GOOD TROUBLE LOOKS A LOT LIKE JOY
Jun 28, 2026
For Jen L., my sister from another mister, who’s made Taos feel like home.
Yes, yes.
Another Taos story.
But stay with me.
Because this one isn't really about Taos.
It's about a woman named Josie.
A joyful, tiny, unstoppable troublemaker who reminded me that changing the world doesn't always require a microphone, a title, or a movement.
Sometimes it begins at a stoplight with a handmade sign.
THE WOMAN WITH THE STICKER-COVERED SUBARU
photo: Josie and her Subaru (Photo credit: Michelle not David)
It was Sunday morning in Taos.
The stores were closed, but I wandered the plaza anyway, breathing in pine and sage and letting the town work its usual magic.
That's when I saw it.
A Subaru covered in bumper stickers.
NO BORDER WALL.
PEACE ALSO TAKES COURAGE.
I LOVE THE 99%.
I reached for my phone.
"Hi."
I nearly dropped my backpack.
Standing beside the car was a small woman with silver hair, a huge smile, and a sign around her neck that read:
DON'T IRAQ IRAN
"Oh, hi," I said. "Is this your Subaru?"
"Sure is," she said. "I'm Josie."
“Can I take your photo?”
She posed beside the car, flashing a peace sign.
SHOWING UP
"I don't need to be right. I need to show up." — Josie
Josie told me that every morning at 9:00 a.m., a small group gathers at the main stoplight in town.
They hold signs.
They wave.
They bear witness.
The cynical part of me wanted to ask:
Does this really change anything?
So, I did.
"What kind of change do you think you're creating?"
Josie didn't hesitate.
She spoke about immigrants.
About people of color.
About using her privilege as a white woman to speak when others may not feel safe.
She talked about witnessing.
About refusing silence.
And then she laughed.
"Some people flip me off."
What does she do?
She smiles and waves.
Photo: Josie in pink
WHY JOSIE IS A LOUDER GIRL
A week later, I found myself sitting in Josie's whimsical home in the hills above Taos.
The woman at the stoplight turned out to be an:
- Artist
- Therapist
- Activist
- Writer
- Dancer
- Animal lover
- Champion of human dignity
But what struck me most wasn't what she'd done.
It was how she moved through the world.
Joyfully.
Whimsically.
Unapologetically.
She reminded me of something I talk about constantly in LOUDER GIRL and in Ignited Leadership:
You do not need permission to lead.
You simply need the courage to show up as yourself.
JOY IS NOT A DISTRACTION
For more than fifty years, Josie has worked as a psychotherapist.
She sat with survivors of abuse.
Children in foster care.
Victims of domestic violence.
She knows suffering.
She knows grief.
And yet she insists on joy.
After difficult days, she went dancing.
She creates mosaics.
Photos: Josie's mosaics
She laughs.
She moves.
She makes art.
She told me:
“We always need joy, laughter, and movement to deal with reality.”
What if joy isn't frivolous?
What if joy is fuel?
What if joy is resistance?
GOOD TROUBLE IN PINK TUTUS
Josie became involved with CODEPINK during the Iraq War.
She protested wearing pink crowns, tutus, feather boas, and costumes.
Photo: Josie in a tutu
She and other women brought theater, creativity, and humor into activism.
Because as she told me:
"It looks really bad to attack silver-haired ladies in tutus."
I laughed out loud.
But there is wisdom here.
Good trouble doesn't always have to be angry.
It can be creative.
It can be playful.
It can be colorful.
It can dance.
For more information, go to https://www.codepink.org/
WHAT JOSIE WANTS EVERY LOUDER GIRL TO KNOW
- Be joyful. People don't know what to do with a joyful woman.
- Learn to dance. Literally and figuratively.
- Trust your body. Your body. Your choice.
- Choose your life intentionally. Partners. Careers. Friendships. Purpose.
Choose wisely.
GOOD TROUBLE LOOKS A LOT LIKE JOY
When we hear the phrase troublemaker, we often picture anger.
Conflict.
Chaos.
Josie reminded me that there is another way.
Good trouble can be:
- Joyful.
- Creative.
- Curious.
- Whimsical.
- Colorful.
- Embodied.
- Playful.
- Brave.
Sometimes Ignited Leadership looks like speaking from a stage.
Sometimes it looks like saying no.
Sometimes it looks like resting.
Sometimes it looks like dancing after a hard day.
And sometimes it looks like standing at a stoplight with a handmade sign because your voice matters.
"I'm going to be outrageous, authentic, whimsical, funny, and free because I am.” –Josie
JULY: THE GOOD TROUBLEMAKERS
Next month, LOUDER GIRL is celebrating women who are causing good trouble in big and small ways.
Women who are creating.
Speaking.
Resting.
Advocating.
Making art.
Building community.
Changing the world without waiting for permission.
Women like Josie.
Because good trouble doesn't always roar.
Sometimes it smiles.
Sometimes it dances.
And sometimes it arrives in a sticker-covered Subaru.
Turn it up, LOUDER GIRLS!
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