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

This month marked the
100th anniversary
of the ratification of the
19th Amendment
granting women the
right to vote. 

Of course,
this did not even
mean that
all women
were granted the
right to vote.

Universal suffrage
would have to wait
until much later...
and we are
still waiting
for the vision of
universal suffrage
to be fully realized
in our nation.

Carrie Chapman Catt,
founder of
The League of Women Voters,
had this to say about
women winning the
right to vote in 1920...

The vote is the emblem of your equality,
women of America, the guarantee of your liberty.
That vote of yours has cost millions of dollars and the lives of thousands of women.
Money to carry on this work has been given usually as a sacrifice,
and thousands of women have gone without things they wanted
and could have had in order that they might help get the vote for you.
Women have suffered agony of soul which you can never comprehend,
that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom.
That vote has been costly.
Prize it!
The vote is a power, a weapon of offense and defense, a prayer.
Understand what it means and what it can do for your country.
Use it intelligently, conscientiously, prayerfully.
No soldier in the great suffrage army has labored
and suffered to get a “place” for you.
Their motive has been the hope that women would
aim higher than their own selfish ambitions,
that they would serve the common good.
The vote is won.
Seventy-two years the battle for this privilege has been waged,
but human affairs with their eternal change move on without pause.
Progress is calling to you to make no pause.
Act!

Progress still calls on us to
make no pause.
We need to act together.

We've just seen the
DNC and the RNC 
share their visions
 of political leadership
for our country.

It's now our
responsibility
to
VOTE.

Countless Americans
have worked  
tirelessly for the cause of
universal suffrage.
Many have given their
LIVES
so that
WE THE PEOPLE
 can have the precious right to vote...
PRIZE IT! 
​Get ready to
VOTE!

This week, 
our nation remembers
a true American hero,
Congressman John Lewis.
He used his life 
to light a path
toward a more perfect union.
He calls on us ​to continue this work.
Here are just a few of his words to guide us...

Black Lives Matter
​ demonstrations
across the country
and
around the world
have put the
spotlight
on a crucial
 question...

What will we
DO
as a nation
about the reality of
systemic racism?

We need
Republicans and Democrats
to unite and create
purple policies
that will bring us 
meaningful
systemic change.

There is no quick fix.

Dismantling
our nation's 
legacy of racism
 requires
hard work
and
reflection
and
courage
and
persistence
and
vigilance
and
empathy
and
compassion
and
respect
and
LOVE.

It's
LONG PAST
time
for us all
to
STAND TOGETHER
and
           DO THE WORK
              and
               BE 
                                                                THIS CHANGE.                                   

Slowly,

slowly...

step by 

cautious step...

We are coming out of our homes.

We are seeing each other in the streets.

We are coming back together!

And as we
move forward,
we are also
falling back 
into our old, 
familiar habits...

"Why AREN'T you wearing a mask?"

"Why ARE you wearing a mask?"

"Why don't you care about public health?"

"Why don't you care about civil liberties?"

"Why don't you listen to SCIENCE?"

"Why don't you listen to REASON?"

Here's a question for us all...

Why don't we
STOP 
​JUDGING
and 
focus on
CARING
for each other?

It is certain
that we will not all
agree
 about how to
interact
in our new
COVID-conscious
world.

We're all wondering...
​
When
and
where
is it
appropriate
or
necessary
to wear masks?

How close
is
TOO CLOSE...

At the store?
At the beach?
At restaurants?
On the sidewalk?
On the hiking trail?

When can we get back to
normal life?

We're all thinking
about these questions...
and we're all coming
to
different
conclusions.

What works for
one state 
or
one city
or
one neighborhood
or
one household, 
might not work
for another.

We're creating a
new
"normal"
and we have
to do this
together.

We have an
opportunity
to create these
new norms
with
grace
and
empathy
and
compassion.

We can do this!

We can care
SELFLESSLY
for one another.

Let's give each other
a break
and
give each other
encouragement
and try to
keep each other
​safe 
while we
create our 
"new normal"
TOGETHER.