First Lady is a traditional position in the US government, usually held by the president’s spouse. Michelle Obama served as First Lady during her husband Barack Obama’s two-term presidency from 2009 to 2017. She often refers to her time as First Lady in her work, reminiscing on the joys and struggles of moving into the White House, living in the public eye, and working on various public engagement campaigns.

Obama claims that since people experience fearful thoughts throughout their lives, the best way to cope is to learn how to be “comfortably afraid.” This means that while people may feel nervous, they can rationally analyze their fearful thoughts so that they don’t control their actions. Obama credits her parents with helping her learn to feel comfortably afraid from an early age. For example, her mother had her walk home from school by herself when she was in kindergarten.

“Going high” refers to a passage of one of Obama’s most well-known speeches at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, in which she said, “When they go low, we go high” (272). She was referring to the negative discourse around the 2016 presidential campaign, which saw Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton compete for the presidency.