VOTE or Die

Do y’all remember that whole ‘Vote or Die’ campaign back in the early 2000’s? Who knew just how relevant that would become? Because honestly, people are dying. The Earth is dying. You have to vote. Seriously, if you don’t vote, you don’t get the right to an opinion. Ever.

And if you’re voting for Trump - honestly, I don’t know how to help you. You’re either extremely ignorant and unaware, or you’re a bad person or you’re saying you’re OK with a bad person leading our nation. There’s no excuse to be voting for an openly hateful, sexual predator. Let’s get that out of the way now.

National voter registration day JUST happened - and I hope you are all registered to vote, but if you aren’t, please do so HERE. For information on the last day to register - go HERE.

NOW - on top of voting, you need to educate yourself on what you’re voting for.

Here are some resources for voting:

California Secretary of State

The League of Women Voters Education Fund

Ballotpedia

You can also easily access useful information on polling places, voter guides, etc. on your Secretary of State’s website.

Whatever you do, register to vote - and then do your research and VOTE. Not being informed, not being involved - it’s not okay. You owe it to yourself, your country, and your future to actively engage in the government and how it operates for you and your fellow citizens. If these past four years have taught us anything, it’s that when we allow uneducated people to lead, we all fail.

I also highly suggest volunteering and going door to door even once to contribute to your local drive to get others to register to vote and actually vote. If you can host a polling place or volunteer at one, do it. Being involved in democracy is huge. Bottom line, get involved.

AND VOTE!

Take a breath.

Alright, I’m noticing these blogs are taking on a theme lately. I’m obviously thinking a lot about opinions, judgments, and respecting differences.

Humans are by nature judgmental. From looks to jobs to homes to opinions, we judge it all. The state of politics and social issues has only intensified the need to judge.

Because of that, I’ve made a conscious effort lately to take a breath. To take a breath and have compassion. To take a breath and remain neutral. To take a breath and move on.

Being judgmental is really exhausting. It’s a sickness that can aggravate anxiety and is really easy to avoid if you make a real effort to do so. You’ve got to understand that judgment on its own doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t change how another person acts. It doesn’t make you feel any better about anything.

Judgment is a poison.

If you’re going to judge another, have a plan of action afterwards. Either figure out why you’re judging and realize it has nothing to do with you and move on - or figure out how that judgment can be turned into positive action.

If you are judging the way someone looks, stop. That’s the type of judgment that is none of your business and says a lot more about you than anyone else.

If you are judging someone for being a racist, choose to educate and then choose to disassociate yourself with this person.

Judgment is a poison.

It will poison your heart, mind, and soul if you let it.

Most of the judgments we make each day are unnecessary. Most can be removed from your world entirely.

Actively choose to refuse to take part in this toxic culture. Take a breath. Make a decision based in positive outcomes moving forward.

The only way we can figure out how to absolve some of the hate we have is by choosing love. Educate with love. Speak with love. Lead from a place of love, if only for your own self care.