Welcome to Nobody Told Me.

I'm Laura Owens and I'm Jan Black.

And joining us on this episode is Shannon Kaiser, who's the best-selling author of five books on the psychology of happiness

and fulfillment. Shannon has been called one of the freshest voices in mental health and wellness.

Her latest book is called Joy Seeker. Let go of what's holding you back so you can live the life

you were made for. Shannon, we thank you so much for joining us. I'm so happy to

be here. Thank you. Tell us about your background and how your latest book, Joy Seeker, came about.

Yeah, it's interesting because I have been doing this work. This is my 10-year anniversary of being a writer

and a teacher and champion coaching. So it's been a decade. And I wasn't

always doing this work. I used to be in advertising. I was climbing the corporate ladder.

And I got very depressed. I was addicted to drugs, silently suffering from eating disorders.

And it was just a very toxic time in my life. And when the doctor diagnosed me with

depression, I was sitting in the doctor's office, reading a magazine, for her to write a prescription, and I read an article about how dogs can help with depression.

And my inner voice said, this is the route for you, adopt a dog.

And so instead of going the medication route, and I know that that serves people at certain times,

but for me, I realize that there might be another way,

and a lot of my depression was tied to me not being true to myself. And I thought I was doing what

I wanted, going through the motions of what society, culture, family wanted for me. But I never

really stopped to ask myself, is this what I want? And so I realized I do want a dog, and I adopted

a rescue dog. And he transformed my life with him by my side.

It's almost like we rescued each other because his name was Tucker and all of a sudden I found this joy of this

happiness.

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