293 - How to Intentionally Love Each Other Despite Our Differences with Mishara D. Winston and Christina Michelle Watkins

Jul 30

“Neither of us is broken. We just are.” - Christina Michelle Watkins

What does it mean to be a good friend? If you’re struggling to answer, my next question might help you find the words. How do we learn the skills to maintain genuine, deeply nourishing friendships?

Trial and error is a painful teacher, but only if we’re willing to heed the lessons. Movies and books? They’re fun references, but their stylized versions of friendship are far from sustainable. And, even the most amiable families of origin often provide unreliable sources of inspiration (blood is thicker than water and all that).

So, back to my initial inquiries, the “what” and “how” of friendship. I’m a firm believer in the show, don’t tell technique, especially when it comes to modeling life skills. Friendship is one of those competencies that anyone can improve with practice, patience, and mentorship.

For this special episode, I’ve enlisted a pair of exceptional role models: Mishara D. Winston and Christina Michelle Watkins, two visionary healers and storytellers in conversation––without me. It’s an opportunity to learn from a truly special friendship. Mishara is a strategic mental wellness consultant, coach, and pleasure-based therapist who designs healing experiences rooted in play, sensory connection, and ancestral wisdom. Christina Michelle is a Black, queer, neuroexpansive mystic artist and therapist whose work blends story, spirit, and relational care to help communities imagine new ways of being.

The tangible tools of communal care (food, funds, housing) are always in danger of disappearing. Conversations like this one remind us that cultivating relational “soft skills” opens us up to wider, stronger nets of support. The audience (of which I am a joyful part this time around) gets to witness the intimate workings of a healthy relationship, from the challenges that Mishara and Christina Michelle have faced in navigating their wildly different attachment styles to the holistic ways they show up for each other, even when they’re hundreds of miles apart.

“We’ve been long-distance since forever,” Mishara says of her relationship with Christina Michelle. “It's not like this friendship is convenient. I don't connect with you because you happen to be around. I choose you and I feel honored to be in intentional, loving friendship [with Christina].”

Tune into Part II for even more intentionality and inspiration.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES

Mishara Winston - A Model for Communal Mental Wellness

Mishara Winston - Eat Snacks/Take Naps

Christina Watkins - Decolonizing Therapy, Reclaiming Agency, Nurturing Reciprocity

GUEST CONTACT & BIO

Mishara Winston

Mishara D. Winston is a strategic mental wellness consultant, coach, and pleasure-based therapist with over 18 years in the field. She helps communities design healing experiences rooted in play, sensory connection, and self-compassion. Her work blends body-honesty, ancestral wisdom, and a deep belief in collective healing.

Christina Michelle Watkins
Christina Michelle Watkins is a Black, queer, neuroexpansive mystic artist and therapist who weaves story, spirit, and care into all she does. As a writer, performer, Tarot reader, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she supports individuals, groups, and communities in building connection, navigating transition, and imagining new ways of being. She finds joy in thunderstorms, dancing, and talking about popsicles for entirely too long.

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