39 - Healing Forward with Scarlett Lewis: The Power of Choosing Love Artwork

Trust Your Innersense™ with Joanne Starkman

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Each episode feels like a cozy cup of tea with a wise friend—full of heart, honesty, and tools you can actually use. From soulful storytelling to simple shifts in daily habits, you'll find inspiration to soften, listen inward, and move through the world a little more rooted and real. Trust Your Innersense is a quiet nudge toward the truest version of you.

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Trust Your Innersense™ with Joanne Starkman

39 - Healing Forward with Scarlett Lewis: The Power of Choosing Love

December 11, 2025 • Joanne Starkman • Episode 39

From Unthinkable Loss to Unshakable Love
Joanne shares a deeply moving conversation with Scarlett Lewis, the mother of Jesse Lewis, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. Rather than succumb to rage or despair, Scarlett chose to transform her grief into love—and founded the Choose Love Movement to bring social and emotional learning to children around the world. With profound vulnerability, she shares how that moment of loss became a lifelong mission.

The Courage to Forgive and Teach
Scarlett explains how emotional awareness, forgiveness, and compassion became essential tools in her healing—and how she now helps others integrate these values through the Choose Love Movement. Designed as a post-trauma program, it brings emotional education to schools and prisons at no cost. She and Joanne reflect on the importance of making these tools widely available, especially for the next generation.

A Message That Lives On
From her son Jesse’s final message on the chalkboard to global programs changing classrooms, Scarlett’s story is a testament to what’s possible when we lead with heart. As a parting reflection, she invites you to think about what you think about—a simple shift that can change everything. This episode will leave you grounded, inspired, and ready to choose love—no matter what you’ve faced.

Learn More About Choose Love Movement: @chooselovemovement on IG and @JLChooseLove on FB

ChooseLoveMovement.org

Get Your Copy of: Nurturing, Healing, Love Book and From Sandy Hook to the World book

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Scarlett Lewis and the Choose Love Movement

04:46 The Birth of a Movement: Nurturing Healing Love

11:09 Transforming Pain into Purpose: Scarlett's Journey

17:12 The Power of Forgiveness in Healing

25:18 The Ripple Effect of Choose Love

28:57 The Hunger for Courage, Gratitude, and Forgiveness

33:22 Finding Meaning in Loss

38:52 Future Aspirations and New Programs