Dionne C. Monsanto, Joyous Ocean LLC

Dionne C. Monsanto, Joyous Ocean LLC I am living my life INjoy. I am also deeply committed to connecting you to your joy. I am a Certifie

08/06/2025

☕️ | Transformation Is Possible

Whewww, I was grumpy that day. Not fake grumpy. Real-life, ""please don’t talk to me"" gah-rum-pee.

And then… I opened an envelope...

Inside was a photo of my daughter, Siwe.
A photo I didn’t remember.
A photo I didn’t know I needed.
She was a toddler on the floor at a dance class.

Reverend Nafisa Sharriff had found it while going through her things and gave it to me at a celebration of life. And just like that… grief and joy danced together. My heart cracked open and softened.

That’s transformation.
Not the perfect kind.
Not the Instagram-filter kind.
But the kind that says: even in the hardest moments, something beautiful is still possible.

💙 If you’ve been grumpy too… if you’re holding sadness and still open to joy…
💙 If you need space to feel, process, and transform...

Drop a 💙 in the comments.

DM me if you’re ready to feel more supported in your grief journey.

Transformation is possible. I’m living proof.
And you don’t have to do it alone.
💙🧘🏾‍♀️✨

08/02/2025

✨ Story. Changed. ✨
I spent two powerful days in a room with my coach and accountability partners—learning to reshape how I tell my story.

Led by Robert Hartwell—Broadway performer, award-winning director, HGTV & OWN host, and storytelling genius—this intensive was bold, brilliant, and deeply transformational.

💫 It was fun.
💫 It was impactful.
💫 It was life-changing.

I was bright. I was colorful. I came with my grief and my joy. And they got it. They understood that grief isn’t just about death—it’s about life. Loss. Identity. Change.
It walks with us.
And we get to walk with it—hand in hand, not buried beneath it.

I left with more than new tools for public speaking—I left with a deeper connection to my voice and the people I serve. I also created deep connections with the people in the room. 💛

As I am transformed, I bring that transformation to my clients and my community.
✨ Join me in The Holding Space—a soft, powerful place to grieve gently, heal fully, and live freely. DM me to learn more.

Now I ask you:

When you find yourself in the room with people who can change your life or business—how do you show up?

I’ll be implementing this work over the next two months—probably the rest of my life.

Let’s talk. DM me.

08/01/2025

If you scan for joy, you’ll find a glimmer.

Some days feel like wading through wet cement. Heavy. Slow. But I’ve learned—if I start searching for the tiniest flicker of something good, eventually… it shows up.

One glimmer… then another… and suddenly, light starts leaking through the cracks.

✨ What’s a glimmer?
It’s that micro-moment when your nervous system exhales and says, safe.
A butterfly in your path.
The clock hitting 11:11.
A random “thinking of you” text.
The scent of lavender.
The ocean’s hush.
The laughter of a child.
Tiny, sacred bursts of joy that nudge you out of survival mode and into softness.

My latest glimmer? I left my phone at home—and didn’t go back for it. Five full hours of freedom. No scrolling. No buzzing. Just quiet, golden peace.

If the news is too loud, if grief is lurking, if joy feels like a stranger—try this: hunt for glimmers until they start hunting for you. Write them down. Let them remind you that you’re still here. That hope is still possible.

As I continue to transform, I bring that healing into my work. My clients. My community.
That’s what The Holding Space is for:
✨ Regulating your nervous system
✨ Finding joy again after loss
✨ Learning to walk with your grief, not against it

DM me “SPACE” or tap the link in bio to join us.

Here’s to your next glimmer. 💛

I took this photo on June 18, 2011—my very first selfie.One click, no retakes. Perfect.I’d recently recovered from pneum...
07/25/2025

I took this photo on June 18, 2011—my very first selfie.

One click, no retakes. Perfect.

I’d recently recovered from pneumonia. Siwe and I were strolling (slowly!) through Central Park. She teased me for shuffling, we laughed, we bickered, we snapped photos.

So much joy. So much love. 💙

Eleven days later, on Wednesday, June 29, 2011, Siwe died by su***de.

I couldn’t have imagined it.

This photo… this pain… this love… carried me around the world and into my life’s work.

Today I speak, teach, and coach people who hold the impossible:

💔 the weight of grief
🕊️ the beauty of memory
🔥 the power of transformation

If you’re carrying a loss too heavy to name, please know: you are not alone. Grief can break us open and—if we let it—become a portal to purpose.

Ready for a space where both heartbreak and hope are welcome?

Doors to The Holding Space—my 12-week, high-touch group program—will close soon.

Tap the link in my bio or DM me “SPACE” to learn more.

We’ll hold the sorrow together and make room for what’s next. 💛

🫶🏾 July is both Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and National Bereaved Parents Awareness Month.

This is a reminder: our grief deserves space. Our healing deserves support. Our stories deserve to be told.

Don’t grieve alone. Come be held. 💛



07/24/2025

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”

Quote 8 from my bestselling book, 101 Ways to Live Life INjoy.

The moment I truly learned compassion wasn’t in a classroom or a retreat—it was on the sidewalk, just three blocks from my home, walking back from the hospital after my daughter died. The sun was shining. Life was moving. And I was shattered.

I realized then that we don’t wear our wounds on the outside. I wanted my pain to be visible, but it wasn’t. And maybe that’s true for the person in front of you, too.

That moment changed how I see people. Not perfectly. But permanently.

👉🏾 How can you be more compassionate with others today?

🫶🏾 Share this post with someone who sees you.
📖 Want the full story? Click the link in bio for the book or DM me to order a signed copy.

I didn’t know I had ADHD until I was 57.People used to say:“How do you do it all?”“Where do you get the energy?”“Do you ...
07/23/2025

I didn’t know I had ADHD until I was 57.

People used to say:
“How do you do it all?”
“Where do you get the energy?”
“Do you even sleep?”

I laughed. I danced. I stayed busy.
First-gen daughter. Straight-A student. Performer. Caretaker. Fixer.

I did it all… until I couldn’t.

When menopause hit. My energy changed. My coping stopped working.
I felt stuck. Off. Broken.

Until January—when I got a diagnosis: ADHD.
After all these years of feeling like too much… I finally understood.

My brain isn’t broken.
It’s just wired differently.

This post isn’t about answers.
It’s about telling the truth.
It’s about naming the grief that comes with unlearning who you thought you had to be just to survive.

If you’ve ever felt like something was off but didn’t know how to say it…
If your brain feels foggy, tired, scattered, or different…

You’re not alone.
You’re not broken.
You’re just whole. And wired differently.

✨ Have you ever felt like something was off—but couldn’t name it?

Tell me in the comments.
Or DM me one word that describes how your brain feels right now.

And through it all I still have the space to hold for other people.

07/18/2025

Grief doesn’t always look like tears.
Sometimes it looks like silence.
Like walking with no destination.
All who wander are not lost. Who said that?

Sometimes it looks like writing just to feel real again.
Or eating when what you really need is to be held.

This poem poured out of me.
It was 2 days before the 14th anniversary of Siwe’s death.
The emotions were loud. The grief was louder.
And yet, I kept showing up — with all of it.

If this felt like your story…
You’re not broken. You’re grieving.
And you don’t have to do it alone anymore.

💌 DM me HOLD ME to learn more or join The Holding Space — a 12-week sanctuary for grieving women who are ready to stop pretending and start healing.

🔗 Or tap the link in bio to claim your seat.
Let this be the year you hold yourself differently.

Perfection isn’t real.
Presence is.
Show up. Be present. Get your healing.
Shift the narrative.
Don’t let next year be a repeat of pain and suffering in silence.

If grief still feels like a 50-lb stone on your chest, this is for you. ✨I see you—the tears that ambush you in the groc...
07/17/2025

If grief still feels like a 50-lb stone on your chest, this is for you. ✨

I see you—the tears that ambush you in the grocery aisle, the guilt that grips you when a flicker of joy sneaks in, the late-night scrolling because sleep is a stranger. You wonder:

“Will I ever stop crying?”
“Where would I even find the time to heal?”
“Does my kind of loss even belong in a space like this?”

Swipe the carousel and you’ll find my honest answers. But here’s the one that matters most:

Yes, you belong here.
Yes, The Holding Space can cradle your heartbreak and call you higher.
Yes, you can move from survival numbness to mornings that actually feel possible.

Inside, we breathe together, we break old patterns together, we remember our loved ones with warmth—not just wounds. We do it in 90-minute weekly sessions that fit inside real-life chaos, with replays waiting when life blindsides you.

Doors close soon. Once we begin, this circle locks arms and goes deep; latecomers will have to wait for the next round—and your heart has waited long enough.

If you’re ready to trade that stone for a feather’s worth of relief, DM me “SPACE” or tap the link in bio. Your healing doesn’t have to wait one more season. 💛

Address

New York, NY

Telephone

+19178180542

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