V127: The Thought Leaders Issue With Laura Dern

The actress on the election of a lifetime, the climate crisis, and the best tips for self-care.

V127’s Thought Leaders Issue is available for pre-order now.

“I am personally voting this November because I feel it’s the most critical election of my lifetime, thus far. I am voting because I care about the home we need to save, Earth. I am voting to protect human rights, equal rights, gender rights, and the right to choose. I am voting because I believe in the office of the president as representative of the American people, and that role required empathy, noble leadership, and the respect of the office the individual holds. I look forward to voting in an individual who carries all of those qualities.

“I’m very excited about South Carolina’s race. I am very moved by Jaime Harrison’s commitment to ‘bringing the spirit of helping back.’ [I’m also] paying attention to several other races—Alyse Galvin in Alaska, Kathleen Williams in Montana; Jon Hoadley in Michigan, Pennsylvania where Eugene DePasquale is running for election and Representative Matt Cartwreight is running for re-election. And Florida, where Margaret Good is running for election and Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is running for re-election.

We are clearly facing the most dramatic moments of our climate crisis that we were warned about. And while we see the extremes that are happening in places like Siberia, as well as my native California, I stay up at night knowing that the next four years will be saving our Mother Earth or not.

“[For me], fighting for social justice is [nothing] but invigorating and impassioning. I don’t see it as fatigue. When I look in my own daughter’s face as a 15-year-old with her friends, so heartbroken that they don’t have the right to vote, it makes me excited to be alive and to know I can make a difference.

“I’ve been reading a lot of Eleanor Roosevelt’s deep and empathetic thoughts for the American people, and that’s truly keeping me going right now. [But in terms of self-care}, it comes with using one’s voice—feeling that you’ve done what you can, feeling you’ve made a difference, feeling aware, and feeling connected with your local and global community. As we are all walking together through a pandemic, all deeply affected in every part of our lives, it is moving to stay connected to people around the world right now, and that also provides self-care.”

REGISTER TO VOTE HERE.

Discover More