I'm not dead yet

As most of you are probably aware, there’s a somewhat momentous election coming up in the United States. In an ability to sleep at night, I’ve thrown most of my bonus time and energy into volunteering to encourage voter turnout. As such, my time and energy for reading and reviewing is severely limited. I am eager to return to ForFemFan later this fall. Until then, I need to get back to volunteering.

I do have a parting thought, however:

There are obvious forms of silencing such as voter suppression and gerrymandering. More insidious, however, is the cynical and internal forms of silencing: convincing you that “your vote doesn’t matter” or “both sides are the same” or “you can’t make a difference.” Once that message is internalized, it’s hard to believe that it isn’t your own original thought—but it’s not.

Every voice holds power, for good or for bad. I want to use my voice to empower others and strengthen our democracy and work towards a sustainable future. I know I have precious little readership on this blog (thanks, ye stalwart few!), but I hope those of you in the US with the hard-won right to vote will exercise it.

Thank you, and I can’t wait to be back for real.