TMLG explores the power of contentment and acceptance as both a pathway to AND a manifestation of Black Joy.    Visit TMLG and HeARTtalk online at: IG - @hearttalkwithtracey & @tmlgwriter FB- https://www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey Get your copy of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration wherever books are sold! Including Black bookstores Click HERE to buy.    

Howard Thurman, citing Abraham Heschel, wrote about this concept of "radical amazement" in his book, The Inward Journey, and TMLG unpacks it in relationship to Black Joy. She also invites a caller who is concerned about not being able to express the fullness of his emotions as a Black man, to consider the lies he's been told.    Visit TMLG and HeARTtalk online at: IG - @hearttalkwithtracey & @tmlgwriter FB- https://www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey Get your copy of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration wherever books are sold! Including Black bookstores Click HERE to buy.

TMLG chats with prolific author, Deesha Philyaw, about the various ways we wield joy as Black women and writers. The two explore how Black joy shows up in the creation of characters as well as how creatives, in particular, live and work.  Visit Deesha at: www.deeshaphilyaw.com Visit TMLG and HeARTtalk online at: IG - @hearttalkwithtracey & @tmlgwriter FB- https://www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey Get your copy of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration wherever books are sold! Including Black bookstores Click HERE to buy.

TMLG talks more about the physical body being a portal to joy, especially for Black and Brown folks.  Our caller fam also wants to know how we can sustain joy over time.  Visit TMLG and HeARTtalk online at: IG - @hearttalkwithtracey & @tmlgwriter FB- https://www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey Get your copy of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration wherever books are sold! Including Black bookstores Click HERE to buy.  

TMLG is back and Season 3 is all about BLACK JOY! In this episode... What does it look like to hold on to our joy, to be intentional about creating moments of joy, when fear and rage and grief is ever present and the world is a dumpster fire? With the new call-in format and special guest episodes, Tracey will unpack this and so much more this season.  Visit TMLG and HeARTtalk online at: IG - @hearttalkwithtracey & @tmlgwriter FB- https://www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey Get your copy of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration wherever books are sold! Including Black bookstores Click HERE to buy.  

In the season finale episode, Tracey Michae’l talks with author, visual artist, and teacher, Claudia Love Mair, about the intersection of the arts with mental health and specifically about her own journey with Bipolar Disorder. This candid conversation covers the problematic view of racism as mental illness, Claudia's spiritual evolution and winding journey in publishing, and the beauty in having a different kind of brain. Visit Claudia on IG: @claudialovemair   HeARTtalk is: Healing through Art and Story Visit TMLG and the show online at www.hearttalkpodcast.com IG: www.instagram.com/hearttalkwithtracey FB: www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey

In S2E9 of HeARTtalk, TMLG talks with her partner/husband William Giggetts about the challenges and upsides of living with an artist/creative. The couple talks about the day-to-day frustrations, the ever-elusive notion of balance, and parenting pressures during the pandemic.   HeARTtalk is: Healing through Art and Story   Visit TMLG and the show online at www.hearttalkpodcast.com IG: www.instagram.com/hearttalkwithtracey FB: www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey

In S2E8 of HeARTtalk, TMLG talks with actor/playwright, Teresa Miller, about the power of the arts to help us "hear" ourselves so that, in turn, we can love well and heal. The response to grief, for some, is to run as far away from it as possible. And that’s understandable. It hurts. It overwhelms. But Teresa shares with us the hope found in sitting in our grief. Examining it. HeARTtalk is: Healing through Art and Story Visit TMLG and the show online at www.hearttalkpodcast.com IG: www.instagram.com/hearttalkwithtracey FB: www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey

In S2E7, TMLG speaks with writer, cinematographer, and producer, Stephanie Malson, about her pivot from corporate security to full-time creative work. The conversation is an intimate and candid look at the ebbs and flows that come with making such a huge transition and the significance of knowing your “why.”    Check out Stephanie’s cinematography reel: https://vimeo.com/223023758 Visit her on instagram: @slminspired   HeARTtalk is: Healing through Art and Story   Visit TMLG and the show online at www.hearttalkpodcast.com IG: www.instagram.com/hearttalkwithtracey FB: www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey

So much of what we call illness and disease can be linked to how much personal and trans-generational trauma we hold in our bodies. That’s why it is critical in this movement for Black lives that we #fightANDheal. Learning how to return to our bodies can be transformative and one of the ways we can do that is through movement. In S2E6 of HeARTtalk, TMLG speaks with Randall Rosenberg, a NOLA-based dancer and choreographer, about how movement and dance can be a healing force if we can embrace the freedom found in it. Visit Randall on IG at: Instagram.com/Iwantmycrownback HeARTtalk is: Healing through Art and Story Visit TMLG and the show online at www.hearttalkpodcast.com IG: www.instagram.com/hearttalkwithtracey FB: www.facebook.com/hearttalkwithtracey