Emily Ehlers describes herself as an illustrator, writer, environmentalist + very bad dancer.

We know her as the lass whose witty and poignant pieces combine art and activism in the greatest possible way. 

Today Em speaks with Jade about writing a book about hope as a self-proclaimed anxious person, humour as a tool for resilience, mental health truths, value stacking and all kinds of good stuff that’ll, with any luck, lift you in this time of uncertainty. 

Em has a new book out called Hope Is A Verb, so be sure to check it out if you like what you hear!

SHOW NOTES

• Writing a book about hope as an anxious person
• Finding reassurance in the doing
• Becoming a lighthouse that attracts like minded people
• Being aware of confirmation bias; actively being open to those you disagree with
• Using family to trial how you manage differing opinions
• Seeking to understand and then be understood
• Being more radical than the angle you present publicly for the sake of shifting the needle
• Providing tools that allow people to ‘enter the arena’ 
• Humour as a tool for resilience
• Fuelling our psyche with hope
• Hope isn't a stagnant thing, what it needs to be is ‘active hope’
• Having self compassion and understanding that we're human
• The things that make us most human are also the things which make us our most magnificent
• Going off antidepressants in order to write a book about hope and feeling the feelings
• Getting kids to know their values and to live within them
• Giving kids more credit than we do
• Value stacking
• Being aware of your marinade
• Inoculating yourself against regret 
• Learning to unlearn takes balls, gumption and desire
• Acknowledging that we are in the system that dominates us and we just need to do our best with what we have
• Gently shifting narrative so that people want to join you not run from you
• Rebuilding culture
• Thinking of self like a veggie patch: seasonal, phased, nurtured from the ground up
• Just start. Pick a thing. Stop over analysing and just do.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Em Ehlers on Instagram
• Hope is a Verb ~ Emily Ehlers  
• Brenna Quinlan on Instagram
• The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober ~ Catherine Grey
• Paul Hawken
• Sir Ken Robinson ~ Do schools kill creativity?

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