I went to my first precinct meeting today in my entry into what it’s like to be an involved citizen. The room was full to overflowing and we heard all the other precinct meetings were as crowded. I had the same wild joy I did at the Women’s March in Washington—so many of us, such fervent faces. Now I am meeting people outside my tribe. This is what I wanted: to get larger, to work in community, to hear other stories, to stop recycling my own.
Seems the only way to rise above the grief and dread I wake to every day is to be active, to be learning how to make change, not just talking about it. I’m such a newbie but I show up, I listen, ask questions and read—a crash course in democracy. I remember one of our chants as we marched down the Mall, “This is what democracy looks like!” It stirs my heart, seems one of the most creative ways I can channel all the feelings I carry around like an underground river that rushes beneath my waking consciousness…but I hear it.
Every conversation starts with the state of the country, not how are you or the weather. It’s as if we are pouring words into the chaos, pulling each other out, throwing lines. The more obvious river is the one we are all surging forward in: this new reality that is a flood. We are being carried forward and not to where my worst fears live. As I look at everyone’s faces at the meetings, I see others like me who care enough to show up.
That phrase, a thousand points of light, that’s us but a thousand is a modest estimate. I heard that there are over 7,000 Indivisible groups across the country and that’s just one of many organizations working for change. The sleeping giant has awoken. I hear its roar and that sound is music to me. We are not alone. I look around the tables to the faces of my neighbors, young and old, seasoned veterans and new recruits. Beautiful.
I signed up to be a delegate to the County Convention where I can have a voice in the Democratic platform going forward: a new voice, one of many much needed voices. Who would have thought…
