WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE
"Put on your own oxygen mask first." But when you're committed to the work, how do you do that while the world's burning?
Every advocate I know is an idealist. And every idealist is deeply invested in cultivating what’s good, true, and righteous. So what does it mean when you, as an advocate, are put in the position of vulnerable bystander while the world burns? What do you do? How do you tend to your neighbors and even your own mind?
Foster Intentional Community
Oppressive systems thrive by fueling scarcity—of time, resources, and hope. When we’re watching our world change rapidly in ways that are worrisome, we focus on survival. Will our resources run out? Can I afford my medicine? Am I safe?
The antidote to this is intentional community.
The act of cultivating space in your neighborhood, relationships & social circles makes room for needed joy, belonging, grace. More practically, it offers the sharing of concrete resources, care giving, and safety. Few things disrupt the underlying message of scarcity than our continued and collective celebration of doing life together.
Embrace Creative Expression
Oppression is itself an act of destruction. You don’t have to be an artist to create. We all have something that brings beauty into the world. The way to fracture darkness is with light and our art, cooking, music, fashion, gardening, storytelling, hospitality, quilting…these things are evidence of our extraordinary human brilliance that will not be diminished.
Just as importantly, we tend to dismiss our creative endeavors as frivolous when crises are looming. A reminder: artists are the truest archivists of the times. There is no greater mechanism for capturing our complexity, humanity, and resilience than our creativity.
Know Where to Direct Your Energy
When we feel righteous rage, we focus on ways to express that anger and discontent. In the absence of other options, we protest. We march. We “borrow the masters tools” (thank you, Audre Lorde) and choose violence in our words and actions.
There can be a time for public activism; but it’s exhausting and difficult to scale for impact. To be sustainable in a spiraling world, we must choose the ways we focus our energies on subverting the system--where we spend our money. What words we choose. Who we honor. Choosing joy instead of fear. A powerful use of our energy is in how we build influential relationships within our local power structures.
Care For Your Own Soul
The work of hope is hard. The solutions may seem impossible to attain. We can easily grow weary in doing good. Take the time to be still, to celebrate that -at least for right now in this space- you are alive and you have gifts to give the hurting world. Do something today that reminds you that there are people and places in the world that are good.
And don’t forget this: “We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” - Kurt Vonnegut