Navigating Unprecedented Times and Civic Engagement with Aubrey Shaffner
EP 207: Aubrey Shaffner
Creator and Host, The Golden Approach
In this episode host Aubrey explores the current tumultuous landscape, emphasizing the need for empathy, diversity, and community. Drawing from her mixed cultural background, Aubrey underscores the importance of self-awareness and collaboration. Conversations span the intersection of faith, family, and social justice, reflecting on personal and historical traumas. The script delves into the urgent need for inclusive representation amidst political and climate crises, urging listeners to remain civically engaged and informed. Emphasizing the power of small daily actions, the episode encourages persistence and collective effort for a better future.
EPISODE OUTLINE
[00:00] Welcome to The Golden Approach
[00:22] Navigating Unprecedented Times
[06:54] Personal Reflections and Lessons
[23:56] Facing Historical and Systemic Challenges
[32:48] Taking Action: Practical Steps for Political Participation
RESOURCES
Where to Find Us:
Ways to Support the Show:
Join us on Ko-fi for exclusive content
Explore our bookshelf on Bookshop.org
Follow/Leave a review on Spotify
Follow/Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Mentioned in the Episode:
Wall Street Journal’s What’s News podcast
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to The Golden Approach
Music fades in…
[00:00:00] Aubrey: Hi, Sunshine, and welcome to the show. I'm your host, Aubrey, a hopeful romantic who's always loved getting to know others and learning what I don't know. Here I hope of going beyond the golden rule and collectively building a more kind and curious world for all, this is the golden approach. I'm so grateful you're here.
Music fades out…
Navigating Unprecedented Times
[00:00:22] Aubrey: So I'm not telling anyone anything they don't know when I say Times are crazy. But you know, you think as a millennial that eventually I would just get used to living in a world filled with unprecedented events every other day and yet it never quite becomes more normal. It just becomes more Heavy, and then you sort of just forget because everything feels heavy how it's not meant to feel this heavy all the time But I'm a millennial
[00:01:00] Aubrey: and so unprecedented events are sort of our vibe in the sense of I don't know wars in the Middle East Check. That seems to be back on the table. Housing crisis. Check. That's been a struggle. Recession. Yeah, it's a toss up. don't want to get overly confident. This sort of pendulum swing of political discourse over the last 20 years And then, now we're in the middle, trying to figure out which way are we actually gonna go. That's a lot to take in, that our lizard brains are truly just not equipped to handle. But, maybe it's just because I got to experience like a sample size of the before times, that makes me, Blindly hopeful that we can find our way back to a time of ease and peace and just like ridiculous, stupid shit on the internet, but we only
[00:02:00] Aubrey: do that. If we take some of the weight off our shoulders, if we finally let go of some of the baggage that we've been carrying around for a really long time. And I have used this metaphor many a time on the show, but I do think it's important to keep repeating it because I think it's a very accessible way to think about it and it's something we all really need to spend some time reflecting on. So. From the time you are born, you start picking up baggage. Some of it's your own, some's by choice, some isn't, but it's yours and no one else's and you got to keep taking it with you. But then there are plenty of other diverse bags that we pick up along the way from other people. Again sometimes we want them they're beneficial to us, or they're nostalgic to us, or whatever the positive feeling it gives us, the comfort it gives us. But it's the third
[00:03:00] Aubrey: category of not my shit and it's not good for me baggage. That we have all got to spend some time like, you know, like when you're doing your house stuff and you say, Oh, I have a pile of love it. I have a pile of donate it and I have a pile of trash. Well, if you don't want to these things, odds are you don't want to donate it. It's pretty much going to be the two piles, but you get my point. There's shit we have all got to let go of because it is not good for us anymore. And I see these reoccurring patterns happening, like the cycle is just getting faster and faster and more intense. And so we're sort of at an amazing opportunity. To decide what baggage do we actually want to keep carrying with us and what do we want to just squash down because it does not serve us and is never going to serve us, but also part B, finally being some of the first humans to like,
[00:04:00] Aubrey: truly embrace diversity and inclusion and curiosity and empathy, if we do that, we will prove that the American experiment is well worth the time it is not always perfect because how do you get 330 million people on the same page all the time? Like, You're just never going to, there's always gonna be diversity and that's exciting. We all want to be the best here, America, most powerful, right? We've been hearing that since we came out of the womb. Let's live up to that moment. Let's live up to that ideal that we have of ourselves. That we have of each other. So that's probably the most like super patriotic, you're going to hear from me in this episode, but I just wanted you to know it does exist within me. Okay. But we have got to have a real chat guys, because we are a
[00:05:00] Aubrey: bunch of hangry humans that are all being very malnourished and are just all in desperate need of a giant Snickers bar. We cannot be our best when we are run down. We cannot be kind and empathetic when we are run down. We can't be hopeful when we have been shown time and time again that hope is non existent. And it's okay, we do not have to blame ourselves for the situation that we're in 100%. This is a boulder that has been rolling down a hill for a really long time, and it's going to be difficult to not only stop it, But break it up, so it is no longer a threat to us and the only way we can start doing that, because it's impossible to speak for everyone. Trust me. That's why it took forever for this episode to come out because I was so desperate to try and, like, speak for the masses and jam pack so much information to prove to everyone, that
[00:06:00] Aubrey: this has been going on for forever, but it didn't work because it was not my story. A lot of those specifics I wanted to use, I hadn't lived, so it didn't, didn't land. And then on top of that, there's just so much to jam pack that it just loses the message because it's too distracting and it's so overwhelming, just like the world in general is. So I've really tried to summarize this down to just one simple message that I hope that you'll hear you'll take strongly into consideration and Use it to move forward With the potential that we have to support, like, not only ourselves, but other people, which is all I'm trying to do here at the Golden Approach. Literally, that's just trying to make us friends. Okay. And like, be able to see each other more clearly, see ourselves more clearly. So anyway. Here you go.
Personal Reflections and Lessons
[00:06:54] Aubrey: So the takeaway lesson for this episode is simply we are all products of our
[00:07:00] Aubrey: environment. I say this all the time. If you've met me in person, I have probably said this to you I know you can't see me, but I'll kind of like box my face like Vogue and I'll say this makes so much more sense when you meet my parents. And trust me, it does. I'm a weird mix of like, you know, bougie, girly girl and a in the mud, I'll show you look at my big muscles,sailor attitude. Other times, because I have lived Such a confusingly diverse life that like, I don't even know how to explain it to people most of the time, but I'm I love it. It's been a blast. But when people do meet my parents instantly, everything seems so clear. They're like, yeah, this is still a wild ride to get through. And there is so much information to take in. But. I see him and I see her
[00:08:00] Aubrey: and okay, this clearly one plus one equals two. And so I think that this is an important thing to point out to all of us because it's sort of back to that baggage metaphor. There are just certain things that become our own baggage and that's cool. That makes us us. And there are things that we acquire from other people that sometimes we don't want to keep. And I feel like that's what I've spent the last four years, whether it be things from my childhoods, we all got our baggage from childhood, but it's also from work. And the things I've talked about on this show that I've worked really, really hard to decipher What helps and what hurts and what can I let go of and it's basically by reflecting on the environments I've been in and how They made me feel or how I feel like I grew or times I felt disappointment and it's hard to sit with yourself that, you know Intimately if you don't know yourself, how do you actually
[00:09:00] Aubrey: know where to go or what to do or anything, right? And we, as humans crave meaning, we crave understanding of ourselves, understanding of the cosmos, and there are 2 particular lessons that I find myself coming back to from each of my parents that really shaped me into who I am. One is, A Jewish teaching, Tikkum Olam, And this translates basically to repair the world, which means that any action we take to make this place better is our purpose. We understand that the world is innately good. that God, creator, whatever you want to call them up there, that they purposely left the room for us to be us and to impact
[00:10:00] Aubrey: and influence and evolve the work that God started. And I always thought that was beautiful because I do believe that's why humans are here. We're here to use our powers for good, not evil, and make just the most incredible, alien planet that ever did exist, you know? The other is a Lakota teaching from my dad's side that is Mitakuye Oyasin, to the point of all of life is related. We're all coexisting, codependent, and co creating our destinies together. And this is why I call myself a hopeful romantic, because like, I believe that both these things are possible. And I, I've seen it. I know it's possible. When I was a kid, we were a part of such amazing communities. And I know what a blessing that is to have had the freedom
[00:11:00] Aubrey: to ride my bike in safety in my neighborhood growing up, or where all the neighbors asked each other how they were and knew each other's families for generations like, I know how lucky I am to have experienced true community as a child and the influence it has had on the world that I believe is possible. But I also have spent a lot of my life in Baltimore city, and I totally understand why so many people do not believe it. How could you believe it? You've not been given any opportunity and most at not at all your fault. And so. Let's all just kind of take a moment and forgive ourselves for the things that are just like so not our fault in this world. It's not to say that we're faultless, but there is still so much out of our control that we have just got to stop taking so Personally, and so hard on ourselves
[00:12:00] Aubrey: for because if we're putting energy towards that, we're not putting energy towards these 2 other incredible options of how we can see the world. But I'm not a total novice. Being raised Jewish, I am very well aware of the true consequences that this world carries. From a young age, I saw time and time again how non existent or just blindly hated I was for this thing, this thing that for me was just a beautiful community. Like I was not raised Orthodox or kosher. So my version of Judaism was very open and just focused on like heart and community. And even that I know is, very different than what a lot of people have experienced. But, the point is
[00:13:00] Aubrey: that so many Jewish holidays are rooted in the idea that Jews were slaves and then thankfully something happened and we're grateful to God for it that helped us not be slaves anymore. And now we celebrate the blessings we've been given to still not be slaves because we know it can always happen again. Then you add the holocaust into that you grow up and you see people be so not bothered by it or deny that it even happened while you're also being told stories of the fact that neighbors turned on neighbors. that Overnight, it seemed that people instantly hated other people and they were taken away and beaten and abused and scientifically used to do horrible things which we owe a lot of our medical advances to so there is real understanding of
[00:14:00] Aubrey: trauma and loss that comes from being raised in Judaism. But, you know, it still felt like stories, you know, like the stories that your grandparents tell you that kind of scare you and stick with you. And, you know, like, there's a lesson in there I should pay attention to, but you never truly lived it. So. You can't ever truly understand it the way they understood it. And that was until Charlottesville, Virginia happened. And despite all the little things that had happened throughout my life, that made me keenly aware that people truly did hate Jews for just being Jewish. But this was the first one that was ever on, like, Such a national scale. It was on all the news channels with live footage and there's literally people walking around as Nazis in America, chanting Jews will not replace us. And
[00:15:00] Aubrey: that's just where we're at? And then for the president to say there were very fine people on both sides when one of the neo Nazis quite literally drove their car into a crowd of people, killing someone. Like, that was a mindfuck in a lot of different ways. But we are all just products of our environments. And, I have very little trust in the types of people that Feel confident that they can walk down the streets desiring like killing and annihilating people blindly for just existing as Jewish And so the only way that that happens is when we allow it to happen when we allow people to be without. Exposure and opportunity and support and love that's when they learn hate
[00:16:00] Aubrey: and they have to pinpoint it on someone and everyone has someone that they can hate. But there are very specific caste systems in our world that have existed for forever of certain people who hate other certain people. This is just my example, but Lord knows it's not the only version of the tale in the world. But no matter the variation, the cause is always the same. It's some kind of neglect or abuse. And that neglect and abuse can have literal life and death consequences when allowed to build and build and build over time. I see the exact same thing on my dad's side being raised with tales of genocide and residential schools. I am very keenly aware of what is at risk. And this one, again, I lived firsthand when I went to Wounded Knee for the first time, which if you don't know what Wounded Knee is,
[00:17:00] Aubrey: is one of the most horrific things that we as a country have truly ever done. And we swept it under the rug and we really do need to learn to own up to our actions If we ever truly want to be the version of America we believe we're possible of being, but when I went there for the first time, which was already just a devastating experience to be somewhere where 180 plus people were murdered and then buried in a mass grave. And then you look out over the horizon and you realize that there's a highway through it and it was just a real sobering moment for me and then the salt in the wound was as we were leaving a family pulled up to try to sell us beadwork because the average annual salary on Pine Ridge Reservation is eight thousand dollars a year. Yes a year and so they were trying to sell us beadwork and somehow I don't know the
[00:18:00] Aubrey: details. I have my theories. Cops showed up because the mother was drunk, which is unfortunately all too average out on the reservation. for Clear reasons So, uh, they came and they arrested her brutally and we all just sat and watched it happen. And we're not allowed to do anything about it by the people who were leading, the group that I was with And I just couldn't, I just couldn't believe that like, that's the norm for this world, that that's the version of the world we want to live in is that the proper action is to just sit back and watch someone be abused. Because it's okay if it's done by someone official? And then they drove off with her, left the car parked on the side of the road, and I had to watch these four kids just start walking down the side of the highway. The cops just left them and how is
[00:19:00] Aubrey: that an okay world either that we're just like, yeah, that's your problem now, children and I honestly, if you haven't turned this off already, I'm really grateful. I'm not trying to do a shame parade here. I'm literally just trying to be honest with where we're really at. And again, these are just my examples. These are just small drops in the bucket of all the different types of experiences that the 330 million people in this country are experiencing. Not totally our fault. Again, the system is kind of rigged, guys. I'm a millennial. I am under the impression based on the analytics that a lot of you listening to this are either millennials or Gen X. So, You get it, right? Like they built the systems in a way that really cheated us out of a lot of opportunity and one big example of that is No Child Left Behind.
[00:20:00] Aubrey: And that really changed the way we were educated and it focused on rules rather than context. And they argue that, well, if we teach you how to understand a book, well, then you can read anything and you can understand anything you want to learn. And sure, I guess in theory that is technically accurate, but life is not just a theory and we know humans are messy. And so we need to be encouraged to be open to and accept other opinions and emotions and feelings and how to process those things, unless they're forced upon us by life. And if that happens, we have to hope that there's someone nearby who can provide us the support in understanding what to do when that happens or what to do with those feelings. And while yes there are individual things that we all need to take responsibility for, but there are also systemic
[00:21:00] Aubrey: things and historical things that we have not moved past and therefore limit our true potential. And I've said all of this and shared all of this because that's the fork in the road. We find ourselves in, in less than two weeks, and I don't just mean a presidential election, which clearly is going to be as we all love at this point unprecedented, but it's so much more than that. It's every branch of our government. It's how we want the rest of the world to see what Americans believe themselves to be. Because while we're on the topic of the president, the first thing they do is they give a visual image of who we are to every other country. When they speak, they represent how we speak. And yes, it is
[00:22:00] Aubrey: frustrating that a lot of us have felt so disconnected and underrepresented by the people that we get to choose to do that job. And it is challenging. Again, there's 330 million people in this country. Like, how are we ever to find one That best represents all of us. That we all feel we can look at and say, Oh, that's me. Well, never unless we do what is proposed by some, and that is to streamline that look. So I argue that we need to figure out new ways to connect and understand a person. because we are so diverse, it will be impossible to ever find one person, or even two if you're gonna include the vice president, that we feel like truly represents all of us, if we do not start going
[00:23:00] Aubrey: beyond the basics of skin color, genders, and even religion, we really have to start going back to the foundational things that all humans experience, no matter how we translate them differently. Things like love, kindness, patience, calmness. When I find people, one or close variations of those things, I feel safe and I feel seen. And that's all any of us are looking for. And we should be able to receive that from our representatives, no matter what their skin color, or their sexual orientation, or their religion is. Those things don't make or break a human's capableness of being one of those other things that really make the difference.
Facing Historical and Systemic Challenges
[00:23:56] Aubrey: So how do we start making moves to [00:24:00] protect our long term futures over our short term disagreements, whether that be our voice, our choice, or our planet. It's important to note that time is not our friend. Okay. We are looking at crossing global warming thresholds as early as 2027. Ee have overstepped 6 out of the 8 major thresholds to the point where we can't reverse any of it. There are things that are happening right now that cannot be reversed for decades. Even if we just made all the right choices, starting right now, which is clearly not going to happen. So, anything we can do to stop the Titanic from going towards the iceberg again I know y'all are in my generation, We don't need to make it to the end of tape one guys. We just don't. And so this brings me to the real big hurdle that we have all got to get over The idea is stop the steal. So obviously
[00:25:00] Aubrey: stop the steal came out of January 6th with the, insurrection on Capitol Hill, trying to stop the certification of the 2020 election, which is important to bring up because we are just as much at risk of that happening again as we were then. If not more, and it was a silly little group last time, it will not be a silly little group this time. And just because Stop the Steal was created on January the 6th for the election, it is, more than anything else before it, the true representation of what the MAGA party is trying to accomplish. It's not simply Stop the Steal of the election. It stopped the steal of this country. And you have to be honest with yourself as to which side of that, do you really think you're on? And it's not even always what you think you're on. It's what do they think you're on? I am pretty open. Clearly I'm doing this. the
[00:26:00] Aubrey: side that is not getting invited to the party should things go the way that the MAGA movement clearly does want them to go. Charlottesville, Virginia was seen as the catapult moment for January 6th to happen. I take that very, very seriously.
Trump's Influence and the Erosion of Democratic Norms
[00:26:19] Aubrey: Trump in the last few days, as we get closer to the election has felt even more emboldened than ever before, and we would have never let any president or any candidate before him say a tenth of what he's allowed to say. But we sure as hell wouldn't accept anyone but him apparently saying that we can use U S army and national guard force against our own citizens deemed dangerous to democracy per Donald Trump. And sure, I guess if you saw that just in black and white with no context, you'd be like, yeah, of course the president should be able to take control and you know, get rid of
[00:27:00] Aubrey: anyone that is a threat to their own country, blah, blah, blah. I totally agree, but it could not be solely on the basis of they disagreed with me. That is the difference. We put all these channels in place via forefathers that created this country that allowed for us to have America, like they literally did all this work and wrote all these documents to prevent things like this from happening. And I'm not saying I agree with all their tactics. Clearly, they didn't even include me in the party, but they were at least thinking ahead to try to build a country that did not have a king or a single ruler and had precautions in place to ensure that didn't become a possibility. And the system has held out thus far, thank God. But there have been so
[00:28:00] Aubrey: many efforts over the last 20 years to sand down the system and sand down the protections that we can't guarantee that they're going to hold without us participating in them any longer. So, I can't tell you your truth is wrong. However, what I will ask is if you have someone in your life, may it be me or maybe anyone else. That when they tell you they are genuinely scared of what would happen to them with a president saying things like he is willing to take by force American citizens and do even worse things to people that they claim are not American citizens, which they have shown does not matter what paperwork you have. If someone accuses you. And the officials say it's true that they can take you away. And like I said, I'm Jewish. If anyone gets that and the severity of what that means, I'm telling you, I do.
[00:29:00] Aubrey: And I please hear my fear when I share it with you to finish this idea that we started with of we're all products of our environment. To some extent, I cannot even blame Trump for being who he is because he is obviously a product of his own environment. He was raised to be this way. He was raised by a father that believed in winning only and crushing others. And they were immigrants during a very specific time in American history. And so they too were products of their environment. As we all are generations through, we can say we don't blame someone for their upbringing, but that does not mean that I have to forgive them enough to give them control of the country. Please believe him when he shows you who he is. Please believe him when he tells you what he tells you, because he is not an idiot.
[00:30:00] Aubrey: I mean, in some ways I actually do think he's an idiot, but for the most part, I actually believe he is incredibly intentional. He has been trained to do so, to put on an image. He was a celebrity for God's sakes, guys. He was on TV. He's also in the WWE, like Hall of Fame or something like. He is who he is, and I understand that we can argue that she is far from perfect, too. I didn't want to vote for her in the first election to be completely frank, and you know, I've come to terms with where we are here. But, I also believe that if I have to choose someone to do that representation to the rest of the world that I believe is going to give a closer impression of the type of people that I believe are here that there's only one choice, because I do believe more of us are closer to her than are closer to him no matter what we've been convinced by political ads, but he has also
[00:31:00] Aubrey: left a clear trail over decades of how he truly feels about other people. And his actions prove time and time again, that he knows in his. soul that he is more important than 99 percent of the people that he comes in contact with. And the people that he does see as closest to his equal, they also have pretty shitty track records. So, I understand that this is a very frustrating moment. We're all frustrated, but we cannot let that frustration cause us to give up what little control we've been left with under the current circumstances. And should we want to reverse and gain back the control that we, as citizens of this country deserve to have that the whole reason we did all the damage to all the people that we've done for centuries,
[00:32:00] Aubrey: the reason this exists is to prove to the entire world, the idea of a diverse symbiotic community can exist the place it's going to be proven is here and it is frustrating that Some people cannot let go of their heavy baggage to give it a chance. But we also need to reach back to them and offer them the kindness and the calmness and the patience to help them see something that they've never been allowed to think about or see or experience before. We only get there together.Okay. So thanks for listening to my Ted talk. It really is appreciated.
Taking Action: Practical Steps for Political Participation
[00:32:48] Aubrey: If you made it this far and if you've been on the show before, you know that I really like feeling like I'm helpful. I have three options to offer you
[00:33:00] Aubrey: of how I think we can make this feel more manageable and really feel like we're making some progress to get where we want to go. The first one, I know you're going to be really annoyed when I say it, but it's what you're thinking. It's voting. Like, there's no option, guys. Also, as ladies, we have only had this right for 104 years or less, depending on which minority you fall into. So Let's go honor all those ancestors that made this happen for us just not that long ago So we can continue to have what rights we still have and not lose anymore and be less free Than our mothers and our grandmothers because I know some of the stories of the horrible things they went through I am NOT letting them down and I am NOT living like that either. So Let's get out and take this seriously. But you can only do that if you are actually registered to vote, which we have already passed certain deadlines. So please, if you are not sure,
[00:34:00] Aubrey: check immediately at vote.org. We'll link all of this in the show notes. You have to know if you're registered first, and especially if you're in a battleground state or a state that has been recently affected by unnatural disasters, double check your registration because there has been so many stories of people being stripped from poll registration. So please, please, please double check. Also, Most important thing I'll say this entire episode. So please do this. It's not just about the president. It is about every single thing that's on your ballot this year. Okay. The entire house of representatives is up for grabs 33 seats in the Senate also up for grabs. And whoever gets control of the Senate is probably going to get to decide the next one to two Supreme court justices, which is still a lifetime appointment guys. And so if any of them are conservative, that is it. It does not matter who we elect for president anymore. It does not matter who we
[00:35:00] Aubrey: really put into Congress anymore because Supreme courts will be Conservative , for the entire rest of my life and probably my kids lives. So please, I am begging you, take the Supreme Court seriously on this ballot. So, what if you don't know anything about anything else on your ballot because you've only been bombarded with presidential propaganda. You can also do that on vote. org, but you could also double check what's on your ballot on votesaveamerica.com and fairfight.com, which are two also great resources that have even more information than just, checking your voter registration or building your ballot, which if you do nothing else, the two most important things you can do right now, but you can also see different ways to volunteer and participate in the upcoming election. It's never too late to still phone bank or do door knocking or stand outside at polling locations. Any of those things.
[00:36:00] Aubrey: Honestly, especially if you have kids, that is one of my fondest memories. That's probably why I'm into politics now is because when I was a kid, my parents took me to the voting booth, like literally let me walk up there with them, watch them fill it out. Give me their, I voted sticker. My dad took me to fundraise for campaigns, took me to hand out, um, information pamphlets on , election day at polling locations. It was great bonding time and it made me so much more self aware of the world around me. So if you have kids, this is a great way to introduce them to participating in their communities and understanding how the world around them works. Please. Give any of these things a try and really look into who else is on your ballot. The first time I had to leave a majority of my ballot blank because I didn't realize, and no one had encouraged me or reminded me that like, Hey, there's going to be more than one question on this. Like, I truly just felt shame that I had, like, let myself down I
[00:37:00] Aubrey: let my community down. I'd let, like I said, all the people who gave me this right and made sacrifices for me to be able to have that moment. Like, I let them down because I wasn't paying attention and I didn't do the homework. So please make sure you understand your whole ballot. Also, you're really going to want to stay in the know. And I know that there's, again, there's so much information. It's so depressing. It's overwhelming, but you can't completely tune out. So I just want to recommend some really short, very informative daily podcasts They can give you a lot of context without, again, totally sending you into a a spiral. So first off is BBC's Global News. The other ones NPR’s Up First. This is really good to the point American headlines, uh, Wall Street Journal’s What's News get a lot more economical stuff in that one, which I know is such a big concern in this election for very justifiable reasons but please do not let money
[00:38:00] Aubrey: be the only thing that decides this for you. Like there's so much more important stuff in this world. We can figure out money anytime, but we can't do any of it without each other. So anyway, Wall Street Journal's What's News if you're into the economy. And then this one's the most liberal for sure of the four, but Crooked Media's What a Day is great for a wide range of representation, um, and does cover a lot of headlines in such a short, show. So really recommend these. These are all going to be linked in the show notes as well. Lastly, it only works if we work it, guys. So please make sure that your representatives Even after you've elected them, know that you're still paying attention. And I get this can be overwhelming. We all have so much on our plates these days. So I have the easiest way possible for you to be able to participate without putting a bunch on your plate. And that is the 5 calls app. It's free. You just put in your zip code. It tells you anything that's currently up for vote or
[00:39:00] Aubrey: consideration with your current representatives. You can click into whatever interests you. Uh, you get like a background information on the scenario, what the bill is. It usually links out to the actual bill as well. If you want to go all in, like, I'm not afraid to admit that I do sometimes. And you can then click, it'll give you a script so you can reach out to your representative directly. And you don't even have to start from scratch. You can adjust it. You can repeat it word for word, whatever feels best for you. It literally could not get any easier than this. If you did one of these a day, you'll feel really good about you're, you're doing something and it took literally less than five minutes of effort. If you stuck through this whole episode, truly, thank you, does not cover it because I'm really pretty terrified and this is just one other option I have to try and make a difference so if I have a kid someday feel like I, I did the right thing.
[00:40:00] Aubrey: So I really appreciate you listening cause it wouldn't matter if you weren't there. so hang in there. We'll get through this together. And no matter what does happen on the flip side, we're just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other and occasionally taking a good pause and a deep breath. Talk soon.
Music fades in…
[00:40:17] Aubrey: Thank you for listening to the golden approach podcast, which wouldn't be possible without the support of associate producer and content manager, Emmalyn with audio technology and support provided by barn swallow audio company. If you've liked this episode or any episode prior, be sure to follow so you never miss a new release. We greatly appreciate if you helped others find the show also by leaving a review wherever you're currently listening or directly sharing with friends and family. You can find resources, merch, and more in the show notes and website, GoldenApproachPodcast.com. And if you're looking for more content, join our Ko fi community and follow on Insta @goldenapproachpod. Until next time, let your hopeful [00:41:00] romantic side shine always. Buh bye!
Music fades out…
Resources
Join us on Ko-fi for exclusive content
Explore our bookshelf on Bookshop.org
Follow/Leave a review on Spotify
