Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

After the Jail, Before the Freeway

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After the Jail, Before the Freeway

More driving reflections

Christin Chong, PhD

Jul 17, 2026

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Dear Friends,

Here’s a transcript of my voice memo to you! You can also listen to it.

Hello! It’s so funny — every time after I volunteer at the jail, where I talk about meditation and mindfulness for two hours, I usually get really mad, because the freeway entrance near the jail is always closed for some reason. I end up finding very convoluted ways to get back on, and I’m like, gee, what happened to all that mindfulness? So much for that. I always make fun of myself for how quickly I descend from peacefulness into freeway frustration.

Today’s sessions were fantastic, and really well attended, which was interesting. Attendance can vary anywhere from a minimum of two up to twelve or so — which is quite a bit, because the room isn’t even that big — but today it was closer to six to eight people per session.

I always try to adapt the class to the energy in the room. When there are a lot of people, it gets a bit tricky, because people want to interact with each other — which is totally understandable, especially for folks who aren’t given a lot of contact with other human beings. The class is really an excuse for everyone to get out and have some human contact. So I try to leave room for that. I allow some cross-talk, because I feel like it’s often too much to expect people to drop straight into silence.

(Oh — is this ramp also closed? I might be hitting another closed ramp. Who knows if I’m ever getting home at this point. Now we’re all making very dubious U-turns. Wait, are we all going in a circle? Hello, everybody. You’d think I’d know by now that this entrance is always closed, but clearly none of us have learned.)

Anyway. I didn’t actually want to talk too much about the jail work today, because I wanted to make this a public recording, and what I really wanted to share is what I’ve been dealing with internally.

I’ve been very, very busy with my day job — really pushing myself. And it’s funny, maybe this is a disturbing analogy, but you know those cartoon thermometers where the temperature gets so high that the mercury shoots past the top and explodes? I feel a little like that. My current work situation is so ridiculously over the top that maybe I’ve actually overcome my work anxieties, because I’m in a permanent Kobayashi Maru. I could prepare for everything I think might go wrong, and the thing that actually happens is so unpredictable that I’m just like — wow, it is impossible for me to have any control over what’s happening.

Which, again, maybe is the lesson I’ve been having to learn. I don’t know.

So that’s what’s been happening — apologies if I’ve been ghosting everybody and not getting back to you. That’s really all I’ve been dealing with. I feel like I’m in this stage of adapting to it, but I do feel changed in some ways. My relationship to work-induced anxiety has evolved. Unfortunately I’m still working a lot of hours, because I want to get things in as good a place as I can before I travel soon. But this job has forced me to be really ruthless in prioritization.

The part I feel worst about is that I have to let people down constantly. In an ideal situation, I don’t like leaving people hanging — when people have requests, I always try to give the best customer service. But I’m now in a situation where I have to say no, or ignore some requests, because there are just so many, and I have to prioritize. Maybe that’s the lesson: learning to say no constantly, and accepting that I can’t address everyone’s needs anymore.

And — not that I was ever a perfectionist, I know this may shock some of you — I’m now in a place where I can no longer be anywhere near that. There are a lot of MVP situations, all the time, because speed is definitely more important than perfection. That’s something I’ve had to adapt to as well.

Then there’s risk management. I’m trying my best not to have things blow up, and hedging so that if things do blow up, there’s a backup plan. It’s almost like a forced mindfulness training, in a twisted way: there are a hundred things being managed at the same time, so I really can only do one at a time — and hope I picked the correct one for the day.

I sometimes wonder if the universe serves you exactly what you need in order to learn a lesson. Consulting my monastic teachers, you get answers at two extremes. One direction is: “Ha ha — you think the universe is about you? How silly to take it so personally.” The other direction is: yes, there’s some element of karma, we reap the seeds we sow, and so there’s some element of having to address the situations that — always, coincidentally — are the ones we least like to deal with.

So that’s my learning. And as you can see, if I post this, that means I did let it go — even though I did not love that I rambled about the freeway for the first five minutes, which may not be very riveting. I may just release this recording anyway, because it’s better to say hi than to say nothing at all.

So let me know: do you feel like life is constantly serving you exactly the most annoying or terrible thing, all the time? Do you feel like the universe is random? Or is it perception bias? Because I could view these situations as exactly the opposite: how wonderful that the universe is serving up exactly what I need, all the time, so I can learn. I’m trying to address my negativity bias these days, mostly because I’d just be sad all the time if I didn’t. This current life situation forces me to constantly examine the way I perceive things — because if I already know how this way feels, why not try a different way?

(And hooray — I’m on the freeway, finally. None of us could get on; it was closed in both directions. Very bizarre. A 30-minute drive home has turned into a 45-minute journey. But it’s okay. I’m glad I got to record this with you.)

Lastly — I think I said this last year, but here we go again — I’ve been contemplating how tired my mind is. And you’ll hate it when I say I’m tired; it’s one of her least favorite things to hear from me. Not because she’s cruel, but because she says I say it too much, and saying I’m tired makes me more tired. Which is totally true. But I also feel like maybe I’m tired of the way I think, you know? It’s a healthier kind of tired. More like: okay, I’m bored of being anxious now. This is getting too boring, so I’m going to try something else.

That’s also something that’s changed slightly within me. It’s not going to look different to most people — though hopefully Yuhong notices. It seems like I’m in a very similar situation to a few years ago, but I’m actually responding to it slightly differently than before. So I guess the only learning here is: oh, maybe it is the crucible, for everybody. Hooray!

Okay. Well, thanks for listening. I hope to see you in cyberspace.

Warm wishes,

Christin

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Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

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Recent Episodes

Voice memo reflections from sharing Buddhist meditation in jail

Jul 10 • Christin Chong, PhD

The Art of "Scalable" Volunteering

Jun 21 • Christin Chong, PhD

Post-Jail Voice Memo Reflections

Jun 12 • Christin Chong, PhD

Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Voice memo reflections from sharing Buddhist meditation in jail

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Voice memo reflections from sharing Buddhist meditation in jail

Back at it again

Christin Chong, PhD

Jul 10, 2026

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Dear Friends,

Here’s another voice memo recorded after sharing Buddhist meditation in our local jail today. I’m also adding a cleaned up transcript in case it’s easier to read along than to listen to me yap!

If you missed it last time, you can join a budding number of supportive patrons and gain access to the recording, now with a cleaned up transcript behind the paywall!

What I appreciate about the newsletter from one of my favorite writers Nic Antoinette is that even her paid tier posts have some free updates. So let me type a few here.

Currently enjoying: David Sedaris’ new book/audiobook: The Land And Its People

Currently struggling with: Finding time to rest.

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Christin Chong, PhD.

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Or purchase a paid subscription.

Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

Subscribe

Listen on

Substack App

RSS Feed

Appears in episode

Christin Chong, PhD

Recent Episodes

The Art of "Scalable" Volunteering

Jun 21 • Christin Chong, PhD

Post-Jail Voice Memo Reflections

Jun 12 • Christin Chong, PhD

Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

The Art of "Scalable" Volunteering

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The Art of "Scalable" Volunteering

"Direct" volunteering and other ways to help that are "scalable"

Christin Chong, PhD

Jun 21, 2026

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Hi Friends,

This week sadly the jail was in lockdown so I didn’t manage to go in. So instead, in this little voice memo for you I share the ways in which I attempt to “scale” my volunteering efforts outside of direct jail work, e.g. trying to get Gil Fronsdal’s books available to incarcerated individuals, and offering to onboard chaplaincy students with my mentor.

I really have to put “scalable” in huge air quotes here because maybe the correct word is really “operationalizing” or “diversifying”—-just wanting to share all the ways in which “helping the world” really comes down to paperwork and pounding the pavement and following up. And so many of you are good at that!

Please also let me know how this voice memo format goes for you—-do you like it, do you prefer seeing my face, or prefer seeing words typed out? Let me know!

Warm Wishes,

Christin

Discussion about this episode

CommentsRestacks

Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

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Listen on

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RSS Feed

Appears in episode

Christin Chong, PhD

Recent Episodes

Post-Jail Voice Memo Reflections

Jun 12 • Christin Chong, PhD

Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Post-Jail Voice Memo Reflections

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Post-Jail Voice Memo Reflections

Recording in the car on the way back home

Christin Chong, PhD

Jun 12, 2026

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Hi Friends,

Experimenting with a voice memo reflection recorded after serving meditation classes in the jail! I hope this can be a useful record for myself and for those of you interested in what it’s…

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Christin Chong, PhD.

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Christin’s Newsletter Podcast

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

Currently this is where I share my reflections in serving meditation classes within a local county jail system.

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Appears in episode

Christin Chong, PhD

Let’s talk about money.

I am terrible at charging for my offerings, and fantastic at getting my friends to do it.

In fact, let me first tell you about my friend Alexandra. She has been teaching me qigong for the past month and relieving so much tension I’ve been holding within, as well as helping me give relief to those who are incarcerated. I’ve been able to take some of her routines and share them with incarcerated individuals in the San Mateo jail system. Participants report a sense of joy and lightness, and I rejoice with them too as I benefit from Alex’s teachings.

She has even made it easy to learn through these offerings, which I’m so psyched to share with you:

• Easy Embodiment Qigong Routine - $12
  https://gumroad.com/a/1050532963/altgoy

• Feel Good with Qigong Starter Pack - $47 (1:1 session AND the video!)
  https://gumroad.com/a/1050532963/wjwqha

Full disclosure: I get 30% commission!

Alex is a shining example of sharing right livelihood and her work cares for herself and others. Yet she was hesitant to charge for her work at first. I highly nagged encouraged her until she did and I’m so proud!

In fact, if you are reading this newsletter, you are more than likely someone who is more on the hesitant-to-charge side because I tend to be friends with people like that.

Before I point more fingers, this is something I am working on myself!

You can become a patron of my chaplaincy work/meditation classes in the San Mateo jail system by clicking the button below ($13.50/month or $135/year.)

Become Christin's Patron

Your support helps me embark on a journey towards sustainable livelihood through chaplaincy work / meditation classes. I’ll continue to expand my offerings and this is a start, but it’s the purest offering I’m providing to the world right now to participants who cannot afford it and wouldn’t have access otherwise. Your patronage helps me keep it going!

Relatedly, I’m also happy to report that I will be a student of Gil Fronsdal and Ines Freedman in the dharma leaders training program at insight meditation center. This has been my dream come true since I was in my twenties, and now that I’m turning double that age, I’m glad that my early aspiration is answered. This training program will also ensure that I can be be a more helpful meditation teacher in the jail system.

So…what are you doing for free that you can ostensibly charge money for to make it a sustainable offering?

Warm Wishes,

Christin

Hello hello, it’s been a while! :) I hope you have all been well. Unfortunately I had a bunch of technical issues with the Buttondown email platform, so I have migrated the newsletter back to Substack.

Since I last wrote you, I am now looking forward to serving as a spiritual provider volunteer at a local incarcerated facility (aka jail.) In practical terms, this means teaching meditation to a small group of incarcerated persons if they wish to attend. Given the current state of the USA, I’ve been contemplating how to serve the community better with my chaplaincy training, and potentially, further training in the insight meditation tradition next year. It is my hope that I can provide care and some relief to those in such stressful situations.

This Sunday I’m going to shadow a seasoned spiritual provider volunteer, and I’m thankful for him allowing me to join in last minute. In truth, when I was seeking this type of opportunity, I was told by friends that sometimes incarcerated facility clearances can take up to half a year. The good news was that I received clearance in 2 weeks, but it also means that I’ve been scrambling to get ready emotionally and practically.

If you have any advice or stories about your experiences with supporting incarcerated individuals or know someone who does, please connect them my way! Dear Simone Silverstein comes to mind as she has written about her experiences as a penpal for an incarcerated individual.

Those of you who know me know that this is but one update from my life, so I look forward to sharing more with you soon. It feels good to write again. This letter was composed with quiet accompaniment from Lavinia Yosub and Fei-Ling Tseng (at least the actual writing part, we of course had fun catching up before we started. :))

Warm Wishes,

Christin