Can you hear the exhale?

The collective sigh of
relief
across our nation?

Since the unrest
at the capitol,
we've all been
holding our breath,
waiting for the
peaceful
transfer of power.

Just like that,
It happened.
Peacefully.

Air Force One delivered
President Trump to Florida.

Joe Biden was sworn in
as our 46th President.

Kamala Harris made history
becoming Vice President.

A peaceful transition of power.

The world spins on,
and the difficult,
often frustrating,
work of
democracy
continues.

This important
work is
ours.
It belongs to
all of us.

A major theme of
this week  was
​AMERICA UNITED.

Many of the
events of this week 
 highlighted
our common history,
our common challenges, 
and our common purpose
as a nation.

As President Biden said
in his inauguration speech, 

 "The American story
depends
not on any one of us,
not on some of us,
but on ALL of us.
On we the people
who seek a
more perfect union."

We have an
opportunity
to reset,
to work 
together
to continue creating
a more perfect union.

It's time to write
the next chapter
in our nation's story.

Could we call it,
America United?

Let's try...
It's up to ALL of us.
​

President Lincoln's words
from 1862 certainly resonate today.

"The dogmas of the quiet past
are inadequate to the stormy present."

We are currently swept up
in the storms of the present.

Last week's assault
on the capitol leaves
our nation's collective
hearts broken
and our heads reeling.

"...We must think anew,
and act anew."

We need action.

We need answers.

We need accountability.

And then 
we need to work together
to create a path out of this morass.

​"We can only succeed by concert.
It is not, "Can we imagine any better?'
but "Can we all do better?"

We need to heed Lincoln's words.

Our nation depends on us.

Wishing you a joyous holiday season!

It's time for our annual 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


​

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is tricky this year.

Everyone is making tough decisions
about how and where to celebrate.

It's a year when connecting
virtually
will be more important than ever.

Our last post
encouraged everyone to
Be Kind-Rewind!

Did anyone try it?

I did.

It was difficult.

I tried to write
cheerful messages
to friends with different
political perspectives
 and I kept getting stuck.  

Every attempt
sounded trite
or awkward 
or random
or forced
or just plain
​bizarre.

And then I started thinking,
what am I really trying to say?
I'm trying to say, 
"Thank You"
for being my friend...
"Thank you"
for being part of my family...
"Thank you"
for your contributions to the world...
This is what I appreciate about you.
And then I thought,
"THANKSGIVING!"
Suddenly,
​it made sense.
​Here's what I wrote...

Happy Thanksgiving, ____________!
This Thanksgiving, I just want to let you know that I’m very thankful for you.
I’m thankful for the way you...
I’m thankful for all of the times we....
I’m thankful for how you...
I'm thankful for...
I’m thankful for YOU.
--------
Each message/email I sent started with this thank you format and then, at some point, I included something like this...
--------
This Thanksgiving message was inspired by a Purple Living Room Project blog post: http://www.purplelivingroom.org/meet-in-the-middle-blog/be-kind-rewind 
You and I don't talk about politics much, but I get the feeling that we might have different opinions on some issues. In a year that has been so politically divisive, it feels important to come together and share what we appreciate about one another. Do you know anyone with a different perspective that you’d like to connect with this Thanksgiving weekend? You’re welcome to copy this message, adapt it, and send it forward.
Thanks again for everything you bring to the world...
Happy Thanksgiving! 

So that's what I've tried. 
I've sent versions of this message
out to several people in my life.

It feels good to focus on
gratitude
and it's wonderful to connect
with friends I haven't seen in a while.
I'm planning to send many
more of these
"Thank You" messages
over​ the coming
Thanksgiving weekend.

Do you want to give it a try?
Consider making this message your own!
Share it with your friends...
let them know what makes you
​THANKFUL
for their friendship.

This Thanksgiving weekend,
even though we 
need to stay
​socially-distanced
and apart,
let's take a few steps
together
and lift each other up.
We can all be thankful
for that kind of
appreciation and support.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

-Jen @ Purple Living Room

Happy World Kindness Day!

It's exactly the kind of day
we need right now.

We've elected a new president, 
but not everyone is ready to move on.

While we wait
for the legal challenges
to play out,
the name-calling online is getting
even more toxic.
(Who knew that was possible?)

It seems like a good time
to remember those stickers
that used to be put on
rental video tapes 
back in the day...

"Be Kind, Rewind"

Can we take a moment to
rewind our relationships?

Can we rewind back
to a time before our
political polarization
reached this fever pitch?

Before incendiary tweets?

Before bitter facebook retorts?

Before social media put a
divisive spell on us?

Here's an idea for 
World Kindness Day 2020...

Can we check in with our friends and family 
who have different political opinions?

Can we let them know we're thinking about them?

Can we tell them why we value their friendships?

Can we share with them what makes
them unique and wonderful?

Can we tell them that we care about them?

Can we REWIND and BE KIND?

Let's try it together!

Let us know how it goes...

Share your experiences with our
Purple Living Room Project
Facebook community here...

We promise to keep the comments kind!

Independence Hall
is often called the
Birthplace of America.

The Declaration of Independence
and
The United States Constitution 

were debated...

and debated...

and debated...

and eventually signed here. 

There were
many different
ideas
about how
to create this
American Experiment.

Vastly different ideas. 

Many loud voices. 

These voices came
together
to create one nation.

E Pluribus Unum

Out of Many,
ONE

The 2020 Election
shows that 
we still have
vastly different ideas
about how our nation
should be governed.

Whatever happens
in the coming days,
as votes are
counted 
and
contested
and
recounted,
let's remember that
The American Experiment
is in our hands now.

How will we move forward together?

E Pluribus Unum

Halloween 2020
finds our country in
the middle of
a particularly 
scary
political season.

There's plenty
of fear to go around...

Fear of COVID-19,
Fear of economic uncertainty,
Fear of climate change, 
Fear of election results,
Fear of political unrest...

Fear of each other.

The impending
presidential election
is making many of us,
along all parts
of the political spectrum,
 anxious.

It's easy
to let ourselves
spin
out of control
with worry.

Let's not let
ourselves
get
tangled up
in
each other's 
sticky
social media
webs
of
misinformation
and
insults
and
distrust.

Let's try
to keep our
fears in check
through this
election week
and then focus
on
weaving
a different
kind of
 political climate
in the future
together.

I went for a walk on the beach today
​at sunrise to clear my head.  
So much noise in the lead-up to the election...
I was looking for a way to replace
the buzz of the internet
with a more natural sound.
Along the coast,
all I could hear was the
​reassuring rhythm of the waves.  
Crash, pause, crash, pause, crash, pause...

While I let the sound wash over me,
my gaze turned to the ground...

Hearts everywhere! 

Some whole,
some broken,
some small,
some large...

All together
in one beautiful
​carpet of green,
punctuated by purple...

The purple flowers
​were all closed
when I arrived at the beach,
​but as the sun rose,
they gradually began
to welcome a new day.
​
Bit by bit,
they opened to the
warmth of the sun... 

And then,
as I watched and waited,
I thought I saw a tiny bird...
but then realized
it was a giant bee.  

A sturdy beach bee
dutifully pollinating 
the purple flowers.  
It had large wings
to navigate the
​strong winds...

Can you find it?
The bee was confident
and undeterred...
and successful.
The stretch of green hearts
​and purple flowers
up and and down the beach
was a testament to its labor...

Here we are, friends...
Two weeks from the 2020 election.

A nation of fragile hearts,
punctuated with a few
islands of purple thought.

Whatever the outcome
of this crazy election, 
we are going to need
purple thinking 
to chart a path forward
that will include 
all
​of the
precious hearts
in our nation. 

It takes
persistent bees
to keep
pollinating
purple thought 
in these
challenging times, 
but we can do it. 
​
​Buzz, buzz, buzz...

This week,
we mourn the loss
of another American hero...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Her work as a Supreme Court Justice
was grounded in an important principle...

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Her endearing friendship with
conservative Justice Antonin Scalia
will be remembered as one of the
great purple relationships
in our nation's history.

They modeled beautifully for us all
what disagreement can look like.

We CAN disagree
without being disagreeable.

​Thank you for your 
service and your example,
​Justice Ginsburg.

RIP, RBG