JENenergy--Life, Love, God and Other Stuff

I got on Facebook today to ask other Bernie supporters what they thought should happen with the whole Arizona voting and not voting and that whole thing . You know what? There are a lot of smart people backing Bernie and I am amazed, pleased, impressed and gratified because these people are coming up with solutions. So, for tonight, I leave it in their capable hands.   Tonight, I am grounding, meaning using oils, took the dogs for a walk, exercised, going to shower. I am weary with all the corruption. My heart has been heavy with the bombings in Brussels. Tonight, I need to ease my spirit. I did, however, LOVE the bird incident at Bernie's rally. L-O-V-E.

Many years ago, I knew a woman who'd been horribly abused by many of her family members. I remember watching her cry until I thought she would die of a broken heart. I wondered how she could endure this. Her family denied the abuse. Her siblings turned against her. She had issues with a capital *I*. I asked her once how she could handle all of it. She replied simply, "I stand for truth." That statement is one of the tenets that I have since embraced in my own life. I ask myself: does this help me stand for truth? If I stand for truth, how should I behave? At the end of this election experience, aka fiasco aka revolution, I know that my working for Bernie Sanders leads me to answer my own questions with yes. Does working for Bernie Sanders help me stand for truth? Yes. If I stand for truth, how should I behave? Support Bernie Sanders to ensure he becomes the next president of the United States of America. And so it is.

Today, as the dust settles on Bernie's fantastic victories in ID and UT and the sludge being dragged into the light about whatever it was that happened in Arizona and how can we fix it and will anyone even try to fix it, what I'm seeing is a lot of angry people. We all want to know what happened there--and elsewhere. Is the media not covering Bernie properly? Is Bernie as popular as Hillary? Or more? Things are getting stressed. My Hillary fan friends tell me all the reasons why she is so great, but in a rather vicious and almost superior way. Like, "Oh, you like Bernie. You're one of those. When you get more educated on the facts (meaning, reading the polls that favor Hillary), you'll see." My Bernie friends too are scrambling, looking for stats to prove he will be the president, which I actually think will happen. What troubles me is how easy it is to become negative toward others, even those on the same side (meaning those who share my admiratio...

It is midnight and I am finally settled after the wild ride hubs and I had at the UT caucus in Spanish Fork. First, I am so remarkably grateful we volunteered to take ballots and voter registration forms at the Democratic Caucus. It was a stampede! A wild, crazy, energy-filled caucus that brought voters out like crazy. I keep saying crazy. There's a reason. It was so much fun, smiling at everyone including some brand new shiny young voters, some people who had never voted before who were "older" and a gob of Republicans standing in a cold, cloudy night outside the junior high school to vote. One cute lady came in and said, "My hands are so cold! But I'm gonna vote!" One cute young man and his mother were so excited they took photos of themselves with their ballots. Darling! I was filled with such happiness to be part of something so historic, so filled with hope, such complete and utter fun. This guy was guiding people through the line. That guy was say...

  I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach. Tonight's the night! After all the hard work, hope, the community of it all--tonight is Utah's night. You see, as an actress, I know what having an important night means. In the acting world, it's opening night. You go to your audition and then you sit and wait. Did I get the part? Yes! Then you go to rehearsal after rehearsal, spend an inordinately insane time learning your lines. Your whole life sort of goes on hold in pursuit of finding your character. Tons. Of. Commitment. And then, opening night. You have trusted your director. You step onstage and hope you do your best. But the thing is, you hope your cast does well, too. You hope the audience is excited to be there, becomes engaged in your performance. You hope that all your hard work crystallizes into perfection--that you and all who are there find the success you've been planning for. And you count on everyone in that building to find and embrace...

My husband, Craig and I went to see Bernie Sanders again today. Yes, we saw him on Friday and as volunteers, were on our feet the whole day and came home and hibernated on Saturday. That night, we found out that Bernie was coming back. And so were we. Today's rally was indoors at a high school gym. It was packed. It was hot. It was awesome. Before the rally Though much of what he said was a repeat of his comments on Friday, listening to it a second time brought out different messages for me today. What touched me most was his praise, his understanding and his willingness to reach out  to all of us in that gym--all of us Utahns. I can't quote it perfectly, but basically he said: :Now, I understand that Utah is a Conservative state. But the people here are kind. They are good people." As he said "good" something hit me. What I loved about this small message was that he appreciates and values the people of Utah. He gets that we are from a long histor...

Last Friday, I went to a Bernie Sanders rally in Salt Lake City, Utah. I posted one of my impressions of that stupendous event on Facebook and it has been since shared hundreds of times. Here is the post: 3.18.16 I went to a rally for Obama in 2007 and it was amazing. Today's Bernie rally, however, touched me in a way nothing ever has before politically. He mentioned drugs. He mentioned heroin and how it's better to rehabilitate, not incarcerate. My son Nathan died from a heroin OD. With Bernie's comment about the seriousness of addiction and how it often kills, well, that was the first time I cried in the rally, but not the last. Bernie Sanders gets it. ‪ RIP Nathan Kelly   #‎ berniegetsit‬  #feelthebern

I am writing this post because I feel it's essential that I share my dual messages today, the week before Easter Sunday and two days away from our UT caucus. I send this message for the purpose of standing up for my beliefs and for you to share. If any of these views are not in keeping with your own beliefs, please do not reply or try to argue with me. I appreciate your caring for me, your other differing ideas and understanding and respect them. I am happy you are secure in your spiritual, religious and political ideals and applaud you for coming to these important tenets in your life. I ask you again, please do not comment in the negative about what I am saying in this post. Please do not personal message me. I am writing this post to tell my story and if it resonates with you or others you know who can benefit from it, invite you to share it. I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I converted when I was 16. I believe it, love it and embrac...