For the month of December – in honor of Dressember – I’ll be blogging everyday! Thoughts on anything from fighting for justice to feminism, from dresses I’m wearing to books I’m reading, and everything in between. 

I get sick a lot. Like, a lot. So much so that sometimes when I mention I’m not feeling well or I was sick recently, some of my students roll their eyes. “Seriously? You’re ALWAYS sick, Krysti…” Ya, I’ve noticed.

Since I work at home, sick days are interesting. An overachiever at heart, I can’t bear to just sit around and do nothing – especially when my office is in full view from my couch. I typically work half days, or three fourth days, or send emails from my couch while wrapped in a blanket. But today was different. Today was completely-slept-through-my-alarm, couldn’t-sit-up-till-10-am, had-to-cancel-my-dentist-appointment sick. Okay, I still checked my email. But other than that, it’s been Netflix in between naps, only getting up to fill my water bottle. Doesn’t sound fun, right? Yet I realized today how lucky I am to be able to take a sick day. 

There’s an estimated 35 million people in slavery today, worldwide. That means while I’m sitting here suffering through my cold or flu or bug, there’s 35 million people who don’t ever get the chance to call in sick. 35 million people who don’t paid for their work, and – even worse – don’t get a say in their lives. 35 million people suffering through far worse things than I can imagine. 35 million slaves.

Slavery is such an ugly concept; I don’t think I can fully wrap my mind around it. I think of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt or the Africans sold into slavery in the colonies. I think of it as part of history, not part of the present. I can’t fathom slavery happening in the same world, in the same second, as I scroll through my iPhone, sip my Starbucks latte. It’s unfathomable. It’s heartbreaking.

I don’t have the answers. I don’t know the solutions. I wish I did. I really, really wish I did.

I know that women wearing dresses for a month seems so small, especially compared to the idea of 35 million people in slavery, in the grand scheme of things. I know that it’s a small step. But I also know that it’s a step. I know that some people fighting for freedom is more than no people. I know that my voice might not carry too far, but it will fall on some people’s ears. And I know this is something worth talking about.

So, I’m sitting on my couch today. In a dress. I know I had a perfectly good reason to not wear a dress, I know people wouldn’t have gotten mad at me for staying in my pajamas. But I also know I’m committed to this cause, I’m committed to this idea. I’m committed to small choices making a big difference. That’s what Dressember is all about.

You can join me and my friends in raising money to fight slavery!