Get It Together, Weirdo

Well...What Now

• Sarah Bowser, That Weird Nerdy Mom • Episode 7

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Would it be better to just leave and keep my family safe? Or do we stay and fight back? 

This week’s episode of Get It Together, Weirdo is not your usual episode about keeping your shit together because the recent US election results have left her really struggling to keep her shit together right now. And she bets you are too. 

After expressing her deep concerns and fears about the future, particularly around her children's safety and education, Sarah shares her idea of starting a book club focused on banned literature as a space for listeners to grow together while fueling their energy and resistance. She concludes with a call to action.

If you are struggling in the wake of the US election, you won’t want to miss this emotional episode. 

What you’ll learn in this episode

  • That if you voted for fascism and hate, Get It Together, Weirdo is not the podcast for you.
  • That Get It Together, Weirdo and Sarah’s coworking community are spaces where anyone who is reeling from the election result is accepted and can feel safe.
  • That community and education, and balancing peace and love with anger and resistance are key as we go into the unknown.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode
“If you voted for fascism and Nazis, if you voted for a convicted felon, a rapist, a misogynist, someone who you know threatens those who don't agree with him with violence and death and are someone who thinks 50 cents off a dozen eggs is more important than the human rights of so many people, this isn't the podcast for you. Please unsubscribe.”

“The stress, anxiety, and fear I am feeling around what my daughter will experience at school as a girl is beyond fear that I have ever felt. And the stress, anxiety, and fear I have around what my son will experience ― my little four-year-old goofball who loves to paint his nails pink and wear dresses and tutus ― is right there on that same level.”

“Would it be better to just leave and keep my family safe? Or do we stay and fight back?”

“Hatred should never win. And in this case, it did.”

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Join the Get It Together, Weirdo community

It’s been a week.

So, let’s get this straight right out the gate.

The current president-elect is a fascist. And 72 million people in this country voted for him. 

This is not ok. 

If you voted for fascism and Nazis, if you voted for a convicted felon, a rapist, a misogynist, someone who threatens those who doesn’t agree with him with violence and death, and are someone who thinks 50 cents off a dozen eggs is more important than the human rights of so many - this isn’t the podcast for you. Please unsubscribe. 

Our values, our morals, and our sense of basic human decency clearly do not align, and we will not work well together. 

Please unsubscribe from this podcast with whatever so-called dignity you have left, and leave this to be as safe a space as possible for humans who actually care about each other and want to ensure each other’s safety and well-being. 

If this offends you...too bad. 

You are completely fine with having offended the literal existence of so many human beings through your support of fascism and hate. 

So, I don’t care that you’re offended by not being welcome here.

Goodbye.

...

Ok. With that out of the way... 

With having been traveling this week for work, being away from my family and having to watch the horror that has unfolded this week as a result of the election, it’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts. 

And while I had an episode ready to go for this week, I couldn’t in good faith release an episode about keeping your shit together and getting organized and figuring out how to organize your time. 

Because right now, I am really struggling to keep my shit together. And I bet you are, too. 

We don’t need a light, goofy episode about one-size-fits all solutions or rabbit holes or the like this week. 

What we need is space to process, and a space to figure out what we do next. 

The stress, anxiety, and fear I am feeling around what my daughter will experience at school, as a girl, is beyond fear that I have ever felt. And the stress, anxiety, and fear I have around what my son will experience - my little four year old goofball who loves to paint his nails pink and wear dresses and tutus - is right there on that same level. 

I worry about what our healthcare will look like in the coming months. I worry about what will happen to their education. I worry about what will happen to my family members who work in education - what will happen to them when the fascists gut the Department of Education? 

Would it be better to just leave and keep my family safe?

Or do we stay and fight back? 

And as I begin coming up with all sorts of contingency plans for my daughter, for my son, myself, my family, I’m trying to come up with ways to make a difference and fight back as part of the resistance at the same time. 

I want to hold space for all of us to be able to process what happened, what is coming, and how we can move forward as best as we can. 

And I want to make a point of educating myself and others on what we can do. 

One of my initial thoughts was starting a book club focused on banned books and other books that may soon become banned under this new fascist government and its Project 2025 plan, including books focused on history, education, and anti-racist education and change. 

This would be a space for us to read, learn, share, and grow together, while reading excellent works that will help us to fuel our energy and resistance to what’s to come. 

There would be a minimal monthly cost to participate, which would be donated to a different organization each month to help support marginalized communities and help ensure access to much needed resources as we go into the unknown. 

I would love to get your feedback on this initial idea. Shoot me an email over at hello@thatweirdnerdymom.com, or DM on Instagram @that_weirdnerdymom and let me know your thoughts on this idea - where would you be comfortable hanging out virtually, what books you would want to see included, what organizations you would like to support? 

Additionally, I would like to continue to grow our Monday coworking time as a space for you to come to feel accepted, to be able to process what you need to process, and to hopefully feel safe as you work on anything you need or want to work on. 

Go to the link in the show notes if you’d like to join us for coworking on Mondays. 

As we continue to process everything that is happening, please feel free to email or DM me and vent or share your thoughts. We are here to support each other. 

We will do whatever we can to get through this. It goes without saying...or...I can't even say that. 

It should go without saying, but I guess it needs saying that hatred should never win. And in this case, it did, and I haven't fully processed on how to come back from that. 

But I want to do what I can in this moment, and I think supporting books and authors and creators that are most likely going to be affected and banned under this new regime is one small step of helping and educating, and I really want, really want to do what I can with the energy that I have available. 

So, not our usual episode this week, and that's okay. Because we are not in regular times. We are now in a new time. And I will leave you with this quote: 

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. 

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” 

Cheers to doing what we can with the time that is given us.

Peace and love, but also anger and resistance.