Sparks & Matches
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Sparks & Matches
Find Your Fire
AboutLet's Connect

We’re meant to be on fire for something.

This is my attempt to burn.

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Five Strategic Reasons the D.N.C. Should Replace Biden
Five Strategic Reasons the D.N.C. Should Replace Biden

Are the Democrats brave enough to run a candidate we don’t hate?

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonMay 29, 2024Politics, Social Norms, Presidential Nominee, 2024 Election
Dealing With My Breast Cancer Gene
Dealing With My Breast Cancer Gene

Eighteen months ago I had a feeling. I read about some free genetic cancer tests and felt strongly that I should do it. 

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonJune 15, 2023advocacy, breast cancer, health, women
LOVE: We're Doing It Wrong
LOVE: We're Doing It Wrong

If our love leads to violence… If our love causes harm… If our love is experienced as hatred… We’re doing it wrong.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonMarch 28, 2023Religion, Jesus, Justice, Love, Peacemaking, Christianity, Church
Redefining "Partnership" in Marriage
Redefining "Partnership" in Marriage

Several years ago, my marriage underwent a fundamental shift—a complete overhaul of how we defined “partnership” in our relationship.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonMarch 15, 2023Personal, Marriage, Gender, Feminism, equality, marriage, Religion, Gender Roles
Birthing a New Spirituality
Birthing a New Spirituality

I haven’t written much about my religious beliefs or spiritual journey. But I think sharing some of my story might be helpful, so here it goes.

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Find Your FireCourtney ChristensonFebruary 16, 2023Faith, Spirituality, Deconstruction, Christianity, Church, Social Norms, Personal, Stories, Feminism, Gender
Purity Culture Is Just Rape Culture In Sheep’s Clothing
Purity Culture Is Just Rape Culture In Sheep’s Clothing

My freshman year of college, I had an experience that shaped my view of myself and my body for the next fifteen years… not in a good way.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonJanuary 26, 2023Religion, Purity Culture, Rape Culture, Feminism, Women, Gender, Christianity, Church, Stories
You Are Not A Brand
You Are Not A Brand

This pressure to distill ourselves down into one easily digestible nugget, as if we were a tagline incarnate, robs us of our nuance.

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Use Your InfluenceCourtney ChristensonJanuary 10, 2023Feminism, Social Norms, Social Media, Nuance
How My White, Christian, Mom Friends Became the Far-Right’s Secret Weapon
How My White, Christian, Mom Friends Became the Far-Right’s Secret Weapon

Watching your friends get radicalized by domestic extremists is one of those things you think will never happen to you.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonJanuary 8, 2023Feminism, far right, Politics, Social Norms, Activism, Extremism, Women
There Was A Shooting In My Town
There Was A Shooting In My Town

My 11-year-old slept in my bed last night—too scared to sleep in her own after a shooter killed two people and himself at a grocery store here in Bend.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonAugust 30, 2022Politics, gun violence, Personal Comment
The Best Way to Prevent Gun Violence
The Best Way to Prevent Gun Violence

Why are we framing the conversation about how to curb gun violence as a matter of opinion? It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of data.

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Use Your InfluenceCourtney ChristensonJune 8, 2022Politics, Violence, Activism, Justice
A Letter To Christians Who Secretly Support Roe v. Wade
A Letter To Christians Who Secretly Support Roe v. Wade

Dear Christian Friends… My last post exposed a fascinating secret: Many of you do NOT support overturning Roe. v. Wade. 

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonMay 11, 2022Politics, Abortion, Activism, Women, Reproductive Rights, Human Rights, Roe v. Wade
Overturning Roe v. Wade Won’t Stop Abortion (But These Other Tactics Might)
Overturning Roe v. Wade Won’t Stop Abortion (But These Other Tactics Might)

Neither side of this issue is getting what they want - they need to get off their soap boxes and start trying to actually solve problems.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonMay 3, 2022Women, Abortion, Politics, Reproductive Rights, Human Rights
The Compelling Case for Dictatorships (according to a guy I met)
The Compelling Case for Dictatorships (according to a guy I met)

Last week, I had a conversation that sent my brain spinning about how we decide which systems work, and which don’t.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonApril 22, 2022Politics, Justice
Tell Me I’m Not Alone In This…
Tell Me I’m Not Alone In This…

I have a confession: I deeply dislike my feelings and I’m not very good at feeling them.

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Find Your FireCourtney ChristensonApril 9, 2022Personal, Stories, Feminism
Thirty-Eight | Feast On Your Life
Thirty-Eight | Feast On Your Life

At 38 years old, I’m learning that life is for living in all its fullness. That serving and suffering don’t inherently make life more meaningful

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Find Your FireCourtney ChristensonMarch 30, 2022Joy, Women, Birthdays, Social Norms, Feminism
How to Tell Stories that Heal (Instead of Entrenching & Antagonizing)
How to Tell Stories that Heal (Instead of Entrenching & Antagonizing)

How we tell stories—both to ourselves and others—matters deeply.

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonFebruary 2, 2022Justice, Peacemaking, Stories
An Open Letter to Preemptive Love
An Open Letter to Preemptive Love

I am writing this in hopes that it will lead to peace, healing, and wholeness. Those are, after all, the values that drew me to your team in 2016…

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Use Your VoiceCourtney ChristensonDecember 16, 2021Spark Change Comments
Learning to Imagine Out Loud
Learning to Imagine Out Loud

If we can’t imagine anything better than this, we can’t build anything better than this.

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Find Your FireCourtney ChristensonSeptember 29, 2021Activism, Spark Change
How To Spark Change By Breaking Social Norms
How To Spark Change By Breaking Social Norms

Even small acts of breaking seemingly insignificant social norms can have massive ripple effects in breaking down unjust social systems and disrupting unjust power structures.

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Use Your InfluenceCourtney ChristensonFebruary 14, 2021Social Norms, Feminism, Spark Change, Marriage
Reflections on the Power of Making People Feel Seen: A Response to Insurrection
Reflections on the Power of Making People Feel Seen: A Response to Insurrection

Watching hundreds of people attempt to overthrow our democratic government in the name of patriotism made me marvel at the power of making people feel seen.

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Use Your InfluenceCourtney ChristensonJanuary 14, 2021Politics, Justice, U.S.
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