Last week, my son walked into my office carrying a piece of paper, and asked, “Hey Mom, what’s a ‘mic drop moment’?” I took the paper out of his hand and read it, a big smile spreading across my face. His class is learning how to deliver better presentations, and for his upcoming book report (they actually call them book “reviews” these days, which is a huge improvement IMO) the teacher wants the class to practice delivering a strong close. She wants students to create a “mic drop” phrase that sums up the presenter’s point of view.

There are so many things I wish kids were taught starting in first grade. Things like financial literacy. Emotional regulation. The family trees of the four main families in Game of Thrones (just me?). But the one I really wish they taught? Crisis communication.

I am slowly making my way through an extraordinary book called This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley. I say “slowly” because the language is just so beautiful, so nourishing, that I am pacing myself so I don’t accidentally devour it in one sitting. This line knocked me out today:

Hi Friend, Sunshine and roses. Find your passion. Face your fears. Make time to recharge. What do these words and phrases have in common?

The problem with people-pleasing isn’t just that it’s exhausting. It’s all the lying it requires. Lying about what we want. What we need. Lying about having an actual life — constantly canceling or rescheduling what we had planned in order to accommodate other people’s plans, other people’s schedules.