Birthdays often get people thinking about their lives and the coming year. In this episode, I talk a bit about some recent travels and some thoughts on how I plan to spend my 53rd year around the sun.

As days turn grey and the temperature drops for many of us, it's important to look for some joy. In this episode I talk about finding joy for yourself and doing things to bring a bit of joy to others.

Author and all around great person Kelly S. Thompson joined me to talk about the importance of caring for yourself when you're a caregiver.

Writer, entrepreneur, and leader Ritu Bhasin joined me to talk about her new book We've Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging, having empathy for yourself and others, listening to your body, and caring for yourself when you're a caregiver.

Singer/song-writer Jesse Daniel Edwards joined me to talk about his latest album Violensia, our mutual California connection, and how he returned to his musical roots to write about how people have been feeling in these hard times.

Author Charlotte Gill joined me to talk about her latest book, Almost Brown: A Mixed Race Family Memoir, how others try to define our identities, and how change in higher education won't come from individual instructors, including elements of equity and inclusion in their syllabi.

In this episode for Canadian Thanksgiving, I talk about the bullying I experienced growing up and finally being in a place with friends who love me and respect me for who I am.

Kids Help Line (Canada) - 1-800-668-6868 or text 686868
Trevor Project (U.S.) - https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

Loleen Berdahl returns to the podcast to explain the Canadian Notwithstanding Clause and talk about how to cope with the very heavy times.

Author, speaker, and human rights activist Rowan Jetté Knox and I sat down to talk about his new book One Sunny Afternoon: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing. We dove into the struggles we've each had with our mental health, the importance of ending the stigma of mental illness, and why self-care is as important when you're well as when you're deep in the muck.

You can find Rowan on Instagram and Twitter at @rowanjetteknox.

Welcome to the new season of the Better Me Podcast. In this episode I give a quick summary of the guests coming up and talk about the importance of belonging, a theme that will run through many of the episodes this season. I also take a few minutes to talk about how new education policies are denying a sense of belonging to some of our students.