Rebel Nation Blog

Have you noticed we are always trying to escape? But what are we trying to escape from? Our birthright? Our calling? Our purpose? How many times have we been told who we are isn’t appropriate or good or acceptable? To whose standards? By whose definition? Who makes the rules now is not who has always made the rules. Women used to make the rules for birth – it was women’s work. And then men became doctors. Women used to be the keepers of community. And then men stopped

On Friday and Saturday, I co-facilitated a workshop with a local pastor and folks from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Human Services. The topic was homelessness in our town of Corvallis. This is the first time that I have heard this group of people laugh together, usually they are yelling at each other. There are many things about community capacity building that I love. These are the ones I want to share with you because I believe they can be translate

What if anger didn’t lead to violence? What if anger didn’t lead to violence perpetrated by ourselves against our own bodies or other women’s bodies? What if we feminized anger? What if anger… …led to passion… …led to action? What if we acted out of a space of passionate anger? We have to forgive ourselves for letting each other down in our own misperceptions about other women. We are trapped in a never ending cycle of fear paralysis. We have been blaming and shaming ourselve

I don’t have time. I don’t have the answers. I don’t have the education. I don’t have the training. I don’t know the definition. No one will believe me. No one will take me seriously. I am too young. I am too old. Someone else is already doing that, I am just so sure. People will be mean to me. People will yell at me. People will troll me. People will criticize me. People will think I am stupid. Y’ALL…stop it with the excuses already. Revolutions don’t start with

I desire a world where women have choice. I desire a world where women are safe to tell people in power their desires. I desire a world where women are able to be a voice for those who don’t have one. I desire a world where women can be free to do whatever they want with no judgment. I desire a world where women can write and express their truth on their own terms. I desire a world where women set politeness aside to talk politics and religion ALL THE TIME. I desire a world w

I just did an AMAZING workshop in Holyoke, MA called Fanning the Flames! It is a Bird Girl Industries special event to help women tap into their passion to make a difference in their OWN communities! What I love about these workshops is that I get to go into places all over the country and talk to women in their own spaces, hear their stories, and give them amazeballs ideas to help them find their voice and speak their own truth. 9 out of 10 times when I am doing a workshop w

Holy crap…advocacy is hard. What happens when you speak out against the status quo isn’t pretty. Especially if you are a woman. I mean…look at what the right wing is doing to Emma Gonzalez for speaking out against gun violence. Her male counterparts aren’t getting nearly the amount of grief that she is. Engaging in advocacy can be complicated on the best of days under the best of circumstances. As we now know…2018 is complicated like every 5 minutes…and every 3 minutes it b

I grew up Mormonish (LDS lite) in Utah. My relationship with God and Christianity was complicated to say the least. As a bisexual (sometimes lesbian, always queer) woman I hated religion and what religion stood for. To me it was hateful and biased. To me it held no space for growth and love. And so I mostly avoided houses of worship. To be clear I believe in God. I also believe in the divine Goddess, the Universe, and a higher presence much, much bigger than myself. I also be

Ohhhh y’all, 2017 is proving to be the year that the women stopped giving all the fucks. This weeks elections turned out to be a real doosey and proved the #resistance is alive and well, and it has NOTHING to do with old white guys and the status quo. Let’s just talk about this for one second…the brogressives (and even some women) think that we need to be focusing on white men to win elections for the Democrats. Hell some of those folks even think that we need to be courting

A few days ago I was hiking with my husband and we came across a bench in memory of Sylvia and Irving Silver “who lived life with a passion for justice”. I asked my husband, “what do you think our bench would say?” He responded, “I feel like I only qualify for a memorial folding chair.” That is my husband, always underestimating the contribution he makes to the world. I think our bench would say, “Missy & Jim – she saved the women, he saved the oceans.” What would your bench

I am drowning…I am drowning in: Shame     Guilt     Anger     Fierce HATE     Insecurity     Fear I am trying to pray. I am trying to be more love centered. I am trying to be kind. I am trying not to run away. But… All I want to do is: Scream     Throw     Kick     Beat    Yell     Cry     Lash Out     Breakdown     Sob I am trying to have patience. I am trying to let go. I am trying to stop self sabotaging. I am trying to keep looking at the sky. What is it that I don’

The truth is that I am love. I am worthy. I am big and huge and expansive and able to give and receive great huge amounts of love. I am bright light. I am the essence of kindness and beauty. I am more powerful when I am in love. I am a visionary/social justice/badass leader whose core message is to empower women and girls so that they can channel their power to change the world. I am a fierce public speaker who can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for non-profit o

Yesterday the 44th President of the United States gave his inaugural speech while I was driving down I-5 with our 10 and 2 year old.  At the sound of President Obama’s voice my 2 year old started clapping and said “Obama is my favorite guy” (for one second Batman took a step back) and my 10 year old took off her headphones and set down her Nook to listen to his words (a miracle).  I got my tissue at the ready, just in case I broke into inspired hysterics while driving such pr

Over the last two years I have transitioned from being a professional lobbyist and university professor to a full time stay at home mother to three children.  This life change has led me to challenge many of the personal ideas that I had about myself as a woman and has sent me on a life path that I never dreamed possible.  As I very clumsily made this dramatic shift, I sought inspiration from a variety of sources and happened to stumble upon Gabrielle Bernstein’s weekly vlogs