Month: August 2017

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Dear Readers,

Today, I am dedicating my blog to allow people to know more about how to help Houston.

1. We are safe and dry in Austin, Texas. Some of the areas around Austin got heavy rain and wind damage but nothing like our neighbors in Houston. Thank you to all of those who reached out and were concerned for our safety.
2. In a time like this, everyone wants to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to help in the face of such hard times. They want to send money and to send help, and volunteer time and energy and what you can do.
3. It can be hard to know where to start and you can feel overwhelmed before you begin.

Mayor Adler posted this and it has a lot of concrete steps you can take and places you can give where it’s needed the most. I think it’s comprehensive and helpful, so check it out.

http://www.mayoradler.com/hurricane-harvey-how-you-can-help/

I will add please be wary of scams, I hate that people would try to scam you in a time of real genuine need, but they are out there and they prey on people who are hurting and who are eager to help so be careful.

Also, check with your church and workplace and community (neighbors) to plug into existing established systems to better know where you can help.

If you can’t help right now, rest up and be ready to help in a few weeks, help will still be needed for clean up and help.

#houstonstrong #godblesstexas

Think About It.

Dear Readers,

Any time I have a project that is daunting, I ask myself, how does one eat an elephant?

One bite at a time, that is how you tackle something. This is not without precedent. When we were getting out of debt, I had wallpaper on my screen that said exactly that. It was a good reminder that we were taking things one step at a time.

So my post today is very simple.

You want to tackle racism and try to help people who are hurting but don’t know where to start and feel like you can’t ask anyone because it might cause a difficult conversation?

Do this.. Smile and wear your safety pin. It may seem small and largely cosmetic, but it’s a start. Notice I said, Start. It’s a big deal to start something new. The smiling part is hard when we feel sad and scared, AND sometimes your smile can light up another person. You may never know it, but you may be the reason someone has a better day. This goes along with my post a few weeks ago about ACTUALLY connecting with another human being in the elevator, before that meeting, at the gym… wherever you are, there are other humans. Do all you can to (as my good friends the Averys say,

“Pump Kindness into the world!”

Don’t beat yourself up about all the things you aren’t doing. START. Do Something.

For those that don’t know, for a time after the election people were wearing safety pins and I was one of them. I wore it proudly to say “You are safe with me” to people who felt scared but I realized that wearing the pin is not enough. My words need action. To that end I am educating myself, I am asking difficult questions and inviting almost guaranteed awkward conversations. Can you do the same? Is that something you willing to do to help heal our world?

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-people-are-wearing-safety-pins-trumps-win-946516

In case you want to see more about this ^^^^^^ (article above)

So, starting today, I wear my safety pin as a very small step of support for those who need it.  I don’t want or need credit for this, I am blogging about it in hopes that I can inspire you to do something to support those who need support.

Pray for people to be kinder to each other.

Get involved with your church or your school to support their efforts to stand against racism.

Plug into your friends who are activists, you are sure to have at least one, and if not, reach out to me, I am becoming one and will be happy to have you join me.

Don’t let yourself be stopped by the immensity of the problem, do something!

Think About It. 

Dear Readers,

I am saddened and dismayed at the events that unfolded on Saturday in Charlottesville.

I am not surprised because since Trump has taken office, there has been one atrocity after another. It’s so easy for me to type that and dismiss it like it’s this annoying fly that won’t go away because of my white privilege. Let’s go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room. This white woman is writing about racism even though she has never experienced it herself.

I can’t say I understand what my friends who are not white are going through because I don’t know. I only know they are in pain, so anyone reading this who is in pain, please hear me. “I am with you, you are not alone and I see you”

No, I don’t know your pain, how could I possibly? I am not you.

Saying that isn’t enough, not nearly enough, there needs to be action behind the words, so that we can all love each other a little bit more and pump more kindness into the world.

So, that’s a tall order and I know you must be thinking, but Jennifer, I am one person what can I do? A lot actually. You can stop looking at your phone and look up at people when you are in the elevator, you can talk to your neighbor, yeah I am aware it’s 2017 and “this just isn’t done” Do it anyway. If you know your neighbors, you are already on your way to strengthening your community, then once you meet your neighbors, hold a block party and get to know your neighborhood and so on…

Do you have a church you love? Find out what your church is doing to help people of different races feel safe and protected. If they aren’t doing something, ask them why and volunteer to start it yourself. Don’t wait for someone else to speak up, use YOUR voice, and say, I want to help.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, if you look around in your city, county and district, you can likely plug into something someone else is doing.

Standing against it, is just one step. When you see it happening, you have to say something. You have to stand and be counted on the right side of history.

When it comes to teaching our little girl about people who are different than she is, I plan to tell her, love all people and do your best to be a helper to all people.   That’s my opening salvo, I am open to other things to say, much more eloquent than that, so please if you have suggestions, lay them on me. In the meantime, I am not just writing or talking, I am doing something.

The revolution is what’s next. I am ready to act. Are you?

The truth is, the tagline of my blog is “No one has a voice like you” and it’s true, no one does. No one tells your stories exactly the same way you do, and has your life experiences that add to the color and flavor of your story.

Own that story (as Brene Brown tells us) and keep listening to other people tell theirs and don’t try to cut them off with sympathy because you FEEL uncomfortable. Be there, be uncomfortable.

Don’t wait for this atrocity to happen in your city.

ACT. ACT NOW.

Dear Readers,

Thank you all for the heartfelt wishes, prayers and good vibes you sent our way as we waited for our daughter’s test results from the endocrinologist.

For those who missed my update, all is normal, no chemical abnormalities exist so I guess I can stop worrying. HA! As if that is even possible. I am a parent, I believe it goes with the territory to worry about your child. But seriously, I am glad that there was such a strong reaction to my last post because as I read your comments, questions and viewpoints it helped me crystallize what I want to say even more.

I don’t think people mean to be mean about anything really, they just don’t THINK before they tweet, instagram, post on facebook or comment.

T    H      I    N     K                                      T    H      I    N     K                        T    H      I    N     K

Is it True? Perception is truth  – I think Gandhi said that – so this could get a little wooly, but I think it’s a worthwhile to ask yourself, is what I am about to say, True? or do I think it’s true but maybe it’s not ?

Is it Helpful? – Be careful with this one, sometimes “Help” masquerades as helpful but what it is really is bossy or controlling.

Is it Inspiring? Ouch. How often is what we say, not inspiring? Our words have so much power, we can lift or we push down, let’s be sure we are doing our best to lift others not bring them down.

Is it Necessary? To add to this, is it necessary that you say it or is it maybe what someone else should say if you will give some space for them to do it, instead of jumping in (I am very guilty of this one)  And I am working on it. I freely admit that I love to talk, and sometimes I will say something that isn’t necessary to fill silence. Silence can be good. Magical things happen in silence.

Lastly and I think most importantly-

Is it Kind? I don’t have to tell you gentle reader, we can all use just as much kindness as we can get our hands on in our current climate. For a long time, I have concerned myself with being nice, but a few months ago, a friend pointed out that nice is not what she aspired to be, but kind. I like that and continue to strive for that label.

I have posted recently about some fights my partner and I have been having. It’s normal, and we are working our way through it. I was trying to pinpoint a cause or an inciting incident of the frequency of our fights and I think that it all stems a sincere lack of kindness with each other.  Not mean, exactly, but not kind. I came to this conclusion recently so hopefully it is the answer, but what I am finding is that there is not just one answer but many and like life, you can’t look at the back of the book for the answers, you must figure it out as you go. Trying some things and watching them fail, and then trying again, hopefully this time figuring out where you went wrong and doing it better that tenth or eleventh time.

In the meantime, dear reader, I invite you to…

Think about it… and while you think about it, it’s not a bad idea to jump in on the 31 Days of Kindness my buddy Ryan Avery is doing and DO something yourself!   #31DaysofKindness (check it out)

Tomorrow is Day 9-

DAY 9 – Give/send someone a small, anonymous gift
Of course receiving gifts on birthdays and holidays are fun but even better is a random gift for no reason! You could look up someone’s ‘wishlist’ on Amazon and send them something. You could leave a coffee gift card on your coworkers desk. You could also buy a small something, leave it in a park with a note saying “For you!”

I think that is a pretty kind gesture so even if you just do tomorrow’s task, that would be better than nothing, right?

Think About it….