The work continues

[swan_tower]

Another month, another tikkun olam post. Because while we can make the world a better place, there is always more to be done. Especially these days.

The usual guidelines apply. Share any good that you’ve done: volunteering, donations in money or supplies, changes toward a more sustainable lifestyle, random good deeds for neighbors or strangers. If you find yourself thinking “that isn’t big enough to count,” share it anyway. Every bit helps; every bit tells others that they’re not working alone.

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

Comments

[tiger_spot]

I've been focused very close to home lately, trying to be kinder to myself and my household.

I found some pregnancy/postpartum stuff I'm not planning to use again while cleaning out a cupboard, and passed it along to a pregnant friend.

This morning I am going to watch another friend's kid on short notice.

And I'm signed up to learn how to lead harvests for Village Harvest but it's going to be a little while before I can make the time for the training.

[radiantfracture]

I contributed a bit towards a former classmate's new glasses. Lacking good glasses sucks.

[martianmooncrab]

I am payig for a friends insulin while she is sorting out her health insurance.

[sovay]

On Sunday, I signed cards to Senators Collins, Murkowski, and McCain for their work blocking the ACA repeal, wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Mattis about the proposed ban of trans people in the military, and sent my customary thank-you to Representative Capuano for being generally awesome.

Otherwise I am genuinely not sure what I did last month that helped anyone.

[ashnistrike]

Made lots of calls about saving the ACA. Also made calls about the stupid anti-boycott law, which it turned out my normally-reliable Democratic senator was co-sponsoring, what the hell Ben Cardin. Hosted the Democracy subgroup of our local resistance organization and talked about public financing of elections. Made art, though not as much as I would have liked because way too much travel.

I was assigned to a convention panel with poor representation (the equivalent of an all-male panel about Women In X), complained to the organizers, and recruited additional panelists for better rep.

Tikkun bandwidth for the Fall may be suddenly and dramatically taken up by family-related stuff--super-important stuff that may make a big difference for one person, but the thought of that refocusing is kind of freaking me out. (Vague on purpose because the situation is not yet settled.)

[green_knight]

I upped my Patreon pledge by one more creator and dropped half my casual spending money into other people's hats. I've made an effort to keep online conversations going, and if I can't, I at least try to boost #ownvoices.

I'm filing bugs for software, because everybody benefits when those are better, and I write reviews for books, games, and software, because I rely on strangers to help *me* decide what's worth my time and money.

And I keep working on getting my own issues under control (so not to be a burden to others) and to support others (so they have more energy to fight). In a better world, these would be things one does as a matter of course, without needing reminders, even from myself, but there we go. At least they happen?

I really appreciate these posts; they provide just a moment to pause, reflect, and plan.

[cgbookcat1]

I donated to Planned Parenthood in July, and hope to donate to a trans-supportive organization this month. A lot of our old-but-usable items are heading to Goodwill.