Happy Valentine's Day!

Is that
LOVE
in the air?

Or contempt?

Last week,
the featured speaker
at the National Prayer Breakfast
was Arthur Brooks,
a prominent conservative thinker
and author of
Love Your Enemies:
How Decent People Can
Save America from a Culture of Contempt.

He challenged the audience 
to become
"missionaries for
love
in the face of
contempt".

You can read his
prepared remarks for the speech
in the Washington Post .

These days,
we don't have to search far
to find contempt.

It's on display
in every
news channel
and
coffee shop
and
comment section
in America.

The question is,
when we find it,
how will we
​answer it?

Can we answer with patience?

Can we answer with kindness?

Can we answer with LOVE?

Let's do our best.
​

"I solemnly swear
(or affirm, as the case may be,)
that in all things appertaining to
the trial of the impeachment of Donald J. Trump,
now pending, I will do
impartial justice
according to the Constitution and laws:
so help me God."

This was the oath taken by all Senators
 before the impeachment trial began.

But the oath begs the question...

Is
impartial justice
even
possible
in these
​divided times?

It's likely that
the votes will be
split along party lines
in the Senate... 
just as they were
in the House.

Justice
is meant to be
blind,
but we keep
wearing those
red and blue
tinted glasses
as a nation.

Where does that
leave the truth?

What does
impartial justice
look like?

Stay tuned...

Whatever the outcome
of the impeachment trial,
we're going to need a lot of
purple thinking
to move beyond it
together,
as
one nation.
​

It's 2020!

Happy New Year!

Can we move
into the
New Year
with
20/20
vision?

What would that
kind of
clarity
look like?

Can we approach each other with...

An open mind?

An open heart?

2020
will certainly bring
an invitation
to
division 
and 
discord.

How will we respond?

Will we jump in blindly?

Or will we
try to see
clearly
and 
and consider the
facts.

We all look
at the world
through our 
our own
unique
shade of
blue
or
red
tinted 
glasses.

Can we
trade
them for
purple
glasses
instead?

Let's make a promise
to one another to
try
to look
at the world
together.

Let's
move
into
2020
with
20/20
vision!

Wishing you a joyous holiday season!

Join our purple holiday sing-along...

Deck the Halls with Points of Purple,

Fa La La La La,
La La La La!

Find a view that's universal!

Fa La La La La,
​La La La La!

Don we now our listening ears,

Fa La La La La,
​La La La La!

Help the discord disappear!

Fa La La La La,
​La La La La!

Happy Holidays!

-The Purple Living Room Project

It's that festive time of year...

Little ones across the country
are drafting letters to St. Nick and 
sending them off to the North Pole.

What's on YOUR wish list?

If you could ask
Santa for a
Purple Present,
what would be at the
top of your list? 

Healthcare?

Education?

Gun reform?

Immigration?

The Environment?

Jobs?

Campaign Finance Reform?

What matters most to YOU?

We can't wait around for Santa,
but we can send our wish list 
to the Senate.

One of the goals of the
 Purple Living Room Project
is to find common ground
and share our
Purple Points
with our representatives. 

Let's give each other
the gift of
political
civility
and
cooperation
this Christmas season.

Let's show our
elected officials what
meaningful 
conversation
and
compromise
can look like.

Perhaps then
we can find
a path toward
meaningful change
together
​in 2020.

On Thanksgiving...

Let's spend time with friends and family.

Let's tell them that we love them.

Let's be grateful for our many blessings.

Let's share with those in need.

Let's be thankful for one another.

Let's remember that 
we have
SO MUCH
to be grateful for
as a nation!

TODAY, ​
let's talk
Thanksgiving Turkey
and enjoy the day
together...

TOMORROW,
we can get
back to business
and
"Talk Turkey"
about how to move
FORWARD
as a
country
TOGETHER!

Happy Thanksgiving!​

​This week's
impeachment proceedings
highlighted the voices
of several  
career diplomats
and foreign policy experts,
including Fiona Hill,
a former National Security adviser.

Her words remind us that
there is real danger
in letting ourselves
get whipped into a
partisan frenzy
by the latest
tweet or post.

How do we keep ourselves
from ​getting pulled
into the partisan vortex?

One important step is to
think critically
about
who is producing
the information
in our media diet.

AllSides   ​
 is a non-partisan organization
working hard to burst our
internet news filter bubbles.

Their mission is to...

Strengthen our democracy by freeing people from 
filter bubbles 
so they can better understand the world — and each other.

A worthy goal!

Check out their 
media bias
page and see where your
favorite online news source falls
on their left/right continuum.

Then,
consider seeking out
a different
news source every
now and then...

Can the same story
be told
in another way?

Find out!

Let's make an effort
to consume a
balanced
​media diet
and burst those
filter bubbles! 

Happy World Kindness Day!

Did you know that was even a thing?

How can you celebrate?

WQED,
home of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood,
is encouraging everyone to
wear cardigans today
in honor of Mr. Rogers,
the king of kindness.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation 
offers lots of great ideas for
spreading kindness.
Check them out...
 randomactsofkindess.org

 A purple way
to spread kindness
might be to reach out to
someone on the 
other side
of the
political divide.

Think of someone in your daily life
who sees things in a different way.

What little act of kindness
could you share with that person today?

A cup of coffee?

An encouraging note?

A smile?

Give it a try!

One little act of kindness today
might pave the way for a
purple tomorrow.

Did you get your
"I Voted"
sticker this week?

Did you wear it with pride?

Or did you let this year's
"off-season"
election
pass you by?

Let's remember that
EVERY
election counts.

And local elections have an
IMPORTANT
impact on our daily lives.

There's a pithy quote floating
around the internet
that sums up our current situation...

"We in America
do not have government
by the majority.
We have government
by the majority
who participate."

(This is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson,
but monticello.org says he never wrote this...
and they should know!)

Whoever said it,
the message rings true.

Red voters,
Blue voters, 
Purple voters... 
let's all work together,
to make sure the
majority
of us are participating
in the process.

Our democracy 
is counting on
our votes!

Ghosts and Ghouls 

Monsters and Aliens

Witches and Werewolves

Vampires and Zombies

Democrats and Republicans

All kinds of creatures
roam the streets on Halloween!

While we open our doors
for our trick-or-treating neighbors,
Let's try opening our hearts. 

Who lurks beneath the scary mask?

A LIBERAL?

A CONSERVATIVE?

Who cares?!?!?!

It's a NEIGHBOR,

NOT A MONSTER.

Let's try and remember that today...
​and every day.

Happy Halloween, Neighbors!