We've Forgotten The Key To Survival
It's not isolation and despair
At the top of 2024, I joined the board of Limitless Ambition, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young girls and women reach their potential.
It was right on time, as I was looking for a way to put my communications skills to use in my local community. I knew the founder and executive director before she created this beautiful organization and I had been amazed at the thousands of young women she managed to impact through the programming, scholarships and events this organization hosted.
In the photo above, I am with my son and other volunteers after we packed Dream Kits filled with hygiene, beauty and affirmation products for young girls impacted by trauma.
I left feeling good about how I spent an afternoon.
A lot of folks have said that community is gonna get us through the foreseeable future. That was the first public statement I made after the election. We need to lean on each other now more than ever.
But what’s also true, is that service is also gonna be clutch. That get-your-hands-dirty, put-your-feet-on-the-ground service.
Every time we hear some distressing news, we need to channel that energy somehow. And there will be distressing news coming. (Who knows how the headlines have shifted in the time it took me to draft this post?)
If you don’t have an area where you can jump in, use your time and talents for good, and walk away knowing SOMETHING changed as a result of your efforts, get one.
Make hygiene kits or meals for the unhoused.
Volunteer with the youth.
Fundraise for scholarships.
Organize a meal train for a postpartum friend.
Support local artists.
Get more active in the PTA.
Contribute to a local nonprofit.
Donate time in a soup kitchen.
Do something.
You may argue that you don’t have time. You must make time. Because they want you to be too burnt out to care, too exhausted to organize, too disillusioned to believe that anything you do matters.
Your actions do matter. Your voice matters. Your time matters. Your existence matters. Once you forget that, they win.
If you want to learn more about my place of service, visit LimitlessAmbition.org.
A PEEK INTO MY WEEK
What I'm watching: I’m still watching And Just Like That. I don’t know why. It’s just missing the magic of SATC but I’m SAT every week regardless. (Maybe an LTW spinoff would soothe my disappointment.)
What I'm reading: The last, FINAL proofread of my book. Whew I can’t wait to stop reading it and let y’all read it.
What I've been journaling about: My 40s. Less than six months and I join the big 4-0 club. I pray it’s my best decade.
What I've been craving: Time by the water. I took my son to the beach on Sunday, just the two of us, and it was lovely. Need a full beach day next time.
How I'm managing stress: Gardening, what else! I’m growing potatoes, rosemary, onions, summer squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. As I told a friend recently, I am a FARMER, honey!
PAID IN FULL
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