In the words of Kyle Broflovski: "Holy shit, dude."
(The series or South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut… take your pick. Those who know me personally aren’t surprised. My obsession with obnoxious, juvenile, and of course, dark and twisted humor is just going to have to live side by side with the fact that I'm pretty sure all this officially makes me a feminist. And yeah, my name is Jess and I use humor as a defense mechanism.)
I’m stopping to catch my breath after a whirlwind week. I have lots of work to do to truly get up and running, but right now, I’m just going to keep writing.
How did I get here?
I’m still not exactly sure, only that it’s not new, and it’s not an accident. I’d taken this past month as medical leave from work, to spend some much-needed time wrangling a health condition. Yes, I was supposed to be resting, damn it. But shockingly, physical, emotional, and spiritual health are connected. (File under “Duh,” cross reference “No, But Srsly.”)
As part of my regimen, I’ve been doing yoga, meditation, and energy work. And at the same time, the news. ‘Nuff said. I’ve never been an activist, and while I try to stay generally aware of what’s happening, I’m by no means a politics junkie. In fact, part of self-care meant shielding myself from the 24/7 news, infotainment, and social media barrage.
Three separate events came together to make action a visceral need:
1. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward. (That’s all I’m going to say about that right now, except that I believe her.)
2. Michael Moore gave an interview with ET Canada and called out a specific abuse dynamic that pieced my core with a resonant truth.
3. Someone in my personal world, an eerie echo of the abuser to begin with, engaged in a similar behavior that tripped every circuit - and revulsion became revolution.
For too long, my #MeToo story has been something out of Poe – a purloined letter hiding in plain sight, the telltale heart of my fear beating beneath the floorboards. Everyone has a breaking point, a tipping point, a turning point. Call it what you will. These events were mine, and this effort is the right way for me to be part of a solution, and rewrite history (herstory? theirstory? really need some universal gender-neutral pronouns, folks) for myself and others.
I have a lot to figure out before I can start publishing others’ stories, but this site and the social channels are live. My story is public. The rest… I’m figuring it out as I go, with the help of some of the beautiful souls I get to call framily, and possibly, with a few higher-profile experts who know a thing or two about changing a thing or two.
So, what happens next?
I'm crafting an FAQ and researching terms of use. I’m collecting feedback on site design and input on social strategy. And most importantly, I’m trying to avoid the temptation to promote All The Causes and stay focused on my central goal: creating a platform for others to tell their stories.
And as I’ve said to aforementioned framily: The more people who know about this, the better. Unlike other projects I've worked on, promotion through my own FB account doesn't feel quite right, other than inviting friends directly from the page (Insta and Twitter are a bit easier in this regard). I'm not hiding – but I am human. My name is associated with this effort, but I want to keep my focus on getting others' stories out there, with as little personal drama as possible. (Drama? On social media??? The hell you say.)
And while I'm figuring out the nuts and bolts, can I ask you to get grassroots and stuff? Follow the accounts, subscribe to the blog, forward the emails, share the FB page/posts, tag others in post responses on Insta, retweet with the nice little birdie.
Of course, for those of you who've offered to share your stories, please, please, do send them to me. I'm going to do everything I can to publish whatever I receive, with whatever level of anonymity you prefer. If there are questions around identifying details, we'll work through it together until I get the legal stuff squared away. Same goes for anyone you send my way.
I guess I can be political, too. (Also South Park. Sorry-not-sorry.)
Much love,
Jess
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