A mixtape 📼 and the Gen X condition (debunked)

My husband loved to make mixtapes.  

📼To this day, I can’t hear UB40’s Red Red Wine or James Taylor’s Something in the Way She Moves without picturing “For My Girlfriend” scribbled in his chickenscratch on the sticker of that black cassette he gave me the summer of my junior year in high school.  

We grew up in a generation known for self-reliance

.MTV and lace gloves. Combat boots and college radio.We were capable. We figured things out. We didn’t wait around for permission. 

And we accomplished so much. 

But here’s the thing about self-reliance: it has a shadow side. 

🎶My husband loved music. He owned over a thousand LPs. He was a college DJ at Brown. A walking encyclopedia of eclectic musical expression and deep cuts — until the day he died. 

But as he moved through his career, he didn’t actually do the work he loved. 

He came upon many dark nights of the soul.And the truth is — help was all around him.But he couldn't reach for it. He didn't receive it. He chose to go it alone. 

I’m sharing this with you because it matters to me that you and I choose differently. 

Because I’ve seen what it costs when creative souls try to navigate difficult terrain on their own. 

If you’ve ever been in a workshop with me, you know we get to the heart of our resistance.

We go deep. 

Because you can’t talk about change without facing what scares you. 

Yes, I use bells 🔔 and whistles 😗 to get your attention here. (Sorry for all the emails, btw. But I’m pestering for a reason!)

I know you will love doing this work — because it matters to you that you:

✨ Love what you’re doing with your life✨ Make work that reflects the full range of who you are and what you care about✨

Continue to grow. Even now. Especially now. 

And I can tell you with 100% certainty: you can’t do that alone.

And, my fellow Gen Xer — you deserve the support you may never have received. 

💗You deserve to be supported by women who get you.💗To be affirmed and championed.💗To be challenged and in choice about what you’ll create next.