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JOY IS NOW

JOY IS NOW

By: Lisa Anderson Shaffer
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 JOY IS NOW the podcast where we take a psychologically minded look at life with host Lisa Anderson Shaffer, LMFT, coach, consultant, and resident psych enthusiast.

lisaandersonshaffer.substack.comLisa Anderson Shaffer Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Talking Long Form Creative Projects with Author Julie Barton

    Talking Long Form Creative Projects with Author Julie Barton
    Mar 22 2026
    There are creative projects that ask us to tell the truth. All of it. Memoir is one of them.Writing a book from lived experience requires incredible bravery. It asks us to stay in a heightened state of reveal for the duration of the entire project. Sorting through memories, insight, and change, often while handling our own invalidation about the experience we are writing about. Did it really happen that way? Are these facts or feelings? It is challenging work and requires a lot of the writer.Last week on Substack Live I had the pleasure of speaking with New York Times Bestselling author Julie Barton about her creative process and what it means to write a book drawn from personal experience.Julie is the author of Dog Medicine, a memoir that explores her experience with depression and the unexpected path toward healing through her deep connection and relationship with her dog Bunker. Writing a book that honors the depth and tenderness of Julie’s experience has its own unique creative process. Long stretches of solitude. Returning again and again to moments that are not always easy to revisit. Julie’s work is a testament to her devotion to her craft of writing and her commitment to creating the conditions for her creative process to endure such long-form projects. What struck me most in our conversation was the level of inner steadiness this work requires. Writing memoir is not just about remembering. The writer must stay present as the work unfolds. Trusting their perspective. Allowing the meaning of the story to emerge over time.It’s creative work that asks for both emotional depth and disciplined action. And a ton of endurance. If you’ve ever found yourself working on a project that draws from your own life, or if you’re in the middle of a body of work that feels personally significant, this conversation will resonate.Julie and I touch on vulnerability, structure, the responsibility of telling personal stories, and what it takes to stay in relationship with a long-form writing project.The recording is above.Thank you Margaret Williams, MS, ACC, Lisa Riddiough, and many others for tuning in live! And…I’ll be Live with food photographer extraordinaire Eva Kolenko on March 24 at 9am pst, discussing her thoughts on the creative process of working on cookbooks as a food photographer.You can join us here.STUDY HALL begins April 1Just a quick reminder…we’re about to get to work.In it to win it. You, ideally, in your metaphorical acid wash jeans and bigger than ever hair, showing up, clocking in, and creating the conditions for your creative process to be totally rad.Because that’s the thing.In STUDY HALL we don’t wait for inspiration.We provide the conditions for the work to flow.Study Hall came directly from my private mentorship clients asking for more time like this.More space to drop in, regulate, and actually work.So I built it.A live, structured container where we meditate, enter the work, and stay with it. Past blocks, through resistance. Getting it done. Brainstorming, drafting, making, playing, thinking, finishing.There are prompts for when you’re stuck (they’re so good).A DJ-curated playlist to set the vibe (also very good).And a method I usually only teach in private work, approaching creativity as energy, and learning how to work with it instead of against it.The container is Study Hall.The benefits are rad.Details:Monday — 9:00–10:00am PTWednesday — 9:00–10:00am PTThursday — 4:00–5:00pm PTThree times a week.12 sessions a month.$150/monthCome for all 12 or drop in for 3. You decide. And because you’re here:You can try it free for 7 days.Join us for up to three sessions and see what you think.If you’ve been wanting a place to actually be in your work, this is it.We start April 1. Get full access to MUSE at lisaandersonshaffer.substack.com/subscribe
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    54 mins
  • WHY I WRESTLE

    WHY I WRESTLE
    Oct 2 2022

    This week marks the final episode of JOY IS NOW. I discuss my decision to end such an incredibly fun and joyful project and why ending now is a completely new experience for me. Thank you so much for listening. It has been an honor to have you here. While Joy is coming to a close, I’m not done with podcasting. Moving forward, all Joy episodes will be available for my newsletter subscribers - you can sign up at the link below. And I’ll be creating a new podcast for subscribers, Alchemy - think of it as a place where data driven science and the wildly creative make out. I’ll be talking more about Human design, business mentorship and answering all the questions you can send my way. I hope you will join me there. I promise a good time.

    For now, let’s think of endings like we do Joy. Big and full of potential.

    Thank you so much for being here

    Thank you so much for being here.

    MUSE NEWSLETTERThis has been JOY IS NOW with me, Lisa Anderson Shaffer, LMFT. You can find me for hire at LISAANDERSONSHAFFER.COM and follow along with my musings at @lisa.anderson.shaffer on Instagram.

    LISA ANDERSON SHAFFER, LMFTNEWSLETTERBOOKINSTAGRAM



    Get full access to MUSE at lisaandersonshaffer.substack.com/subscribe
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    10 mins
  • LET'S TALK COMPASSION WITH MARY GRISEY

    LET'S TALK COMPASSION WITH MARY GRISEY
    Sep 25 2022

    Hi Friends and welcome to JOY IS NOW! The podcast where we take a psychologically minded look at life. I’m your host Lisa Anderson Shaffer, coach, consultant, and resident psych enthusiast.This week I am excited to host for an EMOTION segment discussion, Psychic Medium, Multidimensional Channeler, Visual Artist and Mother, MARY GRISEY.

    We discuss COMPASSION and how to practice it on ourselves and within the greater collective.

    Thank you so much for being here.

    MUSE NEWSLETTERThis has been JOY IS NOW with me, Lisa Anderson Shaffer, LMFT. You can find me for hire at LISAANDERSONSHAFFER.COM and follow along with my musings at @lisa.anderson.shaffer on Instagram.

    LISA ANDERSON SHAFFER, LMFTNEWSLETTERBOOKINSTAGRAMEPISODE LINKS:MARY GRISEYFINE ART



    Get full access to MUSE at lisaandersonshaffer.substack.com/subscribe
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    47 mins
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