Hey friends! Thanks to heat and humidity, we’re sliding into summer or rather sticking around it. If you haven’t heard the recent episode of Parenting is a Joke with Liz Tenety from Motherly, please treat your ears to this funny and frank conversation about what it’s like to run a business, write, podcast, and raise five kids! Listen to it HERE.
So… significant changes are on the horizon for this podcast. We’re making a move and still figuring it out. I’ll be totally honest and say that a lot more of the work will fall on my shoulders, so I need your help. How? Send me money. Kidding! Well mostly. But you can do some small things that would make a big difference.
Here they are:
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Okay, that’s it!
Now relax.
Do you have a personal summer project separate from shuttling your kids to camp or figuring out what you are doing with your family on a day-to-day basis? I do! It’s related to being a better parent and a better person. Well, a less fearful person. And that is…I want someone to teach me how to drive.
Okay - I technically know how to drive; I can drive, but I'm a very nervous driver unless I’m in a sleepy suburb. It kicked up a couple of years ago. What happened, you ask? I don’t have to dig deep for the answer to that one! I was in a terrible car accident when I was a kid - I almost died, my friend didn’t make it. My body is covered in scars from life-saving surgeries. I’ve talked about this a lot throughout my life and even onstage (you can listen to/watch the Moth Story)
It is the place we always return to in therapy. But I will admit, when I got my driver’s license at 16, I thought nothing of it. I drove daily. I owned a car for a few years. But then I kept moving to walking cities (Montreal, Toronto, New York), so having a car wasn’t necessary.
I would rent cars all the time to drive to road gigs. I didn’t love it, but somehow, I made it through. Then we bought a car during COVID (like the rest of the country), and something happened to me. I just got so nervous. I got in a little fender bender, and that was it. The sound of the metal smooshing stayed in my ears for weeks, so I stopped driving.
But I find myself watching other people drive, and I get jealous. I’m envious of their ease. I want to feel like I’m in control of the machine instead of the machine controlling me, and I’m sick of it.
And I figured out what I want. I want a lesson or lessons with a professional driver - I’m talking a Formula One racer, an ex-Nascar person, or someone who used to drive for the FBI/CIA or… even a criminal organization.
I’ve noticed there are all kinds of driving classes out there, and I might go that route, but I’ve also noticed they are expensive, and I want a little bit more handholding.
So, I’m putting it out there! Would you help me learn how to overcome this fear and effortlessly cruise the roads and highways? Or do you know anyone who fits this description? Let me know! I think it would be good for my son to see me work through this fear, as he has already noticed that I have it.
Please fill out the aforementioned listener survey! We have 96 episodes of Parenting is a Joke in the bank with so many great guests: Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., Laura Prepon, Michelle Buteau, Tom Papa, Catherine Reitman, and the list goes on, so enjoy, and I’ll keep you updated with what happens next.
I was a pretty fearless driver till January 2017. In the fall I drove to all my daughter's college soccer games all over the midwest. Then I drove her to graduate school interviews. Last one in an ice storm and did exactly what I knew not to do: hit the brakes. I went into the rail and the truck behind me (way to close to me) went off the road. Leaving tomorrow on a three week road trip to beat my anxiety. (Hoping to end it with a Nashville trip to see you) Crossing my fingers. Good luck to you.