#38: Linda Joseph
"There's only so much you can pray. There's only so much you can read. You have to put it in motion."
Growing up, Linda was always the ‘cool aunt.’ Every visit brought either a new beauty gift or a story from her work travels, trips fueled by a generous per diem — à la early-2000s Condé Nast (“the only way I’ll ever do New York,” she says) — and fantastic clothes. With time, the beauty gifts have become tinctures and oils; the dispatches from work, now texts from the pickleball courts… Naturally, I’ve wanted to have her on Health Gossip since the beginning.
Health Gossip with Linda
Cancer/Leo/Cancer
Chicago, IL
There’s so much that I want to talk about. Keeping with the original newsletter format — how do you start your days?
I'm up at 6 or 6:30, meditate, make a good breakfast. This morning, it was half a smoothie that I had left over — Swiss chard, tart cherries, pineapple, spirulina, some coconut milk, hemp seeds... and then I make a lamb ragù with organic crushed tomatoes and green beans and a bunch of spices and onions. I had that with a poached egg.
And then I make sure to map out my day. I think you always have to have some mini goal each day, it doesn't have to be big. Now that I'm not working, it’s very freeing, but I still have my structure. I'm very focused on working out and building muscle, and also being more mindful of who I surround myself with — and, as I enter my next career phase, what I’m looking for. I just don't want to waste my time.
You’re very discerning.
I was definitely born an empath, I'm a true Cancerian… I can read people and things really well. If there's someone I don't want to be around, you can see me pull back and get very quiet. Sometimes I wish I were a bit more naïve.
How do you reset your energy?
At my last job, if I had a moment when a coworker was snarky to me, I would take deep breaths, walk away, and say, "It's their fear and not mine." And I would always have Gregorian chants playing. If you look at my Spotify Wrapped, it was all Gregorian chants.
I also think it's very important to walk when you get up in the morning, especially when it's gray and cold. And not have anything on you, just walk and you'll see how things unfold in life.