#emptychair

This past week Congress has been on recess, and many representatives have held town halls in their home states. Town halls are public meetings between representatives and their constituents, and are often spaces of open dialogue, debate, and protest. The town halls that took place this week had great turnout - passionate constituents voiced their concerns and there was a lot of press around these events. While the recess is coming to an end, there are still many town hall and office hours events coming up in the next few days. I encourage you to attend a town hall for your representative, or call on them to hold one.

ATTENDING A TOWN HALL

* The first step is to find an event near you. There are lots of tools for this - the most comprehensive one I’ve found is this Google spreadsheet, which lists events across the country, including town halls, office hours, and open conference calls, for the next few months. You can also sign up to get email alerts from your representatives’ websites.

* Prepare your question(s) in advance. Just as when you call your reps, having a script is very helpful. Phrase your questions around actions, e.g. “What will you do legislatively to solve ____?” or around voting decisions, e.g. “Why did you vote against ____ when it would have ____?” Keep questions concise, but include a personal connection or story if you have one and feel comfortable. Personally moving questions are often the ones that make waves in the media. 

* To ask your question at the town hall, raise your hand immediately and keep it up, keeping a friendly expression. If you get a chance to speak. don’t let your rep dodge your question - keep hold of the microphone until they answer.

* Applaud when your fellow constituents ask good questions or make good arguments.

* Record the town hall with your phone. Afterward, share it on social media and tweet at reporters with the best clips. Tag your reps in your posts. The Indivisible guide has more advice on attending town halls.

WHEN YOUR REP IS MIA

With news of tense and confrontational town halls, many Republican representatives have been avoiding meeting with constituents. What should you do if your representative does not have any upcoming public events?

* Have one without them. Many groups are organizing town halls and inviting their representatives. When the reps decline the invitation, the event is held without them. The Town Hall Project lists these “empty chair” town halls, or you can try Googling “empty chair town hall [YOUR CITY].” If you can’t find one, consider organizing your own!

* Call on your representatives to hold town halls. We are getting very good at phone calls, so if your representative won’t come to your district, give them a call. Here’s the script I used:

Absent Company

A Warm Glow On The Arches

Warm summer light radiates softly through the arches of the Hospital of the Knights in Rhodes' Old Town.

Much goes into an image, but the biggest factor has got to be the light - without it there is no image.

I don't believe there's such a thing as bad light or even bad weather in photography. It depends on the image you're looking to create.

Light can stop me in my tracks, and it has the power to transform even the most mundane into something beautiful.

I can't tell you the number of strange looks I've got from people who see me shooting something so ordinary they think I've lost the plot! They walk right past while I'm standing there with my tripod set up, clearly photographing... a doorway. Or a shadow on a wall. Or in this case, just light coming through arches.

Here in the palace though, it was plain as the golden daylight reflecting off the palace stone why I stopped to grab this image. The way that warm summer glow picked up the textures and created depth in those ancient arches - that's what I'm always looking for.

Sometimes the best photographs aren't of "things" at all. They're of light itself doing something beautiful.

What "boring" thing have you stopped to photograph that others didn't understand?

"Where Antiquity Whispers" Short video stories from photographing ancient sites and contemplative landscapes. View on the Aeonian website.

“One of the simplest and most useful exercises that psychotherapy has gifted to us is known as the Empty Chair Technique. A client who has been wrestling with their feelings towards someone is gently requested to stop discussing them in the third person and is instead invited to face a chair and start talking to this bit of furniture as if there were on it – to all intents – the specific…