0:01

The Light Podcast is presented by

0:03

Starbucks and Intuit. I

0:07

am so happy to be here. One of the

0:09

things we love about Michelle Obama is that she

0:11

brings people together. And

0:14

we are all here together, looking

0:16

sparkly and happy because

0:20

we are here to spend an

0:22

evening with our forever first lady.

0:26

So let us wait no further. Let

0:34

us bring her out here and let's show her a big,

0:37

huge, warm welcome from my

0:40

sister friend, Michelle Obama.

0:46

Hi everyone, it's Michelle. It's

0:49

been a while since this podcast first

0:51

came out, a whole year actually. And

0:54

a lot has happened since then for

0:56

all of us. We've had good

0:59

days and bad days and lots of

1:01

good and bad days. We

1:04

felt fear and anxiety, but

1:06

also community and love. In

1:09

other words, we've lived a whole lot

1:11

of life. And

1:13

what I keep hearing from people I meet

1:16

is that they're still looking for new

1:18

and creative ways to manage everything life

1:21

throws their way. Now,

1:23

I don't have all the answers. Believe

1:26

me if I did, I'd tell you. But

1:29

I do know what is working for

1:31

me. And I hope

1:33

that some of it will work for you too.

1:36

That's why I wrote The Light We Carry.

1:39

And that's why I'm thrilled to announce

1:41

that it will be coming out in

1:43

paperback soon. And to

1:45

help celebrate, I'm also releasing a couple

1:48

of bonus episodes of this podcast that

1:50

I've never shared before. Including

1:53

this one with my dear friend,

1:55

Michelle Norris. Michelle is

1:58

also a world-class journalist. Author

2:00

of the New New York Times

2:02

best selling book are hidden Conversations

2:04

and host of. The wonderful podcasts

2:07

your Mama's Kitchen which you can

2:09

find on audible or wherever you

2:11

get your podcast with Michelle I

2:13

never have to look or sealer

2:16

act a certain way. I

2:18

can just be myself. In

2:20

this episode we talk about

2:22

friendship, mentorship, relationships, and so

2:24

much more. I. Hope

2:26

you concealed the love and that you

2:29

have as much fun listening as we

2:31

did. Recording it. And

2:38

love that you use the phrase partnering

2:40

well because you know, talking nestler but

2:42

meringue? well, not finding a partner in

2:45

life. Arm. And you you

2:47

talk about it not being fifty sixty. And

2:50

that marriage is never fifty fifty. Which is,

2:52

you know, Information. That I

2:54

think many of us need to hear because you

2:57

go into it thinking any mean he might email

2:59

paper says Iraq you know we're going to review

3:01

the one thing I do one thing it's always

3:03

gonna be fair. Know

3:05

it's not winning. Figure this out. Sometimes you

3:08

won't like him. You. Know and

3:10

I had that and spend some time.

3:12

You will love him but you might

3:14

not like. That's all you know. one

3:16

another line that like earth. the one

3:18

of those little things we don't say

3:20

about marriage. There will be long periods

3:22

of time when you won't like them.

3:24

Long, long periods. Long long long long

3:26

series. Of sign. You

3:29

know you come home and you and you realize

3:31

it's not going be fifty. Sixty. Unless you

3:33

can and you don't even

3:35

want it to be city

3:37

vs. There was this time I

3:39

have, and so this story Burrow excels

3:42

at all the time, but I went

3:44

on a business trip, Milliyet Malia was

3:46

I. At with saucer born.

3:49

Yet. but malia brock was in charge

3:51

malaya we had to go to ballet

3:53

arm and of course this is where

3:55

my kitchen table because the thing was

3:57

is that even one Barack was on

3:59

his own. He was never on his

4:01

own. Because my kitchen table would be

4:03

like, girl, we got you. You

4:05

know? And so he was like,

4:07

no, I can get her to ballet. So he

4:09

tries to fix her hair, you

4:12

know, ballet, the two two and the little puffs.

4:14

That's all she had. It was just a poop.

4:16

All you have to do is gather, gather and

4:18

tie, gather and tie. Why can't you do that?

4:21

You know? And he

4:23

was he was I don't know what to

4:25

do with this. It's like gather and tie.

4:27

Dude, brush, gather, tie, hold it all together.

4:29

You you know, you

4:32

play basketball, you're coordinated, you know, you can

4:34

do all these things you talk, give speeches,

4:37

you can't gather and tie a poop. So

4:42

he does the best he

4:44

can. And he finishes and Malia is

4:46

old enough to talk and this is so Malia, Malia,

4:48

he looks at her and says, how

4:50

is it? And he's like, oh, daddy,

4:52

this is great. So he takes her

4:54

to ballet. She walked into the parent

4:57

area where my kitchen table girlfriends come

4:59

over. He sends her over to one of

5:01

the mothers who says, come here, sweetie.

5:03

He overhears this he says she

5:06

she asked Malia, you want

5:08

me to do your hair? And

5:10

he said she said, Oh, my God,

5:12

yes, this is a disaster. Or

5:18

after the break. In

5:25

the spirit of the light podcast, Starbucks is shining

5:27

a light on the kindness we see every day

5:29

in our stores. This is a

5:31

real story shared by Kelsey, a barista. When

5:35

Robert walks into Kelsey store, she greets him

5:37

like she does every customer. But

5:39

rather than saying hello, she taps him on the

5:41

shoulder puts her hand under his and waves before

5:43

leading him to the counter. Robert

5:45

is deafblind. And Kelsey communicates with him

5:47

using a combination of American Sign Language

5:49

and tactile sign language that she learned

5:51

from another barista who is deaf. Today,

5:54

Kelsey is passing on that knowledge to others

5:57

at her Starbucks store. life-giving

6:00

to be able to have that moment or

6:03

be able to connect with someone. That

6:05

is something I don't want a customer to miss out

6:07

on. A wonderful reminder that

6:09

a little kindness is never really little.

6:15

You're listening to the Audible original

6:18

Michelle Obama, the light podcast. Like

6:20

what you're hearing? Listen to more

6:22

from Michelle Obama between episodes by

6:24

visiting audible.com/the light we carry. Sign

6:27

up for a free Audible trial and

6:29

get your copy of the light we

6:31

carry audiobook. For now, enjoy listening to

6:33

the light podcast. That's

6:38

an example though of how the kitchen table watches out

6:40

for each other. Absolutely. One

6:42

of the things I appreciate is when you

6:44

have a circle, other people in your life

6:46

benefit also. So, my

6:49

husband has benefited from our friendship,

6:51

our kitchen table, because I come home

6:53

a little more calm. But our kids benefit.

6:57

Men, you want us to have our

6:59

kitchen table. Yes, you really do. So, we

7:01

don't go off on you. And

7:05

you all should have yours too. Yes.

7:08

Men, talk, make some friends, men. And

7:11

when you do, talk about something. How

7:15

many times do they get together and I

7:17

come back off? They play golf for hours

7:19

and it's like, how's Asia? And

7:22

Barack is like, she seems fine. I talk to you

7:24

and it's like, well, this happened and that happened. I

7:26

was like, what are you all talking about if you're

7:28

not even talking about kids? Have

7:31

some friends and talk about something. Can

7:36

you guys get that

7:38

together? It's like, because everyone

7:40

will benefit from that. But

7:43

as one of the people who entered the

7:45

circle later, I had to

7:47

deal with, I had to decode fear for myself. In

7:50

part because making new friends, you have to

7:52

make yourself vulnerable. Entering a

7:55

friendship with Michelle Obama means that you have to move a

7:57

lot. And you

7:59

have these bootcamps. that you invited us to be

8:01

a part of. And one of the things I didn't tell

8:03

you, I'm telling you first on stage in front of a

8:05

thousand people. Okay, what have you been hiding? When

8:08

we first went to boot camp, I

8:10

would go to the little cabin. We were at Camp

8:12

David, and we stayed in these cozy

8:14

little cabins, and I would go and I would

8:17

get under the covers, and I was crying. Oh,

8:20

I made my friends cry. Because it

8:22

was really hard. You

8:25

know, and I was like, the

8:27

cell service doesn't work up there, can't tell you where it is.

8:30

But the cell service, I was like trying to call home, come

8:32

get me. Aww. You

8:35

know, can I just walk down the hill? You make my kitchen

8:37

table sound horrible. You can meet me at the wild-off. You

8:40

know, which is like our 7-Eleven in that part

8:43

of the world. Can you just come get me? And

8:46

I got really, do you remember the first time I went, I

8:48

got really sick. Yeah. And it was

8:50

my body saying, uh-uh-uh, you're not making me walk

8:52

up that hill. You can give that hill a

8:54

name, you call the hill Bertha? It was Bertha,

8:56

it was a big hill. And

8:59

I thought you were trying to kill me,

9:01

but what I realized is what friendship will

9:03

do for you. But you were trying to

9:05

help me find my best self. And

9:07

that was something that I would not

9:10

do on your own. So when we

9:12

talk about friendship, I raise this because

9:14

it's not always daisies and you

9:16

know, chardonnay. You know,

9:18

sometimes your friends, although chardonnay does,

9:20

you know, make things

9:22

go down easier sometimes. But

9:26

your friends also tell you what you need to

9:28

hear and they push

9:30

you. And so I appreciate that because

9:32

what you did for the nation in

9:34

pushing us to get moving, you

9:37

pushed your friends to get moving also. And

9:39

I am certain that it has added years to

9:41

my life. And I'm certain that it is. Well,

9:43

you went from crying in the cabin to now

9:45

you have a trainer and how many days a

9:48

week do you work out? I do too. And

9:50

you play tennis? Three times a week. And

9:53

so here's what I

9:55

know about friendship.

9:57

It is, it's a thing, especially we as

9:59

women. women, we aren't

10:01

used to pushing ourselves. I think the

10:04

next generation behind us, now that being

10:06

a female athlete is now a cool

10:08

thing, it wasn't when we were growing

10:10

up, there

10:12

are more opportunities for girls to play

10:14

sports. There's a whole generation of us

10:16

where we weren't encouraged to use our

10:19

bodies to sweat. Oh, no,

10:21

they used to call it glowing.

10:23

Yeah, right. We didn't sweat, we

10:25

glowed. Right, you were trying to

10:27

get out of physical fitness, right,

10:29

because being a strong athletic girl,

10:31

it wasn't cool. Maybe you

10:33

could be a cheerleader, but there were no

10:35

role models for girls, there

10:37

were no Serena's, right? There

10:40

was no, you know, there was

10:42

no WNBA. And so

10:44

as a result, our generation of women,

10:46

we don't know what it feels like

10:48

to physically push ourselves. And I think

10:51

we missed something because of that. We're

10:54

intimidated by physical fitness in a

10:56

way that shouldn't. And so what

10:58

our boot camps were is like,

11:01

they were a series of, it was

11:04

hard. It was three workouts away.

11:06

It was really hard. There was

11:08

a trainer, we had the

11:10

Marines, we'd be boxing, we did a little

11:12

bit of everything. We played games, we

11:15

played dodgeball, we did relays. We don't

11:17

want to play dodgeball with Michelle Obama.

11:19

Well, everyone

11:21

was competitive after, but just playing and

11:24

running and laughing, it's another thing that

11:26

gets you out of your worry. It

11:28

shuts your brain off because you didn't

11:30

have time to think about work or

11:32

worry about the kids because you

11:34

were like, there's the workout after lunch,

11:37

can I do it? And guess what

11:39

everybody did? I want my

11:41

kitchen table to be alive and healthy.

11:43

I want us to be, to understand

11:45

that we can be smart and strong,

11:48

and I wanted us to model that

11:50

for our girls because all of us

11:52

have daughters and all

11:54

of our daughters move. All of our

11:57

daughters eat right. They

11:59

think about. health is part of their

12:01

way of being and I think it's

12:03

because we modeled that for them. So

12:06

I'm sorry. I'm

12:12

better for it. Oh, it was hard. It

12:14

was hard. You

12:16

talk about opening

12:19

yourself, you know, up to friendship.

12:21

The other thing I will say is that when

12:23

you do that, you know, we have daughters, we

12:25

have sons. I have sons also,

12:27

two sons. But I don't know

12:29

if you remember this when you first, you know, you talk about making yourself

12:32

vulnerable. When we first went

12:34

to dinner early on at your house and do you

12:36

remember the time that Norris got, Norris

12:38

went missing in the house? Do you remember this?

12:40

He was playing hide and seek. He was in

12:42

the White House? No, we were up and we

12:45

were vacationing and you invited us to dinner and

12:47

for 15 minutes he was

12:49

like missing, he was hiding. I

12:51

don't remember that. And I thought they're never inviting

12:53

us back. See,

12:56

that's the other thing is when your friends are

12:59

the president and the first lady, you're sweating stuff

13:01

that we're like, of course, they broke it. They

13:03

don't know what's going on, which

13:05

is why I'm grateful that people put up with

13:07

what it was like to make friends

13:09

with us in the heat of that. That

13:12

wasn't an easy feat. But

13:14

I share all that because if

13:16

we get back to it as a tool, you

13:19

know, I would just strongly encourage

13:21

all of us to prioritize friendship.

13:23

It doesn't happen on its own

13:26

and it's got to be up there

13:28

on the list of things. And even

13:30

when you have kids and a relationship,

13:33

let me tell you, kids are gone before you know it.

13:36

They leave fast too. They take up all the

13:38

oxygen in your life and then they leave. It's

13:40

like, bye, I'm done with you now. And it

13:42

happens soon. It's like, I have a party. That's

13:45

like, well, we used to spend Fridays.

13:48

I can't be with you any longer. They

13:51

break up with you so fast. And

13:54

take your money. And

13:57

take your money. They make you pay for

13:59

leaving them. They're

14:01

leaving you. So

14:03

that's going to happen so fast

14:05

and we have so much

14:07

life left to live and we are social

14:10

beings. Even

14:12

though we've gotten used to the

14:15

comfort of being in our own

14:18

words, there's a comfort there. You

14:20

can easily slip into it. As much as

14:22

I like people, I like being alone. I

14:25

like when Barack is traveling. I have the

14:27

remote to myself. That's

14:29

just sort of feeling if no one is

14:31

in my space, they're not going to comment

14:33

on the fact that I'm watching a third

14:35

season of The Real Housewives and come in

14:37

like, why are you watching that? And I

14:39

was like, why do you watch ESPN all

14:41

day? You

14:44

know, no judgment. It's good not

14:46

to have judgment. But you can fall

14:48

into that trap of comfort, but all

14:50

the studies show that that's not good

14:52

for us. And I want our

14:54

young people not to get in the habit, especially now

14:57

that you don't have to go to work. If

14:59

you're out there and you're finding yourself

15:01

alone a lot, I want you to

15:04

resist that being the norm. And

15:06

that means you've got to take the risk, the

15:09

scary risk, the fear thing again

15:11

of reaching out to somebody, you

15:14

know, maybe being rejected, learning how to

15:16

parcel through the and get

15:19

some resilience around friendship so that

15:21

we're not alone. And that

15:23

helps with stress, anxiety, uncertainty.

15:26

Just being able to talk to

15:28

somebody going, doesn't this

15:30

feel crazy these times? Just

15:32

having somebody else go, yeah, I'm struggling

15:34

too. That helps. That's

15:37

a tool for getting through these times. More

15:41

after the break. It's

15:48

not just about how you get there, but

15:51

what you make happen along the way. Your

16:01

strength and adaptability meet. Your

16:04

journey. Your legacy

16:06

to the heart. But

16:08

this not can only be caused by San

16:10

Francisco. Learn more

16:13

at forward.com. So

16:19

an observation. In the years that you

16:21

were in the White House, you seem to have

16:23

used that kitchen table metaphor even when you were in the

16:25

White House to take some of the pressure

16:28

off, to bring people in for dinners. After

16:31

a rough week, Friday night, Saturday night, let's

16:33

bring some friends in. Let's invite some

16:35

people that we not always friend, sometimes

16:37

dignitary, sometimes people whose work you admired.

16:40

Am I correct in saying that? That that was part

16:42

of what you did when you were at the White

16:44

House also? Our motto in the White House was also,

16:47

don't make that house so precious. It's

16:50

the people's house. But

16:52

I watched and I'd been there

16:54

before as a U.S. Senator and

16:56

I realized who comes here? Who

16:58

gets to come into these hallowed

17:00

halls? And there'd be statesmen and

17:02

diplomats and state dinners. And I'd

17:04

noticed even as a citizen looking

17:06

in, what goes on in that

17:08

house? I didn't want it

17:11

to be a mystery. I wanted people

17:13

in that house, particularly kids in that

17:15

house, kids who would never be invited

17:17

in that house but for us being

17:19

there. I wanted it filled with music.

17:21

I wanted there to be trick-or-treating. I

17:24

wanted people to use the South

17:26

Lawn for sleepovers. So every state

17:28

dinner that we had, we had

17:30

kids, we would do a companion

17:32

tasting for kids who would come

17:34

in. They'd be able to

17:36

see the China. They would learn about the country

17:38

that was coming. Kids would be invited to that

17:41

arrival ceremony so they could sit on the lawn.

17:43

Because I was like, what does it mean to

17:45

live in D.C. and have a state visit? And

17:47

you don't even know what that is. Why

17:50

would we do that? Why wouldn't we

17:52

have kids from Anacostia and all

17:55

over just in that house

17:57

so that they understand what goes on behind

17:59

those gates? We wanted

18:01

that house to be alive. And so,

18:03

yeah, we had people there

18:05

all the time, all the time. It

18:08

was a valuable part of me making

18:11

sure that the kids I

18:13

came in contact with felt seen, and

18:16

they felt like a part of this administration,

18:18

a part of this country, all

18:20

kids. I'm not surprised

18:22

to hear you say that, because when we first

18:24

met each other, I was actually covering you on

18:27

the campaign trail. You were out in South Carolina

18:30

campaigning for your husband, who was then the candidate, before he

18:32

was elected to the White House. And we

18:34

were at this community center, and I remember

18:37

that you visited a community center where

18:39

they had a children's program, and your

18:42

staff was like, got to go, got to move, got to go,

18:44

got to move. And you sat and

18:46

you bent down, and you talked to every

18:48

one of those kids. You spent time with

18:51

every one of those kids. So when you

18:53

moved into the White House and you started

18:55

to fill the White House with children, I

18:57

was not surprised at all. And

18:59

I think one of the most profound things you

19:01

have said repeatedly is, I see myself in you.

19:05

That's such a powerful statement, because so

19:07

many children from different kinds of

19:09

backgrounds have never heard that from someone like you,

19:12

someone who lived in the White House. We

19:14

can't be who we can't see. And

19:19

that has been said in so many ways.

19:23

And, yeah, it meant a lot.

19:26

We ran all eight years off-camera,

19:29

nothing that we publicized. We

19:31

did a mentorship program for

19:33

kids. And by

19:35

mentorship, we did leadership programs, but this

19:37

was a very intimate internship

19:40

program, because I felt like this house

19:42

needed to have a relationship with the

19:44

kids in the immediate vicinity, right

19:47

in Anacostia, right in Northeast, the kids

19:49

right in the backyard of the White House.

19:52

And I wanted to have a meaningful, long-term

19:54

commitment, because the other thing I realized about

19:56

kids when they interact with famous people You

20:00

interact once and then you

20:02

never see them again. And I always wonder,

20:04

what does that do? You know, especially when

20:06

we show up, we shut down streets, it's

20:09

a big deal. There's press, there's lights, cameras.

20:11

I feel like apologizing, going, I don't want

20:13

you to feel used by

20:15

this. And when you show up once,

20:17

it feels like you're

20:19

using kids. And I never

20:22

wanted kids to feel used. So any

20:24

interaction I had at a school or

20:26

with a set of kids, the

20:28

goal was, we have to touch

20:30

these kids at least three times.

20:33

They can't just show up for a photo op.

20:36

That may mean they get invited back

20:38

for a music event, or

20:40

they'll come and do something in the

20:42

garden, or I'll go to the school,

20:44

or I'll invite them back for lunch

20:46

or conversation. Because I want kids to

20:48

know, this wasn't just a one-time thing.

20:50

This wasn't just some important

20:53

people coming through your life. You

20:55

were going to be engaged. And the

20:57

mentorship program was a way we could

20:59

drill down. So we picked kids in

21:01

the local area, diverse group of kids.

21:04

We didn't pick the top students. We

21:06

didn't pick the worst students. We picked

21:08

the kids that were just right there,

21:10

kind of lost. They weren't bad enough

21:12

to be trouble, and weren't good enough

21:14

to be excellent, but still capable. And

21:17

we brought them in once a

21:19

month. They were paired with somebody senior

21:21

in the administration. For the girls,

21:23

it was the executive chef. She

21:26

was a mentor. Valerie Jarrett was a

21:28

mentor. Everyone from the top down. And

21:31

everyone was assigned a girl, but the

21:33

girls would come every week. And

21:36

the first time the girls would come, the

21:38

way they would come into the house, they

21:41

were, of course, shy, quiet. They'd

21:44

meet with me at first, and they could barely

21:46

look me in the eye. And my whole goal

21:48

was, by the time you finish,

21:51

you're going to feel like you own this

21:53

place. Because if you can walk into the

21:55

White House, be here every week, feel like

21:57

this place is for you, you can do

21:59

it. anything. So they'd come

22:02

in as sophomores, barely look at

22:04

me in the eye, right? But

22:06

after coming for years, month

22:08

after month, and then we would do a

22:10

graduation program, the

22:13

transformation would

22:15

just be amazing. All these girls would

22:17

come in with their parents, oh,

22:20

this is Michelle Obama. I

22:22

talk to her all the time, who I

22:24

really want you to meet is blah, blah,

22:26

blah, blah, and this is the dip room,

22:28

and this is where we did this exercise.

22:31

Their chest would just come out, right? That's

22:34

what seeing a kid can

22:36

do. You know,

22:39

it is as simple as

22:41

that. Now I

22:43

can't say that all these kids went on

22:45

to be president, but they will remember that.

22:48

You don't forget when somebody tries

22:50

to lower your bar, especially

22:53

when you're young, you remember

22:57

the people who doubt you, you

22:59

remember the negative energy, you know

23:02

when you're not being seen, you know when

23:04

you're not being valued, and when

23:06

you don't get that light, you

23:09

misbehave in the darkness. And

23:11

when we look around at kids,

23:13

any of kids anywhere in the

23:15

world who are stealing, doping, drugging,

23:18

ganging, those are kids who are

23:20

not seen. And

23:22

so I use my platform as

23:24

much as possible so that

23:27

they have something good to remember. They

23:29

can say that Barack Obama saw me.

23:32

Barack Obama allowed me to sit in

23:34

his house and talk to me like

23:36

a real person again and again and

23:38

again. We can all do that for

23:41

a kid in our life, but we also

23:44

can do the damage. So

23:46

we have to be careful about how we

23:48

interact with kids, the assumptions we

23:50

make about them, if they walk

23:52

into a store and you accuse

23:54

them of not belonging, you follow

23:56

them, you call them out for

23:59

selling lemonade. You,

24:01

you Karenize them, I don't want

24:03

to be, but when that happens

24:05

to a kid, they

24:07

do not forget it. And

24:09

it damages them. Our duty

24:12

is to use our light to shine it

24:14

on kids so that they don't have

24:16

to seek out attention in the dark. I

24:24

have one last question. Yes, ma'am. And

24:26

it's sad to get to the end of the road,

24:28

but what does it mean to you to be back

24:31

with people who are so eager to hear your message

24:33

and to stop up all the wisdom in your book?

24:35

What does it mean to you? This,

24:39

this is the air I breathe too, you know,

24:41

because I don't, I am a

24:44

people person and I don't get

24:46

to be in the world normally

24:49

anymore. That was a trade off, you

24:51

know, and I'm not complaining because we were

24:53

able to do some good stuff in the world,

24:55

but I no longer have

24:58

the luxury of anonymity. You know,

25:00

I can't just sit and listen

25:02

over your conversations and figure what

25:05

would you say in the grocery store? You know,

25:07

you're going to see me and then you're going to stop

25:09

talking and go, is that Michelle Obama? It's like, now

25:11

I'm just trying to hear about your marriage. Just pretend

25:13

like I'm not here. Just

25:16

trying to figure out where things are.

25:18

At my heart, I am a sociologist.

25:20

That was my major. And I love

25:22

people. I love the study.

25:25

I am fascinated with y'all. But

25:29

selfishly, it's like

25:31

these rooms keep me hopeful

25:34

and I hope they keep you hopeful. I

25:37

mean, one of the things I said in my book

25:39

is that, you know, I think

25:42

these rooms are sort of about me, but

25:44

I think they're more about us and what

25:47

we crave. When you

25:49

leave here, you guys are going

25:51

to feel better about yourselves and

25:53

each other because this is what America

25:55

is. I've been out there.

26:00

It's not what we read on

26:02

the news. That's a business, right?

26:05

And this does not diminish

26:07

how hard things are right now. People

26:10

are struggling. And we

26:12

need to be doing more to

26:15

provide support, mental health support, health

26:17

care support, jobs. We need to

26:19

figure out what we're doing. And

26:22

as jobs are being eliminated because

26:24

of technology, the planet

26:26

is getting warmer. There are

26:28

lots of problems. Our young

26:30

people are experiencing record levels

26:33

of anxiety. So this

26:35

is not to whitewash the

26:37

reality of things. But America

26:39

is full of decent people.

26:42

And right now, because of those

26:45

uncertainties, we just are acting outside

26:47

of ourselves. But that's not who

26:49

we are. This is who we are,

26:52

regardless of party. Because as

26:54

the first black first lady of

26:56

the United States, people

27:06

have always been

27:08

decent to us. Not

27:11

across the board, but the vast majority of

27:13

people were willing to

27:15

open their hearts to this new

27:18

thing, this black family in America

27:20

running the country and

27:22

go, huh, I see

27:24

myself. Yeah, that makes sense. I

27:27

get it. I didn't know that that's who they

27:29

were. And people's

27:31

hearts can open more.

27:34

That's why we can't be afraid of each

27:36

other. Because there's really nothing to fear.

27:40

We're all just trying to get to the same

27:42

place. I hope these

27:44

rooms remind you and make you

27:47

as hopeful as they make me. And we

27:49

got to hold on to these feelings. And

27:52

we've got to look for leaders who want

27:55

to lead in this way. I don't

27:57

care what party, but we should demand.

28:00

more hopeful leadership. We

28:03

deserve it and our kids deserve it. Thank

28:07

you so much. Amen. Sometimes

28:18

when you're in it, when

28:20

you're living life and feeling overwhelmed,

28:23

it can be easy to forget that you're not

28:25

alone. It can be hard

28:27

to remember that other people may be feeling

28:29

the same way you are and

28:31

that there are folks out there who might be able

28:33

to help or at least relate.

28:37

In those moments, you might not know

28:39

you need them. You might not even think

28:41

you need them. But

28:43

we all need people who complement

28:45

us. And I don't mean those

28:48

who just say nice things. I mean,

28:50

people who feel a part of us

28:52

we didn't even know was empty. People

28:55

who lift us up when we're

28:57

down, who get us out of that fog when

28:59

we didn't even know we were in it. It

29:03

can just be one person, a

29:05

friend who sees us for who we are, who

29:08

can help us become who we want to be. This

29:12

year, I hope you find

29:14

a new friend, a new

29:16

mentor, a partner, or a peer

29:18

who complements you. And

29:20

I hope they bring a little more light into

29:22

your life, just like Michelle does

29:25

for me, because you

29:27

deserve it. We all do.

29:30

Thanks for listening. I'll see you

29:32

next time. If

29:35

you want to hear more from Michelle,

29:37

check out your mama's kitchen on Audible

29:39

or wherever you listen to podcasts. And

29:41

if you want to keep the conversation

29:43

going with me, pre-order the

29:46

paperback edition of The Light We Carry

29:48

Online or even better, at

29:50

your favorite local bookstore. This

29:58

has been a higher ground. and Audible

30:00

Original, produced by Higher

30:03

Ground and Little Everywhere, executive

30:05

produced by Dan Fearman and Mukta

30:07

Mohan for Higher Ground and Jane

30:10

Marie for Little Everywhere. Audible

30:12

executive producers are Kate Navin

30:15

and Nick D'Angelo. Audible

30:17

co-producers Keith Wooten and Glyn

30:19

Pogue, produced by Mike

30:21

Richter, with additional production

30:24

by Joy Sanford, Dan Galucci,

30:26

and Nancy Gollum-Biskey, with

30:29

production support from Andrew Eapen,

30:31

Francesca Diaz, Camila Sertakus, and

30:34

Ryan Kozlowski, chief content officer

30:36

at Audible, Rachel Gyatza. Special

30:39

thanks to Melissa Winter, Jill

30:42

Van Loeckeren, Crystal Carson, Alex

30:45

May-Sealy, Hayley Ewing,

30:47

Marone Hylumescu, Sierra

30:49

Tyler, Carl Ray, Injerry

30:52

Radwes, Meredith Koop, Sarah

30:55

Corbett, Tyler Lechtenberg,

30:57

and Usra Najum. The

30:59

theme song is Unstoppable by

31:01

Sia. The closing song is

31:04

Lovely Day by Bill Withers. Copyright

31:06

2023 by Higher Ground

31:08

Audio, LLC. Sound

31:11

recording copyright 2023 by Higher

31:14

Ground Audio, LLC. Voiceover

31:16

by Novina Carmel. This

31:19

episode was recorded live at the

31:21

Masonic in San Francisco.