If you only have five minutes per day, there are still powerful actions you can take.

Seriously, there are many good reasons you may have little time for democratic action. Mothering children, working two or three jobs just to survive, coping with debilitating trauma or disease–the list is long. And, I will say, that if you belong in any of these groups (or several at once) you likely need the resources a true democracy can offer–protective social services, social justice, and affordable medical care, just to name a few. We can all contribute to the effort of creating freedom for the protection of all life, and, if we can, we need to do so. That is why having options that don’t require major lifting helps everyone to become creative political partners.

Beginner’s Mind

If you are just beginning to engage, starting with small steps and repeating regularly is highly effective in building your action muscles. In fact, starting small is preferred. Why? Transforming into a democratic hero requires unlearning many demoralizing patterns and learning new empowering behaviors. We may feel demoralized for many reasons, such as reading the news, which is often overwhelmingly negative; witnessing too many disturbing political arguments; feeling unknowing due to education failures; not knowing what is real due to influencer overload and AI deep fakes; or, sadly, not feeling important, because your representative doesn’t care what you think. Again, the list goes on…

If you have become politically demoralized, your system will likely resist your efforts to take action. It’s normal. It’s natural. But please know this: You matter. So much. Many people are out there working hard to create change. They need you to join them. Insist on small steps and celebrate every new thing you do. Soon you’ll have capacity to do more. Here are some easy ways to get involved.

Jessica Craven’s Substack: Chop Wood, Carry Water

Jessica offers timely directives for taking strategic action, and her emails are designed to offer you about 5-7 minutes of action that you can take to effectively resist authoritarians and help build a better democracy. She has many state specific actions on her Substack channel that are updated regularly.  You’ll get call scripts for your reps*, Resistbot Scripts**, and a way to find an election somewhere that you can help out (postcarding, calling, phone banking, text banking) 

Inspiring words from Jessica:

Believe in our power. Our job is to not quit while it’s hard. They want us to. They’re counting on it. They literally think we’re snowflakes. They think their orgy of destruction will force us to walk away in exhaustion.  They’re going to find out that they’re very wrong.

Breathe in strength. Breathe out fear. I’m not downplaying the danger. It’s real. I simply believe in our power more than I fear their malevolence. You should too.  Now let’s get to work.”

*5 Calls App 5 Calls is the easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact. They provide a list of important issues as well as pieces of legislation being proposed, context for why these matters and a call script. The numbers for your reps are provided front and center, and all you have to do is find 5 minutes to do it. 

Calling Your Rep Is More Effective Than You May Think.

Calls are free, easy to do, and powerful! Phone calls to elected representatives are powerful, because they’re one of the most direct ways for constituents to make their voices heard and lawmakers track them carefully. Every call that comes into a congressional or state office is logged and tallied by staff: what issue it’s about, whether the caller is for or against a position, and how strongly they feel. When offices start receiving a surge of calls on a specific topic, it sends a clear signal that voters are paying attention and that the issue has political consequences.

Unlike emails or online petitions, calls demand real-time attention. A staffer has to pick up, listen, and record the concern, which makes the outreach harder to ignore. Lawmakers use these tallies to gauge public sentiment and to brief the representative on what their constituents care about most. In short, a few dozen calls can outweigh hundreds of signatures, and a flood of calls can shift priorities, stall bad legislation, or give crucial backing to good ones.

Fear Not

If you feel intimidated calling and speaking with someone, just remember: They don’t know you. If it helps, pretend you are someone else, like your grumpy uncle or a cartoon character (I use Bugs Bunny). Just Call.

However, if it is still too intimidating and you just don’t want to do it, there is always RESISTBOT.

**Resistbot: Resistbot is a chatbot that turns your texts into faxes, postal mail, or emails to your representatives in minutes. This is the easiest way to be heard. Send the word resist to Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, or by text to 50409 and answer the questions texted back. That’s it. You don’t have to speak with anyone, but you have used your voice and that’s what matters. Why? Because you matter.

You matter. ‘Nuf said.