Podcast Summary: We Can Do Hard Things

Episode: "How to Stay Sane and Useful In Chaos"

Date: February 3, 2026

Hosts: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle

Episode Overview

This episode is a raw, unscripted, and deeply practical conversation about surviving and showing up for life—and change—in times of chaos. Glennon, Abby, and Amanda abandon their planned script to talk honestly about overwhelm, the intentionality behind societal chaos, and concrete ways to stay engaged, grounded, and useful when everything feels out of control. The heart of their message is the critical importance of local organizing, finding true community, and locating real leadership outside the failed structures of government.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living Through Chaos—Letting Go of The Plan

• The hosts open up about their inability to plan, feeling stuck in "response mode" due to relentless national and global crises.
• Abby shares: “Any sort of intentionality or long term planning... isn’t available to us at this time. We’re constantly in response mode and... putting out fires.” (00:21)
• Amanda reframes “not following the plan” as an intentional survival response rather than a failure:
  • “You put all the effort into the plan ... and then you get to a point and you're like, if it's just one degree off, the whole thing feels off... Is it more harm to go with the plan you had than to just try to stay in the moment and trust yourself?” (00:58)

2. Truthfulness vs. Consistency—Gandhi & Ram Dass

• Abby recounts Ram Dass and Gandhi's approach:
  • “In order to be truthful, I cannot be consistent.” (04:33, paraphrasing Gandhi/Ram Dass)
• Memorable Moment: Abby says she has repeated this phrase “forty times” and it never loses its power.
  • “If you’re staying embodied and fluid, it’s often a changing of everything and a landing in this moment today.” (04:40)

3. Chaos as Strategy: Overwhelm, Rage, and Organizing

• Amanda makes a powerful point: The chaos and overwhelm are intentional—meant to keep people paralyzed and exhausted.
  • “The strategy is a flood... You can’t possibly acclimate or metabolize it. And so you just feel like, what’s the point?” (05:07)
• Antidotes to Chaos:
  • Grounding yourself in local organizing, even when it doesn't relate directly to the crisis of the day.
  • Joy as resistance: “Everything that you can dip in to fill back up the sponge... is work too, because that's what they're trying to do.” (08:18)
• Memorable Quote:
  • “When I get really, really scared and really, really desperate and hopeless, I think, oh, I am doing the work for them.” — Amanda (08:49)

4. The Power of Local Organizing

• Abby’s metaphor:
  • Protests = The Concert, Organizing = The Band Practice.
  • “Lots of people at the protest are in the audience... The idea is to be in the band showing up.” (09:31)
• Amanda emphasizes infrastructure:
  • Spontaneity looks heroic but requires years of groundwork, citing the Montgomery Bus Boycott as an example (12:00–15:00).
  • “Nobody’s going to lead us. It’s going to be groups of on-the-ground, organized, unsexy as hell work...” (14:44)

5. Collective Care vs. Individual Struggle

• Why We Feel Overwhelmed:
  • Capitalism and white supremacy have isolated us, making survival feel individual—exacerbating overwhelm and eroding community (31:26).
• Amanda challenges parents:
  • Instead of feeling guilt for not “doing it all,” do a life audit and shift efforts from perfectionist parenting to community building (23:50–28:00).
• Memorable Quote:
  • “God damn. If we could only organize the resistance like we organize a graduation party...” — Abby (26:43)
• “Patch the Boat” Metaphor:
  • Instead of bailing water (frantic survival mode), patch the boat by organizing and changing the system (34:00–35:11).

6. Finding Real Leaders & Communities

• Disillusionment with Elected Leaders:
  • “Those have never been our leaders. They are, by definition, followers.” — Amanda (41:44)
  • “You will know [your leader] because of how your body feels when you are with them. Because they will be speaking truth, because they will be servants, because they will be full of love, because they will be full of righteous rage that is then turned into action.” — Abby (42:00)
• How to Find and Join Community:
  • Take the same energy used for planning kids’ parties and use it to find a cause and group locally.
  • “We know how to do this. We think of something we care about... and we find the group in our community who’s doing that work.” — Abby (41:44–43:00)
• Transform Fear into Action:
  • Through connection, education, and mutual care, fear diminishes as community grows.

7. Concrete Advice for Listeners Feeling Overwhelmed

• For the “entry-level” activist:
  • You don’t need to know everything to get involved: start by joining a meeting, listening, or giving what you can (21:18–23:26)
• Acknowledge time scarcity for parents and caregivers, but urge honest reflection on what activities truly matter and where energy could best go for real change.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “In order to be truthful, I cannot be consistent.” — Abby, quoting Ram Dass/Gandhi (04:33)
• “The strategy is a flood... So you just feel like, what’s the point?” — Amanda (05:07)
• “You don’t need an individual response to each one of these things. If you have an ethos of organizing... when you feel rage, ground yourself in organizing.” — Amanda (07:30)
• “Everything that you can dip in to fill back up the sponge... is work too.” — Amanda (08:18)
• “God damn. If we could only organize the resistance like we organize a graduation party...” — Abby (26:43)
• “The more we’re lost just in our minds and we’re not in our bodies connected to each other... the most terrifying place to live.” — Abby (17:10)
• “Those have never been our leaders. They are, by definition, followers... They do not do what is right. They do what will keep them their jobs.” — Amanda (41:44)
• “Your body is scared when you look at them because you think, these are my leaders who are not leading. That is not true. They are not leaders.” — Abby (43:00)
• “We Can Do Hard Things. Go find a leader.” — Abby (44:37)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:21: Abby and Amanda on why plans are impossible right now
• 03:18–04:40: Abby’s Gandhi/Ram Dass story; embracing inconsistency as truth
• 05:07–09:31: Amanda on strategic overwhelm and why grounding in organizing matters
• 09:31–15:00: Protests as concerts vs. the everyday band practice of local organizing (Montgomery Bus Boycott story)
• 23:26–28:00: Parenting, scarcity of time, and how to audit your energy use
• 31:26–33:41: Individualism vs. collective care in white supremacist capitalist culture
• 34:00–35:11: Patch the boat metaphor
• 37:28–38:56: On finding true leaders in our lives and communities instead of looking to government
• 41:44–43:00: Practical guidance on finding & following local leaders

Takeaway Messages

• Let go of the expectation for consistency as the world keeps shifting—truth means listening to what’s needed right now, not rigidly sticking to past plans.
• Feeling overwhelmed is by design; the chaos is meant to disempower and exhaust us.
• The antidote is grounded, local organizing—not just “showing up” for protests (the concert), but doing the day-in/day-out work (the band practice).
• Everyone can do something—from listening in on local group calls, to donating, to simply showing up and asking what needs to be done.
• Real leaders are already in your community, usually found by listening to your gut, not looking to failing institutions or government.
• Find a leader. Join a group. Become community. That’s how collective change, and sanity, are sustained in chaotic times.

Final Words

The episode closes with a clear call to action: “We Can Do Hard Things. Go find a leader.” These hosts invite you to ditch the illusion that help will come from the top and instead find your place in the organic, quiet, ongoing work already underway in your neighborhood. Through community, organizing, and day-to-day connection, we can not only endure chaos but build real transformation.