If you’ve ever been a part of a volunteer-based organization or church, you are well versed in the “time, talent, treasure” pitch. It’s some summary of a few Bible verses, as best I can tell. I’m tempted to check with God to see if we can add Twitter to the mix, so I’ll let you now how that goes. If we can, I assure you I Am Killing It.

So today, we’re going to talk about the treasure part. It’s the last day of the month and it seems, from the emails and social media posts, that candidates for the 2018 election have monthly fundraising goals they need to meet.

So who are you sending money to?

I won’t suggest specific people, because you likely have your own favorites wherever you live. But I’ll tell you who I’m giving money to. They are divided into two categories: People I can vote for and people I can’t vote for.

So far, the two most important elections in my voting purview are the people running against U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. I’m also watching to see who runs against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and, crucially, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, aka, the Trump of Texas. But for now, we’ll focus on Sessions and Cruz, bringing me to Colin Allred and Beto O’Rourke:

So those are easy. These people directly affect my district. That’s the best case of how we did politics before November 8. But now we know differently. Now we know we have to be strategic and care about more than our specific districts and interests. So who can you support that you can’t vote for? I pick these two — both running in districts close to mine and both with a personal connection. They are Brandy K. Chambers and Jana Lynne Sanchez.

So, who’s on your list? Shoot them a few bucks before you bust out the long weekend beer and burgers. Because, democracy.

Lately I’ve spent more time reading about the Trump shitshow than I have doing anything about it. I am paralyzed by my two U.S. senators — Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of the 13-white-guys-deciding-America’s-health-care fame — and feel nothing I do will reach them. So I just keep reading about what they’re doing. Yes, I need to be informed. But Jesus I need to put the iPhone down, turn off CNN, and shut down the Twitter IV.

My freelance editing/writing job is the best thing ever. Decades into it, I seriously wonder sometimes if I HAD to dress like a big girl and be somewhere by even 9 am every day whether I could actually do it. It looks exhausting.

That said, here’s the downside: I’m the boss of me. Which means nobody knows if I read Twitter all day. I don’t. I mean really, I don’t. Seriously. I do other things. Stop judging. You don’t know me.

OK I do.

Let’s move on. So this week I got out and did what all we STILL shellshocked progressives need to do, IMHO: Get out and be with your people in a setting that matters. Yes, going out with your HRC-loving girlfriends is good stuff. But go to a political event with them. Or without them. These events feel like actual movement, not just paralyzed panic.

I joined a like-minded friend to attend the Park Cities Democratic Women’s Association fundraiser for Colin Allred (who is running for Pete Sessions’ seat) with special guest Secretary Julián Castro. (As an aside, there was talk of Castro running for president in 2020, which is the only reason I’d forgive him for not taking on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2018.)

Here’s what you get by attending such an event:

• You meet the actual people getting shit done. We can’t all run for office. We don’t all have magazine-worthy homes and rich friends making us the perfect hostess. We don’t all have $2,500 to go to such an event. I had $100, the cheapest ticket. But I got to be with the people doing all this other cool stuff.

• You’ll realize you’re more connected than you think. I ran into a few people I know, even though this fundraiser was across town and several paygrades from my ‘hood. So one of those people was the caterer (OK, Chad Houser is way more than a caterer, but you get my point). When you get out there, you realize you are so very much not alone — even in one of the richest, most conservative neighborhoods in Texas. Twitter doesn’t have that same feel to me.

• You actually work toward the day when Donald J. Trump and his people are no longer running our country. And isn’t that why any of us ever get out of bed anymore?

So GO! There are many cheap or free or expensive events going on wherever you are. I promise you. And report back — here and on your social media networks. Because somebody is dying at the hands of the Twitter IV and needs a push off the couch.

I leave you with the inspiring words of my local politics fangirl crush Colin Allred, who goes to my church and is running against U.S. Rep Pete Sessions (who helped write the healthcare shitshow making its way through the Senate right now). Colin is running in my district so my support has a direct benefit to his campaign … and a direct screw you to Sessions. This Sunday, I’m going to a fundraiser of someone I can’t vote for simply because she’s a progressive and needs support. But we’ll talk more about that next week.

So here’s Colin, whom I hope will be moving in to Sessions’ office in January of 2019. Please baby Jesus let it be so.