Countering Activist Burnout through Gentle Activism and Community Care
Last week I was talking with a friend about burnout – specifically “activist burnout.”
He mentioned how folks who engage in activism often go full-speed ahead until they run into what feels like a set of brick walls: the strength and resiliency of the status quo, difficulty in organizing people together, their own energetic and capacity limitations. And in those moments, they can feel the weight of shame and sadness within them – as if they weren’t “good enough” to save the world.
(This certainly mirrors some of my experiences working within the education system.)
But the world doesn’t need individualistic saving as much as it needs community care.
One of the ways we can each begin engaging in intentional, focused community care is by asking:
“What can I do right here, with what I have right now?”
For those of us who look around and want to get involved but find ourselves stuck, here are some tangible ideas for how this might look:
Volunteer with your local school.
Introduce yourself to your neighbors.
Wear a mask in indoor, public spaces.
Participate in your local mutual aid network.
Share unused tools with your local Tool Library.
Donate money and/or time to your local food bank.
Join your community garden and give produce away.
Write voter registration emails through Vote Forward.
Gather friends and talk about the charge of this moment.
Easily contact your elected officials weekly using ResistBot.
Invite neighbors to pick up trash with you in the neighborhood.
Join the local chapter of 350 and organize against climate change.
These ideas don’t always feel radical or enough – but in the context of disconnected communities and fascism on the rise, beginning to engage in these acts of community care is vital work.
Kelsey Blackwell writes:
We prepare for what is ahead, by being with what is right now. We make time for connections that nourish us. We look at the stars. We breathe the cool, crisp air. We celebrate the season. We rest. We let ourselves be fully alive and trust that building our capacity to be right where we are is the work. When we are right where we are, our actions are not catalyzed by future fear but rather by the loving connections between ourselves, others and the phenomenal world that holds us.
🧰 A Resource For You
The Oscillation Guidebook, by Gabes Torres (activist framework)
