Participating in the SF Woman’s March and What Comes After

There were a ton of reasons running through my head as to why I shouldn’t participate in the Woman’s March in San Francisco. All of them about me in the moment and none about the big picture or my beliefs. The few hundred dollars income I would lose out of for not working that day, the rain, it being so far away and hard to get to, the crowds etc. It was intimidating, overwhelming and ignited its fair share of anxiety.
I am so incredibly glad I didn’t let all that nonsense win. It has for most of my life but this time I knew it was too important to me. Just like finally taking the plunge to change my entire lifestyle in order to become a global bohemian writer and nomad, my lack of actively reaching out to become more knowledgeable and participate had worn down my soul and self-respect to the point of finally tipping the scale for the go. Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I would have been more forgiving and patient with myself, especially in regard to the overwhelming anxiety that was usually at the core of why I haven’t gotten involved. In that way, I can now heal through helping others I come across to understand that they have to move at their own pace. Baby steps.
Having noticeably slowed down mentally and emotionally over the last year or two, I was able to deal with the dramatically lower level of anxiety that has salted me in the past in order to figure out a game plan of dropping my car where I would meet up for drinks after with a social group I join up with on rare occasion. From there, I took a Lyft to the rally and found my way to the massive crowd behind the podium where I stood smooched among other participants in the rain where I read their cool signs and tried to stop the umbrella spokes coming at me from every direction from poking out my eyes. Unable to hear more than inaudible static coming from the speakers at my distance, I wished I would have gotten there a few hours earlier so I could have gotten better positioning to see and hear them. Instead, I let myself get caught up in finishing an article I was on deadline for and a massage for a strained muscle in my back. In reality, the anxiety I still did have was what really stopped me. Looking back, now is the moment it’s especially important to realize that I made a huge step forward and can’t expect to have the experience or emotional strength to go from 0% to 100% in once event. Just like with the fluidity of my new lifestyle, I need to allow myself to follow new-found understanding as I get farther down the path.
The vibrating energy and solidarity of the crowd during the actual march (see video below) was full of positivity and people shouting chants, support, photographers, people waving from windows and cheering cheering from trolleys. That was amazing but what really inspired me was the energy and participation of the city on random streets and looking online to see how many people were participating around the country and even around the globe. Men, woman, children, the elderly in their wheelchairs, I saw it all. I’m glad I didn’t just go home or work after but next time I will make sure to find an after-party that celebrates with people who actually care about and participated in the event. Celebration is important to inspiration, after all.
The next week has been a whirlwind of shock regarding what many of us consider horrifying actions that Trump has already taken and the exhaustion of being flooded about it through social media and the emotional needs of citizens intensely speaking out about their views to anyone who comes within their path, myself included. Of the different opinions and theories I have heard from others, the one that most struck home was the idea that the strategy of these so many actions taken at once being to overwhelm and exhaust us so that we lose the heart built last week and run away to stick our heads in the sand. Something I am terrified we will do.
I ask you, how do we stop ourselves from doing that? Many of us are embarrassed to admit that we aren’t educated to what we would consider an acceptable level. As brought up earlier, I believe it important to take baby steps. Google is an amazing resource that allows us to research and learn in private. Well, kind of.
Personally, I have chosen to start with “politics for dummies” and anything I find under the “for dummies” brand that I would like to understand better. Following leads I hear about from the many informed UBER passengers I meet, I am committing myself to participate in the 10 Actions 100 Days campaign on the Woman’s March website and to do the research to contact my local representatives as well as call congress once I feel adequately educated and composed. In order to get to that point, I am also doing more research into the opposite side of the argument which will take a concerted effort to keep an open mind. For instance, did you know that stocks closed higher after the first week of his presidency than they have after any president’s inauguration in 50 years? The rise didn’t trend but it’s still one of the things I’ve noted to look further into.
Being in the Bay Area, I admit to being unfairly swayed against Trump without supporters to offer a counter argument. With a few exceptions, I would think the few who tried were secretly against Trump with their being the stereotype of what they presented as ignorant, uneducated and unintelligent people of the red-neck mentality who are only interested in being hostile and insulting with a close-minded opinion that refuses to even hear anything beyond themselves. Something that is dangerous from what ever side we are on.
For me, one of the ways I feel I can actually grow in this area is not only to set up a plan like I have above but to also schedule time each week to implement it. We have literally marched on in person. Now is the time to do it figuratively. Who’s coming with me?

Video of me at the rally before the march began