Chit-Chat Check-In #101 Transcript

Hello, this is your Captain speaking. Had to take a little time to process. As many of you know, I have struggled with depression and anxiety disorder for quite some time. Well managed, but when you add an extreme outside stressor, it can feel more like primordial fear. So I had to give my body a chance to stop vibrating, like I was being electrocuted.

Anyway, enough about me. How's everybody doing? Not so good, probably—a lot of you are probably feeling about the same way I am. My only thoughts on that are .... I think we all saw a world that was new. And I think we were all excited about, maybe, that coming true. And I think a lot of our fellow citizens saw that world, also, and are much more afraid of it than, maybe, we are.

I don't feel like I should get to hate people I don't know. So I'll just say that I think they're very fearful. And I don't think we should be fearful. We saw it, and I don't think we should let it go. It's going to be clearer, and clearer. And maybe we just need to get better at explaining why it's not to be feared. I'm not trying to talk cryptically—I just think that there's something ... [pause]

I'm an eternal optimist. And I know it's annoying to some people. But I think everybody saw something beautiful on the horizon, and a lot more people recoiled from it than I would have ever expected. Because I saw it as something beautiful; they don't. A lot of people aren't paying attention, a lot of people don't care. A lot of people are filled with hate. But hate is born of fear.

So I'm making a choice to not be fearful. It's not easy. But I have good examples in my life of people who saw something far on the horizon, and worked for it, fearlessly, for long long periods of time. Mavis Staples in particular, who I've gotten to work with, as you all know, has been a real role model in that for me.

I did delete my Twitter. I highly recommend it. I think there's plenty of content in my life. And I'm sure there is in yours as well. I'm going to start looking for content in my own life. And stop doomscrolling, getting scared, and then laughing at a kitty cat. I think it's a better way to go, to just look for the content in my own life.

I'm learning. Sorry if this evaluation of our current moment isn't what you want to hear right now. But I hope that hope isn't ever an unwelcome message.

I love you all. Carry on. For real. Carry on.