Beto for… ever.

The campaign is over. Election Day has passed. I no longer have an excuse to cancel plans or decline invitations. I have “my life” back.

It was SO close.

In the hours following the announcement of results, friends, family, colleagues, and fellow volunteers all reached out to me. They called, they texted, they tweeted wanting to make sure I was okay. You would think someone had passed away, or some other traumatic event had just occurred.

We’re proud of you, Daisy. You made a difference, Daisy. You’re the reason I voted, Daisy. You are inspiring, Daisy. You are my hero, Daisy. Hope you’re okay, Daisy. Keep going, Daisy.

It was all so sweet and much appreciated, but guys… I feel great! What we accomplished was amazing! I am fully aware of that. This state is now officially a battleground state, and we’ve only just begun. I’m enjoying this break, but I will be ready to go again for 2020. We ALL will be.

I cannot say enough about us – grassroots foot soldiers, as we’ve been called. We were relentless, we were passionate, we were devoted. And now, we’re EXPERIENCED. We have nearly tasted victory and you better believe that we are going to jump at the opportunity to put up another fight.

So instead of being sad, disappointed, and defeated, I’m actually incredibly excited. I am not sure when the campaigns will be announced, but I will be sacrificing my time once more as soon as they are. Woot!

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I didn’t share this when it happened, but I did end up canvassing at a show early last month. Our Beto table was set up next to the band’s merch table, so we got a lot of traffic. I was actually able to get three new voters registered! Multiple people committed to vote for Beto and even more took Beto swag with them.

Me at the Beto table!

At one point, Graham Fink – the guitarist for the headlining band – came over. He and his band, Milo Greene, are from California and thus, could not vote for Beto. But regardless, according to Graham, they knew exactly who he was, they were aware that he was running against Ted Cruz, and they were supportive. Graham took a button.

Later on, during Milo Greene’s set, I noticed that Graham had placed the button on his guitar strap.

Graham Fink.

I snapped the photo above and shared it on Instagram. I then received a comment from the Milo Greene account…

The caption from my Instagram post with Milo Greene’s comment.

Then… I was tagged on Graham’s account…

Screenshot of Graham’s post.

I am happy to say that he still rocks the pin/button as evidenced in this video from a couple days ago:

This is just a tiny example of all the wonderful experiences I lived through while campaigning.

Thank you, Beto, for inspiring us. Thank you for all the memories, thank you for fighting to represent us, thank you for listening, thank you for appreciating us, thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for the new friends I made, the additional confidence I gained, and the respect I earned.

It’s been an absolute joy.

Joyful activism.

I love this so much – and live it every day – that I think I’ll leave it here…

Caught in a blackout.

I was in my comfort zone
I was singing selfish songs
I’ve been taking for granted everyone understood how easy trouble comes
But it’s not enough anymore
We can’t just turn around and close the door on the world
It’s asking uneasy questions
We should be asking ourselves uneasy questions

Frank Turner released a new album, Be More Kind, a couple months ago. Of course, I anticipated its release with much excitement – not only is he my favorite musician, but the album was recorded here in DFW and I had already listened to him play some of it during an acoustic show last summer. After listening to the album in its entirety a few times, it became clear that my favorite song on its track list is Blackout. The lyrics above are from that track’s third and final verse.

When I recently went through my depressive season, I often referred to that phase as “the darkness”. In Blackout, Frank sings and admits to being afraid of a darkness, which I am certain is metaphorical for him as well. But the song is an optimistic one, one in which he offers to help others find the light, yet reminds them to bring a candle as well. Help one another because we can’t do it alone. Ask for help, but remember to put some of your own effort in also. I didn’t get through the blackout on my own, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else to do so either. It can be done, however! Just look at me.

As for that third verse – man! The album as a whole is very much Frank’s commentary on the sociopolitical state we live in, particularly following the election of Donald Trump. There is even a track entitled Make America Great Again… “By making racists ashamed again – let’s make compassion in fashion again”. In previous albums, he writes about his dreams, relationships, his friends, his travels, how much music means to him, mental health, and so forth. “Selfish songs” as he calls them. He was in his comfort zone.

I was, too.

It’s time to get out, though, and get uneasy. He knows it, I know it, do you?

Y’all – being an activist is not always easy work. It can be exhausting and draining. It has become quite time consuming [things did not work out with either of the men I have dated this year because of time and timing, actually] and all other plans revolve around it. But I can’t stop. There is too much at stake.

As uncomfortable as it may be, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

We can’t sit around and hope for the best. We can’t expect others to do the work for us. We have to be the change. No more being selfish. If we can afford the time to go all grassroots, then we owe it to this world to do the damn thing!

Awesome and enthusiastic volunteers!

I did the damn thing last weekend.

I led my first canvassing event! Twelve wonderful volunteers showed up to join me in the neighborhood I grew up in, at the park at the end of my parents’ street, across from the high school I graduated from. The place that will always be home to me.

After starting off with a brief training session and pep talk, we all separated to spread out through the neighborhood. We went from block to block, knocking on doors to speak to neighbors about Beto O’Rourke. We explained why we canvassed for him, had some people commit to vote, and even signed folks up to volunteer in the future!

After a couple hours, most of us met up back at the park and discussed our experiences. It went so well! The majority were first-time volunteers, and the experience was such a positive one, that they want to do it again! They even asked me to host another event! So bad ass.

Yes, it was hot. Yes, we could’ve been sleeping in or relaxing or partaking in summer fun. Yes, there is still a lot of time left until Election Day.

None of that matters. Think about all that has happened since Trump was elected. Think about how it affects you, your loved ones, and the disenfranchised. Get angry, and know that you can do something about it. You are powerful. We are powerful. There is power in numbers.

So, I implore you: Please join me and others. It’s a crucial time we are living in.

Bring a burning candle with you.

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I leave you with the fantastic music video for Blackout. Enjoy.

It’s July. I’m thinking of November.

I have to keep reminding myself not to abandon this blog. Ever notice how many people just stop blogging? They haven’t posted in a year or so? It makes me sad. I can’t quite explain why, but it does. Maybe it’s because I can’t keep up with them as well as I did when they wrote more frequently, maybe an undesirable reader or readers found their blog, or maybe I fear that they lost something – the creativity, the inspiration, the time to write.

None of those things have happened to me. I will carry on.

My ex knows of this blog and sometimes gave me a hard time about some of the content he read on here. That didn’t stop me from continuing. If he is reading this now, I would tell him to stop. I have no intention of ever writing of his awful behavior here. It is simply not worth the time nor effort.

Some of my friends know of this blog too. I do not know if they ever read it, though, since most of what I write I tell them about anyway, you know? It may be redundant for them to read about it too. Unless they are bored or something.

Anyhow…

A couple posts ago, I mentioned how the girl I was ten years ago would be proud of the person I am now. I thought about this over the weekend.

I was at a march and rally to end the separation of families via detention or deportation, and I was dressed as a handmaid – as in The Handmaid’s Tale. You would have thought that I was Elisabeth Moss herself. People were lining up to take photos of me and with me. Parents were telling their kids, “Stand next to her, I am going to take your picture with her!” It was bizarre, but I truly loved every second of it. I enjoyed it, it was fun.

I turned to my friend Sarah who was with me, after having my photo taken at least twenty times in a matter of minutes, and said to her, “Well. It’s a good thing I’m an extrovert!”

Here’s the thing, though: I was never an extrovert growing up, nor in early adulthood. I got anxious about meeting new people and trying to figure out what to say to them. I kept to myself, I silently formed thoughts, quietly judged people and situations, and then wrote about it. Writing was the easiest way for a shy gal like myself to express it all.

There is no way in hell I would have dressed up for a rally back then! I would not have wanted to stand out in any way, and all the photo requests would have intimidated me. I likely would have had the most awkward, nervous, forced smile in all photos. I certainly would not have been very chatty.

Now? Oh, man. I ate it up. I hugged people, I thanked them, I talked to them about the reason we were all there and how important it is for us to remain active and to stay woke, I posed and posed and posed. I smiled and smiled and smiled. It all felt so natural to me, as though I was doing what I was meant to be doing. I was exactly where I needed to be. It felt right.

Do you ever get that feeling? Do you ever have those moments of revelation?

And what am I getting at with all this?

I don’t know.

I suppose I am realizing how much I love inspiring others, I love making others smile, I love being a voice and a leader. I myself am inspired now and all I want is to keep going, keep doing this.

The good news is that in less than two weeks, I will be hosting and leading my own canvassing event. Volunteers will sign up via Beto O’Rourke’s website to block walk with me. I checked today and there are already six people signed up! I will have to train them to canvass and lead the way as we knock on doors to tell people about Beto and ask them to vote for him in November. I then have to take all the data we collect and send it back to the campaign for them to continue on in preparation for Election Day. I am excited to do this, I have never felt this enthused by a candidate, and truly feel that ALL of America needs this man in the Senate.

How patriotic of me, huh?

It is good to be an extrovert.

I wish you all a safe and happy Fourth of July! Keep your critters safe this holiday week. I will update again soon! 🙂

Photo of me dressed as a handmaid. I found this on Facebook.