Hazy skies
Someone pointed out on Instagram that it seemed like there's so much happening all at once now - Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, forest fires in the PNW causing our sun to turn orange and our sky to disappear, Trump ending DACA (protection for immigrants brought to the US as minors), Charlottesville/the public rise of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. It's pretty overwhelming, isn't it? A few posts back, I raised the question of whether there's a paradox between the broken world we live in and the cultural phenomenon of 'I am enough' mantras. I believe there is. I suggested this:
We have to improve ourselves, through reading, and discourse and putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations. We have to donate - our time, our money, our things. I am guessing that in the back of your mind, that there is at least one issue that you wish you could be more involved in, or know more about. What is it? Run with that.
And yet, last week, I didn't donate anything to help Harvey victims. A part of it was not wanting to donate to the Red Cross, for various reasons, but if I'm being honest, that was just a small part. I think part of it was just feeling catastrophe fatigue. I want to grow and learn and contribute and help but sometimes I feel a bit burned out. Which I'm allowed to! But at the same time, I'm sitting here complaining of feeling burned out when people are facing living in evacuation shelters for the next few months, who have lost their homes or family members, who lack the resources to rebuild their lives. So, I'm bucking up. This week it's a small thing, I'm donating 10% of all sales from my jewelry line (www.happyfoxstudio.com) to NW Immigrant Rights Project, so they can help defend Dreamers from this current administration. I feel like, if I can do one small thing each day (read an article, have an honest conversation with someone, donate money), at least I'm moving forward. I read a very interesting article earlier in the week that suggested that conscious consumerism (e.g. buying vintage or fair trade) because our economic system is set up to make those choices irrelevant. I sure hope that the author was wrong. I know I can do better, maybe volunteering more or attending more community meetings, but I hope that if all of us do small things, it will also make a difference. Last week I posted on Instagram, "what's the opposite of a microaggression? A microcompassion? That's what I'm working on." I'm trying really hard to check my privilege, check my biases, be kind and reach out. And then I read an article asking "is your allyship performative?" which made me question my actions on a deeper level. I don't think it is, I think my actions do (or are beginning to) show real allyship, but man, that question rang deep.
After I get past the discomfort of questions seemingly posed specifically to me, I'm honestly just really thankful, that I have easy access to articles like that. Teen Vogue, Allure, Black Lives Matter, Dan Rather, Cory Booker... there are so many good organizations and people doing good work and asking deep questions. (Lemme get political for a second - one of those people doing good things is Andrew Gillum. If you are in Florida, please vote for him for Governor. I know him professionally from when I worked at the City of Tallahassee and he was a commissioner. He is compassionate, bright, thoughtful, and the best damn Governor the state will ever have.)
So, lots of thoughts, lots of questions. How are you doing better these days?
We have to improve ourselves, through reading, and discourse and putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations. We have to donate - our time, our money, our things. I am guessing that in the back of your mind, that there is at least one issue that you wish you could be more involved in, or know more about. What is it? Run with that.
And yet, last week, I didn't donate anything to help Harvey victims. A part of it was not wanting to donate to the Red Cross, for various reasons, but if I'm being honest, that was just a small part. I think part of it was just feeling catastrophe fatigue. I want to grow and learn and contribute and help but sometimes I feel a bit burned out. Which I'm allowed to! But at the same time, I'm sitting here complaining of feeling burned out when people are facing living in evacuation shelters for the next few months, who have lost their homes or family members, who lack the resources to rebuild their lives. So, I'm bucking up. This week it's a small thing, I'm donating 10% of all sales from my jewelry line (www.happyfoxstudio.com) to NW Immigrant Rights Project, so they can help defend Dreamers from this current administration. I feel like, if I can do one small thing each day (read an article, have an honest conversation with someone, donate money), at least I'm moving forward. I read a very interesting article earlier in the week that suggested that conscious consumerism (e.g. buying vintage or fair trade) because our economic system is set up to make those choices irrelevant. I sure hope that the author was wrong. I know I can do better, maybe volunteering more or attending more community meetings, but I hope that if all of us do small things, it will also make a difference. Last week I posted on Instagram, "what's the opposite of a microaggression? A microcompassion? That's what I'm working on." I'm trying really hard to check my privilege, check my biases, be kind and reach out. And then I read an article asking "is your allyship performative?" which made me question my actions on a deeper level. I don't think it is, I think my actions do (or are beginning to) show real allyship, but man, that question rang deep.
After I get past the discomfort of questions seemingly posed specifically to me, I'm honestly just really thankful, that I have easy access to articles like that. Teen Vogue, Allure, Black Lives Matter, Dan Rather, Cory Booker... there are so many good organizations and people doing good work and asking deep questions. (Lemme get political for a second - one of those people doing good things is Andrew Gillum. If you are in Florida, please vote for him for Governor. I know him professionally from when I worked at the City of Tallahassee and he was a commissioner. He is compassionate, bright, thoughtful, and the best damn Governor the state will ever have.)
So, lots of thoughts, lots of questions. How are you doing better these days?
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