I need your help to help you!

Every day the Abi Normal Society changes shape, grows, and evolves. As it changes, so too will Abi Normal News. I had planned on talking about inherited stories today.

As a matter of fact, I’d started writing that newsletter on Monday. But it just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t what I wanted it to look like. So I’m pivoting again.

For now, until someone throws rotten vegetables at me, I’m going to talk about what’s going on in my corner of the world. Because that seems like it could be enjoyable. But if it’s not, let me know.

Right now the Abi Normal Society is one person working a bit haphazardly to put content out into the world about mental health, personal growth and development, self-love, and self-worth. That’s me, Dr. Jess. But my ideas are bigger than me, and someday the Abi Normal Society will grow too.

I’ve been reading whatever I can get my hands on about community building, creating content, and social media. Some of it is a lot more simple than I realized. For example, it turns out that you can take bigger pieces you’ve already created (e.g. blog posts) and cut them into smaller pieces for other purposes (e.g. infographics, quotes, short videos). Duh!

But that’s not something that occurred to me when I started all of this. It actually first started with me taking a blog course and launching my own website with my own name. Before that I didn’t know WTF SEO was and why it mattered.

And while I’m certainly not an expert in SEO, I know what it is, why it’s helpful, and how to sort of build it into my content. I even created a beginner's guide on SEO because I could! (If you want it, I'll email it to you).

It’s one big learning curve, but I’m having a good time navigating it as I go. The biggest issue for me is feeling like I’m being egotistical or foolish for thinking I can do this and it will actually amount to anything. I am my own biggest obstacle, which is true for most people.

But I’m fighting back against my ego to keep learning, creating, and getting uncomfortable. Because in my mind’s eye, I can see this community I’m trying to build. A community where people lift each other up, cheer each other on, and bear witness to each person’s awesomeness.

I can see the courses I will teach around building resilience through curiosity, self-compassion, and value-driven action. I’m imagining workshops where we do some individual work and then come together and discuss our development in small groups. Clear as day, I can see the body language of everyone soften.

You know when someone is first uncomfortable, uncertain, and a bit scared? Their body is tense, their faces pinched, hands clenched, brows furled. But as they become curious, then excited, and then confident, you see their posture change. They open up, relax, breathe deeper, gesture with their hands while they talk, and their eyes twinkle.

That’s what I want to see. And I’m committed to making this happen. Because one of my superpowers is helping people see that they are a lot more capable and powerful than they realized. I want to unleash that superpower on as many people as I possibly can.

So I’m going to keep pushing myself, and trying to get out of my own way to make it happen. I want to pull helpful lessons from the academic world of psychology, medicine, and philosophy and make them easily digestible, fun to learn, and applicable to everyday life. That’s where I want to go with all of this.

I'm asking for your help to get there. I need people to tell me what they need more or less of in their lives so I can gather and provide info that’s meaningful for you. I need people to call me out when I’m not being helpful or tell me that what I’m saying isn’t landing.

Do this with me. One person, one mind, at a time. I believe we can change the way people look at themselves and each other.

Love ❤️ & Laughs 😂,

Dr. Jess