My guest this week is Jules Blaine Davis. It’s hard to capture who Jules is or what she does in a few words, which is part of what I enjoyed about this conversation. The best I can do is to say that she helps people to reconnect—with themselves, with their needs, with what it means to nourish and be nourished, and what it means to really relate to another person.

She also shared about her medical diagnosis within the past year or so, and I think you’ll find she brings a really unique perspective to that whole experience. Ideas we explored included:

• What it means to be a “kitchen healer”
• Bringing forward the everyday mysteries that fill our lives
• The influence of our early kitchen experiences
• The kitchen as the center of our homes and a reflection of our lives
• Our loss of connection to the kitchen
• Our hunger to be rather than to do, and for connection and presence
• Jules’s practice of Wood Board Love
• Our deep desire to be fed and nourished
• Knowing others intimately through their food
• Motherhood as an opportunity to grow
• The women’s retreats that Jules leads (here’s an example of a previous one)
• Allowing ourselves not to know, and simply to be present
• The immense mystery of our bodies
• Jules’s recent medical issue
• Giving ourselves permission to be exactly where we are
• Finding retreat in our everyday lives
• The value in attending to ourselves before we’re in acute pain
• julesblainedavis.com; Instagram – @julesbdavis

Here’s the talk Jules and I referenced at the Olympic Boulevard Women TED^X  event.

Jules is a mother of two, and an artist in many realms with a background in performing arts, painting, poetry, healing, movement and meditation.

About eight years ago, she invited new mothers and their kids to her home for a music class. The experience she had with them related to food and fellowship opened her eyes to the needs all around us.

Discover more about Jules at her website, and connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.