Seasons Change: So Do We
How You Can Show Up For Your Chosen Family In These Times
🌱 Family is not always blood.
As summer slips into fall, I’m reminded that seasons change not only in the world around us but also within us. September carries a certain weight—a turning of leaves, a shift in rhythm, a pause that asks us to notice what’s fading and what’s taking root.
This past week, a public misunderstanding with my blood family left me raw. It’s never easy when those closest by relation can’t see or hold us the way we need. But in that gap, something beautiful happened: my chosen family, my community, stepped forward. Friends, colleagues, and allies reminded me of my value. They saw me, affirmed me, and carried me in ways that blood couldn’t.
It was a reminder that while family can hurt, community can heal. And that belonging isn’t bound by DNA—it’s woven in care, solidarity, and love.
🚨 Breaking News: New Interviews + Editorials
This month at Insight with Justin G. Cobb, we’re lifting up voices that remind us what liberation looks like in practice— through rest, belonging, identity, and truth.
First we begin with Arjun Thanaraju, a Queer, Brown refugee from Malaysia. Even as homosexuality remains criminalized in the country, Arjun continues to create spaces of safety and belonging. In our conversation, he speaks about the importance of role models and the courage to build community where it is needed most. His story will be available on Medium next Tuesday.
We then turn to Puneet Singh Singhal, based in India, deepens this thread by sharing his work as a Learning Disability Rights and Climate Change advocate. Speaking candidly about caste, disability, and identity, Puneet highlights how advocacy can open the door to dignity and belonging. His interview will be shared on Insight with Justin G. Cobb via Spotify.
We also will be featuring Lisa Hurley, whose upcoming YouTube episode explores her new book The Space To Exhale. Lisa shows us that sometimes the most radical act is to pause—and that rest itself is revolutionary.
We are also collaborating with De’Adrien Traylor , who shares a deeply personal editorial on life as a queer Black Active-Duty service member, wrestling with body image and the weight of military culture while carving space for authenticity.
✨ Together, these conversations remind us: liberation isn’t one path—it’s many. It lives in the pauses we take, the voices we raise, and the communities we dare to build.
🤝Partner Spotlight
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🌍 Community Spotlight
Every week, I love to lift up members of our global community whose work, persistence, and breakthroughs inspire us all.
✨ Cristino N. Chávez
We celebrate Cristino’s acceptance into the Fred Taylor “Roll Away The Stone” Leadership Certificate Program through the School of Social Work at Howard University. His commitment to justice and healing continues to shine as he builds pathways for belonging and transformation.
👉 Learn more in our Insight episode: Cristino N. Chávez on Justice, Identity, and Mental Health: A Journey of Healing and Belonging.
✨ Pius Semutumba
Pius was just granted refugee status and five years’ permission to stay in the UK, along with the right to work. His journey as an LGBTQ legal advocate is one of courage and persistence in the face of incredible challenges— and now, a new chapter of possibility.
👉 Read more in our feature: From Exile to Empowerment: The Journey of Legal Advocate Pius Semutumba.
That reminder— that community can heal— is at the heart of this season for me. As the leaves turn, I’m noticing how chosen family and solidarity show up in unexpected ways. They step in when blood falters. They remind us that belonging is something we build together, across distance, difference, and struggle.
I’ve been thinking of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, a song that has carried me through many turning points. “Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?” Those words echo where I am now: facing change, facing misunderstanding, but also leaning into growth.
Just like the song, these moments remind me that change is both loss and renewal. And the people who step forward in our seasons of uncertainty— those who hold us with kindness— become our chosen family.
This is also what I’ve seen in the conversations we’re sharing this month on Insight with Justin G. Cobb. From rest to resistance, from identity to advocacy, each voice carries a piece of that larger truth: family is not always inherited— it is created.
✨ If this message resonated with you, make sure to subscribe to Justin G. Cobb. Subscribers get access to the full long essay and practical steps for showing up for family—chosen and not—through seasons of challenge and change. Don’t just read the headlines; join the deeper conversation on how we build belonging together.
