Hi, financial feminists.

I am recording this two days after the results of the presidential election.

I just got back from a walk. The sun is shining. I slept better than I thought I would, I think, because I was so exhausted from the

previous day. And I have a lot of thoughts and feelings swirling around in my body. And I know loves that you do too.

I know you do too.

And originally, I was not going to record an episode

because I didn't feel like I had anything to say.

But I am coming to you from the quiet.

It's about 8 a.m. Kristen's not on. She doesn't even know I'm doing this. And a lot of the things that I'm processing and feeling, I think, might be helpful for you to process and feel in here as well.

A lot of what I'm going to say today is not new. It's inspired from Amanda Lippman, who's a previous guest on this show, who's a political strategist. It's inspired by an episode of We Can Do Hard Things, which I really need it this

morning. And frankly, black and brown activists have been talking about this shit for centuries.

So none of this is new, but are the things that I am holding on to that are really, really, really going to help.

The first one, your hope was not stupid.

I need you to know that your hope was not stupid.

You feeling optimistic and hopeful,

and maybe this can actually happen, and I think this will happen and this will happen.

And then all of it crashing down around you can lead you to feel like you were naive and that maybe you didn't know enough or maybe you weren't paying

attention enough. That might be true, but it also might also be true that your hope is not

stupid. If you felt hope, if you felt optimism,

if you felt excitement,

even with an asterisk,

and I know I did,

...