I’m so excited to share something new with you! My new show, Take the Next Step, is a podcast for families experiencing disability—filled with real talk, real tools, and real hope. Tune in over at Take the Next Step each week for conversations with parents, therapists, and advocates about how we can cultivate belonging and build a flourishing future for the entire family.

You can find the new show by searching "Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker" on your podcast app, or find it online at amyjuliabecker.com/step

And stay tuned - new episodes of Reimagining the Good Life coming in October.

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WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube

SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com

JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker

LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/

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Take the Next Step is produced in collaboration with Hope Heals. Hope Heals creates sacred spaces of belonging and belovedness for families affected by disabilities to experience sustaining hope in the context of inclusive, intentional, inter-ability communities. Find out more about our resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities at hopeheals.com. Follow us on Instagram @hopeheals.

We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!

Connect with me:

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Thanks for listening!

When Heather Avis says she’s one of “the lucky few,” she means it. In this episode, we talk about growing up with our children with Down syndrome, what it means to delight in our kids, and how all of us can participate in shifting the narrative around disability toward love and belonging. Our conversation highlights her new children’s book, I Like You So Much, and focuses on:

• Proclaiming the worth of our children
• The role of children's books in shifting disability narratives
• Understanding identity
• Exploring mutuality in relationships
• The importance of spaces of belonging
• Delight and celebration in parenting

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• I Like You So Much by Heather Avis
• More of Heather’s books
• The Lucky Few podcast
• Small Talk by Amy Julia Becker
• Heather’s Substack
• Reimagining the Good Life Workshop
• Subscribe to Amy Julia’s Substack newsletter

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WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast.

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ABOUT:

Heather Avis is a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, podcaster, and a Down syndrome advocate. She is the founder of and chief visionary officer at The Lucky Few, an advocacy organization dedicated to shouting worth, shifting narratives, and reimagining what it looks like when we create spaces of belonging. She lives in Southern California with her husband Josh and three kids, Macyn, Truly, and August and two Goldendoodles, Maeby and George Michael.

Website: https://www.heatheravis.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theluckyfewofficial/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLuckyFewOfficial/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC99_OFh29y9lVqZyHY2Xztw

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lucky-few/id1349646917

New Book, I Like You So Much: https://www.amazon.com/Like-You-So-Much-Celebrating/dp/0310166594/

Photo Credit: © Camilynne Photography

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Let’s stay in touch. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly reflections that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging where everyone matters.

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Ambition is the air we breathe—but what is it costing us? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker and theologian Miroslav Volf discuss his latest book, The Cost of Ambition. They unpack the hidden damage of a culture obsessed with competition and invite us to imagine a new way of being, for ourselves and our society, rooted not in achievement, but in love, mutuality, and genuine abundance. They explore:

• Striving for superiority in American culture
• The dark side of competition
• Longing for what we have
• Striving for excellence vs. striving for superiority
• The illusion of individual achievement
• Practices for embracing love and generosity
• Reimagining human relationships beyond superiority

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse by Miroslav Volf
• Abundance by Ezra Klein
• The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel
• Luke 18:9-14, Philippians 2, 1 Corinthians 12:21-26, Mark 10:35-45
• The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)
• Works of Love by Søren Kierkegaard
• Subscribe to Amy Julia's newsletter

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WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast.

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ABOUT:

Miroslav Volf (DrTheol, University of Tübingen) is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture in New Haven, Connecticut. He has written or edited more than two dozen books, including the New York Times bestseller Life Worth Living, A Public Faith, Public Faith in Action, and Exclusion and Embrace (winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and selected as among the 100 best religious books of the 20th century by Christianity Today). Educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, Volf regularly lectures around the world. CONNECT with Miroslav Volf on X at @miroslavvolf.

Photo Credit: © Christopher Capozziello

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Let’s stay in touch. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly reflections that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging where everyone matters.

We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!

Connect with me:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Website

Thanks for listening!