What Happened.

you, me, anyone with the American dream.

We don't usually chat about politics here, but I think it would be leaving a gapping hole in this cozy corner of the internet if I didn't write something about the current state of our country. Maybe selfishly I just need to write-it-out to try to feel better. Whatever the reason, I need to talk about What Happened.

Last November, I marched a 36 weeks pregnant, "Love Trumps Hate" clad belly into my local polling place and voted for a vision of our future which made me feel so buoyant and bright that when it did not come to fruition, in the wee hours of the following morning, I sat on the couch and cried. I cried for the little girl who dreamed of becoming the first woman president (yup), for the senate intern who ardently supported and admired candidate Clinton (MmHmm) and for the future mom who was going to bring a baby into a very different world than she'd envisioned. I felt crushed and baffled and scared, not only because my candidate had lost, but because America wasn't who I thought it was. My liberal, northeastern corner of the country had blinded me to a level of sexism, racism, chauvinism, anger and hatred that made my heart hurt. Who were these millions of people that believed in such a different vision for the future than me?

In the 11 months since Election Day, I've come to realize that being a woman, being Jewish, being a friend of minorities and immigrants and homosexuals and in favor of health care for all and the integrity of democracy mean something different than they did this time last year. I've watched free speech come under attack and nuclear war start to feel like a real possibility. It has taken over everything from the news to the football field, it's marching through the streets and across my social media feeds. It feels relentless. It's exhausting and scary.

I don't have any solutions, I don't know what we're supposed to do, but I know what I believe. I know that moments like this in history have called for action and activism not silence and sadness. So I will speak up. donate. stay educated. make phone calls. sign petitions. act in defense of my ideals. campaign. VOTE. This is where we are, but it is not where we will always be. I am ready for the fight. 

Go get your sticker!

I Voted stickers... so hot right now.

Happy Election Day my merry friends! As a political science major who once upon a time dreamed of a career in political office, I take election day very seriously. Because even though I too am a bit disillusioned with the state of politics in our country, a voice is a voice and yours should be heard!

Want to very quickly learn where your polling place is, who will be on your ballot and what referenda and other ballot measures you'll be seeing behind the curtain? Visit TheBallot.org an amazing site which provides all that info based upon the home address you enter. Don't just be a voter, be an informed voter.

And if you want to get schooled in why our individual state legislatures are WAY more important than we (or the news media) seem to realize, watch this expert/hysterical/slightly terrifying bit from Sunday's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (a great show that you should be watching btw). Our current Congress is on course to be the least productive in history(!), but at the local level really important bills are being passed by the 1,000s. Politics is local people!!

You know what you have to do...

...but Will Ferrell is here to remind you. Voting is a privilege, voting is important, voting is your duty. Go! Vote!

* To find your local polling place, simply Google "find my polling place", plug in your address and let the magic of the internet do the rest. HAPPY ELECTION DAY!

We the people...

Voting. So hot right now.

I've spent a lot of time debating whether or not to get political on SeektobeMerry. As you might imagine, this girl (a Washington DC university attending (go GDubs!) poli sci major, who digs a good constitutional conversation and crushes on George Washington) is acutely focused on the current Presidential election and has some well researched and highly opinionated thoughts on all things Obama v. Romney. However, I have made the executive decision (a "Blogger Executive Order"!?) to make this a non-partisan space. Politics can be very divisive and with a mission to make you merry, I don't think my political opinion should be part of our conversation. 

But the fact is, I care. I care deeply and I think that you should too. Are the Democrats or Republicans a perfect embodiment of all your political beliefs? Probably not, but at the moment they're what we've got. Are either of these candidates going to make dramatic changes to your everyday life? Again, unlikely, but their actions will impact you and the actions they each intend to take are VERY different. I think you should be informed and you should exercise your right to have an opinion and cast a vote (a right which people fight to the death for in other nations). Your vote isn't going to fix the economy, end discrimination or stop terrorism, but it is a tiny piece of the puzzle that you get to be as an American citizen (and we all know that puzzles with missing pieces are the WORST). So this fall, take a moment to educate yourself on where these two candidates stand on issues that you feel passionately about. Few of us will have time to know every detail (lord knows I'm trying!) but we can think about things that have meaning to us (education? financial reform? gay rights? the environment? student loans?) and cast a vote for the candidate who comes closest to representing our beliefs on those issues. We the People must always believe in the possibility of a more perfect union, and we must do what we can to achieve it. VOTE!

* To check your voter registration status, find your local polling place or request an absentee ballot, click HERE.