GetLiving is a monthly campaign to "Live More" and bring awareness to digital distraction.
It is an understatement to say that the world looks different than it did when Bailey Menkedick and Catherine Douglas created Memories May. So much is uncertain, but we are sure of this: we need to continue to GetLiving
Our TLLM team has been thinking long and hard about the importance of the GetLiving Campaign during this global pandemic. At its heart, GetLiving draws from Merritt Levitan’s spirit: promoting togetherness, adventure, generosity, resulting in an abundance of brilliant, infinite life. As the months wear on and uncertainty remains, it can be hard to imagine achieving this vibrancy and fullness, especially without the physical presence of the communities with which we ordinarily gather.
In the face of this, we can draw from Merritt again by pushing onward with optimism and joy. We need to "GetLiving” now more than ever, and we are excited that this dynamic campaign can grow and change with us in our surprising world.
It feels especially appropriate that this month’s GL theme is Memories May. When Bailey Menkedick and Catherine Douglas designed Memories May, the intention was to inspire people to go out and make memories without our devices getting in the way. Our intention was to encourage you to spend an hour each week together, phone-free; to meet up somewhere exciting, try something new together, or even just to gather and have fun.
The main call to action still holds true: look up vs. down to see what the real world vs. the digital world has to offer. We could never have anticipated how different our world would be in May 2020, to say nothing of the many important memories—final sports seasons, proms, graduations, and even the quotidian ins and outs of the school day—that would never come to fruition.
Firstly, to those of you who have experienced losses due to Covid-19, we are deeply sorry, and we are thinking of you. We understand loss as an organization built from loss. Please know we are here for you.
To those of you who are missing milestone moments, we honor that as well—because this, too, is its own loss.
Living More is about doing everything you can to create a beautiful, full life. This includes the hard stuff. We encourage you to give yourself space and permission to feel grief or anger or frustration, and, when you are ready, devote yourself to the memories we can make this May. Whether that means more family dinners, hangouts with siblings who aren’t often under the same roof, even digital gatherings with friends and loved ones who don’t usually talk quite this often.
Document these memories in a journal, through letters or emails, or in phone-free conversations with the people around you. They might not be the memories we expected to make this month, but they can be profound and amazing in their own way.
In that spirit, we are thrilled to announce that, for the first time ever, there will be a GetLiving gathering for the entire TextLess Live More Family across the world. Join us on May 28th at 3 PM Eastern Time for GetLiving Live. We will spend an hour together, guided by the students who created this initiative as well as some special guest speakers, to talk about how this month went and kick off GetLiving June.
Click here to join at the appointed time. We can’t wait to see you!
