Hey Reader, are you a word nerd?

Sometimes I find myself getting a word or phrase stuck in my head, continually puzzling over why we use it the way we do, where it came from, and why in the world it's stuck in my mind in the first place.

A couple of my favorites are, "you can't pour from an empty cup" (I have SO MANY thoughts) and "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater."

As a parent, I know how filthy babies can get, so I also happen to know how filthy bathwater can get. (That's a yuck visual. Sorry.)

But the whole "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" thing is, in my opinion, about how we can get rid of the bad, gross stuff and still keep the lovely little kernel of delight and possibility inside.

And that puts me in mind of how many people have knee jerk reactions to the term "anti-capitalist."

(I promise this isn't a stretch... stay with me.)

If you agree with me or not, capitalism is pretty much the root of all oppression in the world today (not all evil, there's nuance here, plus, the concept of evil existed far before capitalism did, I'm sure).

If we removed the pressure for constant growth, ever-increasing profit, and individualism, I'm quite convinced that most of our current systems of oppression would simply fall apart.

However, when I hear people disagreeing with the idea of being anti-capitalist, I hear things like, "well, I like free markets" and "I want to have nice things."

Look, we don't NEED capitalism for either of those.

Even if we decide to get rid of capitalism as our main economic system (the bathwater), we don't necessarily have to also get rid of free markets and having nice things (the baby).

This is a discussion of both/and (meaning: nuance) and an invitation to reframe how we think about money, the economy, and our relationship to both.

We don't necessarily need the current economic system to be the way it is in order to have comfort, compensation, creativity, and innovation.

AND

We can't simply have a nice, friendly version of capitalism by getting rid of the parts we don't like.

Instead, we can take the parts we enjoy and benefit from (without exploitation of and harm to others) and then make some new system.

This is an example of reframing.

It's a pretty cool tool for liberating ourselves from stories that keep us stuck.

It's also the second step in my 4-Step Framework for Body Liberation.

So if you'd like to hear more about reframing, I'm currently releasing a short series on my podcast, Live Your Best Fat Life, where you can listen to me dive deeper into this practice.

And if you're somebody who wants some guidance and company in the practice of reframing, then come join me for the July community-run of Love Notes for a New Year where we'll be doing just that!

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Happy reframing (and practicing anti-capitalism)!

In love, liberation, and solidarity,

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Sent with big fat love from a messy desk and a neurodivergent mind.

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