You’ll find yourself feeling much better when you’re working to be the change you want to see. Before the results of the 2016 election, sessions with my therapist were mostly focused on managing the effects my job had on my anxiety disorder. After the election…well, let’s just say therapy went in a wildly different direction. […]
In order to take real action against the stunning array of life-threatening emergencies that have always been part of the fabric of this nation, we must let go of the illusion that any single one of us can defeat them. It’s like standing in the doorway between two rooms, listening to conversations in both. In […]
You can’t claim to be a part of the resistance if you’re not willing to be uncomfortable and take risks. One year ago, I joined hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and took to the streets for the Women’s March. It was a crisp, cold day in Seattle and as I marched through the streets […]
If Trump caused America to “show its teeth” by bringing out the worst in people, than this march has brought out the very best. Take your broken heart, and turn it into art. That is, essentially, why I’m at the craft store on a Friday night, eyes darting around for a section I haven’t visited […]
Respect for the flag masks an agenda to preserve the status quo and to silence those whose truths read as distractions. Nearly two months after Election Day, I find myself wishing for a manual on how to navigate relationships with Americans whose ideologies oppose my own. November 8’s disorienting blow has left our country in […]
Do not dismiss or diminish people’s fear. People are not overreacting, and it’s not your job to tell them to be positive. The physical and emotional well-being of our friends and families require that we show up. This means leveraging our privilege, should it come in the form of religion, class, gender, race, etc., to […]
The old folks used to sing “We Shall Overcome.” They used to believe it, too. And we will. Writers are supposed to help us make sense of the world. They take our deepest emotions and most intense feelings, and help them make sense. But I don’t know how to make sense of the last few days, […]
Would protesting his funeral show his followers what it feels like to be on the other side of their wrath? Probably not, says Emily Heist Moss. Fred Phelps, the 84-year-old former leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, protester of military funerals, homophobic hate-monger, free speech-defender, is dying. Or so says his son’s recent Facebook post. […]
