The something-is-wrong-with-you machine never sleeps. Different industries, same engine — anti-aging, weight loss, productivity hacks, the latest and greatest spiritual bypassing. And underneath all of it, a pre-existing wound it didn’t create - it just zoomed in and monetized it. In this episode, Kristin and Lisa Ann follow that argument all the way through: from the eight-year-old who was told she was the wrong shape, size, or volume — to the industry that was waiting for her — to the deeper cost none of us are talking about loudly enough. When women are perpetually managing their perceived deficits, they don’t have the energetic bandwidth for organizing, for collective action, for sustained political clarity. That exhaustion isn’t a side effect. It’s load-bearing for the status quo. We also go somewhere more personal: the commodification of healing itself, the way marketing skill masquerades as subject matter expertise while genuine practitioners drown in the aesthetics of it, and what it actually looks like to opt out — not in a sackcloth-and-ashes way, but by uncoupling joy from purchasing power and arriving, finally, from sufficiency instead of exhaustion. Joy is free. And in a world designed to profit from our labor, our wisdom, and our hearts, choosing it is the only defiance that holds. We are genuinely curious where you feel you get caught in the distraction economy, what it costs you, and if you feel ready to trade it in for your own joy. Drop us a comment or DM. We hear you. As always, Stay unbothered. — Kristin & Lisa Ann Looking to deepen the conversation? Here are a few ways to connect with us! A note from Kristin: The conversation Lisa Ann and I had in this episode kept circling back to a question: what does opting out actually look like? For me, part of the answer has been creating a space where that question can be held collectively. We also spoke of uncoupling our joy from the distraction economy, and arriving in our lives from sufficiency rather than exhaustion. One of the things I’ve learned is that between exhaustion and joy is our unexpressed anger. We have to learn to work with it in order to transform rage into the joy that fuels us to create collective change. The Lioness Salon is that crucible: women in a room together not being sold something, not being managed, not being optimized — just being witnessed in their actual experience, including their rage. Join the Lioness Salon waitlist — a sacred space where you aren’t a problem to be solved. Get full access to The Unbothered Crones at theunbotheredcrones.substack.com/subscribe
