“The great enigma of our situation is that we have unprecedented resources for dealing with our problems, yet it is as if some larger or deeper context, some invisible constraint, were negating our capacity and resolve. What is the larger context? Something essential seems to be missing in our understanding, some potent but intangible set of factors. Can we discern the fundamental conditions in which our many problems may be ultimately rooted? What are the most underlying issues that confront the human mind and spirit in our era?”
– Richard Tarnas
Hi, I’m Molly Beane. It’s Nice to Meet You.
I’m Molly Beane, a small business owner, writer, and activist. At 36 years old, I’m a geriatric millennial and I live in San Diego with my 15-year-old Pekingese, Seamus. 🐶
If we’re not already acquainted, let’s connect on Twitter and Instagram.
After a stint in rehab in 2016 and a near-fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2018, my world turned upside down. As I heal from that trauma, it’s clear I’m not alone.
America has PTSD and needs healing.
In the aftermath of COVID-19 and insurrection, America’s unconscious self-sabotage patterns look awfully familiar to me. I recognize them because I’ve lived them.
We’re patching gaping wounds with band-aids because we’re not addressing our core issues. This approach is easier in the short term but almost always spells long-term disaster.
Thinking Bigger About Current Events
Trauma work has changed the way I think and view the world. My mind has become both more flexible and discerning.
To heal self-sabotage, one must dive beneath the surface of the conscious mind. It requires curiosity about one’s blind spots and behavioral patterns. This process is gnarly; truly no fun at all.
But this is the work. And with persistent practice, it caused me to think bigger, ask more questions, and better discern the difference between fear, logic, and intuition.
When I zoomed all the way out, I noticed repeating patterns, like fractals, from the individual to the body politic to the planet to the cosmos.
The microcosm and macrocosm inform one another. COVID-19 perfectly illustrates the interconnectedness of all things. I analyze history, patterns, mythology, and archetypes to understand and explain this dichotomy between micro and macrocosm; parts and whole.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963)
This newsletter offers unique and expansive commentary on current events and challenges outdated norms, calcified ideas, and expired paradigms.
It will push you to think bigger.
Feminine Rising
Healing, holistic thinking, and creative strategy are feminine concepts. We need this energy now more than ever.
America must soften. We’re at each others’ throats.
A rigid mind has difficulty extending or experiencing grace.
Our inability to acknowledge our collective shadows (or “feel our feelings”) has created a fear-based, masculine-dominated society where we're all just fighting each other for an artificially small slice of the pie. And it is killing us.
We must balance our masculine and feminine energies to achieve harmony. This newsletter explores ideas for this balance on both the individual and collective levels.
Sticking with the theme of feminine energy, this newsletter will be a creative endeavor.
It will offer multimedia to delight the senses – written/spoken word, video, gifs, memes, tweets, quotes, poems, art, playlists, and more.
Creativity is healing.
About Molly
This newsletter is part of an exciting new project I’m working on related to these themes. I’ll have more details to share with my subscribers before the end of the year.
In 2016, I founded clean beauty brand From Molly With Love. FMWL sells skincare and self-care products with a narrative that rejects toxic beauty standards and promotes self-love. FMWL products are sold online and in hundreds of retailers in six countries, including stores like Urban Outfitters and Francesca’s. In 2019, FMWL was awarded small business of the year by (then) California Assemblymember Todd Gloria (now San Diego mayor).
I’ve also been a political activist for nearly 20 years. These days I’m focusing on housing advocacy to make California a more equitable place to live. I serve on the board of the YIMBY Democratic Club of San Diego County, am an appointed California Democratic Party delegate, and am a proud graduate of the Emerge California class of 2021.
Before starting FMWL, I worked in communication in the federal government and public relations (PR) in the private sector, primarily in tech and energy. I served as communications director for the Solar program at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Obama administration. In 2014, the San Diego Business Journal named me one of the top 25 local leaders under 30.
I also hold a RYT-200 yoga teaching certification and I’m a certified Usui Reiki master energy healer.
My words have been published in Luna Luna Magazine, Thought Catalog, BuzzFeed, and the former xoJane. My business and story have been featured on Good Morning America and in publications such as Washington Post, San Diego Business Journal, San Diego Voyager, San Diego News, Well + Good, PopSugar, and more. I have been a guest on podcasts such as Head + Heart Therapy, Entrepreneur on Fire, Wellthy Boss, and others.
Why You Should Subscribe
I have a hunch that most of us have been struggling in this COVID era. I also sense a collective existential dread wafting in the air.
What will life be like a century from now? Will Democracy survive? Will the planet?
Life is changing so fast. Will we adapt?
If that feels familiar to you at all, you should subscribe to this newsletter.
It’s for you…
If you’re interested in discussing new ideas and fresh perspectives about our most pressing problems, especially climate change, injustice, and democracy
If you’re ready to go deeper and believe it’s time to ask the questions previous generations did not
If you’re sick of all the misinformation and gaslighting
If you worry about the future of humanity (not joking)
If you’re interested in trauma and healing (PSA: I am not a doctor)
If you’re at all curious about the interplay of masculine and feminine energies in governance, in the cultural zeitgeist, and on the planet
If you’re a nerd for big ideas, history, pattern discovery, archetypes, or solving mysteries
We live in an age between world views, creative yet disoriented; a transitional era when the old cultural vision no longer fits and the new view hasn’t yet been constellated. Yet we are not without signs of what the new might look like.
To keep our sanity right now, we must recognize that we are not merely witnesses to this period but also contributors. We have important roles in the rebirth of a new age - one that will determine the fate of future generations. This is a critical turning point in our evolution. There is no going back to “normal.” Let’s make it count.
I hope you’ll join me
You can sign up for free and get occasional posts, but for $7/mon, you get a weekly newsletter plus:
Comments and community discussion
Regular bonus content (including audio/video and original poetry)
Monthly media diet: a carefully curated list of monthly inspirations - what I’m reading, listening to, and watching
You’ll be first to get the tea on my pivot and other big announcements
Let’s do this.