Piloting Your Life: In-Flight Entertainment (Privilege of Certainty) (Apr 21, 2021)
Welcome Back My Uncertain Passengers:
I read a series of tweets on the privilege of certainty which really got me thinking. The message was for me as a white person; I am finally experiencing what a lot of people of color have always experienced. It’s really uncomfortable to feel this uncertainty and to realize I’d never thought of certainty as a white privilege. What will I do with this? I don’t know but I am definitely thinking about this.
I am beginning the research for what I hope will be my next book and started reading Good and Mad. In the introduction the author, Rebecca Traister, talks about the ERA movement in the early 70s and Shirley Chisholm. After a friend recommended that I watch Mrs. America and I learned more about Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, the ERA, abortion rights, and Phyllis Schlafly, I wondered why I didn’t know more about all of this. Why wasn’t this all a bigger part of my US History lessons? I can hazard a guess and it starts with P and ends with Y. (Spoiler: Patriarchy) As I continue to watch the show, I know I am going to be really angry, or at least angrier than normal.
I’ve mentioned before that I am a womanist, not a feminist, because the feminist movement was largely for middle class white women and I am interested in supporting a more inclusive equal rights and equal opportunity movement. I’ve also been talking about how we have the opportunity to create a new normal, to create a more equitable and just society, as a result of the upheaval associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rebecca Traister quotes her friend Esther Kaplan in Good and Mad, “social movements have the potential to radically change us, not just radically change the world.” I can’t help but think that as we are all changed by what is going on, we can create a social movement to radically change the world. Let’s not waste our shot.
Piloting Your Life (the book)
Speaking of books, Piloting Your Life has been selected as the Silver award winner for the 2019 Nautilus Book Awards in the Aging Consciously category. Look for the new silver sticker to be incorporated into the cover for the world to see. Fingers crossed this results in more book sales because lately the sales have been pretty dismal.
Piloting Your Life (the podcast)
Piloting Your Life (the podcast) continues to be on hiatus while I focus on my YouTube channel (links below). I did release a quick episode today to explain why and what I am up to. Will we be ending on episode 117? I don’t know. You never know when I might get inspired to pick it back up, but for now, you can find me on YouTube with videos released every Tuesday and Saturday mornings.
YouTube: I was a hard week (I finally shaved my legs)
Speaking of YouTube, on Saturday I released an episode on why it was a hard week despite updating our wills and related documents. It’s not all bad news; I shaved my legs for the first time in four weeks.
YouTube: Uncertainty and human connection (I need a new cocktail)
I miss my freedom. I miss feeling certain. I miss a lot of what was before the middle of March. How am I coping? Well, you will just have to listen / watch today’s YouTube video to find out. Spoiler: connecting with my friends and colleagues from around the world and listening to what they are experiencing is very grounding and inspiring. Don’t forget to subscribe and feel free to add your cocktail suggestions in the comments.
Here’s my challenge for you today. Connect with another human outside of your typical realm. Listen to what they are experiencing, what is happening in their city, state, and/or country and empathize with their human experience in these troubling and challenging times. Let’s share our humanity.
Happy connecting!
With much love and gratitude,
Terri
P.S. Take the controls and be the pilot in your own life. It’s a beautiful day to fly, and you are cleared for takeoff.
Song: People are People (Depeche Mode)
terrihansonmead.com
Piloting Your Life (the book)
Terri Mead YouTube Channel
Piloting Your Life (the podcast)
Twitter: @PilotingLife
Instagram: @PilotingYourLife
Facebook Group: Piloting Your Life (the book)
Facebook Page: Piloting Your Life
