Button up…

In the 2016 elections, I was rocked to my core by toxic political dialogue. (Oh, wait, has it been any different this year? Moving on…)

I experienced a sense of powerlessness in the face of all the verbal toxicity. Felt as if my internal emotional well was being poisoned. Somewhere, in the course of my readings, I saw a baseball cap emblazoned with “Make America Kind Again” and was instantly captured. Of course, never one to be shy, my ego spoke right up, saying “you look terrible in baseball caps!” (Truth.) Next best option - buttons. Ta-dah! The seeds for reclaiming my emotional wellspring were planted and took root very quickly.

A graphic designer friend created a prototype button saying, of all things, “Make America Kind Again.”😉 Rustled up a reasonably-priced button manufacturer online and headed for the runway. But wait, I wanted the buttons to be giveaways – all free - so there would be no inequality in terms of who could wear them. (Oy, little did I know what I was getting into.)

Ordered 100 and began by passing them out at my Quaker meeting. My friend, Tom, gently took me aside and said, “Jan, when has America ever been fully kind?” making mention of slavery, racism, etc. Whoops. His gentle schooling quickly led to the creation of a second button - “Make America Kind.”

Did I say I don’t like powerlessness? I need to add that I am also very uncomfortable with another p-word, polarization. This led to the creation of a third button, “ We’re all human, let’s connect.”

THEN there was the fourth button with a phrase purloined from a T-shirt given to me by a friend, “Humankind - be both.” The buttons, speaking empowerment, empowerment, just burst right out of the closet! Suddenly, folks wanted tangible options showing a different way of engaging in the toxic field of political conversation. Take a gander:

Make Love Great Again

Make Science Great Again

Make Good Trouble (John Lewis)

Let’s Talk - I’m Listening (created by Pam Schwingl)

Kindness Is Contagious

Wunderbar, a button aficionado even set up a website so people could order their own buttons from the manufacturer (without, thank heavens, having to go through me.) A statement on the website requested that all buttons purchased be freely shared with others. (No profits whatsoever came my way.)

As the buttons rolled out over the course of 4 years, a wide variety of communities - spiritual, nonprofit, and heaven knows who else from around the country - ferreted out, purchased, and disseminated buttons, freely given to any person who might want one. The joy of empowerment is that it can manifest in oh-so many forms. In this case, empowerment materialized as small, 1 and 1/4 inch custom buttons, sharing language that nurtured.

I closed the door on my button journey in 2020 - until today. While shopping at my food co-op, a long-time staff member approached me while I was in the checkout line. She had been a multi-button recipient over the years, wearing them each time I saw her at the co-op. She shared a story with me. Often, when stuck on the horns of a dilemma, the “Humankind - be both” button floated to mind, moving her in the direction of acting with integrity. I was touched and grateful that the buttons have taken on a life of their own.

(The top image is of my friend, Pam, planting buttons at the January 21, 2017 Women’s March on Washington. Talk about values, button dissemination over maintaining the integrity of her vest!)

❤️ I’d be very grateful if you’d consider sharing “This Being Human Thing.” Who couldn’t use more heart and humor?