Women's March OC...

I, among what's now looking like almost 3 million other people took to the streets and marched in one of the largest US Protests in history - oh and I did I mention not one incident of violence?  This my friends is the Women's March.

The entire election process this time around was awful.  I saw so much division among my peers.  Although most of my circle falls to the left, I do still have dear friends and family that fall to the right.  But this time around everyone was divided, on all sides.  Right and Left didn't matter. My heart broke into pieces watching the hate, the sadness, the fear. I could make this paragraph go on and on but that's not what this blog is about.

This blog is about the experience I shared this past Saturday with about 20K of like minded people.  And this experience was amazing.

Let me back up and say - I needed something.  Something that I felt mattered.  Something that wasn't fueled by hate or violence.  I've gone into this year with more of a fighting spirit as I mentioned a few blogs ago.  I want to do more.  I need to do more.  This march was just that.  It wasn't a bandwagon thing.  It meant something.  And then it grew and holy shit - we made our voices heard.

I read up on the march a couple of weeks ago and when I found the mission statement I was on board.  A bunch of my friends were starting to say they were also attending and then it just grew.  This organization is already starting it's next campaign and I plan to be involved.  I'm in.  No more talk.  It's time for action.

You all also know I'm a big pile of love.  As sarcastic and mouthy as I can be (Hello Irish side) when it comes down to it I want peace. Unity.  Joy.  Equality. You know - people caring about each other.  Compassion.  Love for fucks sake.  We are all human beings.  Race, religion, sexuality, gender - IT DOESN'T MATTER - we're humans.  We should treat each other with compassion, love and respect.  But I digress....Women's March:

The night before, mom came over and wrote out the message I wanted to carry then I painted over it.

A bunch of my friends were hitting the LA march but I wanted to represent the OC.  I figured it'd be like a baby version compared to the bigger cities but I wanted to be here, in my town.  Um...20K is not baby.

Ready to go Sat morn!

I packed my car with my dear friend Brenda, my coworker friend Hallie and her mom and the lovely Shelly.  It was a tight squeeze but we did it!  I came in the back way to DTSA and we sailed right into one of the parking structures.  I was thrilled for the ease of it and thought, oh this event wont be that big.  We followed the stream of women heading towards the meet point.  Here's our amazing car load of ladies:

The Fab Five

We were directed into the street where the march was gathering and then basically just hung out for an hour and watched the crowds streaming in.  I started to realize  - there's alot of people here!!  There were friends all over and not all of us met up but knowing they were there made me so happy!  When I saw one of my guy friends coming - he said "I can't do nothing".  I burst into tears.  So much support from everyone.

I also want to stress how amazingly positive this was.  Every single person I encountered was polite, friendly, happy - It was fucking amazing and I don't even know how to put into words the inspiration and love that filled my heart.

Waiting to March

The front of the march

As we started to march, there were folks chanting and cheering.  The crowd control people were joining in, cheering us as we walked by.  The police were smiling and waving as we marched by, some people shouting thank yous to them. The entire thing lasted maybe 30/45 min or so and was only positive.  I saw no hecklers, heard no negativity and most importantly not once shred of violence.

These ladies

My heart swelled at this older couple.  That's a good man right there.

And this couple too! He had his arm lovingly around his lady as they marched on

When we saw this, that's when we realized this march is truly huge - that's like 20 minutes behind us!

After the march, we headed to the Gypsy Den where 2 other friends met up and we had a fantastic long brunch with mimosas!  Thank you Jessica for treating us!


Here's some shots from my FB friends all over the US posting from their march.  I've never seen my feed blow up with so many of the same wonderful event from all over.

 From friends in LA:

 Friends in DC where the main march was:

My friend in Alaska!

My friend in Chicago

My friend in Philly

My friend in New York

I could go on and on.  If you google the march you'll see thousands and thousands and thousands of people all over the US.  These are just from my friends on FB.  It was something to see.


You guys - it was amazing.  It was peaceful.  It was glorious.  We made an impact and this is just the beginning.  I know some people are poo-pooing the march saying these people's time should have been spent doing something else, or this doesn't matter, or it's just a bunch of angry liberal women, or do this or that instead of marching if you want to make a difference.  To all of you  - I say you're just wrong.  This made a difference.  This brought millions of people together, peaceful, to protest and stand up for our rights.  I know it certainly inspired me to do more, to fight back and to still have faith in humanity.  Right now that's what I needed and I'm only 1 person.  This was a great thing and I was honored to be a part of it!