In the midst of trauma, fear, and global chaos, I am hopeful about this year.
WHY? What in the world would give me that feeling?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE voter engagement.
The more people act in neighborhoods and communities (a TON of action steps in our Serve60Sharp newsletter), show up (even protesting), and vote, the more representative our elected bodies become. You may have heard recent conversations about the “3.5% rule”, noting the success rate of public movements engaging at least 3.5% of populations (great article here).
Imagine the impact if everyone who showed up to act for their neighbors or protest – voted… Especially in local elections which govern most of our day-to-day lives?
If you follow VoteSharp on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you’ve noticed our penchant for good quotes. Here’s one recent favorite:
As we look down the barrel of 2026, it’s a LONG way to November – 291 days.
- 8 hours: Sleep
- 8 hours: Work
- 8 hours: Engage (and eat, and work a little more, and sleep a little more, and pick up the kids, and hit the gym, and get the oil changed…)
What can we do in our families, work, and friend groups to engage more people? How can we give more people the tools to understand their role in the structures of our communities and indeed, the continuation of our democracy?
- Step 1: Avoid industry jargon. Yes, I know we’re technically a constitutional republic… but using industry jargon tends to alienate, not enfranchise/engage, so let’s start by using plain language.
- I love this stuff AND it’s my job. If it’s not your passion or your job, don’t carry guilt for not knowing all the answers! I don’t come to your work and expect to know how to do taxes or teach or engineer…
I’m a big fan of John Wesley convicting us to:
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
For some of us, it’s a workday effort (or as the hubs calls it, my “jobby”), for others it’s talking politics at the dinner table, attending a training, going to a city/school/county meeting or a state capitol, or even forwarding an email.
- Some days you can do more and some days your more is swallowed by more emergent priorities than esoteric concepts like democracy.
- And that’s OK – that’s also doing all the good you can.
- Some days you have 100% and others you start with 50% and just getting through the day takes 100% of it.
- That’s also doing all you can.
- NONE of this can be done without giving yourself grace and knowing what YOUR “can” is for today. And again tomorrow.
LET’S DO THIS. 2026 – WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!
Happy serving,
Stephanie Sharp
About Serve60Sharp
Serve60Sharp is a weekly, read-in-60-seconds newsletter, which provides readers with actionable ideas to serve their communities.
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