Hope in the Dark

Like most working families, the morning of November 6 was also just another Wednesday in our household. It was time to get kids to school and adults to work. To respond to emails like everything hadn’t somehow shifted. 

We owed our daughters, who helped us "color in" our ballots, an update. First we shared with them that almost every person and initiative that we voted for in Washington State had passed.

This included some very important races for our family like the election of Bob Ferguson as our new governor and No on Initiative 2117 which was an attempt to repeal our Climate Commitment Act, an incredible standard for how other states might think about capping their largest polluters and investing those funds in climate solutions focused especially on overburdened communities.

We also had to talk about our one big loss. For that, we pivoted to a metaphor that we thought might resonate with our budding soccer players: we lost, but we played with integrity and with every loss comes an opportunity to learn. It seemed to be enough for our elementary school girls. Thankfully, the only follow-up questions were about breakfast.

There has been a lot written about what happened, but we keep centering on our role as folks who live in a state where we have many protections both in terms of human rights and in our climate policies. How can we share what has been working here? How can each of us tap into creativity to weave our own paths of justice and how can we support the most vulnerable in all of this work?

The first actionable thing that comes to mind is continuing to vote with our dollars—both in our everyday purchases—and in the abstract but even more impactful practice of being intentional about our finances: where we bank, invest, and are insured.

We wrote about this previously because of how empowered it made us feel to reimagine both our business and personal finances. We also recently had the opportunity to participate in an inspiring climate finance action cohort organized by the B Corp community. The findings from our group are included in this guide here if you’d like to learn more.  

As we enter the holiday season, we would be remiss not to mention the small independent businesses that could really use your support this year. In a separate post, we have listed a few of our faves here in the Pacific Northwest as well as a few B Corp’s in the design industry that we think you should know.

Keep safe and well out there. And, when in doubt, orient towards the light.