Make Your Damn Bed

Julie Merica
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Jul 7, 2025 • 9min

1500 || resisting the persuasion of reciprocity

It starts with recognizing the game. If someone is doing you a favor out of the kindness of their heart, it won't be so difficult to offer them a favor in return. When someone is attempting to manipulate you with that favor??? You're allowed to respond in whatever way you see fit.DONATE:www.pcrf.netGet Involved:Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + LinksGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 6, 2025 • 9min

power under + how to find yours

When you change the way you show up in your world, you encourage others to do the same + like the butterfly effect, sometimes the smallest + simplest changes can make the largest and most complex impacts! Resource: https://creaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/All-About-Power.pdfMore resources:https://commonslibrary.org/ DONATE:www.pcrf.netGet Involved:Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + LinksGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 5, 2025 • 8min

hurry sickness

I’m the type of person who always feels like I’m running late despite the fact that I very rarely am. I’ve been trying a new type of thought exercise where I take a moment to visit with a more senior or elderly me. Sometimes it’s my 81st birthday. I sit as her, with the underlying understanding that everything did eventually work itself out, and I had a great, full, and beautiful life despite all of its challenges. As I sit in my 80 ish year old body, I take a moment to reflect on the good parts I can recall and then I bring her back to my 37 year old body. With the back that creaks so much less often and feet that ache so much less intensely. I bring my senior self back into the apartment she hasn’t seen for decades in the town she sometimes misses. She looks at her partner with adoring eyes as they haven’t wrinkled and spotted in the sun just yet. She puts sunscreen on us both and digs out the old hobbies she regrets not taking more seriously. She takes her time to cook a nourishing meal with hands that don’t shake and arms strong enough to lift the dutch oven. She eats slowly because there is no rush, and she has learned that in her many years of rushing on this planet. She feels excited to be in a body she used to not appreciate. She wants to wander and explore with these eyes that seem to see more clearly and bones that don’t tire so quickly. She’s not afraid about missing a boat because she realized there is no single boat. So I try not to be afraid of missing the boat. She reminds me that we can build our own boats, or chill on the beach - it doesn’t really matter as long as we remember it doesn't matter. As long as the truly objectively important shit gets done, we need to stop pretending like it’s possible to get everything else done too. One way to remember that is to allow your future self to lend you some peace and wisdom once in a while. So she lends me her peace and she lends me her wisdom and with it she returns to me more energized, and grateful to be alive and able to experience this time again. For the first time in years she is awakened to the miraculous nature of this current life. She is happy to be here, and she is me.  EP: 1418 The source: https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/always-in-a-rush-maybe-its-time-urgencyDonate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 4, 2025 • 11min

save the planet (a practical guide)

It's not too late. Every action counts. But don't get overwhelmed with doing everything. Instead, choose something + act. Every little bit helps. THE GUIDEBOOK: https://www.nottoolateclimate.com/_files/ugd/c8ef46_65f7332b00de468aa7091e31a4b2f772.pdfTHE AUTHOR: http://rebeccasolnit.net/THE RESOURCES FROM GWUniversity: https:// onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/sources-for-climate-news/MORE RESOURCES: 350.org AND https://hiphopcaucus.org/action-center/DONATE:www.pcrf.netGet Involved:Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + LinksGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 4, 2025 • 11min

contradictory feelings of hope + hopelessness

Another draft that (apparently) never got published, because I haven't been feeling well! "I sat with two diferent feelings: the sense of success and the worry that we didn’t really make a change. I could have given in to either of them. But instead, I began to wonder: What’s strategic here? How do my local actions add up to real changes? How do we move from one-time actions to a whole movement, where all kinds of people from all walks of life are joined together in common cause? Tis book is for those of you who, like me, have been part of an action and wanted to know: What’s next? How can I not only feel — but be — more powerful?" - Daniel HunterBUY "HOPE IN THE DARK": https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/791-hope-in-the-dark READ FROM "HOPE IN THE DARK": https://blogs.helsinki.fi/vallisaari/files/2018/06/Solnit_Hope_in_the_dark.pdfTHE AUTHOR OF "HOPE IN THE DARK": http://rebeccasolnit.net/READ THE " CLIMATE RESISTANCE HANDBOOK" https://trainings.350.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Climate-Resistance-Handbook-PDF.pdfTHE RESOURCES FROM GW University: https:// onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/sources-for-climate-news/MORE RESOURCES: 350.org AND https://hiphopcaucus.org/action-center/DONATE:www.pcrf.netGet Involved:Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + LinksGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 3, 2025 • 9min

democratic socialism vs. socialism

Democratic Socialism has no singular definition, but the simplest way to describe it, academically, is an ideology, economic or political system, rooted in opposing capitalism's profit motive by shifting the power back to the people, through prioritizing workers instead of the corporations themselves. People > Profits. That said, there can be a lot of descriptions which can lead to a lot of confusion. Today, we're digging into the spectrum of definitions and how it relates to our current context. SOURCES:Who's afraid of socialism? https://ips-dc.org/whos-afraid-of-socialism/What is democratic socialism + critiques: https://socialstudieshelp.com/economics/what-is-democratic-socialism-key-features-and-criticisms/Communism vs. Socialism https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-difference-between-communism-and-socialism.aspThe DSA’s “What is Democratic Socialism?” https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/Wiki's Socialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SocialismBritannica's Democratic Socialism: https://www.britannica.com/topic/democratic-socialismNYTimes on Mamdani: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/us/politics/what-is-democratic-socialism.htmlResources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 2, 2025 • 10min

staying hopeful in the unknown

I've been sick for the last two days and so today, we're jumping back in time to an older episode that I never published (oops!) from Rebecca Solnit's book, Hope in the Dark. "We are used to constant flux in the daily details of existence, yet the basic structure of the status quo always looks so unalterable. But it’s not. Profound change for the better does occur, even though it can be difficult to see because one of the most common effects of success is to be taken for granted. What looks perfectly ordinary after the fact would often have seemed like a miracle before it.” - Christ BrightBUY THE BOOK: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/791-hope-in-the-dark READ FROM THE BOOK: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/vallisaari/files/2018/06/Solnit_Hope_in_the_dark.pdfTHE AUTHOR: http://rebeccasolnit.net/THE RESOURCES FROM GW University: https:// onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/sources-for-climate-news/MORE RESOURCES: 350.org AND https://hiphopcaucus.org/action-center/DONATE:www.pcrf.netGet Involved:Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + LinksGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jun 30, 2025 • 10min

the two VERY different definitions

The problem is, people aren't talking about the same things when they refer to socialism. Most people define socialism differently - but there is a definition (albeit broad) that we can and should all learn together, so we aren't reading to people who aren't even close to the same page. SOURCES:The 2022 research on American's views of socialism: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/09/19/modest-declines-in-positive-views-of-socialism-and-capitalism-in-u-s/Who's afraid of socialism? https://ips-dc.org/whos-afraid-of-socialism/What is democratic socialism + critiques: https://socialstudieshelp.com/economics/what-is-democratic-socialism-key-features-and-criticisms/Communism vs. Socialism https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-difference-between-communism-and-socialism.aspThe DSA’s “What is Democratic Socialism?” https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jun 29, 2025 • 6min

core belief filter (re-release)

Back to talk about Zohran tomorrow, but for now let's talk about our core belief filter that shapes how we see the world. For our entire lives, every single one of us has been developing a filter through which we see and interpret the world. This filter dictates the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, about other people, and the world around us, but because we’ve carried this narrator with us our entire lives, it can be hard to tell which stories are actually fiction, and it can be even more difficult to remember that we can sometimes rewrite happier through line, for certain stories that aren’t as helpful anymore. LINK:https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-challenge-your-negative-core-beliefs-7554706 https://positivepsychology.com/core-beliefs-worksheets/ https://positive.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Table-of-Common-Core-Beliefs.pdfGET A MONTHLY NOTE FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jun 28, 2025 • 9min

why are people scared of socialism?

Democratic socialism in the United States has been maligned since before I was born. After WWII, there was the Cold War (which was a series of proxy wars that ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991) and since then, there has been a deliberate effort to associate any form of socialism with dictatorships and communism and tyrannical government overreach. But in reality most people I speak to are truly democratic socialists n the policies they’d like to see. And I know that sounds like a bold claim, and I don’t want to pretend like it would solve everything for everyone, but right now - it makes perfect sense to me and anyone I’ve interacted with about this stuff, as the next step in the seismic systemic shifts that need to occur. SOURCES:Who's afraid of socialism? https://ips-dc.org/whos-afraid-of-socialism/What is democratic socialism + critiques: https://socialstudieshelp.com/economics/what-is-democratic-socialism-key-features-and-criticisms/Communism vs. Socialism https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-difference-between-communism-and-socialism.aspThe DSA’s “What is Democratic Socialism?” https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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