Why Alive! with Joy?
Why not? It’s a lot better than the alternative.
About Alive! with Joy
I know a thing or two about being Alive! with Joy, because:
I’ve been alive for 84 years, which means I’ve had decades to put some notches in my belt. I’ve survived two marriages, three children (single parenting two of them after my first husband died of cancer at 31 and birthing the third when I remarried at 43), five home & garden remodels, several engaging careers and many side passions. Since the end of my second marriage I’ve relished living alone, because I can finally hear the chatter of my own curious mind. That’s what you get here.
My name is Joy. Not always easy to live up to when the world seems on the verge of imploding and we’ve all become cynics. Hence I am always looking for moments of light and beauty to share, because I know you need them too. At the end of every issue I share a recent photo I’ve taken with my iPhone, to encourage you to “Put Yourself in the Way of Beauty,” a call to action I’ve stolen from the advice Cheryl Strayed’s mom gave her from her death bed.
I can be silly. Also I sometimes use bad words.
My pet peeve: folks who say they don’t care about politics, unaware that our political systems are responsible for the comforts and safety they take for granted, as well as for the lacks they’re pissed off about. And then they vote based on what they saw on Fox News or what their neighbor told them.
Who is Joy Overstreet today?
Most people retire somewhere in their mid-sixties, but a writer never retires. I’ve written about food, health, family life, computers, design, feng shui, down-sizing, color and even sex toys. My book, The Cherry Pie Paradox: The Surprising Path to Lasting Weight Loss and Diet Freedom, came out in 2021. It walks readers through the revolutionary Thin Within process I created in the 1970s to free myself and our clients of the diet insanity that sadly still plagues so many women.
I’m also a flâneur (flâneuse, f.)— a person who strolls around town observing their surroundings with curiosity. I gawk at everything, and take a lot of photos. I’m a sucker for interesting color combinations, tree bark, architectural detail, pretty flowers. But also: weird stuff, like gas pipes and machinery and people walking in Forest Park with strange head gear. In Portlandia we take seriously the suggestion to “put a bird on it.”
At the age of 74 I returned to an early passion—personal color analysis in the tradition of Suzanne Caygill. I’ve been working with the concepts of seasonal harmony since I first had my colors done in 1971, and finally got trained in the art in 2014. For ten years I’ve been seeing clients in my Portland studio and am thrilled to have such an engaging and transformative career this late in life!
Put yourself in the way of beauty
As promised, at the end of every post, a picture. This is the seedhead of garden angelica (kind of a weed in my Portland neighborhood).
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Let’s make it a conversation!
When I write, I see you, my readers, in my mind. I imagine how you might respond to each topic. I wonder—did it land? Do you have a different take? A related experience? So please, add your comments in the comment section—let’s make it a conversation.
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