Planning Your Personal Resistance
The day after the election, the students of University of Washington inspired me. They gathered to comfort and support each other. To cry together. To grieve. It was a very somber day, but a day that I saw the spark in almost every eye I passed. The "I'm in this. I will resist" spark. The picture above, at UW, has signs saying "Love is greater than _____". Students and staff filled them out.
The excitement of seeing young people engage was strong enough to break through the clouds that surrounded me (figuratively and literally-- it was Seattle) like a small ray of sun. This glimmer of optimism continued as I saw people getting involved like never before. Millions of people marched throughout the world the day after the inauguration. People flooded airports days later to protest the travel ban. People I spoke to, of all ages, said this was the first time they had gotten involved in this way.
With many newly awakened activists, and issues that appear more far reaching than seen in recent memory in this nation, we are all vulnerable to burnout and compassion fatigue. It is easy to literally be reading the news, emailing your representatives, signing petitions, Facebook posting, going to protests all the time. I knew that I would feel pulled in a million directions after the inauguration. And knowing myself, I know I tend I push myself to the point of exhaustion. I want to do everything. There will always be something more to do, and I know that I feel guilty if I am “not doing enough”. So I combined some of of my favorite things: meticulous planning, measurable goals and list making. I decided to make myself a model to follow for the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, and then to reassess. It worked really well for the first 100 days, so I am using it again (this time with a different resistance goal-- the blog).It has three parts, all of which I believe are equally necessary for survival.The three areas are:
Set a goal and log your resistance activities. During the first 100 days, I set a goal to complete 100 acts of resistance. With the amount of time I had during this period (being between jobs), I knew this would be feasible for me. Some actions are quick, like calling Senator Nelson’s office to voice a policy opinion or thank him for taking a certain action. Some are longer, like providing peacekeeping training at the Mar-A-Lago Tax March. I knew that for me personally, I tend to feel like I am not doing enough. By making a clear goal, and by tracking it, I could fight those negative thoughts.
Commit to taking care of yourself with clear, measurable, and personalized strategies. For me, this included making sure that I am working out and that I am taking time off from reading the news. Because I was comfortable with the amount of work I was doing, I could take breaks guilt-free take. I mean, I definitely did feel guilty at times. Old habits die hard. But this certainly helped. I am a work in progress.( Picture below is me in the Olympic National Forest the Friday after Election Day to clear my head. Sometimes it is necessary to go off the grid)
Commit to taking care of others, because only in community will we be successful. I am currently living at home, so I committed to helping more with cooking-- knowing that would be a major encouragement to my family, who are also overwhelmed by all that is going on. I also made sure to prioritize sending encouraging messages to friends, and writing thank you cards to people in public service who are doing a great job. This way, I am not always focused on negativity, and I am helping others to not be as well.(Shout out to these ladies! Having people that have my back, listen tome vent, and tell me I'm doing a good job when no one else will is what helped me through.And I strive to return the favor.)
There were still times over the first 100 days (and every day since) that I was overwhelmed, sad, fatigued. Take this as an example. But because I gave myself a plan, and wrote it down and tracked it, I am in a much healthier place than I could be, or even than I was at this time last year-- and that was during the Obama presidency. I highly encourage each of you to make a plan for yourself. Find what works for you. Do resistance activities that you enjoy and are good at. Take care of yourself. Take care of others. I am more than happy to (for a small fee) have personal consulting sessions with people on how to make their own resistance plan, and if you are interested, please email blanketfortresistance@gmail.com
In the following days, I will be incrementally posting a packet that will walk you through planning your resistance. (I was a middle school teacher so I’m a sucker for a good worksheet.) I am breaking it down into a few posts because it's four part activity. Once it is all posted, I will post a PDF of the worksheet itself that you can print and share.
The next three days will focus on a guided brainstorming activity-- each day covering one of the three areas listen in this post. Friday will focus on creating SMART goals and Saturday about tracking and celebrating your hard work.
Remember, what you do may look different than those next to you, but all acts of resistance are necessary to bring the change we seek.