A note from Merritt Levitan's sister, Hunter
Reflecting on 2023 at TextLess Live More and what's to come in 2024
As I gather my thoughts to reflect on this past year at TextLess Live More, I can’t help but think about motion and stillness. Specifically the principle that a body in motion remains in motion and a body at rest remains at rest. This is how my family and I exist in the world – out of choice, yes, but also out of necessity. In the 10 years since our life stilled in 2013, motion has been our closest friend and the propeller behind TextLess Live More and all of the organization’s accomplishments. A decade spent moving towards our goal to end distracted driving and distracted living; to not only save, but also enrich lives. And it wouldn’t be possible without you, our community. Year after year, your support of TextLess Live More keeps us in motion, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
My right-brained self, in full disclosure, had to look up “a body in motion stays in motion” to refresh my memory on the scientific principle. I was struck by the part of Newton’s first Law of Motion that often doesn’t make it into the popular saying, about the involvement of an outside force. Bodies at rest will remain at rest and bodies in motion will remain in motion, unless an outside force gets involved. I realized why I didn’t pay attention to that part of the principle – I don’t like outside forces. Just the word “outside force” feels aggressive and abrasive. If I’m in motion, let me be in motion. But outside forces are inevitable, and we often have no control over them. They can be abrupt, slam-on-the-breaks, blink-and-it's-over. My family and I know this all too well. But they can also be gradual, an easy transition between motion and stillness.
In 2023, TextLess Live More celebrated our 10-year anniversary, and experienced some natural transitions alongside this milestone. Both our amazing Executive Director and Program Manager moved on from TLLM in March and June this year, which created an opportunity to start a discussion regarding the next phase of TLLM, which is ongoing. Our relationship with SADD continues to grow and is stronger than ever, and our focus for the 2023/2024 school year is largely to provide SADD with our support to continue spreading the word through their extensive national network, while we set a course for TLLM outside of SADD over the coming months. We also decided to take a step back from our social media presence, and put our mission into practice by getting off the phone and being more present ourselves.
TextLess Live More remains in motion, but we’re also embracing stillness. For in stillness, we find space to reflect and discover exactly what this new era looks like. Thank you for supporting us and joining us on this journey–we’re excited to see what motion and stillness will bring in 2024.
