Good Finds For Relief & Joy

An antidote to inbox tedium for overstimulated parents

Hey friends!

I’ve got 378 emails in my inbox demanding action from me. I hate my inbox, and it hates me back.

So as a quick break from the flood of inbox homework you never asked for - share these small pockets of delight to break up the tedium.

October 2024 Good Finds

Instead of demanding action, these treats are for you - with no expectations, no obligations, and no guilt!

1. Good News

2. Cool Things That Exist Now

3. Oh Hey We Found The Helpers

4. A Goofy Thing Just For You To Enjoy

5. Helpful Stuff To Keep In Your Pocket For Later

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[image: adorable pixar-style kittens dressed as doctors, cheering a win. If this was a 90’s style medical drama, but featuring animated kittens, I would totally watch that.]

1. Good News: Your Hard Work Pays Off

Anti-abortion activists are divided, worried, and fighting with each other as elections near, thanks to your active fight to protect reproductive rights and healthcare.

• The biggest threat to abortion bans is a functional democracy and fair elections. The solid majority of US voters are pro-choice.

• Even if voters could trust Trump to follow through on his election promises, he refuses to coherently clarify his policy plans for healthcare, abortion rights...or anything, really. Whereas the Harris campaign has openly defended of abortion rights.

• Healthcare providers are opening new semi-rural healthcare clinics in safe harbor states like Kansas.

• Nevada became the 18th state to approve Medicare funds for abortion healthcare.

• Citizens are exposing agencies using taxpayer funds to promote misinformation campaigns in Florida

• The ACLU has committed $2 million toward an educational campaign on reproductive rights to defend Michiganders’ constitutional rights to abortion.

• North Dakota & Georgia courts struck down a state abortion ban as unconstitutional.

• Arizona’s abortion ban has been completely repealed.

• Reps in both the House & Senate are pushing for hospitals to provide emergency abortions when a host’s life is at risk thanks to your calls.

I don’t want to erase our many, many losses, including the deaths and devastation facing pregnant people throughout the US. Anti-choice activists are still moving forward with plans to enact a country-side abortion ban. Even though we are still in the weeds - your continued love, labor, and resistance is making a difference

If you’ve got 15 seconds to celebrate with me, *click here or text SIGN PGNEFZ to 50409 to protect those still under threat.

* (To make it easy for you, I populated a 5 Calls script calling on your local senators to codify abortion rights via Resistbot)

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[image: cute animated tabby kitten with huge eyes, holding a widdle pen like he’s about to wegister to vote. awwww…. he’s too little to know about voter disenfranchisment and has yet to pick up the furious irritation the rest of us are feeling about toward democratic party. so cute.]

2. Cool Things That Exist Now

You probably already know about this one - but you know who doesn’t?

• Young people who have never voted before

• Your neighbor Phil, who still uses the yellow pages to find a plumber

• Your cousin who just had a baby and completely forgot about registering and you were like ‘let me know if you need help!’ but honestly neither one of you can think of what help looks like? And you really don’t want to babysit or clean. (This is what help looks like.)

are you registered to vote? THIS WILL TAKE 30 SECONDS. a refreshingly simple form from vote.org. I mean, yeah, i’m busy… but 30 seconds? I can totally handle that!

In less than 30 seconds, you can help your community verify their registration, register to vote, apply to vote by mail, preview their ballot, sign up for election reminders, or encourage kids to register when they hit 18, all using the accessible tools on Vote.org

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#DropTheADLfromSchools - Did you know? The ADL’s pedagogy perpetuates white colonial interests and is incompatible with social justice education

3. Oh Hey We Found The Helpers

This email is getting long, so I won’t go into the story of how I (and all the other BIPOC kids, coincidence?!) in our white middle school were paraded into an ADL World of Difference event to be told how the racism we face in schools is our own fault as individual children.

Whether you were a Palestinan student accused of a hate crime for acknowledging the Nakba, a teacher fired for attending a ceasefire protest, or a student of color tokenzed at a ‘diversity event,’ it’s time for us to come together and really examine -

What kind of damage is the ADL doing in our schools?

Why educators should #DroptheADLfromSchools. Using unreliable & manipulated data, teh ADL incites fear and promotes hate. The ADL conflates antisemitism with legal speech uplifting Palestinian rights. the ADL is a divisibe political advocacy organization. The ADL censors everyone who opposes anti-Palestinian racism - including Jews.

Raising Luminaries is joining organizations including 18 Million Rising, Rethinking Schools, Abolitionist Teaching Network, Radical Elders, Jewish Voices For Peace, and many more in the campaign to #DropTheADLfromSchools to build inclusive learning spaces where educators and students can have open, honest discussions about anti-racism, colonialism, and apartheid.

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4. A Goofy Thing For You To Just Enjoy

@glenda_is_nutsNever enough nuts #squirrel #squirrels #squirrelsoftiktok #squirreltok #glenda #funnyanimals #animalsoftiktok #cuteanimal #fyp

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[Video description: This is Glenda. Glenda is a squirrel. She is also a stalker who obsessively watches this one person who apparently doesn’t wear pants much. I don’t see how the pants are relevant, but the narrator behind the camera usually manages to slip in the fact that they aren’t wearing pants. It’s a whole situation over there.]

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another adorable kitten, eyes closed and paws up, as if it say “no. that’s it. I’ve had enough“

5. Helpful Stuff For When You Need It

‘Tis the season of bake sales and volunteer ‘opportunities!’

Are you avoiding walking around the neighborhood to avoid your neighbor’s ‘reminders’ that it’s your ‘turn’ to host the neighborhood Halloween party? Perhaps you’re looking for a way to avoid getting roped into another year as the PTA treasurer.

Fresh from our members-only Raising Luminaries resource library, use our email template “Dear Volunteller: No Thanks, I Won’t Be Doing That” to gracefully extricate yourself from all the bullshit you feel obligated to do, just because someone asked.

Get even more awesome scripts & templates to drop draining situations without guilt, join the Luminary Braintrust for unlimited access to the entire resource library of scripts, tools, and chats to untangle the ‘shoulds’ that derail you.

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Coming up next

Struggling with the internal conflict of voting for Harris, knowing her troubling track record, but feeling there’s no better option?

Too nervous to even think about what could go wrong in November's election?

Too overwhelmed to take action, but know you’ll regret doing nothing if Trump becomes president again?

We got you.

Let’s make space for your fears, build a safety network for those you love, and get realistic about what you really can take on.

Live workshop 10/16/25, 2p ET | 1p CT | 12p MT | 11a PT. Recordings available for registrants.

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raising luminaries: online gatherings supporting caregivers. let’s get together!

Members-Only: Let’s hang out

Bonus hangouts for the lovely folks who support my work here and in the LBT

• October 8th - 2p ET | 1p CT | 12p MT | 11a PT

• October 24th - 6p ET | 5p CT | 4p MT | 3p PT

• November 12th - 2p ET | 1p CT | 12p MT | 11a PT

• November 28th - 6p ET | 5p CT | 4p MT | 3p PT

LBT members: Log into the member portal for deets & Zoom links. Paid Substack supporters: see below for the zoom link.