A t H o m e R e v o l u t i o n

Mid-January.

We are half way into a four day weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and I feel super thankful for this mini break. The dust is settling after the hustle and bustle of the holidays and with a couple of weeks of normalcy under our belts, its nice to have a little respite. Not to mention it's giving us a little breather before the ultimate doomsday of a Monday where we watch in horror as our country gets taken over by a boy band oligarchy (or whatever). Quietly dies a little.

The kiddos are getting back into their activities and the weekly school routines. We've started up the winter/spring sport semester. I finally got everyone signed up for all of their summer camps. And we're all sinking back into the comfort of day to day life. This is a privilege that many other Americans don't have, and we are painfully aware of how fortunate we are.

This feeling of dread as we watch a bunch of rich, white bros slowly dismantle systems that protect minorities, ensure domestic freedoms, and quite frankly make America wonderful is all consuming. Finding the balance between speaking up and working for change, and keeping things normal at home and not feeding into the anxiety and fear is nearly impossible at times.

The conclusion we have come to is simple; in OUR home...we believe in respect and consideration for EVERYONE. We believe in educated trust of the scientific and medical experts, and that we have the freedom to question and research and demand truth from those experts. We believe that women deserve unencumbered medical access and that abortion is healthcare. We believe that religion has no place in the government. We believe that we are custodians of this planet and that we MUST take care of it. We believe in working to reduce our waste and spending, especially when it funds organizations and billionaires who put their own self interest before that of the common good. We believe in speaking up when we see injustices and fighting for those who have no voice. We believe that peace begins from the ground up; in the home, in your community, in your town, in your schools! And we believe that we can not allow this darkness to win. It is our responsibility to work diligently and endlessly to promote truth, freedom, and equity.

This year we are basically going to ground. I am seriously considering deleting all apps and services that fund organizations that are in direct conflict with my beliefs. We have made a plan to expand our garden, shop local, up-cycle, recycle, and reuse what we have. We will be building a coop and getting chickens, and with the help of our composter (Mill) we have be reducing our waste and making great compost in the process. If we can walk instead of drive, thats perfect! We are supporting local farmers and vendors whenever we can. And we are educating our children on what injustices and misinformation look like.

I don't really know what the point of this post was, except I know that so many of us are feeling this overwhelming sense of dread with the inauguration tomorrow. Just know that you are not alone, and that there are good people out there who care and are going to keep fighting for you. And I truly believe that no matter how bleak things seem right now, we will get through this together and emerge stronger than ever. These systems cannot hold, they are not sustainable, and the voice of the people will win in the end.

As long as we don't turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed or allow misinformation and fear to take root, and as long as we continue to hold those responsible who enact this fear and these systems of injustice, we will be okay in the end. So please don't give up. Use this as your motivation to do even better, rise even higher, and work even harder to tear down these broken systems and work together to build something new and worthy of this beautiful patchwork nation.

yours in peace