The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey

We all go through times we don't feel like doing things anymore. The hard part is knowing when it’s time to quit and when it’s just hard, or inconvenient, or takes more effort than we feel that we can give. When do we just not feel like it versus when we need to quit? How do we keep going when things take work? Get full access to The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey at michellemalancafrey.substack.com/subscribe

The people we work with are at the heart of what makes work meaningful. An ode to the humble co-worker. The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey at michellemalancafrey.substack.com/subscribe

The world is full of news that can send us into a spiral. Stress-eating snacks can get you through the moment, but there are other ways to snap ourselves out of panic mode. We can trick our minds into getting us unstuck. Humor also helps.The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The World We Need with Michelle Malanca Frey at

The 6-story jail had a rundown, Art Deco façade. On the inside, in addition to massive overcrowding, sewage leaked, drinking water was unsafe, and air vents were full of asbestos. The heaters and radiators were broken, as were most of the dozens of windows facing the cold air coming off the Pacific. Inmates used to stuff toilet paper into the gaps in the windows to block the wind. The jail was rife with violence, with petty thieves housed in the same areas as violent offenders and gang members

The World We Need is an audience-supported newsletter and podcast. You can support The World We Need through a free or paid subscription on Substack.Subscribe to The World We Need by Michelle Malanca Frey on SubstackA few rewilding links: KneppRewilding BritainEoghan Dalton and the Irish Rainforest (Beshara Magazine)After Shutting Down, These Golf Courses Went Wild (New York Times)De-Pave ParkUrban Rewilding; The value and co-benefits of nature in Urban Spaces (C40 Cities and Arup) Get full access

You are doing too much.Too many tedious adult tasks, too much work, too much worrying. There is a time for those things, but there is also a time for consciously not doing them.Some call it the Protestant work ethic, some call it internalized capitalism, some call it managing anxiety and low-self esteem with productivity, some call it life.I get it, you’re busy. There are bills to pay. People want things from you, need them from you. But you can’t be there for them, you can’t be there for yourself,

I wrote half a book then threw it out.I felt deeply called to write a book about climate solutions. The vision of a world powered by clean energy with livable cities, healthy people, and thriving ecosystems fills me with delight. I wanted to share this vision and a roadmap for getting there.In late 2022, blissfully ignorant of what writing a book actually demands, I made an outline and started typing. I thought would surely succeed because, in addition to a great idea, I had secret weapons:

I crashed a high school reunion last weekend. I not only didn’t go to that school, I’ve never even been to that town.For background, I have not been and would not go to my own high school reunion. If I was invited, that is. Which I haven’t ever been. Let’s just say that there is no love lost there.I ended up at this reunion because maybe a dozen or more students from this one high school in Southern California decided to go to college where I did. I became good friends with a few of them and hung