Labor Day Resolutions and Project Kickoff

Hello Everyone!

My name is Whitney Levis and I'm exploring the power of showing up. I've been playing around a bit with this over time in general but now it is time to organize, document, and encourage others. I'm setting up a Patreon for this endeavor as an easy way for folks to encourage me if they find this to be useful. Things may shift as time goes along but it is better just to jump in and get started.

Earlier this year I took part in the Ration Challenge. It was an eye-opening experience that I recommend everyone to try if their doctor signs off on it.You buy the equivalent to the contents of a ration box for a week's worth of rations. Then everything you consume for a full week comes out of that box. It is a fundraiser for refugee rations and as you raise more funds you get access to additional resources for your week. By self funding you get access to one spice for the week, I chose garlic powder. Once you cross $200 raised you get to use salt for the week. My community and I raised $542.30 placing me at #201 in the country for fundraising for this challenge. It really reminded me that people want to work together and help out where they can. It reminded me that there is power in deciding to show up.

Towards the end of the Ration Challenge, the news broke about just how bad the conditions are in the detention facilities, including the ones that are housing children separate from their parents and often separate from their siblings as well. I'm really tired of being right about this administration. I'm really tired of having to explain my frustration with the obvious statement "People are Dying." But here we are. With this news breaking, and my diet having been so unbalanced, I was not in a good place. After taking some time to process my rage and despair with loved ones, I decided that I needed to think through how I can best help and find a sustainable level of dedication I can provide to working on these goals.

My usual level of slacktivism was not cutting it. This isn't to say that slacktivism isn't helpful. It definitely is. I have psoriatic arthritis, and autism, and depression and anxiety. Mostly I can juggle that, keep moving forward in my life, help others, and engage with the world. Sometimes I can't. Slacktivism is a great way for me to do micro-volunteering and for folks who also struggle with a variety of things it may be a good place for you to start too. Being informed and helping others be informed is crucial work and for a long time it was the only work that I could do. While I have gotten feedback from some folks in my life that these information transfer efforts are a great service to them, I am now called to do more than this. It is time to figure out what.

I reflected on my time in Churches. I remember my old Church in Sequim and the dedication that folks there would put towards showing up and going where they were called. While my relationship with faith is complicated for now, my sense of calling isn't. I am called to help people and hold accountable those who profit on the misery of others. In my church we tended to tithe 10%. I'm going to go back to that but do it in a different way. 10% of my money and my time are going to be devoted to showing up to solve the biggest problems I see in our society and the world.

Exactly what I'm working on may vary from time to time as will how I choose to spend my monetary contributions. Currently the default for the monetary contributions is going to be Raices. From what I can tell they are the most efficient way to donate to help get asylum seekers out of cages and reunited with their families and for the moment that is the issue that speaks most deeply to me.

I plan to use this space and my Patreon to talk about what I learn, reflect on experiences of the past, be accountable for my goals, encourage others who wish to join the path, and share resources.

I saw a post recently about Happier Labor Day as this idea to pause and reflect on your labor and make resolutions that will make for a better labor situation for you. What is labor but how we choose to spend our time in order to meet our needs and generate stability and purpose. I think that this project is well aligned to that idea and given that it is right around my birthday. I plan to keep with these initial goals and standards for at least 1 year. I can re-evaluate after that but there should be enough flexibility in the system to make it a year of 10% of time and money.

If you were doing this challenge, what would you spend your time doing to help? What organizations would you donate to? Please leave a comment. I'd love for folks to get their own ideas and set their own goals as we move forward together to make things better by showing up! Who knows, maybe I will be inspired to contribute as well. I will be contributing a minimum of 72 Hours and $420 to this project over the course of September. Stay tuned and let me know your thoughts!