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Your culture is slowly going insane — and you are under increasing pressure to conform to the insanity.

Living a life which seems to be sane and emotionally healthy by my standards is slowly becoming “radical” by this culture’s standards. To step back from the conformity and collectivism increasingly demanded by culture is now considered weird and radical.

This makes it far more difficult to find friends, allies and even a life partner, because most people unconsciously want to conform to the norms of their culture, even if they fear there’s something dysfunctional going on.

For the most part, normal people don’t even consciously notice that the culture is sick. It‘s perfectly natural for human beings to go along with crowds in unthinking ways. We are trained from an early age to fit in with other people — to earn their approval and to do the things we believe will make them love us.

But what if you’re one of those rare people who see the growing sickness? What if you wake up from the mindless conformity that has been programmed into you? How can you live an emotionally healthy and sane life in a world where almost everyone seems to be bumper to bumper on the highway to self-destruction?

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When I named editor of my high school newspaper, I was too ignorant to be scared.

I knew very little about producing a newspaper. I had joined the staff of my high school newspaper — the Viking — only because the newspaper sponsor asked if I wanted to join. I spent a year on staff as a junior before finagling my way to taking charge as editor the next year.

The guy flanking me in this photo was my best friend, Larry. I named him as news editor, but it didn’t matter what his title was. He was simply my partner in making everything happen.

As my senior year approached, I realized that I was afraid of looking foolish. I realized how little I knew. I set up a meeting in the summer with the publisher of the newspaper which printed our paper. I got him to set up meetings for me with the typesetters and camera room departments which I would be working with. I threw myself into learning technical details so I could do things which weren’t normal for a high school newspaper.

As I face another big transition in my life right now, I realize that my fear of looking foolish in that role pushed me in a way that nothing else could have. And I realize that I was setting a precedent for how I would handle every major change of my life for decades to come.

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Producing a podcast is more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s also easier than I thought it would be. If that sounds confusing to you, imagine how I feel.

If I had known eight weeks ago what I‘ve learned in making these first six episodes of Love & Hope, I don’t think I would have started this journey. I’m not sure whether to be thankful for my ignorance or to wish I’d had the sense to stick to writing.

Love & Hope was an experiment for me. It was an opportunity to learn a bit about a new medium without jumping into something that I thought could possibly be popular. I chose a topic that wouldn’t interest most people, because I wanted a safe place to learn — without worrying about too many people listening and judging me.

So after making six episodes, what have I learned?

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