Oh ‘tis the season – of email development and donation page testing, year-end package delivery monitoring, checking daily deposits and last-minute matches, just in case.

Whether you work at an organization, agency or another part of our industry, December often feels more like a 770-hour sprint and January 2nd the brass ring.

I took my son to his first Broadway show last Saturday for his birthday (he’s so grown up now!) and we had an amazing time—right up until he said, “Mom, stop talking about the optimal number of stamps on an envelope and email deliverability; it’s my birthday!” And I realized I had a problem. I had the year-endsies and I needed a bit of realignment.

So, no tips, trade-secrets or last-minute optimization recommendations. Just some thoughts to make sure I stay in the present and remember why we stress over postage and sender scores.

• Health is everything. Without your health – both physical and mental – you cannot achieve anything in life. Thank you @americares for reminding me of this every day and providing it to people who cannot access it on their own.
• It’s not enough to talk the talk. To make an impact, you have to walk the walk. Thank you to everyone who worked so tirelessly on the 2018 mid-terms and continue their work for the 2020 national elections. Yes, I’m looking at you Rosa!
• Speaking of mid-terms, I was reminded how privileged I am that I never questioned my right to vote. Thanks to @TheTaskForce for helping restore the voting rights of over 1.4 million people in Florida. It was a great win, but only one battle in war against disenfranchising voters.
• I knew separating children from their parents was awful, but I didn’t know how awful until I saw this segment from John Oliver (scroll to 15:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVX1z6tDGI. Thanks to @lirs and @irc for all you are doing to help unite families and care for these children. Thanks to @hrw for not stopping at family separation #EndFamilyDetention.
• It’s the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was created to ensure that no one would ever have to suffer the atrocities committed by the Nazis. Thanks @hrw for my copy; time for another read.
• Huge shout out to my THA team, who creates the most amazing fundraising campaigns I’ve ever seen, all while telling me, “no, you may not have a pop-up tent in the package”. They are the most dedicated, talented, smartest group of people I’ve ever worked with and I don’t tell them enough how grateful I am to spend my days working alongside them.
• And, it goes without saying, thanks to the Royals, especially Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, to whom I’m especially indebted to for my sanity. You all have given me hours of mindless reading pleasure. You can check out the latest on their bff vs frenemy status here.