What’s Stopping You?

One Question. Nine Years. $1 Million.

I still remember where I was sitting.

It was a table close to the corner, right by the big front window. The sunlight was coming through just so, throwing a spotlight on the floor and warming my back.

It was a scarlet red time, right after the 2016 election. Everyday life was punctuated with emotions and fears so sharp they’d wake you up in the middle of the night, panicked at the nightmares to come once day broke.

But, on that particular day, I was distracting myself by eating brunch.

Someone should do something, I said, sipping on my coffee. There are so many people who are looking for something to do. There’s so much power there. We just need to direct it somehow.

Why don’t you do that? My companion replied.

That’s crazy. I laughed.

No, really. They looked up, a quite serious expression on their face. You know how to make a website. You’re a lawyer. You love to write. So what’s stopping you?

I didn’t have an answer to that question, frankly.

And that, friend, is how Small Deeds came to be.

I immediately started thinking about what I’d call this project – and the quote from Peter Marshall “Small Deeds Done are better than great deeds planned” had always stuck with me. After all, small things that actually get done will always do more than a two-year strategy plan that’s workshopped and talked to death but never implemented.

I’ll call it Small Deeds Done, I said out loud – to no one, and to everyone.

When I got home, I created the website. I set up an email list. I wrote the first entry.

November 20, 2016. Nine years ago, now.

The next day, I published the first list of actions. It was before Indivisible. Before organized calls-to-action were a regular thing. It was the wild west of advocacy, and it was pretty darn exciting if I do say so.

At first there was a lot of education. The branches of government, the two parts of Congress, how a bill becomes law. Helping people find their representatives, understand government structure and appreciate the power of the administrative state.

Every week I tried to teach something, but I learned far more about myself – about resilience and hope and community and persistence and dedication. I didn’t know it, but I was drafting my life’s mission statement in real time.

As the months ticked by, Small Deeds kept growing, expanding, opening up opportunities to connect and make a difference. In the fall of 2017 I had a fated coffee with a St. Louis native who had founded an organization focused on grassroots funding for congress; together we evolved that concept into what is now Every State Blue, which is dedicated to supporting downballot Democratic nominees in red states.

Suddenly my purpose and role within the pro-democracy movement crystallized – lifting up and loving on downballot nominees while introducing disaffected Democrats to their incredible power. I criss-crossed the state, speaking in union halls to hundreds and in church basements to a handful.

My message was simple: that every district, every voter, every race matters. That there is no such thing as a lost cause – just places begging for progress. That every community is worth fighting for – even red districts and rural spaces that had been ignored for cycles. That the best way forward isn’t to apologize for who we are as a party, but to lean into it – by living our values more openly, more directly.

The lynchpin of my talk was living out loud the saying “we all do better, when we all do better.”

Frankly, it was transformative.

If I close my eyes, I can still see the rooms, the faces, the tempered excitement and hope peeking out from behind guarded questions and gruff comments. I can still feel the energy shifting from downtrodden to determined; the scowls turning to smiles. I can still see the women who pressed their hands into mine and held them like a prayer, thanking me for the lift.

They didn’t know they were lifting me, too.

Through the miles and the meetings we changed people’s beliefs about what was possible. We dared people to dream about what it could look like if all of these big-hearted people cast their doubt aside, worked together, and put their shoulders into it.

And what started with my criss-crossing Missouri expanded to Ohio and Tennessee. What started as a few hundred people is now collectively a few thousand. And now we’ve raised and distributed over $1 million for Democratic state legislative nominees who are running – and making progress – in some of the most challenging places in the country.

We’re importing hope and encouragement; we’re jump starting progress; we’re living our values; we’re daring to dream big.

And it all started because nine years ago, while the sunlight warmed my shoulders, someone asked a simple question that challenged and changed my entire world.

What’s stopping you?

I didn’t have an answer. So I answered it the only way I know how – action. Movement. Doing the thing. That decision to start became Small Deeds. It became Every State Blue and three state expansions, hundreds of nominees supported, and over a million dollars raised.

One brunch. One question. Nine years.

And now, friend, I’m the one asking the question. And I’m asking it of you.

I’m not discounting the many practical things that get in the way of dreams and progress. But if what is standing between you and the world that you want to live in is inertia and self-doubt, I’m asking you to put those things to the side and recognize that you are far stronger than you think.

You have far more power than you think. You matter far more than you might admit to yourself, because admitting that power is weighty. It means you have a responsibility to use it.

I’m asking you to use the power that you’ve been given, friend, in the time that you’ve been given to use it.

After all, what’s stopping you?

Let’s get to work.

Actions for the Week of November 18, 2025

Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see. In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.

I call it Action Therapy.

That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Join me in doing so. It matters.

Small Call to Make: Aftyn Behn for Congress!

Tennessee is near and dear to my heart – with Blue Tennessee being Every State Blue’s newest state expansion. State representative and congressional candidate Aftyn Behn is one of those people who recognized early the power of our grassroots model and wasn’t afraid to encourage people to be part of it. She’s the real deal, and I have been so inspired by the incredible campaign she’s waged for a congressional special election. It’s a Republican district, but she’s got the momentum and energy and the political climate is such that this kind of district is very much in play. If anyone can do it, Aftyn can.

Honestly, we need her in Congress.

So please join one of her phone banks in the coming days! She has power hours each weekday. The election is December 2 and voting is underway. RSVP here: https://www.mobilize.us/aftynforcongress/event/862976/

Small Event to Attend: Thursday at 8pm eastern – We Ain’t Buying It (H/T to Rogan’s List)

From the always-amazing Rogan’s List: We’re just days away from the start of our next major act of economic noncooperation. We Ain’t Buying It, an ask for our fellow Americans to hit pause on shopping Target, Amazon and Home Depot, starts November 27th. Together, we are going to take on the corporations that are weakening our democracy, threatening working power and bending to this regime.

This is a big week to get the word out and recruit more participants in this boycott. May Day Strong will be holding a national call on Thursday at 8PM ET to rally support for this and other efforts targeting corporate collaborators. We can join this call here.

Small Thing to Read: American Communities Project Survey Finds Steady Concerns Amid Constant National Change

Yesterday the AP and American Communities Project announced the findings of a survey they conducted in August/September this year. It’s a fascinating deep dive into how the current political environment is being interpreted by different communities. You won’t be surprised to learn, for example, that Trump-voting areas report being more hopeful now than they were one year ago. (Query whether that is still as true as it was in August – things have moved quickly.)

You may have seen the AP reporting on this yesterday, but I think reading the whole shebang is important for context and clarity.

I think this is a great piece to read to help understand the bubbles that we are all in so that we can keep breaking out of them. Check it out here:

America in 2025: Survey Finds Steady Concerns Amid Constant National Change

Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.

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