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Whatup Reader!

So, right of the bat, ya’ll had a tremendous response to last week’s email about the creepy man in the park. I very much appreciate your kind words. As a quick follow-up to that email before I dive into today’s musing, I want to share something that my friend Erika Mayall offered up in the response email she sent me.

While she said she can’t take credit for the concept because though she doesn’t remember where she first heard it, she knows for certain she didn’t come up with it, I’m gonna give her half credit and my whole appreciation.

Erika wrote to me that while her son knows about stranger danger, she and her husband have made a point teach him about “tricky people”. I love this.

If you’ve taught your kids about tricky people, amazing. If you haven’t and you’re interested in learning MOAR, here’s a pretty comprehensive starting point resource that I found after some interweb searching. It’s older (2017) but it had more information than the other sites, and the author isn’t trying to sell you their course or anything like that.

And now, a complete 180 from learning how to say no, let’s chat about saying yes.

As the media continues to pummel us with emergency announcements and breaking news pretty much every hour on the hour it beyond easy to retreat inwards, say fuck this shit, and believe that there’s nothing you can do.

One thing you can do, say yes.

At the heart of change, of growth, of revolution, of prosperity, of safety, of happiness, of freedom…are relationships and community.

Now, there are like a zillion ways to define community and possibly just as many ways to create it. I want to discuss what I think is the easiest starting point for point: Saying yes.

The people pleasers reading this might be looking at me real skeptical right now, so, allow me to drop my forever reminder: Take what serves you and leave the rest.

For the rest of you who this is landing with, what I’m speaking about is saying yes to the things, namely the little things, that are so easy to say no to, or to put off for another time that we know won’t come back around for a loooooong time. Things that we’re saying no to, not because we would hate to do them, but because we know that the person on the other end won’t be offended by a raincheck.

That phone call (yes, this is coming from the person who hates the phone), that lunch date, that email, that party, that meetup, that text message, that point of contact that we say no to because we’ve labeled it a rubber ball amongst the glass balls of work and life obligations.

Consider saying yes to that thing.

I know you’re busy. I know you’ve got deadlines to hit. I know your plate is full.

But if you’re wondering what you can do in these wild times, a starting point worth considering is simply saying yes.

Happy Tuesday, Reader.

Maestro out.

PS – A follow-up for my people pleasers in the audience who were giving me side-eye before: Time is finite, which means saying yes to something means saying no to something else. I know you know this, which is why you were giving me the side-eye in the first place. Now, my challenge to you, use that fact to your advantage.

Do the thing.

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