In this solo episode, Betsy explores a provocative idea for strange times:

Joy might be a form of anarchy.

We are living in an era saturated with catastrophe, outrage cycles, environmental grief, economic anxiety, and a constant sense that the world is tilting toward something darker. In that atmosphere, many of us quietly absorb an unspoken rule: if you care about the world, you should feel bad about it all the time.

But what if that equation is wrong?

What if joy is not denial or privilege or distraction, but a form of resistance?

In this episode, Betsy explores how fear-driven systems rely on exhausted, anxious populations, and why choosing joy in the midst of uncertainty can be a deeply rebellious act.

This conversation moves beyond superficial "positive thinking" to something much more embodied: joy as life force, sovereignty, and refusal.

Because being fully alive - cooking beautiful food, laughing with friends, falling in love, creating, resting, noticing beauty - is not frivolous.

It's a refusal to let the world shrink your life.

And in a culture that increasingly demands despair as proof of moral seriousness, enjoying your life might be one of the most subversive things you can do.

• Why modern culture subtly equates misery with moral seriousness

• The "purity culture" that has crept into activism and social awareness

• Why systems of control benefit from populations that are fearful and exhausted

• Joy as embodied life force rather than denial or avoidance

• The small, everyday acts that quietly reclaim sovereignty over your inner life

• Why you can feel anxiety about the world and still insist on joy

• The invitation to become what Betsy calls a "Joy Anarchist"

This episode is an invitation to protect your aliveness — even, and especially, in strange times.

Because joy is not naïveté. Sometimes it's defiance.

The Discomfort Practice explores the uncomfortable edges of being human - the places where growth, truth, and aliveness live.

You can find the book Pleasure Activism, by Adrienne Maree Brown here on her website. It's a highly recommended read / approach that might very well change your approach to life.

If this episode landed for you, consider sharing it with someone who might need the reminder.

Follow Betsy for more reflections on integrity, discomfort, and the quiet courage it takes to question what everyone else takes for granted:

• Betsy's on Instagram @thebetsyreed

• Subscribe to The Discomfort Practice wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)
  
  

• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge - some public, some subscriber-only: substack.com/thebetsyreed

• Work with Betsy: coaching, consulting, speaking, embodied leadership sessions, upcoming community circles, and People Like Us dinners across Europe: www.betsy-reed.com

What do you do when the people you most need to work with are the ones you most fundamentally disagree with?

In this episode of The Discomfort Practice, Betsy sits down with renowned facilitator and systems thinker Adam Kahane, whose work has brought together politicians, activists, CEOs, guerrilla fighters and community leaders in some of the most polarized environments in the world.

From South Africa's transition out of apartheid to complex global conflicts today, Adam has spent decades working in the uncomfortable middle: helping people collaborate across profound differences without pretending those differences don't exist.

This conversation explores what it actually takes to move forward together when trust is low, stakes are high, and nobody is getting exactly what they want.

In this episode, Betsy and Adam explore:

• Why collaboration doesn't require agreement

• The difference between controlling systems and participating in them

• How conflict can become a generative force instead of a dead end

• What it means to act when outcomes are uncertain

• Why real change often emerges from experimentation rather than certainty

This is not a conversation about neat solutions. It's about learning how to work inside the mess, with curiosity, humility, and courage.

About Adam Kahane

Adam Kahane is a director of Reos Partners and a leading facilitator of complex change processes around the world. He has worked with leaders from business, government, and civil society to address some of the toughest systemic challenges - from democratic transitions to climate change and economic inequality.

He is the author of several influential books including Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems: The Catalytic Power of Radical Engagement and Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don't Agree with or Like or Trust).

Learn more about Adam's work:

• https://www.reospartners.com

• https://www.adamkahane.com

If this episode landed for you:

• Follow and message Betsy on Instagram @thebetsyreed

• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)

• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge — some public, some subscriber-only:
  https://substack.com/thebetsyreed

• Work with Betsy: coaching, consulting, speaking, embodied leadership sessions, upcoming community circles, and People Like Us dinners across Europe:
  https://www.betsy-reed.com

"The world doesn't need us to be perfect; it just needs us to be present."

Betsy has been a meditation teacher for 10 years, and in that time, her own practice has changed. Before leading a 'Senses Meditation,' she swears a bit, she quotes singer Billy Bragg and invites you to meditate.

The answer to 'crunchy times' is not to escape them, to seek to 'ascend' and get away from the very real discomfort happening to you. The answer is sometimes to just be human in the midst of it, to realise that a regulated nervous system doesn't necessarily mean you're calm.

So step into your body, set aside 10 minutes or so to do this meditation - whether walking, driving, in the gym or sitting in your bed - and enjoy being with yourself. Whatever that feels like right now.

If you'd like more:

• Betsy records bespoke meditations, so if you'd like to commission some to accompany you through life right now, get in touch.

• Follow and message Betsy on Instagram @thebetsyreed

• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)

• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge - some public, some subscriber-only: substack.com/thebetsyreed