On Not Being Chosen, Re-Parenting Yourself & Getting Started | Live on Tour!

52m
429. On Not Being Chosen, Re-Parenting Yourself & Getting Started | Live on Tour!

In this special episode, we share moments from an unforgettable night in Portland on our first-ever live tour. We gathered with thousands of you to celebrate our Indie and New York Times Bestselling book, We Can Do Hard Things. We talk about the ache of not being chosen, the grief of lost teams and families, the power of self-parenting, the fear of starting something you may not finish, and the courage to lead hard conversations in your own circles.This tour has been about connection, community, and staying human—and we’re so grateful you’re part of it.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen and follow along

Transcript

this show, we talk a lot about resilience and what it really means to support one another.

For healthcare and wellness professionals, that's the job.

Day in, day out.

Doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, therapists, they're the ones who show up for us.

So it's just as important that they feel supported too.

That's why we partnered with FIGS.

For too long, scrubs were just an afterthought, not anymore.

Figs scrubs are thoughtfully designed in innovative fabrics, made to meet the demands of the job and look good doing it.

There's a full range of styles and go-to colors, plus limited edition drops that bring a little joy into the everyday.

With back-to-school season upon us, it's the perfect time to stock up with some fresh outfits for the year.

And Figs just dropped a brand new collection of limited edition styles and accessories.

If you're in healthcare or shopping for someone who is, you can get 15% off your first order at wherefigs.com with the code figsrx.

That's wherefigs.com code figsrx.

Did you know the average bottle of water contains 240,000 tiny particles of plastic?

Yeah, it's shocking, especially with recent research showing microplastics in our bodies and even our blood.

That's when I knew it was time to ditch plastic and get a water filter that actually works.

I switched to the Life Straw Home Water Filter Dispenser and haven't looked back.

It's the only only water dispenser that filters over 30 contaminants, including bacteria, PFAS, and yes, microplastics.

And it actually makes your water taste good.

I've noticed a big difference.

No more weird taste, no more guessing what's in our water, and we're skipping plastic bottles now, which is great for the universe.

Plus, for every product sold, a child in need receives a year of safe water.

That's more than 11 million to date.

Skip the plastic, go with Lifestraw.

Your body and the planet will thank you.

Use code HARDTHINGS for 25% off your first purchase of a LifeStraw home product at lifestraw.com and say goodbye to MicroPlastics forever.

Welcome back to We Can Do Hard Things.

Today we are bringing you a very special episode live from Portland, Oregon, one of the 10 cities on our first ever tour together.

Glenn and Amanda and me and Tish, it was so fun.

My God.

We gathered with thousands of you to celebrate our indie and New York Times best-selling book, We Can Do Hard Things.

Tish was on stage.

Our team was there.

And get excited because there is a special guest.

who was in the room that night.

That was wild.

It would be nearly impossible to express what it meant being together with you in person.

We decided to share a taste of that magic here.

And if you love this one, we'll be bringing more of these moments in the weeks ahead.

The We Can Do Hard Things tour was about connection and community.

It was about

holding on to our humanity together by not letting go of what makes life beautiful.

We were so honored to partner with the Florence Project and the Acacia Center for Justice and the entire network of orgs all over the country supporting immigrant families who are fighting for their lives and their humanity.

All of our tour proceeds went to this life-saving work.

We did that together.

All of you, thank you.

We invite you, no, we beg you.

to find and support the heroes in your own city doing this vital work every day to protect our neighbors.

And for more info on those orgs, you can go to protectthekids at treatmedia.com and find the heroes in your community.

We loved our time in Portland.

We did not want to leave.

This magical night opens, well, you'll hear, with a question from Kara.

And from there, we just spent an evening talking about the ache of not being chosen, the grief of lost teams and families, the power of parenting yourself, the fear of starting something you may never finish, and the courage to lead hard conversations in your own circles.

We laughed, we cried, we sang, we love you, Portland.

Our hearts are still full.

Thank you for showing up for this book, for this community, for each other.

Has it ever been more important to do that?

We love doing life with you.

Let's go.

You can start your question here.

Oh, me first?

Yes, you first.

So scary.

Okay.

My name is Kara.

Hi, Kara.

Amanda, sister.

You shared a story in the book where you talked about being at an airport and finding yourself at a crossroads.

But the day after your book came out, May 7th,

the love of my life found herself at a crossroads.

Shit, that was very similar.

It was beautiful.

Both roads were beautiful.

And she chose the road that didn't include me.

You have to know, the three of you have to know, the potent medicine that your book has been to me over the last nine days.

It's been incredible.

It's been the warmest blanket of comfort that's let me stay soft and open and to see the beauty and the wisdom in her decision.

My question to you is,

This book is magical in that there are going to be moments in our lives where where different parts of the book speak to us in different ways.

And I'm just curious if there are any parts of the book right now that speak to you or that are a particular medicine to you right now in your lives.

You are beautiful, Kara.

Really.

Thank you, Tad.

It's wild because the story I was telling in the book that you're referring to, Kara, is when I

made a decision to leave a path that I really loved in order to come home and marry John, my husband.

And

just about how we think when you're grieving something,

when you have two paths and you take one and then you feel a lot of grief, you think it means you took the wrong path.

But actually, and choosing anything you love means

foregoing and forsaking something else that you love often.

And that's why we tend to not make choices

because it sucks so bad either way that we're like, we'll just stay right here on this part of the path and never go down either.

And I just don't think that's the way life works.

But as you're saying that,

that

happened with me, with my first husband.

And I can see from his choices that that is what he needed to do.

And you're a lot more graceful than I am because I've just come around to that like seven years after the fact.

But it's so hard.

It's so hard and it's so heartbreaking.

And I don't think it ever goes away because you can

to not be chosen, that doesn't stop hurting.

It still doesn't.

It still hurts me now, you know?

And so

that's beautiful that you're you're going through it the way you are.

And

I'm sorry, and I'm happy for you because there is a path ahead for you, too.

Can I get a

hands up for all the people who have not been chosen in this room?

Here we are.

And I only say that because

your pain is specific and real and true.

And

now that I have found somebody who chose me,

I have only now been able to understand

that

part of the pain that I was experiencing and being rejected and not being chosen is that I didn't have enough love and respect for myself.

There was this gaping, missing piece to me.

that I needed to recover, that I needed to figure out.

And I don't know if that rings true for you, but

try to fall so fucking deeply in love with yourself right now.

Just do that.

And it sounds like you're doing this with such grace and beauty and compassion for this person,

more than I probably would have.

But I'm kind of mad at this person right now.

I don't even know them.

But yeah, just take like radical self-care, radical self-love, like whatever you can.

I've actually just recently fallen in love with myself.

Just recently.

Kind of like feeling myself all of a sudden.

I know, it's so weird to say that out loud in front of a thousand people.

Anyways.

Thank you for that.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Let's let's go up top to the person with the tie on.

Hey, Abby.

Hi.

Former soccer player, 23 years, goalkeeper.

Woo!

I was so grief-stricken when I had to leave.

My foot doctor said, you'll never walk again if you keep kicking the ball on the same spot.

over and over again, right?

Yeah.

And indoor, outdoor, I gave it all up.

I'm a referee now.

It's not quite the same.

I get to see the same folks, but at the end of the game, I walk off by myself.

And

Glendon's book came along

when my wife left me.

I'm in love with a beautiful woman up there.

So it's a two-part question.

I want to know how to go over the grief of losing that team team environment that are your family and then how to get over the grief of losing the intact family.

Wow.

Oh, my God.

Portland.

Shit.

Portland is coming for us.

So beautiful.

I'll just answer the team one because that might be most relevant.

I don't know about answering that.

I'm sure the three.

I can feel it.

Broken family, though.

People ask me all the time if I miss playing soccer and the unequivocally like easiest, quickest answer is like no.

I did it for 30 years.

So I don't miss playing the game.

I miss the people.

I miss the feeling of belonging.

I miss the feeling of

like

energy, of badassery, of

just shenanigans, like the weird stuff that happens in locker rooms.

I'm trying to replicate that on the road.

It's not happening.

It's not going well.

We're not fit.

It's not happening the same way that it did back then.

A little different.

And I think something that I've...

I've never even been in a locker room, like, ever in my life.

I don't know

what to do there.

Get changed and you hang out with your teammates and friends.

That's what I've seen on TV.

I think something that I've learned in the last couple years about grief,

it's this idea that we're trying to not feel

it.

And instead of not necessarily avoiding it or not wanting to feel the loneliness or the longing for this thing you once had.

I don't know, there's a part of me that's like, I think the feeling it, like the feeling of that, is okay.

I do.

I think feeling sad and broken and heartbroken over missing and longing for something that you might not have right this second is okay.

It's like expanding our

capabilities in a way.

Now we can't stay in that state forever, right?

So what do we do about it?

For me, I go to the gym every single morning.

And P.S.,

I hate working out.

Anybody else hate working out?

I was really good at it for a long time, but I tell you, I hate it, and I never want to go.

But I go because there's this little community and like Glendon knows this, it drives her crazy, but everywhere I go into, like every restaurant I go into, like, I know the people.

I'm like talking to the people.

I'm trying to find, I'm, like, in search of belonging the way that I felt in these locker rooms everywhere I go.

And I think that that's like kind of a superpower of mine in a weird way.

Not to be braggadocious about it, but like, I really think that, like,

not everybody is like us in that way.

And so keep trying to find your people, no matter what arena you're in, what locker room you're in, what restaurant you're in.

Like sometimes I have better conversations.

Seriously, no offense.

I have better conversations

with somebody I'm just shooting the stupid shit with.

Oh, you so bad just want to shoot the shit.

I'm so scared.

I want to shoot the shit.

I don't want to talk about the hardest things in the whole wide world all the time.

I don't.

Oh, that's what we're doing wrong.

What's all I got?

Why have you not had their philosophy rooms?

You're not like intergenerational trauma.

I love you.

I know you do.

And I love our conversations.

I am lesbian, so yes.

And

let's shoot the shit some more.

Yeah.

You want to take the other part of the question?

Well, I'm just thinking about how it's kind of the same thing.

Like you lost the team and then you lost your little team, or you feel like you did.

And that must be really, really hard.

I have a feeling, just based on

you and the way you ask that question, that your family's going to be fine.

Yeah.

I think it's because of your openness and your vulnerability.

It just just makes me feel like you're probably a really trustworthy parent.

I can tell you that I've really,

I feel

that it is deeply true for me that I know a lot of families that are in their original configuration

that are really broken.

And I know a lot of families that have changed their configuration and feel so vibrant and so whole to me.

And I don't think that any family's wholeness or health has to do with whatever structure they've decided.

I think a whole family is any family where each person in that family gets to bring their whole self to the table.

And that's it.

So I think your little team is going to be okay because I can tell by the way you just brought yourself to that question that you're the kind of person that fosters people being able to bring their full self.

So I think your babies are going to be okay.

What does the future hold for business?

Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 answers.

Bull market or bear market, rising or falling rates, inflation up or down.

Can someone please invent a crystal ball?

Until then, over 42,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one fluid platform.

With one unified business management suite, there's one source of truth, giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions.

With real-time insights and forecasting, you're peering into the future with actionable data.

Whether your company is earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities.

Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netsuite.com/slash hard things.

The guide is free to you at netsuite.com/slash hard things.

Netsuite.com/slash hard things.

So, if my dogs had a credit card, I'm 100%

sure that they would use it to order Ollie.

After switching to Ollie, I've never seen them this excited for mealtime.

They drool, they're jumping up and down.

In fact, Hattie is now like getting onto the counter.

She's put her paws onto the counter looking for Ollie.

That's the Ollie effect.

Ollie's fresh turkey with blueberries, this has been our dog's instant favorite.

And the fact that it's made with human-grade ingredients and zero fillers or preservatives, that matters to me.

They're family.

Dogs deserve the best, and that means fresh, healthy food.

Head to ollie.com slash hardthings.

Tell them all about your dog and use code hardthings to get 60% off your welcome kit when you subscribe today.

Plus, they offer a happiness guarantee on the first box.

So if you're not completely satisfied, you'll get your money back.

That's o-l-l-i-e.com slash hardthings and enter code hardthings to get 60% off your first box.

You know what's even worse than having 10,000 symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, hot flashes, anxiety, and no sleep that dramatically alter our sanity and quality of life?

It's having all of those symptoms and being constantly dismissed and undermined and told it's just part of aging or worse yet, that we're overreacting.

75% of women seeking care for menopause-related issues never get treated at all.

It's exhausting, isolating, and infuriating, and it's unacceptable.

It's time for change.

It's time for MIDI.

MIDI offers expert, personalized, insurance-covered virtual care for women in midlife.

Their clinicians actually listen.

From hormone therapy to lifestyle coaching, their holistic data-driven approach is tailored just for you.

And MIDI is the only women's telehealth brand covered by major insurance.

That means real care, really accessible.

Ready to feel your best and write your second act script?

Visit joinmitti.com today to book your personalized insurance-covered virtual visit.

That's joinmitty.com.

MIDI, the care women deserve.

Okay, let's do another couple of questions.

Yes?

Thank you so much.

I'm Elena.

Hi, Elena.

Oh, my God.

Oh, there she is.

I'm 33.

Y'all have been in my ears on my walks for so many years, and I can't tell you how fucking grateful I am.

But speaking of generational trauma,

I, like many in this room, have a mother.

Raise your hand if you have or had a mother.

Yes.

And she is beautiful, incredible, loves me so much, and

couldn't mother me in the way that so many of us hope for.

Yeah.

And you all have mothered me in ways I can never explain.

But my question is,

how do we mother ourselves?

How do we mother each other?

How do we do that?

I just want to know.

What a gorgeous question.

It's a beautiful question.

You got any ideas, sissy?

I mean,

do you have any children or do you want them?

I don't have any children.

It might hinge on this question, is that what you're saying?

Yeah, I mean, for me,

I learned to mother myself through my kids.

Like, I think

when I see them,

I mean, they're a giant pain in the ass for sure.

And

yet, when I see them and

I just see how

absurdly worthy of love they are, my brain can calculate their worthiness of love

and grace and joy and peace in a way that I

would have never thought could translate to me.

I

want

every good thing for them.

There's never an equivocation about whether they deserve it or whether at the core of them, they're so very good.

And

I didn't know that I didn't believe that about myself until I saw it so clearly with them.

And I thought,

oh, this

was true for me too.

Like the natural love and worthiness that I see in them also existed in me

and still does.

And so for me, it's such a simple thing, but until you're confronted with it like that, it took that for me to understand

that

I am inherently worthy of that love and I don't have to...

I should not have to, not that I don't have to, theoretically should not have to hustle and perform for love the way that

I understood I had to growing up.

Because if they don't have to, neither did I.

And so that I practice that with my kids.

I literally try to transfer it.

Like when I have a huge overflowing of love with them, I'm like,

me too.

Me too.

And that helps heal me, I think, that piece of it.

Yeah, I think

a big part of of being an adult is just constantly reminding yourself and your nervous system that you're an adult and you're safe now.

Right?

Isn't it?

That is what, I mean, this round of recovery for me is, I think, the first time I've ever really done recovery.

I think every other time I've kept it very cerebral, I've been able to blame,

in general, I just, my idea was I have an eating disorder because of the patriarchy.

Like, and that's true-ish.

But this round, I've been doing family of origin stuff.

Like, I've really been allowing myself to

go back to when I was little and to understand why a little girl would become, feel so afraid that she would have to only live in her mind, only live in books, and control everything through food.

You know, as a a kid, I was not, I was in a family with a lot of love and with a lot of anger

and a lot of hype complicity in that anger.

That might sound familiar to some of you.

I've heard I'm not the only one with that situation.

But

you know, I didn't ever feel like I was in a safe environment to

have big feelings, to have an appetite, to grow, to be big in any way, really.

And so it makes sense that now, every time I get scared, like this last relapse for me came right after the election,

when I start to feel afraid,

my little girl self says, oh, we know how to handle this, just shut it down.

You know, it's like you're...

you're a wild animal and you protect yourself from being preyed by what?

You don't sleep, you don't eat,

you just stay vigilant.

You just stay vigilant.

So for me

part of mothering myself now is to remind myself over and over again that I am an adult now the rules are not the same that it is okay now for me to rest that it is okay for me to eat that it is okay for me to be big and loud and grow

because I am there's an adult in the room now and it's me

every time I relapse, it's because I have gone a little bit unconscious, and I have let my little girl self start driving again.

And she only knows one thing to do, to keep me safe.

And what responsible adults do is they don't let the child drive.

Right?

They love the child.

They offer the child

understanding for their fear and their small ideas, and they offer wiser ideas, and then they put the child in the back back seat where the child belongs, and they say,'I've got this now.'

So that is what recovery is for me now.

It's just putting the little girl, and that's what mothering myself is.

There's a mother in the room now, and it's me.

And so I can let my little girl self do what she needs to do, which is rest in the back seat and just trust that somebody's got the wheel.

That was pretty good.

That was really good.

I've never said that before, but that was right.

That was very good.

That was right, yeah.

So we call it.

So, Elena,

there is someone in the driver's seat now, and it's you.

So your little girl self can rest.

Okay, let's go up top now.

Hi, my name is Brandy, and thank you guys for being here.

My bestie, Danny, and I have been listening since the very first episode.

Hi!

Oh my god, Glendon just waved at me.

So, in an opportunity of sharing space with one of my favorite authors,

My writing mentor would kick me if I did not ask this question.

And Abby, you brought this up when you said you have a fear of dying.

My mom died when she was 36.

I was 15, almost 16,

and I have this dream of writing a memoir.

And part of the fear that my therapist and I are working through, in addition to IFS and generational trauma and all those things,

One of the fears that we've uncovered is that I'm afraid, I have this fear in the back of my mind that I'm going to die young, that I'm not going to be around, that if I start it, I won't be able to finish it.

And

I would just love advice from you three as authors and as amazing gems of warriors of women that are leading us all.

as far as like how to break that barrier down.

Well,

it makes sense that you would be worried that you won't finish it

but you definitely won't finish it if you don't finish it.

You don't start it.

Yeah that's true.

But like everybody doesn't finish it.

You know?

Like it's not like that's so common.

It is hard to do.

It really is.

But

you can't let this one fear, because you don't know, you could live until you're 95.

You know?

I have a a little index card next to my computer that has one sentence on it.

From, it was a quote from a woman who I think is one of the best writers on the planet, who is in this room.

Her name is Cheryl Stray.

Cheryl Strade!

Who is also from Portland?

And it says,

how it feels to write a book is that it is impossible to write a book.

That is how it feels.

And that's, I have that

next to my computer.

Another way, well, okay, here's what I think.

Whenever someone says to me, like, I think a lot each day about whether I have a drinking problem, but I'm not sure about it, I'm like, okay.

You know who doesn't wonder every day if they have a drinking problem?

People who don't have a drinking problem.

Right?

So like if you're thinking about it each day, then yeah.

So I also,

everyone doesn't feel like they need to write a book.

Ooh, that's good.

If you are a person

who thinks that you need to write a book, then I can promise you that you need to write a book.

And

nobody writes a book.

All they do is they sit their ass in a chair for like they decide how many hours they're going to suffer a day.

And they're awful.

It's the worst.

And if you can do anything else, you should do it.

But if it nags you each day, then that means that you are a writer and you must write the book.

And that means that you must, you owe it to yourself to decide whether it's one, two, or three hours.

It can't be more than that.

And that your butt is going to be in the chair each day and that that's a deal you're going to make with yourself.

And you're not going to worry about when it's done or how it's done.

All you're going to worry about is that your butt will be in the chair for two hours a day and you will be so, you will see, it will just suddenly start to happen over time and you'll have your book.

So you're going to write it.

Are you going to promise us all right now that you'll write it?

Let's go!

I love accountability!

And if you want to know how to write a memoir, just effing read wild again.

Everybody's already wrong.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, let's go down here.

Let's go to the back a little bit.

Yes, you jumping.

I like the jumper.

I like the jumper, you said.

My enthusiasm worked.

What did she say?

My enthusiasm worked.

Oh, yeah.

See, I'm a seven, so.

My name is Bernie.

Fellow lesbian.

A.

Fellow lesbian is a funny thing to say.

So.

You know.

know, I get it.

Okay, if it works for you.

So as Dr.

Brene Brown says,

shame is not a tool of social justice.

It's a tool of oppression.

And so as

this country is shifting and there's a lot of activism going on, a lot of protests, I really want to become a leader of the conversation on anti-racist work,

both in the bigger aspect of my community and also among friends.

And so I was wondering how to normalize these conversations amongst my friends and get past that shame to have these conversations.

Beautiful.

So is it shame or is it fear?

Like I think starting those kinds of conversations with friends and in big groups is, for me, it's more fear based.

What is the shame?

You can just yell it.

Do you mean not shaming other people?

You mean not shaming, oh, I don't know how to do that.

Ask an easier question.

Yeah.

Do you mean not shaming other people?

No, I want people to get past their own shame.

Their own shame.

Shame.

Okay.

All right.

That's fair.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, what I would say just off the bat is that there are brilliant, brilliant racial justice leaders and thinkers everywhere who have been doing, I'm sure in this community, who are like, who have been doing this kind of work and who know these things that you're talking about and i think one of the um when we're moved in these moments which is that's glorious important work that needs to be done and you should do it and you should find someone in this community who has been working for a long time in that lane to guide you yeah

um

Because

we don't have to make up anything.

We have to bring our gifts to a movement, but a movement only moves because people are doing it together.

And so I would say your first step is to plug in, find people who do this with their lives, and learn from them and do what they say.

I love that you want to do that.

Thank God.

I mean, right now,

it's just amazing how

it felt so easy when it was popular,

right?

Like when everybody was wearing the right t-shirts and old Davey had queer stuff and like now it's a different vibe and so it's more important than ever to be brave with our voices and to,

you know, I don't know,

we keep having these Monstera plants on every stage.

I think about them constantly because we have a son who is obsessed with plants.

And he taught me that the Monstera plant is special because all plants grow towards the light, right?

I don't know.

I'm not a scientist, but I think that they do.

But the Monstera plant is special because it grows

in the rainforest, and so there's a huge canopy, and so it doesn't get sun, but it knows in its like little plant DNA, it just trusts that it can grow through the dark for a really, really long time because it knows somehow that the light is out there somewhere.

It's searching for the light.

Yeah.

So I feel like that's what we have to do now.

Right?

It's going to be scarier than ever to say the things we need to say and do the things we need to do, but we just have to keep growing in the dark because also that's what those guys were doing.

They didn't take a day off.

They were at tables, they were at meetings, they were planning, plotting, plotting, plotting for when this moment came they were ready.

And we have to do the same thing.

So good job.

Find the people.

Become that that you want.

I mean, just like the book writer, not everybody wants to do that.

So if you want to do it, please do.

And also, sister, can you tell the story about how fascism wins?

Well,

this is going to make you feel cozy.

No, this is actually

when you're talking about the shame piece.

I think that's really important because I think if when we're being super honest with ourselves, when I am, it's like,

I don't always know

the right answer to things.

I know I'm saying stuff wrong.

I know I'm not getting it totally right, right?

And I think we do have

shame is a tool not only used by one side

of the team,

I think in sometimes in our world of even more like moderate and left,

we utilize shame a little too hard.

Yes.

And I think we need to stop that.

And the reason I think we do is because it's just,

it's not effective.

It scares people into being quiet, and that's the last thing that we need right now.

So

what Abby's talking about is that

in Fascism 1.0

in the 1930s, it was, you know, it was a threat all over Europe.

It was,

there's a couple things about it.

First, it started

Because as Paul Mason says, like, fascism is the fear of freedom triggered by a taste of freedom.

This isn't coming out of nowhere.

It is coming because, like in Fascism 1.0, when the workers' rights movement was getting very, very, very strong all over Europe and it was very, very scary to the elites and the middle class.

That's why fascism took place is because there was this fear of these workers' rights.

They're coming and they're going to come get what's theirs, right?

in this moment

it feels like the oppressive forces are so strong and so loud but but we need to ask like why do they need to be so loud they need to be so loud because the taste of freedom is here right it's coming that's right and so

That's like what's under all of this, but in in 1.0 in the 30s, when you look at all of the places throughout Europe where fascism was a threat, in some places it took hold, in some places it did not.

And the factor that determined the difference was whether the center and the left formed coalition.

Yep.

So

it isn't as fun to feel like

less

righteous about yourself, but what I'm saying is if we don't know what's ahead, we better damn well look at what's behind us and take our lessons from that and in every place where

the center and the left through collaboration through compromise through sacrifice with each other joined forces and fought against the fascists fascism did not take hold there

in the places it it did not take hold because the right was so strong it took hold because the left imploded.

And we can't afford that right now.

And I think a place what we can do is

have a little less shame production from ourselves, a little more, like if someone is willing to link arms with you and fight against the fascism taking over in this country, let's not like unlink our arms with a test of political purity.

Let's just move forward together and do what we need to do.

That's right.

That was so good.

It is my rule in life to hang out with people that are smarter than me.

So that's what I've done.

I think that I know more than anyone on this entire planet that having the right therapist to talk to can make a life-changing difference.

That's why I think ALMA is so cool.

Alma connects you with real therapists who understand your unique experience.

You can use their directory to search for someone who specializes in the areas that matter most to you, whether that's anxiety, relationships, or anything else.

And what stands out to me about Alma is that 97% of people seeing a therapist through Alma say their therapist made them feel seen and heard.

You know, I love that.

That level of connection isn't something you can get from scrolling through online advice or following social media.

It's about finding someone who truly understands your journey and is dedicated to helping you make progress.

Better with people, better with Alma.

Visit hello alma.com/slash hard things to get started and schedule a free consultation today.

That's hello A L M A dot com slash hard things.

We are supported by Ring.

With Ring, you can see more and do more with doorbells and cameras that help you see more to exciting features that help you know more to the app that lets you connect more.

Pan around your home for the perfect view with Pan Tilt Indoor Cams 360 degree coverage.

Type what you're looking for and find it almost instantly in your recorded events with Smart Video Search and get quick video preview alerts to know what's happening without even needing to go into your phone.

I love our Ring.

I get to watch our dogs when we're not at home.

With Ring, you can see more and do more.

Learn more at ring.com.

Some features require a subscription and are available only on select Ring devices.

Exclusions apply.

Learn more at ring.com.

Hey everyone, I've got to tell you about Viori if you haven't heard of them.

You're missing out.

And we love this stuff.

I've been living in this stuff for years.

I recently got the performance jogger from their dream knit collection.

And let me just say, it's hands down the softest, comfiest jogger I've ever worn.

I use them for everything.

Viori is an investment in your happiness.

I promise you.

For our listeners, they are offering 20% off your first purchase.

Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at viore.com slash hard things.

That's vuo r i.com/slash hard things.

Exclusions apply.

Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S.

orders over $75 and free returns.

Go to viori.com/slash hardthings and discover the versatility of Viori clothing.

Exclusions apply.

Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

We're going to go up top, and I think we have to go to these two lovely folks in the sequence.

Oh, my God, sequence!

They just, the sequence people just high-fived each other, by the way.

That was really good.

Oh, my God, that's great.

Hi.

Hi.

We're sisters.

Sisters, everyone.

The sequence sisters.

I just wanted to say, my sister and I were sitting here watching Tish beautifully annihilate all of those songs and I was getting so teary, leaning on my sister.

I have two girls and I just was fast forwarding seeing maybe a future where my kids are on stage or doing something they love.

And I just want to say good job and how'd you do that?

How'd you do that?

Oh, oh, that is pretty situation.

Okay, Jira.

How did we do it?

I mean, I will tell you, there's so many answers to that question.

But one of the things that is tied to her being on stage is that Tish actually,

of all three, was the most outwardly sensitive.

When Abby joined the family,

she was having a really hard time.

And I wanted her to get into more therapy.

And Abby said, how about soccer?

And I was like, is that like therapy?

Sports.

Yeah, and

she started to play soccer and

I just watched her,

through watching her play soccer, I understood what sports are for.

because she it's like this little microcosm where you can experience all the emotions safely and you can fail and flail and win and try and be vulnerable and in this like little pocket of time where it's safe to do that and she just grew and grew there

and then one day

she was having an emotional reaction to something and Abby put a guitar in her hand

and said

why don't you go write a song I mean it's honestly probably self-preservation for us right

at the time but

she found music

and

that transformed her any when you have a sensitive kid with a lot of feelings and thoughts you must get them into art

it saved her she goes into her room and she changes her she transforms her big feelings into music now and it's like it's opened up the entire world for her it's changed her life and i would just say as they're going through some of the like the teenage years

hang on

hang on because then

they get to a place

where

and I'm not saying that she'll stand on stage your kids will get to the place where they're standing on some stage and they're able to say words like love and hate on a spectrum or generational healing work.

Like she's 19 years old.

And

that only happens because she was given the space, the pulling our hair out, not knowing what is going on with this kid, the space to find herself.

Because now she knows she can take herself everywhere she needs to go and she can handle all of the emotions that come up because she's been doing them with us.

And now that she has this guitar and this microphone and her brilliant lyrics that she's writing and putting to music and making records.

Like, it's just, it's a miracle to me that she

can do any of it because none of us have any of it.

I mean, you're a writer, so I guess you know what that's about.

Yeah, but musically, I mean, where did that come from?

I don't know.

It's so weird.

I mean, I would say lastly,

so weird.

I think lastly,

what I would say to you, since yours are still younger, one thing that I would do differently, I talk to Abby about this a lot, is that I brought my kids a lot of I've got you energy.

Like I thought that that was my job, like mama bear, no matter what happened, like I've got you, I've got you, no matter what, I've got you, I've got you, I'll take.

And I think that if I could do it all over again, I would have shifted that a lot to you've got you energy.

Like I was thinking about

the moment that I die and that the kids are there if I'm lucky enough to have that sort of moment.

And

I was thinking about how I've always thought

that what they should be thinking in that moment is,

there goes the best damn mom that ever.

Like she effing nailed it.

Couldn't have been done better.

That's truly what I thought I was going for.

And it was only like a couple months ago that I thought, that is not, it's true, it's true.

It was like two months ago that I was like, that's not right.

Like that, that would be so sad because then they'll think, what do we do now?

Like, what, no, like, what you want them to think in that moment is, I'm going to be okay.

So it's like.

Do whatever you have to do every single day in and day out so that they learn over time that they've got themselves.

So that that is what your parenting is.

So at the very end, you're leaving and they're saying, I've got me.

That's the moment.

So

unfortunately.

No, I want to live in Portland though.

She wants to live in Portland now, you guys.

unfortunately our time has come

where we are going to leave sadly but I wanted to call out a few people who have been instrumental at making this book look like it looks

Val, Annie,

Rachel, can you guys stand up wherever you are?

There they are.

We love you so much.

That's our team right there.

Yay!

These three,

two of whom live in Portland.

Literally, all the illustrations in this book.

Annie drew them all.

Annie did all of them.

The merch, Val, and Annie, you guys have been a freaking miracle to work with.

Thank you so much.

Like, the joy you bring to our team.

Do you guys want to hear from Tish one last time?

Tish, come on!

Thank you,

Pod Squad.

Thank you for showing up and for helping us stay human with your brave and beautiful questions.

I will never forget those moments with you on the road.

We cherished every single moment being together with you in person.

God, we love doing life with you.

We're closing this this episode the same way we ended each unforgettable night with Tish

singing We Can Do Hard Things.

Until next time, I give you Tish Milton and Brandy Carlyle.

I walked through fire, I came out the other side.

I chased desire, I made sure

I got what's mine

And I continue

to believe

That I'm the one for me

And because I'm mine

I walk the line

Cause we're adventurers and heartbreaks on map

The final destination.

We've stopped asking directions

to places they've never been.

And to be loved, we need to be known.

We'll finally find our way back home.

And through the joy and pain

that our lives

bring,

we can do a hard game.

I hit rock bottom, it felt like a brand new start.

I'm not the problem,

sometimes things fall apart

And I continue

to believe

the best

people are free

And it took some time

But I'm finally fine

Cause we're adventurers and heartbreaks on that

Our final destination

lack.

We've stopped asking directions

to places they've never been.

And to be loved, we need to be known.

We'll finally find our way back home.

And through the joy and pain

that our lives

bring,

we can do a hard game.

Cause we're adventurers and heartbreaks on that.

We might get lost, but we're okay.

But that we've stopped asking directions

in some places they've never been.

And to be loved, we need to belong.

We'll finally find our way back on.

And through the joy and pain

that our lives brings.

We can do hard things.

Yeah, we can do hard things.

Yeah, we

can do

hard

things.