I’ve often mentioned that John and Hank Green are some of my real-life heroes. I relied heavily on their free Crash Course videos when I was homeschooling. At the end of each video, John would say, “Don’t forget to be awesome.”

So this Sunday morning, I wanted to share that wisdom with my readers by saying the only way you get be a BlissFull You is, well, by being BlissFull!

I know in my Shock and Activate posts I am incensed by President Trump’s insensitivity and harmful comments about people I consider one of my several communities, which is federal civil servants. But I want to assure you that I don’t hang onto that anger all day. I gather facts in a way that is healthy for me–that is, I NEVER EVER watch the news, preferring to stay informed by reading high-quality journalism or other newsletters or bloggers. I experience my feelings, because it is also not healthy to avoid, suppress, or deny my emotional reactions about what is going on in our current political affairs. Next, I do what I can do about the situation. Sometimes, that is writing a blog post to call out this administration’s lies or to offer a different perspective. Sometimes, that is contacting my legislators to express my support or opposition to a piece of legislation or a nomination they will be voting on. Sometimes, that is checking in with someone who might be personally affected by the latest news. Sometimes, such as on Thursday night, all I can do is pray.

But after that, I let it go. And I return to Following my Bliss.

This is the thing about attempting to be Blissful: it must be an internal commitment that is not based on external circumstances. None of us have everything go exactly as we want 100% of the time. Right now, President Trump is riding high, feeling like he is King of the World. However, he is also a convicted felon, which is something he definitely did not want on his bio but was unable to prevent.

So, Bliss is a state of mind that is not determined by what is going on in our material lives.

After I sent off my blog post yesterday, I went to one of my most BlissFull communities: the Cary Downtown Farmers Market. My local farmers market is my version of Cheers–a place where everybody knows my name and they’re always glad I came. That is particularly true over these winter months where there is not a lot growing, but we still try to support our farmers by buying their soap or hot sauce or frozen meat or these ADORABLE little TRUE baby carrots (not the ones in the store that are just big carrots cut into pieces):

I usually meet up with several friends who are also committed CDFM shoppers. One in particular is a woman that I homeschooled with since both our sons were around five or six years old. However, I had to skip last week’s market to attend a funeral, and the market was snowed out the week before that, and she had work travel the week before that. So yesterday was an extremely warm FOR FEBRUARY and sunny day, so we sat down at a table to catch up on each other’s lives.

My friend bought me the beautiful fun cookie shown above. It was made by a delightful African American mom who is always laughing and smiling and joking and delivering great energy along with her delicious VEGAN baked goods sold at the Market. She proudly proclaimed “Happy Black History Month” on her chalkboard along with some new Valentines-oriented offerings.

My friend offered to buy whatever I wanted. There were many tempting treats available. However, my husband calls me a crow because I can never resist shiny, sparkling things. Usually those are clothes or jewelry, but here it was in cookie form! So she bought that for me, and she got a Raspberry Matcha Cruffin (a mix between a muffin and croissant, and still vegan in this case) for herself. We sat in the sun and enjoyed our sweets while she told me the changes going on in her workplace and I shared about my sister-in-law coming to visit from out of town and how I would spend the rest of the day cooking and learning and preparing for her.

For me, moments…or in this case, it was at least an hour…are Bliss.

So yes, I believe that when politicians are attacking or falsely accusing or promoting policies that I believe are harmful to less-powerful people, animals, or the planet, it’s time for Shock and Activate. But I also believe we can’t let those things overwhelm us so that we forget the joy it is merely to be alive.

Every morning, as part of my regular spiritual practices, I say “I am grateful for this day and I am grateful for this life.” And I am. And that is true including, not despite of, my calling to Shock and Activate.

My wish for us all this Sunday morning is that we can balance our calls to speak out in favor of our beliefs when they are being challenged with our need to find Bliss in every day.

So today, and every day…Don’t forget to be BlissFull!