A Precious Gift You have Shared with Us
Our love of Christmas Cards and Country
Last year, I mentioned causally on the show that I loved Christmas cards. Then, as often happens at Pantsuit Politics, our community of listeners picked up that little thread and wove it into something beautiful. Several of you mentioned you’d love to send Beth and me a card, so Maggie shared our PO Box. The cards (and gifts!) started pouring in, and now we’re on our second year of holiday card joy. We’re even sending cards back to you, and we have a beautiful listener card exchange so you can share the joy with each other.
I have a stack of over 200 cards on my desk, and I cannot begin to express what it feels like to sit down and open envelope after envelope filled with your beautiful faces and heartfelt messages. In my hands, I hold your wedding photos and pregnancy announcements. (Or even better, baby pictures after the pregnancy announcements last year. I see you Baby Sekai!) I see that you moved or sent children to college. I read about career changes and trips around the world.
What takes my breath away is what you’ve overcome and how tenderly you share that as well. So many of you buried people who were dear to you and your families and I love that you celebrate that life right alongside the straight A’s and sports wins. One listener learned to walk on prosthetic legs. More than one overcame cancer. Several experienced pregnancy loss or stillbirth. The bittersweet reality that years don’t hold joys but sorrows, too, feels like a precious gift you have shared with us.
Of course, these cards don’t just make me cry; they make me laugh, laugh, laugh. Y’all are so damn creative… and also very inspired by our girl Taylor. Everyone is in an era. Crystal is in her Empty Nest Era. Megan is in her 40s Era complete with several costume changes and a pic of her with Travis! The grand prize goes to Rachel, who wrote a family-themed newsletter where every member had a story. Rachel’s headline was “Mother Spends 2023 Talking About Taylor Swift More than Her Children” I snorted. SAME, Rachel. SAME.
The creativity went far beyond the Swifties. The Stecks dressed up as Home Alone characters in what is perhaps the best themed card I’ve ever seen and then had Home Alone themed puzzles included to boot! I thought Lauryn’s card was just adorably designed with her dog in a fun costume until I realized it matched the colors of the literal ice cream shop she and her husband bought!
I love talking to all of you every week, but seeing you is so special. And, if that wasn’t enough, several of you take the time to write what our work means to you. Some of you write a quick note. Some of you write long letters. Tara sent us a list of lessons she’s learned from us and how those lessons have manifested in her life! To let that level of love and gratitude wash over me is a practice I’m only beginning to develop after two years. All I can think is, “Everyone deserves to end this year this way.”
So, thank you. Thank you to all of you who took the time to pop a card in the mail, send a gift, or write a letter. Cherish is my word for 2024, and reading your cards makes me feel cherished in such a profound way. We love and cherish each and every one of you here at Pantsuit Politics. Thank you for your time and support and, especially, your holiday greetings.
Sarah
Sarah and Beth mentioned on today’s show that your messages and emails shape and add to our thinking. If you have thoughts after the episode, we’d love to hear them. You can email our team at hello@pantsuitpoliticsshow.com (we read every email, but if you don’t need a response, you can let us know by including “No Reply Needed” in the subject line).
We loved this note from Grace. Her wrestling with the balance between equanimity and fighting for our democracy resonated with us. For reasons.
Hi Sarah, Beth, and Team!
My name is Grace, and I’m a long-time listener who’s written in before. I just wanted to drop a note to say I particularly loved last week’s episodes going through state legislatures and discussing Trump’s campaign progress. I also wanted to ask for your insight.
I appreciated the conversation you both had regarding fighting for our democracy. I can’t think of anything else, save for protecting and providing for my loved ones, that I would put my physical safety at risk for other than to support our democracy. But I also loved Beth’s note on the language of fighting and that we are not at a literal fighting stage, more just needing to engage by learning, going to the polls, and having conversations. Language is important, and the words we use to speak about issues matters. This conversation renewed my weary political heart, so thank you.
I also wanted to share a thought I had about the sense many Americans are feeling that our democracy is in danger or that America is coming to an end. (While I agree with Sarah on this, I don’t love this language and approach.) The other day, I was reading/meditating about the Buddhist principle of accepting that everything is impermanent. Nothing lasts. I think remembering the impermanence of all things is the approach our country needs right now, with our democracy feeling so at stake with the 2024 election. As you said, I certainly don’t want a dictator. I love our country and think that this multicultural democracy is so special and worth the trouble and work of engaging in politics (working with people) to make it better. And also, maybe some aspects of it need to die and be reborn. I know these are things the team already knows, but I am sharing because I also do not want to fall into a state of despair and gloom.
Something else that’s been weighing on my heart lately is the phrases you’ve used regarding loving our country and, in general, loving where you’re at in life, loving your corner of the world. I am also tired of the Left constantly demeaning our country. And yet, I think it comes from a place of caring, and they need to rework their messaging. We don’t critique things we don’t care about and that we aren’t deeply invested in. If we did not care for our country, we would be indifferent. I don’t want us to be indifferent about our government and politics, as you both said. I want us to engage. It seems like the trouble is that we all care about these issues but don’t want to engage in the existing systems to do anything about it. I don’t want to be a part of that problem.
I was born and raised in (small town) Indiana. I grew up hearing a broader cultural message that the best thing you can do for yourself and have a good life is either get out of the state or at least make it to Indianapolis. Many people in college looked down on those of us who were raised in Indiana. There’s a sense that the Midwest is not prestigious. But now I am living near Indianapolis, and I have lived in several small towns and smaller cities in Indiana, and I do love it here. I love being by and working in Indy, but I also love Indiana, and I hate to see what the Republican Party is doing to my state. I recently took a survey for my representative Jim Baird, and all of his questions were so leading. I try to follow along with his activities. I’ve tried to write him, but his responses are confusing, and it is a little infuriating to feel like he’s just playing Hoosiers with the lack of clarity around issues and lack of honesty in general. I love the people of Indiana. I love our rural communities, how we look out for each other, and how even the more suburban areas of Indiana have remnants of this culture. Jim Baird, Gov Holcomb, and many politicians in my state have enormous power over issues I know both my conservative and liberal loved ones care about and actually have a lot of common ground on. It does discourage me and anger me that they don’t seem to consistently honor that. (I included a screenshot of the survey if you want to see.)
All that being said, I feel a call to fight for our democracy by getting more involved, but I have no idea where to even begin beyond the work I’ve already been doing thanks to you both (having nuanced conversations, exercising my right to vote, donating to campaigns). Do you or others in the Pantsuit Politics community have resources for those who are interested in beginning to get involved in local politics or at least understanding it better? I feel called to try and learn more and be on the ground, at least at a county level. I am tired of politics being a dirty word and I want to contribute to our democracy if I can. I want to have a better understanding of what is going on legislatively at my state level because many times I read headlines or new bills and I am confused. Currently, I work full time as a research nurse. I volunteer at my county’s humane society. Still, beyond that, I’m not sure where to even begin to understand local and state issues more concretely and how I could possibly begin to affect the state of Indiana’s politics.
Thank you all for hanging in there with the long email. Thank you for the work you do and any resources you can point me towards. It would be an understatement to say that pantsuit politics feels like family. Your work and the lessons you all teach have impacted me deeply, and engaging with your podcast and community has made me better and certainly our country better.
Most sincerely,
Grace
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