This drywalling project has got me playing fast and loose with the definition of "weekly," but here we are!

The tl;dr: What are your questions about how to be an involved but not overwhelmed citizen in this election year? Throw them in the comments!

I've been putting off thinking much about the 2024 presidential election until...2024. Like everyone else, I find it dispiriting and exhausting and confounding: what am I to do? My hell sits at the intersection of high anxiety (DEMOCRACY IS ON THE BRINK) and low influence (I am just one person, whose obsessive attention solves nothing), which is precisely where I find myself these days.

BUT. I've now got this Table framework, right? I'm trying to acknowledge more that I share this beautiful abundant world with, well, everyone; and I'm trying to work more to ensure that as many people as possible can be nourished and at peace, and all of the good stuff we associate with the best dinner tables.

So: what does it look like to approach citizenship in an ugly election year with this aim? How can I work this year to preserve and extend the table without going stark raving insane?

I'm pretty sure we're all asking these questions. In many of my recent conversations, the organizing question is WHAT DO WE DO, and the answer is ?????????.

little kid shrugging
but angstier

So. Y'all know I love a research project, so I'm on the hunt for answers/suggestions with the intent to report back. Because I do not want to wake up grieving in November and wishing I had done more—or merely done something.

I want to know: as a group, what are our specific questions? Questions slightly more targeted than "what do we dooooo," along the lines of:

  • How much news do I need to take in, and about what, and where should I get it?
  • Should I be volunteering for a campaign? As an election worker? Registering voters?
  • Is there something I should be calling my representatives about? What’s the most effective way to do so?
  • Since a lot of the anti-democracy rhetoric has a distinctly evangelical flavor, how can some of us bring our evangelical backgrounds to bear? (For example, I just picked up this book, not to put too fine a point on it.)

WHAT ELSE? Or: do you already know how you're getting involved without going nuts this year? Please note questions or plans below, and I'll start the hunt for best practices.

Love you millions. xo