A few weeks ago, I had the gift of seeing Stacey Abrams speak about her journey and her work. I laughed. I cried. I felt seen. I felt inspired. Every word was authentic and sincere. Every observation was profound and came from hard-won experience. It’d be hard to distill everything I took away because it was all so rich and important, but here are the few that I found especially searing, especially in the context of Carnot’s ambitions.
“Put your money where your values are.”
For those of us who have the means to do so, walking the talk will often translate into writing a check – to donate to a philanthropy; to support a cause; to sponsor a scholarship; to invest in a friends & family round; to buy from companies or individuals who support our values. We may not all be once-in-a-generation activists like Stacey Abrams but we can all act (see: Crusadurday) and we must.
“Plotting is one of the stages of grief.”
Honestly, I was rocked by this statement. It felt so true to me and my experiences. If we skip the phase in which we reconcile and translate our emotions into plans, then we waste a deep source of motivation and healing. If we can make sense of our grief (or other ‘negative’ emotions) such that it reframes the loss as a driver of purpose, we will emerge stronger, more resilient, and more powerful than before.
“Do not wait.”
Put another way, you are enough, just as you are. Nothing about you needs to be different (often thought of as “improved”) in order to begin working toward your goals, whatever those might be. Underrepresented people in particular do ourselves – and others – a disservice by waiting until [insert excuse here] to just begin. If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
The interviewer for the conversation quoted Maya Angelou in reference to all that Stacey Abrams has achieved: “If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.” Put your money into that fantasy. Channel your anger or sadness into action. Start now. Together, we will be more than enough.