

One more pic of my last sunset in Cali for a bit.

One more pic of my last sunset in Cali for a bit. This was after the sunset and the colors went from intense to mellow. Love lingering sunsets like this one!

One more of this perfect little snow covered tree,

One more of this perfect little snow covered tree, beautifully illuminated by the sunlight filtered through a cloudy sky. .
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#coloRADo #findyourpark #RockyIsMyPark #RMNP #protectourparks #protectourwinters #forestmagic #wanderandwonder #appreciatenature

Simple pleasures.

Simple pleasures.

Amazing sunset tonight. Parry Peak was luminous wi

Amazing sunset tonight. Parry Peak was luminous with alpenglow as we headed into the grocery store. When we came back outside the sky was a masterpiece. We are so lucky to live here.
#sunset #colorado #leavingplanetearth

Okay, one more, I can't help myself. It was just s

Okay, one more, I can't help myself. It was just such an amazing sky last night! We are so lucky when we get to experience such beauty and awe. Today was warm and springlike, but snow and frigid temps are on the way!

#coloRADo #sunset #leavingplanetearth

'You know me, I think there ought to be a big old

'You know me, I think there ought to be a big old tree right there. And let's give him a friend. Everybody needs a friend.'
― Bob Ross
Another pic from my snowshoe in @rockynps a couple weeks ago.
#coloRADo #findyourpark #RMNP #RockyIsMyPark #protectourwinters #protectourparks #appreciatenature

Gorgeous sunset last night 🧡 . . . #leavingplan

Gorgeous sunset last night 🧡 .
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#leavingplanetearth #coloRADo #sunset

A pic I never posted from earlier in the season on

A pic I never posted from earlier in the season on a bluebird day. Thanks for a great season @winterparkresort, and thanks for looking out for your community, employees, and visitors. Til next time! Whenever that may be.
#coloRADo #winterparkresort

The Colorado River under blankets of snow. . . . .

The Colorado River under blankets of snow. .
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#ColoradoRiver #RMNP #RockyIsMyPark #protectourwinters #protectourparks #findyourpark #nationalparkservice #coloRADo

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 neighborhood appreciation post from our wa

Another neighborhood appreciation post from our walk yesterday afternoon.
#coloRADo #lovewhereilive #gratitude #leavingplanetearth

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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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