People Over Politics

Hi. It’s been a minute since I’ve last blogged. Life has been absolutely crazy. On top of the whole COVID pandemic, we’ve had lots of struggles and new experiences pop up out of the blue. In 2020, we’ve spent time in the NICU, had multiple ER visits, had loved ones get diagnosed with cancer and go through cancer treatments, my grandmother passed away unexpectedly, I started a new day job and went back into the office part time, we spent a month in Nevada and we’ve just been going at what feels like 1000 miles per hour ever since our baby was born at the end of 2019. As we’ve experienced these things, it’s given me a lot of time to think about empathy, caring for others, and seeking opportunities to be kind and look outside myself.

Now that things are starting to slow down, or we’re figuring out how to juggle the crazy so it feels like things are starting to slow down. We’ve started incorporating new routines and new schedules. We’ve dropped off some things that were either taking up too much time, mental energy, physical energy, or just causing too much stress.

If we all had a nickel for every time someone said, “this year is weird” or “2020 is the worst” or “I can’t wait for this year to be over” or “I just want things to go back to normal”--- we’d all be super rich. Because this year has been weird. The fact that the entire world just kind of shut down there for a little while is mind blowing. But it’s also caused a lot of grief. Like a LOT of grief.

And recently, it feels like everything is polarized and political. It feels like every post on social media is trying to convince us to change our opinions about this or that. There’s been so much name calling, side-taking and outright bullying, all wrapped up into a nice little package we try to call “standing up for what we believe in.” It’s gotten to the point where I’ve had to take steps back. I’ve muted, blocked, unfollowed, unfriended and stepped away from social media for days at a time because it’s all really heavy.

As I’ve worked through the emotions, the experiences, and the heaviness of it all; as I’ve tried to figure out where I stand, how I’ll use my voice, how I’ll do my part to help -- this thought came to me: people over politics.

When the thought came, it stopped me in my tracks and made me really think. It brought me back to all of the crazy experiences that my little family has been through this year and how grateful I was for the people who just simply loved us where we were, for who we were and supported us in our current state-- regardless of differences of opinions, political party, religion or anything else. I decided that those were the people I wanted in my corner. Those were the people I wanted to develop deeper friendships with. And those were the people that I wanted to continue to have open conversations with.

Since the I had that thought, People Over Politics has helped me to:

• Step back and just listen when someone tells me of their experiences
• Figure out where I stand within the lines of dividing opinions
• Feel empathy for my Black friends as they seek love, acceptance and true equal rights
• Know when it’s time to mute or unfriend people who cause too much heartache or opposition when I’m scrolling through my feed
• Choose kindness over the desire to argue why I feel I’m right.
• Accept the request to wear a mask in public
• Delete, unsubscribe and change the businesses I support with my money

Sometimes our grief causes us to feel alone, stressed or like our lives or experiences don’t matter. But we can transform that grief into a force for good in our lives. That’s what Good Grief is about. Transforming. Becoming. Changing. Trying and failing and trying again. Hope. Trusting that we can be better. Because we can be better and our grief can be transformed into a force for good in our lives.

If you’re needing help to transform your grief, take a look at the journals we have in our shop. We hope that you will be able to find a journal that fits your needs.