EP 243: A Pep Talk for Fall 2024

I have been thinking a lot about where we were 6 months ago. I had barely been diagnosed with ADHD, we were still in limbo with a bunch of stuff with my kid, and all I wanted for my birthday was my best friend to still be alive so we celebrate our birthdays together like we did pre pandemic - eating our way through West Coast cities with our pal Jeannie and laughing all weekend. March is one of my big grief months and this one hit particularly hard.

During that week I recorded a podcast called: My Birthday Wish for All of Us. In that episode I talked about all things I want that can’t be bought at the mall: quality and affordable child care, paid parental leave, hell just parental leave, universal preschool. Those little social safety nets, oh I really mean economic issues that are standard in other countries around the world. (Go listen - you’ll be shocked how much maternity leave you get in Bulgaria).

It was in that episode that I referred to participatory democracy as a group project. And people still laugh/ groan every time I say it.

Many of us are still outraged by group projects. Maybe it is because you were stuck in a group with people you didn’t like or didn’t share interests with. Maybe it is because you were stuck in a group with people who didn’t care about the outcome and they didn’t do their part of the assignment. Maybe it is because you were stuck in a group with people who didn’t even understand the assignment and made zero effort to get it together for the good of the group.

And you were stuck doing all the work.

And everyone got the same grade.

In this week’s episode, I am sharing a Pep Talk for Fall 2024.