Happy Monday, friends. How are you feeling? I have a heavy heart over all the firsthand accounts of racism my eyes have been opened to on social media this past week coupled with the the loss of our sweet family pup on Friday, but I’m willing myself to feel a sense of hope amidst the sadness. I’m focused on the changes I can make both in my online presence (some of which I shared in this post) and my offline life (which is where the real work has to happen day in and day out).

I thought the photos above would be a fitting way to welcome the start of a new chapter as so many of us embark on our own individual journeys to becoming better allies for Black people and people of color. I snapped them on Saturday as we celebrated the high school graduation of two A Better Chance scholars and listened to each of them reflect on their four years in Darien and share their hopes as they get ready to head to college in the fall. Celebrating the transformation from when we first met them when they were 14 to the brilliant, confident, independent young women they are today gave me so much hope for our collective future and was a really nice reminder of the impact we can all have in our own communities. Chelsea’s Instagram stories have also been a really bright light for me in this way — I’m clinging to her optimism that this unprecedented level of attention, education, and empathy can yield real change in our country.

This past week I’ve realized it’s an extraordinary privilege to be able to learn about racism rather than experiencing it firsthand and I want to reiterate that I’ll remain committed to the process of educating myself even when you don’t see daily documentation of it on my online platforms. I’m eager to expand my horizons here in terms of the bloggers whose voices I’m amplifying, businesses whose products I’m sharing, and authors whose books I’m reading, but it’s equally important for me (and all of us!) to focus on having real life conversations about race and privilege with family members and friends, figuring out where we personally can have the most impact in creating equal opportunities for people of color, and being more thoughtful about where we’re spending and donating our discretionary income. There are so many worthwhile starting points in this list of resources, but I started listening to the audio version of So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo over the weekend and have found it really perspective-shifting (is that a thing?!) if anyone wants to join me. Moving forward I’ll continue to share resources I find helpful along the way, but know that I’m committed to becoming actively anti-racist for the rest of my life and that work by definition cannot be an overnight transformation or something I can boil down into a handy Instagram visual. I’d love to hear how you’re feeling, what you’re reading, and what changes you’re making in your home and/or work life — you can always leave a comment on the blog, DM me on Instagram, or send me an email if you want to talk.