Ever hear the phrase chosen family? Well, it's about the people who become your family,

not necessarily by birth or adoption, biology or partnering, though they may be a part of

it, but by choice. It's the family that you gather and deepen into because they're

the people you actually want in your life. My guest today, Mia Birdzong, she's been exploring

the role of family and community, chosen family, and how it relates to everything from

our ability to love, find deep and meaningful relationships and flourish, and feel supported

and at peace to its intersection with social justice, equality, abolition, and more. As

a founding co-director of Family Story, Mia lifted up a new national story about what

makes a good family. And then as a vice president of the Family Independence Initiative, she

leveraged the power of data and stories to really illuminate and accelerate the initiative

low-income families take to improve their lives. She has this amazing gift for making visible

and tapping into the brilliance of everyday people so that our collective gifts reach larger

spheres of influence, affect cultural and political change, and create well-being for everyone.

In Mia's new book Howie Show Up, Reclaming Family, Friendship and Community, she really

points us toward the promise of our own collective vitality. We dive into all of this in today's

conversation. So excited to share it with you. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project.

So many things I want to explore with you. Things around the moment, things around the work,

things around the book, and your ideas. You're hanging out in Oakland, California right now,

it sounds like you've been planted for a long time. Originally, though, from these coasts,

from actually New York. Originally from Rochester, New York, and then I lived in Brooklyn for seven

years before I came to Oakland. Yeah, so that was like after Oberlin? Yes, exactly. Got it. What was,

I mean, so growing up in Rochester, I think we're probably similar ages-

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