I’ve packed a lot of WOW into this blog post.
Stay tuned. Something in here might just restore some of your hope in mankind and support you with whatever heartbreak you may be wading your way through.
It all starts in the check-out line at my favorite grocery store.
Whenever D is working, I push my cart into his station. It’s going on two years now that we’ve been chatting and sharing little details of our lives as he scans and I bag.
As he often does, D asks me how my “little man” is. Since the pandemic, I don’t bring my son into stores anymore, and he is missed.
Then D says something so wow-inspiring I titled this whole blog post in honor of it.
He asks me if I have any New Year’s resolutions. I share something forgettable. And then this six-foot, sturdy young man with bright eyes rimmed with dark lashes, tells me HIS resolution in 2021.
To be more vulnerable.
Wow.
In the last few weeks in my emails to you, I’ve been sharing some one-word prayers, from the list of six I consider key: Help. Thanks. Sorry. Mmmmm. F*@$%!!??!!cK*~!! And, Wow.
The prayer of Wow comes straight outa the mouth of the future of mankind: To be more vulnerable.
D tells me he recently started therapy and really likes it and doesn’t want to let his insecurities hold him back.
When I add that most people think leaning into vulnerability is weak, but that actually it’s pretty badass, his eyes above his mask smile.
“Badass. I like that.”
Wow: Hope for Mankind.
Beyond this story of D, to restore some more of your hope in the future of mankind, watch this documentary, “The Feminist on Cellblock Y.”
Holy F&$%@!!ck*~ing! Wow on this one. Watch it; you’ll see what I mean. If you don’t have time for the full hour, watch the 15-minute section that starts about 30 minutes in.
Wow: Vulnerability is Badass.
Talk about pressing right into what hurts … how about some personal and collective Dark Nights of the Soul, all around? Helping move people through these uncharted, unlit realms happens to be my part of my job description: Underworld Sherpa. Way-Shower. Brow-Mopper. Torch-Holder.
I have an upcoming free workshop and 22-Day Immersion, to help you do some Mining For Gold in The Dark Night of Your Soul.
Get yourself on the waitlist, and I’ll let you know the moment doors open, and also share some early birdie bonuses and discounts with you.
Wow. Social Media is a Weapon.
If you have access to Netflix and haven’t yet watched The Social Dilemma, please do. It’s chilling but vital.
If we do not figure out how to deal healthily with social media and technology, we will implode as individuals, as communities, and as nations. This is the reckoning of our time.
Wow. Comedy can Heal.
“What I wouldn’t have done to hear a story like mine.” This from Australian stand-up artist, Hannah Gadsby. I’ve watched her specials, “Nanette” and “Douglas,” at least three times each. Watch Nanette first, tho. Netflix again.
They will do what you expect any comedy set to do: make you forget about your troubles for a few and laugh until you pee a little.
They will also do what you might not expect: crank open your mind, crack open your heart, and put salve on a wound or two, the way only powerful art can do.
So, while the world shakes to its earthly core, I’m here standing with you — girls, womxxn, men, Black, Brown, Indigenous, gender non-binary, and queer folks — wherever you might be on your journey of dismantling (hopefully with some of D’s gentle, wow-worthy curiosity and determination) whatever patterns may have been engraved into you by patriarchal, white-centric, dominance-based thinking.
Wow is a prayer, too.
PS: Image by Crackenimages.com, NOT actually my grocery store friend D.