And so 2017 begins

[swan_tower]

It is the first of the month, and the first of the year. 2017 seems likely to be difficult, so let’s talk about tikkun olam.

The comment thread is open for your news of repairing the world. Have you made a donation lately? Have you given your time and effort to help out somewhere? Have you found a way to be a better citizen of the world? If so, please tell us about it. And if you have plans to do something along those lines in the coming weeks, tell us about that, too. Even if it’s a little thing. Even if it’s tiny. This is a time to share good things; good does not stop being good because it is small.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[swan_tower]

My own work this past month:

I went to the Hour of Prayer and Solidarity at a local mosque that had received hate mail.

I've made some more donations to various groups.

I put myself on the email lists for a number of groups (Greenpeace, the ACLU, MoveOn, #FightTrump, the Native American Rights Fund, Flippable, the Friends Committee on National Legislation) that will give me actionable items to follow; I've started making calls to legislators on those items. Since this is a thing that's tough for me to do, I've given myself extra incentive by adding "make a phone call" to Habitica.

At some point this month there's supposed to be training for literacy tutoring at my local library; I intend to go to that.

[green_knight]

I'm putting more effort into getting my house in order, literally and figuratively. I am just about getting by financially, which means there is not much money to donate (#NODAPL, and I'll continue to support them, because they've fallen out of the headlines, but the fight goes on), and I am not in a position where I have a lot of spoons for supporting other people/fighting for causes, so my goal is to be self-sufficient and not need much support of any kind, so I can signalboost and support people who are more squeezed than me. I will also step up my efforts to develop tools that make other people's lives easier, and have a firm commitment to sharing my knowledge with others, because learning takes time and effort that might be spent otherwise. I'm in the background. I'm shoring things up. That doesn't feel like much, but it's _something_.

[swan_tower]

It is indeed something. And figuring out what you can do within your own constraints is really important.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

My own work this past month:

I went to the Hour of Prayer and Solidarity at a local mosque that had received hate mail.

I've made some more donations to various groups.

I put myself on the email lists for a number of groups (Greenpeace, the ACLU, MoveOn, #FightTrump, the Native American Rights Fund, Flippable, the Friends Committee on National Legislation) that will give me actionable items to follow; I've started making calls to legislators on those items. Since this is a thing that's tough for me to do, I've given myself extra incentive by adding "make a phone call" to Habitica (https//habitica.com).

At some point this month there's supposed to be training for literacy tutoring at my local library; I intend to go to that.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

I talked about the election with my in-laws and gave them the 101 on How Jews Plan For The Bad Times And You Should Too. I made art. The original goal had been to finish my draft by 12/31--November put paid to that, but I did work through a nasty pre-climax tangle while everyone else was role-playing last night. Now that holidays are mostly out of the way, we're getting ready to join in neighborhood planning for the Women's March after the inauguration. We've offered to help with child care for people who want to go--how many people actually want that and how many offer to help out will determine whether I go personally, or stay here teaching the neighborhood kids how to properly wield a light-saber.

[marycatelli]

I've made donations. And managed to get caught up on my annual donations in spite of having been out of work for two months in which I wasn't donating.

And brought in the paperwork to get one matched by my employer.

And brought in toys for our drive for a local hospital.

[sovay]

Even if it's a little thing. Even if it’s tiny. This is a time to share good things; good does not stop being good because it is small.

As soon as we finish taking down the tree, I am going to sit down with my parents and the relevant websites and send money to Temple Beth Shalom in Sun City. For New Year's, when they were matching donations, we gave to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. (They have also independently donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center.)

I wrote my first poem of the year, my first poem since November. I was glad of that.

[rosefox]

X and J and I have made plans to talk with Kit's daycare teachers and make sure Kit gets plenty of time to play with the black kids in the class, rather than always being paired off with the one other white kid. I also reached out to an acquaintance in the Orthodox Jewish part of the neighborhood about making a playdate for our kids. I want Kit to have connections with all our neighbors. Raising my child to be a better citizen of the world is a big part of tikkun olam for me.

We're short on funds right now, but I've been signal-boosting a lot of fundraisers and Kickstarters.

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

-Threw in a couple bucks to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser (mostly because their emails are super irritating, though)
-Firmed up plans to go to the Women's March on Washington (still need to figure out ideas for signs, though!)
-Called a couple representatives about various things.