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May 11, 2023Liked by Scott Neumyer

Loved reading this post. Coincidentally (or not, 😊) I wrote my take on the subject, with a twist. Have a look and if you could, kindly leave me a comment.

https://renegvolpi.substack.com/publish/post/120809009

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💚 Such a beautiful kitty!

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Julia says she isn't anxious and doesn't provide any coping strategies for anxiety, so I'm curious why this interview was chosen. The line toward the beginning where she says her new book is about "learning how to be a normal person" bothers me too because what the heck is a normal person? It's so subjective. We're all normal people.

Just my perspective on this one issue.

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I understand your perspective, but I really want to include folks of ALL walks of life and folks who experience mental health in many different ways. If you read through the piece, she does talk about how she has experienced anxiety and mental health struggles in the past as well. I don't want to limit these interviews to JUST people who have severe anxiety, but rather want to show a broad spectrum of people across all manners and severity of mental health. No one, regardless of how anxious they feel, in my opinion should be excluded.

As for the "normal person" thing, I see your point, but I also want to say here that Julia is a cartoonist and much of her work is based in humor. She's simply using a colloquialism to discuss her own recovery. It's a very self-effacing way of handling things. Folks use humor to do this all the time. I have no doubt that Julia would agree that we're all "normal people." It's simply a turn of phrase. Trust me, she's great people!

Appreciate your perspective, of course, and sorry this one didn't hit the mark for you. 😁

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Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Scott. I wasn't expecting that!

I see where you're coming from, and I do agree it's a good idea to include people who experience mental health in all different ways, across the spectrum of anxiety. I'd read the whole thing before—I guess I was just frustrated that it seemed like she'd overcome her anxiety from the past and yet didn't have any suggestions to help the rest of us! I apologize that I didn't express that.

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No worries! I know you're a thoughtful reader and I appreciate that. I feel very strongly that we have a little something to learn from everyone, so love including so many different voices in these. 😁

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