Opt Into Planning for Joy
Black Girl Burnout
Kelley Bonner
4.7 • 762 Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this special Labor Day episode of Black Girl Burnout, host Kelley invites you to pause, breathe, and reflect on the role of joy in your life. While sharing her own story of navigating stress and reclaiming rest, Kelley offers a gentle reminder that joy doesn’t have to be spontaneous—it can be something we intentionally plan for, just like vacations, appointments, and work projects.
This episode is a nudge to slow down, release the pressure of constant labor, and carve out space for rest, peace, and delight.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Your nervous system may be asking for deep rest and regulation—not just more productivity.
- Planning for joy is just as essential as planning for responsibilities.
- When life feels overwhelming, intentionally scheduling joy can restore balance and ease.
- Joy doesn’t have to be grand; even a day on the couch with a good book counts.
- Asking yourself “What’s next for joy in my life?” can be a powerful reset.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- 00:20 Why rest—not labor—should be prioritized on Labor Day
- 02:00 Choosing to plan for joy instead of only focusing on the next project
- 02:34 A reflection: What joy is coming up for you?
- 03:00 Giving yourself permission to pause and make joy intentional
LISTEN & REFLECT
Take a moment this week to plan one small joy for yourself. Maybe it’s an afternoon nap, a favorite meal, or time with a good book.
What’s next for joy in your life?
If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend who also deserves to rest and recharge. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review to support the Black Girl Burnout community.
Support the Show
Are you stepping into a “Summer of No”? Whether you’re canceling plans for rest, setting fresh boundaries, or saying no to what drains you, you don’t owe anyone guilt. Take a moment this week to capture what freedom looks like for you. Snap a pic or video of your joy and tag us:
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📺 Watch the episode on YouTube
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Black Girl Burnout podcast. Kelly here. And I am with my Friday love note. |
| 0:07.0 | Today's episode is going to be a little shorter. I'm on travel. I am recording in a hotel room |
| 0:12.6 | talking to you from, I think I'm in Virginia. Anyways, long story short, I'm away. And if you're |
| 0:20.3 | listening to this in real time, it is Labor Day. So I want to talk about if you are prioritizing, giving yourself some rest this weekend. This week I talked about the topic that you're not tired or you're not just tired. You might be tapped out. And the discussion |
| 0:41.2 | was all about the ways that our nervous system may be crying out for some regulation, some deep |
| 0:47.2 | breaths, some grounding exercises to help you get yourself regulated. And I talked about myself and my own journey, |
| 0:55.8 | how I'm on a bader blocker now |
| 0:57.5 | and how my poor body has had so much stress |
| 1:00.4 | that it needs a little help, a little nudge, |
| 1:03.4 | getting regulated again. |
| 1:05.7 | Now, hopefully most of you are not at that level of stress. |
| 1:09.9 | And so this is an opportunity and an invitation to think about how can I prioritize |
| 1:14.5 | taking a deep breath this long weekend? |
| 1:18.3 | Hopefully some of you have a long weekend. |
| 1:21.0 | If you don't, how can I remind myself that Labor Day is here |
| 1:27.4 | and I need to think about ways to not labor through my life. |
| 1:33.0 | So what is something you can do to add more joy into your life, into your space? |
| 1:38.3 | What is something you can do to bring a little more peace into your life? |
| 1:44.0 | This weekend is going to find me at least one day on my couch, reading a book, resting, |
| 1:53.2 | planning for joy. |
| 1:56.8 | I have been long overdue of vacation and so now I'm going to start to plan my vacation and think |
| 2:03.4 | about what's next for me, but not the way I normally think about what's next, which is usually |
... |
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