In this powerful solo episode, Betsy explores what it means to live, lead, and stay human in what philosopher Antonio Gramsci famously called "the time of monsters" - the in-between space where the old world is dying and the new world is still struggling to be born.

Recorded at the close of 2025, this episode is an invitation for anyone standing at a threshold: the end of a year, a relationship, a job, an identity, or an old way of being. Betsy reframes overwhelm, grief, and exhaustion not as personal failure, but as signs of initiation - evidence that you are awake, feeling, and participating in the birth of something new.

This is a reflection, a transmission, and a practice for those navigating collapse with consciousness.

• What "the time of monsters" really means, beyond politics or villains

• Why exhaustion, grief, anger, and sensitivity are appropriate responses right now

• How collapse acts as an initiation into embodied sovereignty

• What embodied leadership actually looks like (and why charisma isn't the point)

• Why boundaries, nervous system regulation, and saying no are revolutionary acts

• How initiations happen in ordinary moments - emails, conversations, rest

• The difference between being "nice" and being kind (especially to yourself)

• Why monsters are often teachers and how they accelerate your path

• How to practice the new world instead of talking about it
  
  

Instead of measuring your life by achievement, try asking:

• Where did I meet monsters (and what did they teach me)?

• What parts of me am I letting die?

• What new world am I quietly embodying through my boundaries, voice, and presence?

• How am I practicing the future I want to live in?

Betsy introduces a version of the "Just Like Me," her favourite compassion practice, a simple but radical way to soften separation, regulate the nervous system and practice leadership through humanity.

Links & Resources

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thebetsyreed.substack.com

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Work with Betsy
For coaching, consulting, speaking, embodied leadership sessions, upcoming community circles, and the People Like Us dinners across Europe:
www.betsy-reed.com

Check out the brand spanking new Embodied Leadership Lab for monthly leadership circles and quarterly planning sessions (starting ahead of Q2 2026):
www.embodiedleadershiplab.com (it'll take you to Betsy's website)

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