Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Grandmomma Ruth who was always the first one to volunteer for the church coat drive…
They taught you how to give,
How to make an impact,
and how to ignore your inner needs until you’re on the verge of a literal breakdown.
Here’s the thing, it’s not that anyone set out to teach you that making a difference means having to fall on your own sword, it’s just that there hasn’t been much evidence that it was possible for it to look any other way. Until now.
Whether you’ve been in the fight against oppression for decades, or are new to taking action, now is the moment where you become an example of widespread impact while still managing to live a happy and fully satisfying life, filled with the things and people you love. This book will help you find the way.
And unlike many books in this genre that gloss over the different experiences and challenges that face People of Color and White people on the journey towards joy and justice, Feel Better. Do Better. was written with that messy complexity right at the center.
Each Chapter Includes...
An invitation from Deb (a White, cis-gender life and leadership coach, educator and DEIJ consultant) to consider a new way to move forward towards both a more just world and your own delight in the life you’re living. Not one or the other.
An essay by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color/Culture) author that further illuminates this path and expands possibilities.
Resources for your journey – practices to try, books and podcasts to check out, other ways to find support.
You can feel better and still be a good person.
Come with us.
We’re right here waiting for you.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Marquita Davis
ESSAYIST. POET. LIFE COACH IN TRAINING
Marquita Davis is freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who believes that fluency and familiarity with our own joy and pain allows us to connect with the joy and pain of others, strengthening our experience of the interconnectedness of all things. Her work highlights the importance of understanding of ourselves, our traumas, and triggers as a path to healing and authentic living, and whenever possible, will make you laugh out loud along the way. She is also a co-creator of Feel Better Do Better Together.
Larrisa Parson
EMBODIED JOY COACH
Larissa Parson is a joy and justice coach, podcaster, and writer. She helps her clients move toward radical self-love, body liberation, and joy through group coaching, 1-1 support, and embodiment/ movement classes. Larissa’s intersectional identities include Black, biracial, queer, chronically ill, and mom to twins. She lives outside Durham, NC, on the traditional lands of the Eno, Tutelo, Saponi, Occaneechi, Shakori, and the Tuscarora people, in a country built on stolen bodies’ lives and labor.
Jennifer Foylan
INDIGENOUS SOCIAL JUSTICE ARTIST
Jennifer Folayan is a business owner, artist, and graphic designer who has created programs to empower and unite survivors of rape, incest, domestic violence, and foster care youth through healing arts. She is of Pueblo, Cherokee, Aztec and Spanish descent. She served on the Board of Directors for the Baltimore American Indian Center. She is an active Peer-to-Peer mentor for National Alliance on Mental Illness. Jennifer believes each person has the potential to create a life filled with happiness and love.
Trevia Woods
EDUCATOR & COMMUNITY BUILDER
Trevia (TREE-va) is a mixed-race woman with Indigenous ancestors and nearly two decades of experience in bodywork, education, and community-building. She has roots in the Midwest and Colorado and has traveled the world. Trevia hosts the HELD community helping people remember their power by learning to establish traditions and community care rituals while connecting with their own lineage and heritages without culturally or spiritually appropriating.
Tamara Robinson
SEX, INTIMACY & BODY CONFIDENCE COACH
Tamara is a Passion & Pleasure coach who helps women navigate the very real feelings of overwhelm and pain experienced after a heartbreak or a major life event. She’s a mother, author, and poet who’s enthusiastic with a daily existence of pleasure, flow, ease. Tamara’s mission is to help women reclaim their sexual pleasure, have more confidence, and create more passion and pleasure in their life.
Kristen Mun
THEATRE ARTIST AND RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE
Kristen was born and raised on the island of Oahu and currently lives in Portland, OR, where she works as a cultural consultant, Racial Justice Facilitator, and a core member of the Accountability Collective, a group of volunteers working toward racial equality for the Portland theatre community. When she is not a facilitator and project manager with Racial Justice from the HEART, she is a stage manager and fight choreographer in the Portland theatre community.
Joyce Washington
RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE. MENTOR. DEIJ CONSULTANT
Joyce served as a catastrophe team leader for Allstate Corporation for 42 years. Now, a Social Justice Advocate, her mission is to help eradicate systemic and institutional racism, representing people with “no voice.” Joyce is a chairperson for the Weakley County Reconciliation Project (engaging communities in conversations about race) and for the Martin Housing Authority. She is a certified Racial Justice Facilitator, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member, and has three children and seven grandchildren.
David Valentine
HIGHER ED EXECUTIVE
Dave has spent most of his career in the world of private philanthropy and higher education finance and administration, where he consistently diversifies the workforce and mentors leaders (some out of the organization!). On the side he loves to support transformative education and is currently exploring possibilities in the realm of spiritual direction and coaching.
Deb Shine Valentine
LIFE AND LEADERSHIP & DEIJ COACH
I hold a wide range of credentials — from a Ph.D. in Childhood Studies to certification as a Racial Justice from the Heart Facilitator, to a Sex, Love and Relationship coaching certification. My 30+ years of experience as an educator is just as broad, ranging from early childhood education to college. Still, despite my best efforts, I never could find a way to suffer enough to make the world better, and trying to do so made life feel pretty darn HEAVY. Fast forward to today. I focus my efforts on joy, pleasure and self-compassion as the means to bringing change that makes the world better for all beings. I call this path thriving for equity and love helping others to do the same. Learn more...