For someone who’s never wanted children, I sure do think about my legacy a lot.

I think it started when I reached the peak of small business ownership burnout in 2025, because a lot of small business owners will endure indescribable sacrifice in hopes of their children inheriting a successful business that will support them in the future.

But as (it feels like) the rest of (white) American society is being forced to come to terms with current events & now being emotionally impacted by the pain being inflicted upon our collective society - it seems to be a topic I keep returning to as I spin my mental wheels, contemplating what I, a random dog mom in the PNW, can do that could leave a positive legacy for the next generations.

Because the more I educate myself on the (intentional, let’s not forget this) racist undertones that are woven within the fabric of every single thing we encounter in our lives - part of my grieving process for the future I once imagined is also accepting that the battle against evil, racism, patriarchy, aka the current regime pulling the strings worldwide - is not a new battle.

It’s just new to those who have either sought out or have had the dots connected for them.

And it’s a battle that will continue on after I’m gone, I think. Because unprogramming centuries of racism, and combatting decades of imperialist & capitalistic propaganda doesn’t happen overnight.

When I first began embodying my resistance - this was something I simply could not bear to accept. That things have been, are, and will continue to be SO WRONG, SO UNJUST, and my lay heart bleeding on the floor for those who have suffered, are suffering, and will suffer.

For those experiencing this stage of your resistance, I have felt your despair. A little secret is that I still feel it, too. It will never go away.

The way I’m surviving this war is to use it as motivation. To DO SOMETHING.

Anything.

I will now give you some tough love that helped shift my mindset last year. It’s not exactly comforting, but it’s a way to work through the pain.

Let the suffering of others be what mobilizes you - not paralyze you.

Now that the horrors (that have always happened to minorities) are being highlighted & in our faces daily - “staying informed” can easily become misconstrued as resistance.

The thing is, subjecting your mental state to absorbing that information constantly is going to negatively affect your ability to fight & stay focused.

And we need that from you. This is going to be a long game, not a sprint.

As I’ve mentioned before, reducing my scrolling time by like 99% has massively improved my mental health. Right now that’s a frame of thought that others are shaming right now - and I get it. I used to think that way, too.

But as with anything, your intention matters.

If your reaction to the reality we are living in is to actively ignore the truths being publicized in order to selfishly soak up & coast along from whatever amount of privilege you have, then that’s cringe and yucky, dude.

If your current habit is to soak up the evil occurring through your screen in order to “see it to believe it” per say, and to spread awareness, fact check claims, etc, well…that’s another way to process things.

But the thing is, absorbing all of the violence and anger for no reason other than to feel the pain & be negatively affected, out of the guilt that looking away makes you an “ignorant person” -

That’s frankly just not very helpful for me, for my loved ones, and for the others on the receiving end of the suffering.

But I get it.

I’ve been “not working” (in quotes because honey, I’ve been working my tail off. Just not in the capitalistic sense.)

for almost a year now, and now that I’ve begun to dismantle the addiction ingrained in me to produce in order to prove my worth -

I’ve experienced myself how unfair it is to ask anyone who’s in shackles to the system of capitalism to be able to dive in head first into activism & become a ⭐️shining example⭐️ of all the ways to fight against the soulless puppeteers pulling the strings in our world.

At first, this made me skip & hop back into the pit of despair I have handy (it’s been there since I was a child, so it’s a familiar place, at least?)

because I was all “okay, welp it’s gonna take allllll these people to make change, and they can’t! They’re all workin’ like dogs, slaves to the system - I don’t have the right to expect them to show up in the way experts say we need to do to overthrow the government.”

And you know how easy it would be to just call that the end of it?

Go on and live my little life & see how far I can get with my white privilege by proxy?

Yeah, it would be easy for some, but NOT FOR ME……because I’ve got the blood of a fighter in me, I guess. Kind of annoying, actually!! (joke)

But like life has forced me to practice before, acceptance is the last stage of grief, and it was the first stage of enlightenment & autonomy over my own life.

Now that I’ve reached this stage of grief for the country I thought I knew, and as a result, the future I expected - I’m accepting the things I cannot change.

With this comes an intentionally detached state of mind. And I’ve said, intention is everything.

My intention by purposefully avoiding violent & cortisol heightening media is to use the bandwidth I’ve gained back to resist.

Someone online shared a viewpoint, and I think it’s a more helpful & pointed one that could help direct those who are unsure of what to do.

They said that right now, the people who are able to do the most will be the ones with the most privilege. Not everyone can afford the financial or mental toll it takes to resist in the common ways I see repeated often.

But don’t let that discourage you, no matter what amount of privilege you do or don’t think you have.

Let it empower you.

I know it feels good for the ego to make grand displays of resistance, to imagine leading a charge upon the white house (too soon?), to envision winning the powerball prize & giving the winnings to the houseless population in your town…

But it’s perhaps a bit more realistic to thing smaller. To think creatively. To think emotionally. Less immediate cause & effect.

Because the effects of racism and the patriarchy (because all concentrated power leads back to these freakin’ roots) are such deep rooted, core programming and normalized ways of being that simply “having more money” or placing decision making power with “other” men won’t actually solve the problem(s) that result in these injustices.

We kinda have to reprogram all of humanity……at least, the ones who don’t believe in equality for all.

And that’s a tallllllllll order, I know. Wait, don’t jump back in your pit of despair just yet!!

Because like we talked about, that doesn’t help.

You’ve got to do what you can do, after taking an honest & zoomed out look at yourself and your life and your bandwidth.

Shop small more often. Meet your neighbors. Strengthen existing connections with people in your life to where you have people you can ask for help if you REALLY needed it, and you know they would help you out. And you would do the same for them.

Find ways to live outside the matrix that our lives have dropped us into.

Those in power see us as consumers, nothing more - so an amazing form of resistance you might not even realize is doing absolutely ANYTHING that doesn’t involve buying something.

Going on a walk? Resistance.

Playing with your dog? Resistance.

Reading a book, painting, dancing, giggling with friends on your living room floor - resistance.

The first step of resistance I want you to reclaim is your own mind. Instead of spending your precious life on earth spent looking at life through a screen

Begin seeking out real life experiences by yourself, in nature (my fav), or with like minded people to keep your spirits up and remember what it is we are fighting for. And it will take people like you and I, chipping away.

Putting “safe place” hand made signs in front of your house? Resistance.

Offering sliding scale pricing for your services if you’re self employed? Resistance.

Giving art away to loved ones? Resistance.

Making it clear to everyone you know what you stand for & not being afraid to show it?

The biggest resistance of all.

But the first step of the war is taking care of yourself, so that you can gather whatever energy and power you have to fight, in honor of those who came before you, and those who will come after.

Because like I spoke about in my last piece, we are all one. Healing yourself will heal others around you. So it’s an act of discipline and resistance just to stay sane.

So don’t feel shame by looking away from the graphic and spirit crushing truths being broadcast, if you don’t need them to confirm what you already know.

Let the suffering inspire you to make small habits of resistance. And let those habits turn into a lifestyle. And let that lifestyle show others you meet that there’s actually a different way of being.

As your bandwidth in each season of your life changes, adjust your ways and intensity of resistance accordingly.

I’m learning it takes feeling, experiencing, embodying, witnessing - to change people’s minds, as opposed to facts & logic.

Let your life be the example.

Let your life be the spark.

Well, now back to the first thought I had for this piece. As I’ve said before, I never really know where my mind will go once I start writing.

But in regards to my legacy, and everything I’ve said in this piece, the heavily ironic thing that has come to mind for me is children.

So much of who you are is formed by what you experience as a child.

And so much of what your worldview becomes is formed by reading and the healthy or unhealthy forms of expression & way of being you are raised with.

I already told you I’ve never wanted children of my own, but the idea of showing young children a different path than the one society lays for them (worker, consumer, passive follower) gives me some hope that it would carry on some positive butterfly effects after I leave this timeline.

But I’m focusing on one step at a time.

Now that some of my friends are having kids, I’m mentally preparing myself to learn how to offer support to them & their kiddos, spreading positive programming & ways of thinking to help offset what they’ll be absorbing, LOL 😈

Being an observer of motherhood at the age women usually experience it has been an unexpected lesson for me in learning how to be a villager when our society all but enforces self sustaining lifestyles upon us, in order to facilitate more sales to more consumers.

I’ve gotten to see just a sliver of how much support it requires to be a good mother. So I will use my unique circumstance of being child free in order to use my energy towards resistance, womens’ & childrens’ empowerment, and trying to be the best example I can be to those in my world of what it looks like to live outside the matrix.

Being born an outsider has given me a unique perspective. Somehow being unlike anyone else has become a gift in knowing how to survive without acceptance from the crowd.

So, when it comes to my legacy…I just hope to leave one that’s as great as my late husband’s, Alex Serrano.

One where everyone’s life I’ve touched, and hopefully people I’ve never even known I’ve impacted - are also inspired to live with gratitude, stand up for my beliefs, and become the best person they can be.

What would you like your legacy to be?

Peace & Love,

E.S.

Thank you so much for taking the time to witness my work. ✨ If this piece made you think, I’d appreciate if you shared it on a platform of your choice or sent it to a loved one directly to help my mission of resistance through my art works ✨

I encourage you to check out my work on these platforms to see if maybe my other projects strike your fancy, too 💖

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