Joy is possible even in the hardest moments. Carissa Orr shares how educators can cultivate it through curiosity and care.

This work is heavy sometimes. In the middle of behaviors, breakdowns and things happening in our personal lives, joy can feel impossible some days.

In this episode, Carissa Orr joins me to talk about what it really looks like to find joy when things are hard. She shares stories from her early days in the classroom and the challenges that tested her resilience. 

Through it all, she learned that you have to create joy; waiting for it isn’t practical enough.

We talk about how our brains are wired to focus on what’s difficult and how we can intentionally shift that focus. 

Carissa shares a great example. She bought a car in a shade of green she never really saw before. But once she bought it, she saw it everywhere. 

[00:16:48] “What we focus on, we get more of.”

The same is true with joy. We can retrain our brains to stay curious, even in the hardest moments. This conversation is a reminder that joy doesn’t come from the absence of difficulty.

[00:42:10] “We just need to remember that we do what matters, even when it’s messy. And we gotta keep showing up and staying curious and find a tribe.”