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The hits just keep coming.

Death by a million cuts.

The overwhelm is REAL, y'all.

I'm writing this as tens of thousands of people across the United States are gathering together at rallies in their towns protesting the onslaught of civil rights abuses, unconstitutional funding cuts, "leaks" (I use that word loosely as I think most of them are intentional) of vital security information to Russia, and more. I am grateful that the gatherings keep happening, and in many cases, they keep growing.

But then what?

I don't mean to be a pessimist (and I'm not, please know that), but it's not enough to call for change, it's not even enough to make change. We have to find ways to make sure that the changes we make are sustainable.

I was born before Roe v. Wade, and I was a toddler when it was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973. But by the time I graduated from high school, I had signed more petitions (on actual paper) and marched in marches to try and preserve that law than I ever thought I should have to.

How many of the things folks have fought for have been almost instantaneously reversed by vengeful politicians? How many more will be?

To be sure, there has also been a slow eroding that folks should have seen coming. I'm not here to shame anyone, but there were people who screamed about stacking the courts, who watched as Obama signed "Indefinite Detention" in to law and predicted exactly how the GOP might use it against people they didn't agree with, who railed at Biden for opening up the possibility of drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, etc. etc. But the rollbacks are coming faster than most of us can keep up with and the changes are causing damage that will take years, if not generations, to undo.

SO WHAT THE F*CK DO WE DO?

Well, that depends on several things:

1. What's your capacity? We are all in different places right now - some of us are waaaaaay under-resourced, some are experiencing secondary trauma on a near-daily basis, others are feeling pretty okay for now but tend to careen from bouts of energy to engage to paralysis (binge-watching episodes of Ted Lasso for hours on end and avoiding all news outlets) and back again on a pretty regular basis. So take some time to assess where your nervous system is, get honest about how well you're resourced (time, energy, money, community, etc.), and go from there.
2. What are your most deeply held values? Slow down. Think about it. Get super clear, and STAY IN THAT LANE. You can't do all the things. Even if you CARE about all the things, you don't have the energy for a sustained game of Whac-A-Mole. Nobody does. So pick one or two or three areas to really do a deep dive, do your research, find folks who are already engaged in those fights, and pitch in.
3. What is your relative privilege and proximity to power? Act from where you already are. Are you an administrator at a non-profit? How is all of this affecting the community you serve and how can you step up efforts to resource them more right now as quickly as possible without all the red tape? Are you a board member at a foundation that gives grants? How can you push to ease the gatekeeping and give more money to the folks you already fund? Are you a teacher? How can you stand up for your students and support them? Are you a writer or artist with a large group of followers? How can you use your platform to amplify the efforts of folks who are doing work that more people need to know about?

If even those three things feel overwhelming, I'm here. Set up a 30-minute call with me and we'll get granular - how can you resource yourself in order to have energy for the fight and decide what to do? I can help you find a blueprint. I do charge for these calls, but as always, it's on a sliding scale, so you decide what it's worth to you and how much you can pay between $10 and $25 for the half hour.

If we are going to make headway in this struggle together and achieve sustainable change for all of us, it will take folks doing lots of different things. We need people on the front line to stop the bleeding (blocking access to documents and people, filing lawsuits against the egregious acts of this administration, signing petitions and phoning representatives, marching and protesting); we need others doing the work to build connections (talking with folks about why this is important, getting more people active in the fight, building community to resource and sustain folks who are marginalized, creating unshakeable foundations); and folks doing the visionary work to begin building the world we want to live in when much of this crumbles. The GOP has defined the battlefield for us, and while it's vital to have folks out there fighting back, at some point we will all need to get off the front line and have a better place to step in to.

I'm happy to help you decide which of these things feels the most accessible and sustainable to you (it may be more than one). We can design a way for you to feel like you're in alignment with your values and your resources so that you can be steady as you do the work. If you have a friend or two or three who all want to explore this together, schedule 60 minutes with me and we'll talk as a group (sliding scale is between $20 and $59/person)

And if you already know, just be sure to protect your own well-being as you do the work. Burnout isn't an option for a sustainable fight.

As always, sending so much love and letting you know I'd love to hear from you if you have questions or concerns. Hit 'reply' and let me have it