I try to think of myself as generally a happy person with a decently optimistic view on most things. life feels manageable, most things will be ok, and every day genuinely feels like a great day even when things may not go according to plan. I’ve been lucky enough to go to sleep each night thankful to take away a joyful memory or an overall gratitude about the current state of my life.

then November 8th happened. then Charlottesville. then Vegas. as well as the ongoing issues of Flint MI, Dakota Pipeline, women’s equal rights, healthcare, tax reform all topped off with the natural disasters hurting our friends in Houston, Puerto Rico, Mexico — the list goes on. it’s debilitating to wake up each day to another literal twitterstorm of negativity and polarizing chaos on top of the already personal mountains and molehills we also come across on our own.

I saw a post by the Giving Keys, a company I love very dearly and always love to support, where a portion of their proceeds went towards the homeless in LA. seconds later I saw another post by a different company mentioning the amazing work of St Judes (something very dear to my heart) and I felt so overwhelmed. how do we help everyone? how do you contribute to all of these projects? how do you choose just one or two to care about without making one issue “more important” than another?

I don’t want my family and friends to go to concerts wondering if theyre going to be shot at with automatic rifles. I also want people to understand the need for access to birth control. I don’t want anyone to be homeless or to suffer with a child with cancer. I feel so all consumed with helplessness I feel like I should just stop doing anything. I keep calling Chuck and Kirsten ( the NY senators) and asking them to partake in the fight against xyz but my one issue call has become a laundry list….not that this is bad.

does anyone have the answer? what does one do in this situation?  maybe the answer is to pick a few issues I feel personally tied to and focus on those to champion for because as every day becomes a shitstorm of a mess, knowing that you are contributing to a greater good with a couple broken parts of the planet is how it’s possible to sleep at night. sweet run on sentence, Ash.

my laundry list has shrunken thankfully after extensive thought and personally I believe the issues most pressing personally are gun reform, women’s access to fair health care, and ensuring our friends in the LGBTQ+ community feel heard and most importantly SAFE. of course other things may come up and i hope i can contribute money or some of my things or my time when those occur, but to narrow my focus (i’m hoping) will make this all the more manageable.

how are you giving back? how do you think we manage all that has happened lately?

 let me know in the comments

xx Ashli

I try to think of myself as generally a happy person with a decently optimistic view on most things. life feels manageable, most things will be ok, and every day genuinely feels like a great day even when things may not go according to plan. I’ve been lucky enough to go to sleep each night thankful to take away a joyful memory or an overall gratitude about the current state of my life.

then November 8th happened. then Charlottesville. then Vegas. as well as the ongoing issues of Flint MI, Dakota Pipeline, women’s equal rights, healthcare, tax reform all topped off with the natural disasters hurting our friends in Houston, Puerto Rico, Mexico — the list goes on. it’s debilitating to wake up each day to another literal twitterstorm of negativity and polarizing chaos on top of the already personal mountains and molehills we also come across on our own.

I saw a post by the Giving Keys, a company I love very dearly and always love to support, where a portion of their proceeds went towards the homeless in LA. seconds later I saw another post by a different company mentioning the amazing work of St Judes (something very dear to my heart) and I felt so overwhelmed. how do we help everyone? how do you contribute to all of these projects? how do you choose just one or two to care about without making one issue “more important” than another?

I don’t want my family and friends to go to concerts wondering if theyre going to be shot at with automatic rifles. I also want people to understand the need for access to birth control. I don’t want anyone to be homeless or to suffer with a child with cancer. I feel so all consumed with helplessness I feel like I should just stop doing anything. I keep calling Chuck and Kirsten ( the NY senators) and asking them to partake in the fight against xyz but my one issue call has become a laundry list….not that this is bad.

does anyone have the answer? what does one do in this situation?  maybe the answer is to pick a few issues I feel personally tied to and focus on those to champion for because as every day becomes a shitstorm of a mess, knowing that you are contributing to a greater good with a couple broken parts of the planet is how it’s possible to sleep at night. sweet run on sentence, Ash.

my laundry list has shrunken thankfully after extensive thought and personally I believe the issues most pressing personally are gun reform, women’s access to fair health care, and ensuring our friends in the LGBTQ+ community feel heard and most importantly SAFE. of course other things may come up and i hope i can contribute money or some of my things or my time when those occur, but to narrow my focus (i’m hoping) will make this all the more manageable.

how are you giving back? how do you think we manage all that has happened lately?

 let me know in the comments

xx Ashli