clare_dragonfly | The March

Entry tags:

life,
politics

The March

The Women's March on Washington was incredible. While I was in it, I mostly felt stressed and overwhelmed, because crowds and I do not get along. But I'm glad I pushed through that and went.

Seeing all the women (and men, and people of other genders, and dogs), all the signs, all the images and news headlines, all the marches around the world, makes me feel really proud and inspired to have been involved. To have helped make history.

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The photos on Twitter looked amazing. I don't think I would have coped well with so many people, so I can understand how it would have made you feel stressed and anxious.

And yet, I still wish I'd been organised enough to attend the local march.

Yes, I felt it was worth going despite the stress--if everyone only participated in political action within their comfort zones, very little would get done. I hope you'll be able to get involved in the next action or protest that seems like a good idea to you!

It helped a lot that my husband came with me (we went with his mother and her roommate, and his brother joined us later--my family went to their local march). We were able to take a few minutes here and there to just rest on each other and get our strength back again.

Going with friends and family really seems like the way to go.

The crowds were incredibly overwhelming, but something I noticed here in NYC (and I hope was the case in other cities)? When someone was feeling claustrophobic or crowded, or even just needed to get through to join their group, the crowd would clear a path for them, no questions asked.

Incredible day. Wish the NYC march had been better organized and more intersectional, but incredible.

I'm sure that was true in DC as well--I did notice one woman calling "Clear a path! Medical emergency!" Everyone quickly got out of their way, and she was leading three other women, all in a line with their hands on each other's shoulders. It was good to see people taking care of each other that way.