How To Get Yourself From Anguish To Action

Curled up in bed, outraged, spinning, crying, despondent, or terrified? Maybe you've felt all of these things in the last few days. This episode doesn't rehash the recent tragedies, but helps guide you from fear and anger to right action. 

Tait and Jenny walk through the steps listed below and also share some creative ways to help. For example, you don't need to throw a huge gala, it could be just 20 friends and neighbors. 

WHAT NOT TO DO:
1) Don't let your fear and anger spin you into an unorganized ball of rage and then show up at non-profit activist meetings trying to change everything. Take a beat.

2) Don't yell at your friends and family or accuse people of not doing enough before you've done an honest assessment of yourself and your actions.

3) Don't ignore your feelings.

4) Don't assume that one big, heroic act on your part is going to fix the problem. It will take a million little acts, sustained over a long period of time.

WHAT TO DO:
1) Let yourself feel the anger, anguish, fear, depression. Go through it fully. Journal, read, rest. Take a few days to go through this, reflect, and recharge. The problems aren't going to go away while you do this. They will still be there when you are calmer and clearer. 

2) Work through the Social Change Ecosystem map and workbook (link at bottom). This will help you identify where you can be of service and help you move out of a paralyzed, overwhelmed state. You can't do everything and you only have so many resources of time, emotional strength, and money. This framework will help you figure out how you can help consistently over a long period of time rather than in one short burst of anger and fear. 

3) When you get to a meeting, honor the work that has been going on for years before you got angry enough to get involved. Listen, learn, and lend your gifts and talents. 

4) Ask yourself what keeps you up at night. This will help guide you to what's deeply felt at your core. If we are going to give our time and energy to helping over a sustained period of time, we have to feel deeply connected to the cause. 

Quotes shared in this episode:
"Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for." -Seamus Heaney

"Anger is initiatory, not transformative." -Ruth King

Referenced in episode:
Social Change Ecosystem Map https://buildingmovement.org/our-work/movement-building/social-change-ecosystem-map/

Mariame Kaba http://mariamekaba.com/

Closing song: "Here Comes The Sun" Nina Simone

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