Hi there Bethany,

I have some (happy) personal news & updates I had planned to share this week, but given what’s going on globally and locally, this just doesn’t feel like a great time.

I’m sure by now you have seen the news about what happened on Wednesday in Lewiston, a place I called home when I was a student at Bates College. This is occurring all while the horrors of Israel and Gaza continue. I’m finding myself wondering more and more what kind of cruel, dark, and horrid world we’re trying to live in and raise our sweet, kind, innocent children. For the last three days, I’ve questioned why have we chosen to create a society where kids and families can’t even go bowling or out to dinner (or to school, to the movies, to church, or the grocery store) without it being a risk to their safety & lives?

I’ve written and rewritten this newsletter 25 times between yesterday and today (which is why it’s going out so late) and I’m finding myself getting too emotional and upset to write anything worthwhile. So I’m just going to say this:

Whether you have anxiety and events like this make it worse, or these types of events upset you just in the moment, I’d like to offer these two tips: 1) Try to find ways to take action, whether that’s making a donation somewhere, giving blood, or calling your state reps. Action is often an antidote to anxiety. 2) Find something to be genuinely grateful for. Gratitude can also be a way to quell some anxiety and it helps shift our mindset. Our country is far from perfect, but I’ll be forever grateful that I can provide food & clean water to my children, and hug and kiss them before I tuck them into their warm beds at night.

Finally, as devastating and upsetting as this event in Lewiston is, and unnerving as it is to know law enforcement is still searching for the shooter, it was never a question of if this would happen here, but when and where. I was really shaken after Uvalde and firmly believed that nothing was stopping that from happening at our own kids’ school or in our community. I knew it was just a matter of time, and our time happens to be now. However, none of us can truly be surprised by this, it’s an everyday occurrence in this country after all. The saddest part is we continue to choose to live this way, to live in fear, to risk our children’s safety when we simply want to take them bowling. While some people argue that we’re the freest country on the planet, just remember that free doesn’t equal safe. I would ask you to keep that in mind the next time you have the chance to vote.

Stay well, and to my fellow Mainers, be safe,
Bethany

BETHANY’S PICKS

As the search in Lewiston continues, so many events are getting canceled this weekend and even early next week. We don’t know yet if we’ll be able to safely go trick-or-treating on Tuesday, but I’m getting our better-for-you candy ready anyway. Many “traditional” candies use artificial sweeteners and dyes, two things I try hard to avoid. Instead, I opt for brands like Unreal, Justin’s, and YumEarth. These are still sweet treats, but their ingredients are a little bit cleaner.