Today we’re pasting our photos on the side of FACTORY in support of the Dreamers. I believe that American Values are that we care for each other and kids who were raised in these United States are certainly our own. #loveyourneighbor #westslopebestslope
Comments Off | political
This seems to be like a good time for me to give my shopping local speech. What shopping local really boils down to is shopping with intention. Sometimes that takes more time and sometimes that takes a little bit more money. But it also means so much for your community.
Shopping small, at locally owned shores, means that 68% of each dollar you spend stays right in your community. Our city is primarily funded by sales tax so those dollars go to provide roads, sewer, police, fire, EMS, parks and so much more. This process is something I get to see happening close up everyday. Perhaps more importantly, that 68% staying in our community means that our friends and neighbors who own local businesses get to continue to do what they love, providing great service and unique products. Being a former retailer I can promise you that every single person who shopped at my store really did matter and really did make a difference to my business.
When you shop at a local chain store, 43% of every dollar you spend stays in the community. So it’s not as much as shopping at a locally owned store, but it’s still significant.
Sometimes it’s a necessity to shop online and there are wonderful things about this age of the internet that we live in but there are also ways that it ads another barrier to human connection. We don’t get to see the shop owner face to face when we shop online. We don’t get to know their stories and that they just had a new grand baby and that they’ve been running this business for 30 years or that they had to learn how to run the whole thing when their husband suddenly died. We don’t get to get out of the house and interact with members of our community and connect in ways that would never happen with a screen between us and everyone else.
It’s my job to promote local business but it’s also a way of life that I deeply believe in. My commitment is to shop small and local whenever I can and I hope it’s yours too!
Comments Off | political
I’ve been sitting at Human Services for the last two hours, helping a family member get some much needed help. Watching the people in our community who are trying to wade though a really difficult government process, being helped by some very kind people who are truly on the front lines, only further reiterates to me how incredibly grateful I am today that millions of people are not losing their healthcare.
Glennon says that proximity and fear can’t live together, and it’s so true. When you hear the stories of the people who need help, it changes the way you view them. When you get face to face with someone, it changes your worldview.
It’s love that wins, my friends.
Comments Off | political
Today I cried on the bathroom floor, back up against the cabinet, hands clutching the rug. I had to ask more than one family member today to not talk to me about politics, for the sake of our relationship.
Today one of my downtown business owners, and friend, drove to my office just to give me a hug. I’m pretty sure we voted for different candidates.
Today I had to show myself (and those around me) a mercy and unfollowed a handful of friends who were rejoicing in their newly-voted-for good fortune. It’s just too much right now.
Today I signed my family up to buy groceries for a single mom who’s only holiday wish was to give her four children a meal in which she didn’t have to restrict their portions, a meal where there would be more than enough.
Today I thought about the last 8 years and how the Republicans vowed to obstruct every action Obama took, just because he was a Democrat. And I knew that us progressives couldn’t stand for a reciprocation of those actions. I knew that it was time for us to lead by example, being the bigger people, because someone has to choose love first and we can’t afford to stand deadlocked.
Today I heard Hillary Clinton say, “Scripture tells us: Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”
Today there are threads of hope, silvery and strong.
Comments Off | political
Hate won.
How long will it keep on winning? How far and wide and deep will the aftermath be?
Who is left to stand up for what is good and true? Who fights for the marginalized, the minority, the abused, the broken? And for those of us who do, how futile will our efforts be?
How do we stand in the way of hate, abuse, discrimination, when we no longer have our government backing us?
I am afraid.
All around me I see darkness, growing ever darker. I don’t see the small, shining beacon of hope in the distance. I’m trying so hard to find it.
Comments Off | political