For today’s Reflection Friday, I’d love for you to use this week’s theme for the REPLENISH program currently running in the Identity & Belonging Lab to reflect on the following: What does it mean to embrace and integrate lived experiences—even the difficult ones—so that we can learn, grow and evolve from them? What is your process for then using these newly-integrated pieces to catalyze impact? I’ve been reflecting a lot about the cyclical nature of personal growth in contrast to the linear aspect of time, so I wanted to bring this prompt to you today. No wrong answers; just individuals taking a moment to ideate out loud in hopes of putting words to the unvoiced thoughts we’re sitting with during these heavy times. I hope everyone has a great weekend—August calendar announcements coming up, so stay tuned. 🫶🏾 Image source: Worry Lines on Instagram

Today, I am grieving the version of me that innocently and innocuously celebrated the 4th of July for the first 25 years of my life. That attended fireworks displays, staring up at the sky with wonder and awe at the explosive spectacle of light, sound and color. The United States of America was always painted to us as the pinnacle of freedom and democracy. A picture of progress and the embodiment of limitless opportunity. I grieve the little girl that thought slavery was a moment in time. A complicated history that was corrected and as such, justice was served. It was not corrected. It was covered. Buried. Hidden. Attempted to be rewritten. But there can be no reconciliation without repair. So as memories of rose-colored flag glasses, Old Navy t-shirts and firecrackers on the front porch fade into the distance of my memory, I come into consciousness. We are living in a world where suffering is so normalized, where partisan politics are so weaponized and white supremacy is so violent that dozens of white men can now, in broad daylight, unhooded and undeterred, vote against basic human dignity in at least seven different variatiants including but not limited to revoking healthcare, ending SNAP benefits, and violently detaining citizens and parents of citizens on the basis of race. And because we have normalized it, we can no longer control it. So if today you need to just let the tears fall, do that. If you need to write and write and scream and write until your fingers fall off, do that. If you need to cancel everything and sit in a dark room, do that. But if you feel the need to take up space today, do that too. You can start here. Write how you’re feeling below. Tell me what comes up for you. You don’t have to have a solution. You don’t have to find a bright side. It’s okay if it feels like there isn’t one. This is your community, and it is protected to the best of my ability so that you can say whatever is on your mind. Please use it if you need it.

Here’s an IBL crossover post, because I want to check in with you all as the state of the world (and much of our work as changemakers as a result) continues to spiral. How do you cope with work-related anxiety, even with work you love (even when the physical, mental and emotional toll is much)? Impact leaders and empathic humans hold so much space that we are often running on E long before our bodies, minds and spirits register the deficit. If you’re energy-sensitive in any way on top of your day-to-day load, the moment you return to center and tap back into your own needs, wants and to-do lists, the anxiety can catch you like a rip tide. True to the image, I try to combat this feeling by doing the mental equivalent of swimming parallel to the shore until I can feel the current release me back into calmer waters, where I can float gently to recuperate and then gradually tread way my way back to sandy—then solid—ground. Sometimes, that looks like at least making sure I eat well despite the overwhelm. Other times, it’s protecting my bedtime or even going back to sleep after getting my daughter ready for school and out the door. I think naming (and validating) these mechanisms helps us normalize the journey back to center after a crisis of any magnitude. The “almost there” part of managing our mental health is so important. Feeling every gradient of the healing process brings us closer to ourselves and helps us better understand our capacity at each stage so we can articulate our needs to those around us. I learned this lesson BIG time while organizing this summit, and it helped me get about 300% more sleep than I was getting this time last year with the same workload but with 3x more moving parts. So what about you? Tap in below. I’m listening. 🫶🏾 A reminder that there are just a few days remaining to join us in The Identity & Belonging Lab for $1/day (billed annually). Joining before the price goes up on June 1 locks in that rate for as long as you stay a member. Payment plans available, so I’ll be reaching out to those that have asked for more info before the end of the week.

I am the former Alinsky trained Mesa/East Valley and Arizona Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN Head Grassroots Organizer. Unfortunately I am unable to work because I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis—SPMS—and I have all of this knowledge, aptitude, and expertise that I fear I will never get to share because my cognitive abilities, my memory, speech, language, my brain are all being destroyed. I was the Mesa/East Valley and Arizona ACORN Alinsky trained Grassroots Political Organizing, Grassroots Community Organizing, Legislative Director, Head Organizer of National Statewide campaigns, union negotiations, union organizing, Grassroots Lobbyist, along with a lot of other jobs that I held at the same time. I was also a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant for predominantly Democratic political and progressive public affairs campaigns. While I worked as a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant I was required to deal with union contracts, conflicts, organizers, and their opposition. I was also a Senior Political Advisor for National Campaigns. My degrees and my skills have always been in politics. I just wanted to offer my expertise, experiences, and my knowledge to anyone that would like assistance. My social networking sites: https://linkedIn.com/in/amandathorson https://substack.com/@azdemocrat youtube.com/@boomersooneraz81 @azdemocrat81.bsky.social skool.com/@amanda-thorson-4776 https://www.facebook.com/81boomersooneraz? https://newsie.social/@poliscinerd https://mastodonbooks.net/@bookaholicaz81 https://union.place/@poliscidem

I pose this question to encourage you to pause, take a breath, and take on the difficult task of deciding what needs your energy, attention and time today. This quote by my colleague Stacey Luces in Arlan’s All-Access stopped my scroll entirely this morning. While the week started weird enough with a nationwide blackout in Spain, I’m ending it from a reflective place. “If we treat everything like a priority, nothing actually gets the energy it deserves” As a chronic multi-tasker with a neurodivergent brain that pumps out ideas every five seconds and will risk it all for a public takedown of swarming bigots on a Friday night, I notice that I want to do so much that I sometimes don’t get to REALLY see things through in a way that they deserve. This leads to frustration, disappointment in myself, and BIG imposter feelings—not to mention unsustainability in the energy reserves needed to keep so much moving at once. In a world with so much at stake (which includes our own health and wellbeing, let’s face it), ask yourself: What actually matters today? What do I need to remember in order to stay focused on that? What needs to happen in order to forgive myself for letting the rest go, for now or forever? Curious to hear what comes up for all of you. Have a great weekend—and remember to get signed up for The Future of DEI at TheFutureOfDEI.com/passes using the code AAMEMBERSONLY at checkout, or paying what you can from $5 USD here. 🫶🏾💫