Remember Joy

What were you doing the morning of November 7th when the Presidential election was called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? 

I was sitting exactly where I am now, in front of my computer, having my first cup of tea, MSNBC on mute, slacking with my Feel Good Voting colleagues about the fact that the results were clear and suddenly a co-worker exclaimed that CNN called it.

“WE WON!”

Wolf came running from the bedroom. We embraced, sobbed while laughing, dancing and screaming. My phone was going crazy. I was spinning in circles not sure what to do first or next. I grabbed my car keys, ran outside, and honked the car horn to let the world know that JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS WON!

Neighbors started gathering in the street. Champagne bottles popped, Sharon Jones “This land is your land” and the theme from Rocky played on a portable speaker while Wolf danced with our American flag. Masked up and overwhelmed with relief and excitement. One of my soul sisters said she felt a sense of relief like she had never felt before, not even after childbirth.

This was the moment we were waiting for.  A glimpse of light and hope, a way out of the darkness, an opening onto something better.

WE DID IT!

Everyone of us stood resilient and fierce in the face of authoritarianism. We were steadfast in our resolve that this is not who are as a country, as a community, and as individuals.

This was not a Blue win and Red loss, even though that’s how it’s been messaged. This is a victory for humanity, the planet, truth, Democracy, and a future filled with possibilities to make lives and our world better.

For four years we marched with a shared values, and an understanding that the systems have failed. Yet, we persisted knowing the people and our planet matter. Caring matters. Making sure we are all well matters. And on November 3rd, we loudly proclaimed, in historic proportions, that VOTING MATTERS.

Another soul sister often says, “everything Trump touches turns to shit.” It really does. He’s been shitting on Democracy for decades. Shitting on black and brown people his whole life. Shitting on contractors who he’s stiffed. Shitting on a gold toilet as if his shit is the best shit of all. And now, he’s spending his last days of a vengeful Presidency shitting on the peaceful transition of power.

His refusal to concede is dangerous and unprecedented, yet predictable and desperate. It’s a disgrace. And, while he is a bumbling, lazy, unfocused attempt at a dictator, his actions decay trust in systems that, while imperfect, still have an organizing function. Some may say the systemic demise is for the best. I subscribed to a remodel ideology rather than a tear down and rebuild.

All the while, I remind myself that his constituents, our fellow American citizens, are behaving much in the same way we behaved four years ago. We did everything in our might to reject his win. We funded a Wisconsin recount sponsored by Jill Stein. We bombarded electors with pleas to be faithless. The difference was that Hillary Clinton conceded and Barack Obama followed the transfer of power protocols. 

Today members of the GOP and right wing media participating in Trump’s dangerous charade. They joined trump in shitting on Democracy. So what are we going to do in this moment? Are we going to laugh it off, become numb, wait for the transition to happen on Jan 20? Are we going to rant about it on social media? Are we going lean on the media to report the truth? Are we ready to keep fighting for our Democracy?

The Georgia runoff is 46 days away. Winning those two seats takes McConnell out of power. McConnell who is still confirming unqualified judges to the courts as I type. McConnell who is on another recess, with hundreds of unsigned bills + the Heroes Act on his desk, which would prevent millions of Americans from poverty. McConnell who vowed to make Obama a one term president. McConnell who refused Merrick Garland a hearing before the Senate Judicial Committee. McConnell who laughingly jammed through Amy Coney Barrett when millions of people had already voted.

This isn’t McConnell’s Government, it’s our Government. This land is our land. Listen to the lyrics Sharon Jones sings and understand that there is a breakage in the dam and an attempt to prevent Biden from entering office. They will lose, already have, and yet what they are doing is dangerous. For our future, for national security, and for the well-being of all us.

Civic engagement is like brushing your teeth,  you may not always want to do and good dental hygiene is a life saver. 

Here’s the actions I recommend taking. Please note, I’m done saying Easy Activism. From here on out, it’s more like healthy habit activism.

VOLUNTEER FOR GEORGIA RUNOFF.

Covid relief, immigrants, healthcare, wages, the environment are all depending upon this. Some people believe a divided Government is good for Democracy. Not with McConnell at the helm. He will block appointments and jam the system so that the Biden administration fails. We are too fragile for that to happen.

• Phone Bank. Common Power based here in Seattle is an excellent organization quite fun to phone bank with. It feels really good helping Jon Ossoff and Reverend Warnock. I’m serious. DO IT!

• Donate. I don’t typically donate to candidates directly. I recommend donating to Fair Fight who has the best ground game in town.

STAY VIGILANT

Reverend Warnock’s response to a man shouting “Lock Him Up” is something to consider. He said, “we’re not going to become that which we resist.”  It’s challenging to not wish ill and want trump and klan to know the pain they cause and yet, our work is to protect and safeguard all we hold sacred. Others will punish the misdeeds. And when it’s time for punishment, when those hurting our Democracy are no longer in office, we can rise our voices and call for justice. Until then, keep posting, keep resisting and keep the faith.

With love and endless gratitude -

:: Genessa

Bridging the Divide.

When we are consumed by partisan rancor, we cannot combat these external forces as they seek to divide us against each another, degrade our institutions, and destroy the faith of the American people in our democracy. - Dr. Fiona Hill

I’ve spent the past two weeks, as I imagine many of you have, watching the impeachment hearings.

It’s been emotionally grueling. I’ve yelled at the TV and shut it off to regain my composure. I’ve felt inspired by the dedication and grace of those in public service who testified and, on the flip slide, utter despair and shame at the endless gaslighting. Lt. Col. Vindman has moved his family onto a military base for their safety. Like Dr. Hill said in her opening statement, “the partisan rancor is eating us alive.”

We know this administration is corrupt. This is not news. The case made about their corruption was incredibly damning. And, as my father said this morning, it probably doesn’t matters.

The house will vote to impeach. The proceedings will go to the Senate where it will most likely die. The rancor will eat us alive.

Where is our country’s moral compass? Why are elected officials abandoning our country and constitution for this man? Why are they allowing Russia to shape our elections and compromise our Democracy?

On a daily basis I search my soul to understand why Devin Nunes, Jim Joseph and their cronies behave as they do. I want to know why Lindsay Graham, who was the dear colleagues of John McCain and called Trump a “xenophobic race baiting bigot”, now his biggest fan.

Is it the courts? Since 2016, they have nominated Federal Judges who will rule against human rights. Or is it the koolaid? Does the power grip of control really taste that good?

My dad’s right, It won’t matter UNLESS WE TAKE collective action.

We are so much more than what’s playing out. I believe this moment in history continues to be an invitation to tap into and act from our values, our shared humanity, our love for Mother Earth and the truth that we must come together under a common imperative and stop participating in this soul sucking diatribe of cruelty.

The actionS ARE easy. They are about picking up the phone.

When we jam their phone lines, elected officials pay attention. We can shed light onto justice. We’ve proven this time and time again.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM - Dial for Democracy.

1. CALL your Member of Congress asking them to vote on the articles of impeachment. Definitely call Rep Adam Schiff (202) 225-4176 and say thank you. His closing statement is worth watching.

2. Call your Senators. Tell them that you support impeachment. This is especially important in red states. Share with your friends.

3. Talk to people who supported Trump in 2016. They now realize they made a mistake. Embrace them. Thank them for seeing the light. Encourage them to call their Members of Congress by sharing the links above.

4. DONATE to candidates who are running against bad actors. here’s a few -

• Phil Arballo is running against Devin Nunes.

• Amy McGrath is running against Mitch McConnell.

• Jamie Harrison is running against Lindsey Graham.

• Tedra Cobb is running also Elise Stefanik.

• Recruit your friends in Ohio 4th district to run against Jim Jordon. Somebody has to do it!

I know it’s hard to stay connected to the madness. I know it’s easier to go on with our lives and hope that somebody will do the hard work. I know it’s hard to restrain from littering Trump supporters with expletives. This is one of the more challenging things for me. And this deepens the divide. As my Coach Mary Beth often says, “Don’t shine the light in their eyes, instead shine the path in front of them to show them the way out of the darkness.”

With love, gratitude and an unending faith in our shared humanity -

:: Genessa

FRIDAY LOVE.

#Day85.

We all know what's happening.

Our focus remains RUSSIA, TAXES,, ELECTING PROGRESSIVES (Jon Ossoff is this coming Tuesday), OVERTHROWING THIS GOVERNMENT, FIGHTING FOR OUR RIGHTS, MAKING SURE HEALTHCARE EXISTS, AND CARING FOR THE HEALTH OF OUR PLANET AND PEOPLE.

And it's Friday and Fridays are about gratitude and goodness.

I remain grateful to you, this community of inspired activists. To my wife who helps me grow even when I don't think I can. To our beautiful puppies. To our freedom of speech. To house parties and dance parties and the fact that tonight we see Alec Baldwin. 

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a post of fierce woman warriors standing in resistance to those who try and shut us down. 

These women are fire, the fire of people fighting for our lives. That is exactly what we are doing too. This is about our future. This is about our safety. This is about our humanity. We, too, are fighting for our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Show up. Resist. Love harder. Protest - Tax March and BLM this Saturday.

Call your representatives and tell them we need the truth + healthcare, earth care, human care, care all around.

Use your power to make our world a better, brighter, healthier place.

Pepsi's not welcome here.

And always practice self love and self care. A friend, Sarah Reynolds shared this piece from her love and how we can care for ourselves in this crazy upside down time. 

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the reprieve. 

If you know people who would enjoy these mailings, please tell them to subscribe here.

RESIST THE HATE & KEEP THE FAITH.

In gratitude and love -

:: genessa

Love Activists.

#Day 82

My wife and I run an Experience and Space Design business. She is an artist, designer and empath. I am a communicator, connector and cultural tuner.

We both are love activists.

Together our mission is to heal environments by designing meaningful, memorable and connecting experiences that make people and place feel uplifted.

Our shared purpose is to elevate spirit.

One of the most challenging aspects of our business is helping clients understand the impact that design has on our wellness. We help them visualize and understand how design affects the lives of their employees, partners, customers, student, essentially whoever enters their space.

Some people get it immediately.

Others don’t notice or understand how lighting, furnishings, layout or colors effects mood, productivity and collaboration.  

Others simply look at the price tag and think they can do it themselves.

Truth is they can. It won’t be the same as what we would deliver and yet, we encourage people to express themselves fully.

There is liberation in creating connective beauty.

There is joy in experiencing connective beauty.

There is a sense of optimism and possibility when immersed in beautiful, thoughtful and intentional design.

Every place I go lately, last night at our friends Passover Seder, over the weekend at coffee with a friend, in a Lyft on our way to a party, everybody I encounter is agitated, worried, not fully embodied.

We are living in a time where beauty, not just aesthetic beauty, but the beauty of hope, optimism and spirit is under attack.

The mere idea of diminishing the arts to beef up the military apparatus robs us of our spiritual fuel.

Creativity, possibility and hope are intrinsically linked.  We see it everyday. When environments are transformed from thoughtlessness into intentionality, people are liberated.

My wife has taken to not watching, listening or reading the news. It’s simply too bleak. It always slanted bleak but now everything is overwhelming.

Yesterday a man walked into a school and shot and killed his wife, a 9-year student, injured another young student and then killed himself. This news has overshadowed by the absurdity and vulgarity of United Airlines.

Are we simply too exhausted by the lack of beauty in our lives that we can’t look at the bleak anymore? The truly bleak and not just the bizarrely bleak.

Last week I watched the Newtown documentary. The parents and the aid workers shared their never-ending heartbreak and activism since the Sandy Hook shooting. The parents of murdered children want us to know what happened that day and need us to be active in what didn’t happen in the aftermath.

Yet, I don’t know any parents who can stomach the idea of watching that documentary as it hits too close to home, it is simply too painful and scary to endure.

Somehow we have to create more beauty so that we can have the ability to face the ugly head on. We can’t turn away from the hard truths as when we stop having the ability to look at what’s happening, they win.

They want to wear us down. They want us to go back to normal, to shopping therapy and the daily actions of our normal lives.

They want us to bury our heads in compliancy or paralysis, as the lack of beauty is so overwhelming.

I know from transforming spaces, that our work changes people lives. Humans are so adaptable that we grow numb to the fluorescent lights and windowless rooms and uncomfortable furnishings. We grow numb to the chipped paint and the randomly placed photos, plants and nick knacks. We will eventually grow numb to the overwhelming abuse of power.

We cannot grow numb. Or too sorrowful to act. Or so angry that nobody can hear us.

We must grow more beautiful. More in love with our brothers and sisters. More in love with mother earth. More in love with our freedoms. More in love with clean water. More in love with equal rights. More in love with truth. More in love with science.  More in love with people loving and being who they are.

We must see the beauty, or create it where it’s missing, in all that we hold sacred and dear.

The beauty keeps us revitalized, engaged, connected, in joy, in hope, in optimism, in possibility, in peace, in community.

Our beauty is our salvation.

You are our beauty.

TODAY’S LATE TO THE GAME EASY ACTIVISM –

1.     Phone bank for Jon Ossoff. Let’s win this one. There will be great beauty in this win. 10 minutes of your day until next Tuesday. I know it’s intimidating and typically people don’t answer. If they do though, we stand a chance of winning this one.

2.     Remind your elected officials that we need to know the truth about the following – trump’s taxes, Jeff Sessions meetings with Russia, plan for Syria, Russia’s involvement in our elections.

3.     And, while it is late, a woman in Seattle is spearheading activism in solidarity with out Muslim community – Headscarf Tuesday. Here are the details. There are still many hours left in Tuesday if you wish to participate.

Lastly, I keep forgetting to mention this AND my website is live – easyactivism.us. It’s now quite simple for people to subscribe. Please share if so inspired.

In love, in light, in beauty and in gratitude –

:: genessa

The Clarity of our Actions

Today's action is so clear and so easy - there is no way a Supreme Court nominee can be appointed by this administration until we know the truth about Russia.

There are still several Democrats on the fence about Neil Gorsuch, thankfully, Maria Cantwell in Washington State is no longer one of them. Republicans should not be walking this party line either. There is too much at stake to allow this administration to appoint and this GOP to confirm an ultra conservative judge that could further erode our democracy when there may have been collusion with Russia.

CALL YOUR SENATORS & LET THEM KNOW UNTIL WE KNOW, NO VOTE.

Yesterday, the Reel Grrls intern, a 15-year-old first generation American, commented how the election made her look at people differently, it made her realize who her friends were and what her classmates valued. 

We know this election has divided us. Yet, it is very sad to hear a young girl in a very progressive State, confirm that. In this regard, our democracy has already been eroded and Russia has succeeded.

Regardless of what happens to this administration and all those working with them, we need to repair our faith in our democracy, our trust in other people and our willingness to work together for the good of all of us.

Russia was successful in pitting Bernie and Hillary supporters against each other. We are still recovery from that. We need to heal quickly as 2018 will be here before we know it. Russia was very successful in wedging a divide between trump supporting Americans and the rest of us. That is transparently clear.

It remains an assault to humanity when I learn somebody voted for trump. It's hurtful, confusing, disgusting, painful and makes me so sad. And yet, they were offered a different kool-aid then we were. It tasted good. They couldn't stop drinking it. Perhaps we need to offer them something else to drink. I don't know if it's possible. Often, I don't want to make the effort.  I do know Russia wins if we fall apart.

We cannot divide further. We need to continue reaching out past our hurt and building bridges. We won't be able to reach everybody. We need to fight this hate, this vulgar display of anti-everything we value, with fierce determined love-powered values-based belief that we are good people, we are hard working people and it's up to us to create the country, society and community we want to live in.

Today's Easy Activism is above, I led with it. Call your Senators. No to Gorsuch. No vote. And if there is a vote, no Gorsuch.

And in the light of us all being one, because we are, an amazing woman on this list, Bernadette Creavan, has been working with a local mosque in Seattle to see how we can best support our Muslim brothers and sisters. They are launching a 6-week program of solidarity called Headscarf Tuesdays where we will wear headscarfs to show our support and oneness with a community being target by the regime.

More details can be found here. Please share widely with your community. 

Remember last Friday when we helped kill the cruel and soulless healthcare bill. We need that. Our calls. Our actions. 

This week has brought us Devin Nunes dance on hot coals, the Senate investigation into Russia's ties into our election and Mike T Mike Flynn volunteering to play the first songbird. In between, of course, there have been horrible bills based robbing women of healthcare, the environment of a fighting chance, LGBT people of protections, all of us our of privacy. Remember that it is our actions that stops this greed. It is our goodness that creates environments of love and care. It is our willingness to connect with others that allows us to thrive. 

The only way through is together. 

Friday's are about gratitude. And so, in gratitude to you, I thank you for being active, engaged, loving, soulful, caring, committed people. We can do this. We can survive this. We can envision the world we want and we can create it together.

For a lovely uplift, enjoy this beautiful Danish ad. Yes it's an ad and still, it speaks the truth and is well worth 3 minutes of your day. Grab your tissues.

RESIST THE HATE & KEEP THE FAITH.

Enjoy your weekend.

Love and gratitude to you.

:: genessa