When Walls Crumble...Roofs Fall - Amplifying the 4 Next Steps From The We Can Do Hard Things Podcast.

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In spite of the advance notice we were given, Friday was devastating and hard.
and
I was so comforted to be able to show up for my clients in my massage studio, and to work together to contribute more calm and healing to the world.
(even though I initially wanted to turn around and go home to spend the rest of my life in a blanket fort on my couch) 

The rest of the weekend was a slog.
and
I was so so happy to finally spend time outside in the summer sun, with my partner, on our bikes and near the water. We even saw spontaneous fireworks on an evening walk - A good reminder of how beautiful and cathartic it can be to blow shit up.
(metaphorically of course)

Things will continue to be hard in different ways
and
​I think it’s important to remember that things can be hard
AND… 

We contain multitudes, and we can hold many contrary things at the same time:

Resistance and ease
Hardness and softness 
Deep despair and great love
Intense frustration and contagious laughter 

AND...
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In the most recent episode of the We Can Do Hard Things Podcast, Amanda explained exactly how we got here, and the metaphor she used is powerful.

"A roof can only stand if the walls holding it up are sturdy... and we have stood by as the walls beneath that roof crumbled. The walls are the bedrocks of democracy that we didn't think affected us as white feminists: voter id laws, voter suppression, gerrymandering. Those are the bedrocks of democracy that make it possible to have a REPRESENTATIVE democracy"
She details the specific canaries in the coal mine, the walls that went un-maintained, that then crumbled so that the roof of Roe could fall.
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I thought of this and how the same metaphor could be applied to your health and wellenss. Your individual "ands" are your walls, and when they begin to crumble you hear the song of the canary that supports the roof of your wellbeing coal mine.
​
It’s those “ands” that will help you stay fortified through the battles you fight, and prepared for the challenges to which you are called to rise. 

I want to invite you notice what those “ands” are in your own day-to-day, and nurture, feed, and tend to them.

​Do not allow them to go ignored for one more day, so you may continue to thrive and build a world in which we all can feel safe, secure, autonomous, and free.

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Ways to fortify your walls for the days to come:

• ​Rest
• Hydrate
• Nourish your body with simple and gentle foods
• Move that energy through your body in whatever ways feel releasing - walking, dancing, shaking
• Listen and sing along to your power songs
• Watch your favorite movie for the 18,000th time
• Seek out support with your community
• Make and attend your therapy appointment
• Tend to your space - Take one small corner of your life, and make it beautiful.
• Take your medications
• Pat a cool washcloth dotted with your preferred aromatherapy on your face and take 3 deep belly breaths
• Take action in ways that feel empowering and productive - Below I've listed some ideas to get you started

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4 Next Steps: From The We Can Do Hard Things Podcast*

1. ​Commit to re-thinking beyond of the roof, and investing in the walls
   1. Become a member of an organization that does grassroots baseline work for the enfranchisement of people and the fundamentals of democracy
2. Find out what piece of liberation to work on.
   1. Your own sexuality, fighting police brutality, working with Mom's Demand Action. The fight for liberation has many roads and we need warriors on all of them. 
   2. Find your people who will fortress you up - Invest in THAT. Something for your own liberation - Because what is the point of doing any of this if the use of enjoyment of our own lives does not bring us joy?
3. Stand in for countless women who have had their rights pulled out from under them in a flash, through state by state restrictions overnight - Send cash to Abortion Funds and support Together Rising
4. Register and vote every election. There's no such thing as mid-term anymore.

*Paraphrased