⚠️ Fair Warning: If you don't like joy and trying new things, and vibe to Disney and 90’s song lyric references, this may not be for you. Just heads up. ⚠️
Hello fabulous Human you!
I've been thinking about this Challenge, and I kept thinking "I just wonder what would happen, if we just said ‘yes’?" Yes to trying the thing, wearing the thing, asking for what you need, showing up, and not from a screw you it doesn’t matter, but from the lens of, it’s a no if you don’t even try.
And for sure, the nihilism is STRONG lately. The world and us get caught in the crossfire when we think "does it really matter?" And come back to the idea of asking: “How do I want to feel when I'm 80 and look back at how I showed up during this time?”
And that’s great, it is. But it’s really really really far away, and honestly, the zombie apocolypse may come before then. I might not make it to 80. That’s a lot of life between now and then, I need something sooner.
So then I think…
What do I want to feel when I get to Jan 31st of this year and raise my little sparkling apple juice (with edible glitter swirls and a vanilla salt rim) and think about how I showed up? What stories do I want to reflect back on from this fall? How do I want to live into the story that I want to tell that night to my friends.
We think we are being good by playing the characters society has built for us, yes, no, ‘not a problem’ ‘I’m fine’, ‘Maybe next time’ letting go of the things that make us human in sacrifice of the bigger things happening because we think THAT WILL BRING US LIFE. But it actually sacrifices our energetic battery, our vitality, and our community because we're tired and exhausted and burned out. (And that’s no fun, trust, I have that t-shirt, it’s ill-fitting and itchy)
But joy? Joy is that refreshment. It's that refueling, and it’s the first thing we scrap when we don’t want to take up too much space. But here’s the catch, to embody joy YOU HAVE TO CHOSE YOURSELF. YOU HAVE TO CHOSE, CONCIOUSLY, TO STEP INTO IT, TO CLAIM IT. TO SEED IT.
TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES TO LOVE ON. TO PLAN FOR. TO TWIRL FOR.
YOU ARE WORTH IT. YOU KNOW IT. YOU’VE DONE THE WORK. YOU’VE PRACTICED SOME TOOLS. YOU’VE LISTENED TO THE PODCAST.
YOU ARE THE DEFINITION OF A CURIOUS PANDA, AND YOU WANT MORE. YOU’VE SCRATCHED THE SURFACE, AND LIKE THE FIRST HOT CHOCOLATE OF THE SEASON, YOU WONDER…CAN YOU HAVE MORE? DO YOU DARE TO?
WHAT IF…YOU HAD TO? FOR SCIENCE? FOR AN EXPERIMENT? FOR AN EXPEDITION OF KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO LIVE FROM YOUR WHOLE DAMN SELF AND YOUR BIG SOUL.
BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS THEN? YOU HOLD YOUR THREAD OF THE WORLD, YOU BECOME A BETTER FRIEND, PARENT, CHILD, CITIZEN. IT RIPPLES. BECAUSE THEN YOU HAVE THIS THING CALLED CAPACITY.
WE THINK WE CAN RUN ON TOAST AND A BANANA, BUT YOU NEED FUEL. FOR YOUR BODY, MIND, AND SOUL.
AND THIS IS FUEL. TO HELP YOU REMEMBER, YOU ARE ALIVE. YOU HAVE DREAMS, AND TO WALK ALONG SIDE YOU AS YOU EXPLORE THE MAGIC OF SAYING YES, IN BIG AND SMALL WAYS IN COMMUNITY.
Do the thing
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Play with magic
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Have your own damn back
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Laugh out loud
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Do the thing ✳︎ Play with magic ✳︎ Have your own damn back ✳︎ Laugh out loud ✳︎
The Permission Slip You've Been Waiting For
The people who wear red lipstick are the people who put red lipstick on their face. They then become a person who wears red lipstick.
The same goes for joy. You can be a person of joy by doing things that bring you joy, and then you are a person of joy.
It's choosing it, not just feeling it. The feeling comes when you step into it.
Are you willing to choose? Are you willing to practice joy? Unhinged delight? Speaking your heart, and trusting your nudge?
Let me be ultra clear about who this challenge is for: it’s for the ones who see the magic in this world, the ones who are exasperated with this world AND still want to frolic in the forest with friends. It’s for those who want justice and peace in this world, and who might be a little neurospicy.
It’s for the ones who want to howl at the moon and also raise money for those getting back on their feet overseas.
It’s for people who crave both activism and joy. Cackling and sleeping.
If that doesn’t resonate, that’s okay—there are plenty of other spaces you may love…but I’d bet if you are reading this, then a part of you is curious, is longing for this… here’s your permission slip, your dare…come join us. Let your soul breathe out for once. Laugh loudly for once.
Because if you’re looking for a circle of vibrant, feisty, often very sparkly humans who will cheer you on while you step into your spark, this is where you want to be.
Here's what we're playing with.
Being visually seen. Physically embodying your joy in a way that feels good for you. How you schedule your day and the things you do. How you present to the world — and whether that presentation feels joyful for you.
Then: getting clear on what level you're playing at, or have capacity to play at, and adding play right where you already are.
More silliness. More fun. More delight. And then going for it. We are being visible with our joy.
Two years ago this ran for one week in a Facebook group.
This year we’re doing double the time, with interactive calls, and a whole chat, and the playground is Embodied in Joy.
2 Weeks
One experiment, an expedition to get more information, on what would happen, and what does happen when you say yes. August 24th-September 7th
2 Live calls
This isn’t a lecture, there are no slides, there is us, dancing, exploration, real time energy resets, and tools for you to use along the way with Q+A time.
1 WhatsApp chat
Our own room this year. Dares land here, and so does everyone's evidence.
∞ Truth or Dare Drops
Prompts to interact with, embody, and enjoy, and more importantly, try, all the way through.
If you’re like, yep I need this like french toast at 2 am on my period. Sign me up immediately, then you are in luck!
There are four tiers you can choose to participate. The Free version will have our group zooms, worksheets, Outfit of the Day, Glimmer posts, journal prompts and more!
If you're feeling called to deeper support with group accountability or personal coaching, you can choose the $33, $111, or $333 tier! 50% of the proceeds go to KIVA loans to help support women starting their businesses. (Payment plans are available upon request).
Meet your guide
Hi, I’m Aj, the Joy Weaver
An Intuitive Soul Coach, henna artist, and glitter enthusiast who believes joy isn't selfish - it's essential fuel for showing up in this wild world. I'm also a hot chocolate connoisseur, military spouse in Mississippi with two pups and way too many houseplants, and the author of Red Thread: Weaving an Embodied Life of Joy.
I created this challenge because I've been watching too many of us drop our joy like it's a luxury we can't afford. But here's the thing - when we deny ourselves the things that make us feel alive, we're actually sacrificing our capacity to show up for what matters most.
This isn't about toxic positivity or pretending everything's fine. This is about remembering that taking care of yourself, doing things that light you up, and choosing joy are acts of resistance. It's about asking "Fuck it, why not?" when that voice in your head says you're too old, too young, too much, or not enough.
Over the last 15 years of leading Red Tents, retreats, and workshops internationally, I've seen what happens when people give themselves permission to step into their full selves. The ripple effects are extraordinary.
So this September, we're doing the soul work together. We're identifying what stories are holding us back from joy, reconnecting with what we actually like (because so many people don't even know!), and rewriting the scripts that keep us small.
Whether you're someone who needs tangible tools (because "just breathe" makes you want to scream "HOW though?!") or you're ready to dive deep into the messy, beautiful work of choosing yourself - this challenge has space for you.
We're going full onion, my friends, because we’ve got layers. And I couldn't be more excited.
Ready to remember what makes life worth living?
Hands at your back, let’s sing our soul songs,
Aj
I’m a hot and ready Sparkly potato. I’m in!
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I realize when I at least say that, those same people disagree with me politically about SO many things. If their fundamental beliefs about how the world should work are drastically different than mine, should I be taking their opinions of my actions to heart? They might be kind people I love, but are their values in line with what I know in my bones? (Maybe you’ve been navigating this too).
I've gotten emails telling me I'm bringing people to hell, that my soul is damned, that I should close my business immediately. This was my biggest fear for the longest time to receive those words, and when I did…
You know what happened? I didn't die. My mentor asked me: "Did it change your mind about the work you're meant to do?"
Absolutely not. For every 1 email I got telling me I was wrong, I had 15 women grateful for the work I did.
Your heart is not up for debate, your willingness to put you on your own list is the whole kit and kaboodle my friend.
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Remember the gay clubbers in the 90s during the AIDS crisis? "We bury our friends during the day, we do our work, we dance at night so we have energy to keep going."
The dancing, the joy - it's vital to our vitality.
When I take time for joy, when someone calls with a problem, I have capacity to hold space. When I don't? It's like "Girl, I don't know, good luck, good night."
Joy gives us capacity to show up for what matters. And you’ve been putting on the list that everyone else matters but you…so it’s time to flip that script. We’re done just falling, we will be flying, or falling with style in Buzz Lightyear vibes.
Either way, you know there’s more. Let’s explore it.
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FREE (Everything You Need)
All Zoom calls & recordings in Embodied In Joy
Worksheets and guides
Community support
Email reminders for all the things
$33 - GROUP CHAT ACCOUNTABILITY
WhatsApp Chat group
Daily check-ins and support
$111 - PERSONAL COACHING
Everything above PLUS
Two one-on-one Zoom calls with me
Deep dive into YOUR specific joy barriers
$333 - FULL SUPPORT (Only 4 Spots)
Everything above PLUS
WhatsApp support with me 5 days a week for the entire month
This is your chance to get a deal that doesn't normally exist
80% of all proceeds will go to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
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When I burned out after taking care of everyone else and neglecting myself, you know how much capacity I had to help the world? Less than 0, the bitterness and rage was real and I felt hollow.
I thought mutual suffering would bond me with others, instead it carved me out and left me empty and unable to help in the ways I wanted to. Joy and soul tending and alignment brought me back to life, and brought me back into living alongside people again, to be with others on equal footing.
When I have conversations with people going through rough patches, they mention how joy encourages them, how they did something good for themselves and felt better, and that they appreciate the reminders. People enjoy comedy, or sunsets, and ren faires for the same reason, it refreshes us. Our joy isn’t shameful, it can be shame-lessening, and it actually makes more space for the spectrum of feeling, IF we allow it.
But it’s a practice, and in a world telling you you are too much, and not enough simultaneously, and an internet ready to pile on at a second’s notice, it can lead to second-guessing, and buttoning up, when really, the world needs us yodeling our soul songs in all the ways possible.
This is not shrinking times, this is light it up times.
Put on the glitter, and join us. If you’ve read this far, you know you want to join us.
Want to know more?
This is less about our worthiness conversations. Less about do I deserve joy, do I not deserve joy, what do I think about it.
This is about how we are showing up in our day-to-day lives to make room for joy, to seed magic, and to show up for our whole damn selves.
Where are you leaving parts of yourself behind, and how can you have your own damn back? What does that look like in the way you run your day, the way you take care of my body, the way you take care of your mind? You
Because so often we're second-guessing ourselves, or we're like — no, I can't, because bada-da-da. Not for these two weeks. As we say around these parts, “NOT TODAY BARBARA!” (That’s the name of my inner critic, I apologize if your name is Barbara, you are great, my Barbara is just a little fiesty, then again, maybe you are too, so you should definitely join us)
This is for you if…
You did Absurdist Delight
…and you were like, "Oh my God, yes! But I could have gone harder. I could have taken it to the next level." This is for you.
You almost joined Absurdist Delight
You wanted to join Absurdist Delight, and you didn't. It wasn't perfect timing, or you thought maybe next time. This is your moment.
You're joy-curious
You're like, "I don't really know about joy, but I want to try being more playful." There are dares for you.
You're already lit up
You're fully embodied in your joy and you're ready to crank it to the next level. This is for you too.
We live in a world where it feels almost “wrong” to lean into joy — like how dare we laugh, dance, or rest while everything is so heavy. But here’s the truth: joy isn’t frivolous. It’s fuel.
When you feel alive, resourced, and connected to wonder, you actually expand your capacity to show up — for yourself, for your people, for the world.
And if that's true, then what's our game plan for it? Not sure? (The answer is this Play Full Out Challenge, where we will literally MAKE your game plan for it). It’ll be ridiculous, silly, hilarious, and weird sometimes, even awkward. AND THAT’S OKAY. Honestly, it’s a part of it. But if you are willing to stretch, to grow your capacity for playfulness, you’ll be amazed at what’s possible
P.S. - There will be prizes for people who participate and invite friends. Because why not make it even MORE fun?
PPS. Bring your maracas, red lipstick, and sparkles (or whatever makes you happy to wear and shake); it’s gonna be fun!
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