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For a few weeks, I have pondered the challenge of living a good, happy life while also resisting the political and ideological harms we are witnessing. How do we stand in solidarity and not be complacent without also becoming cynical and miserable? Is it possible? Is it even moral? Can we truly be in solidarity only if we are in misery? Does resisting only count if it is really hard? Is it cheating to also have some fun? As Deepa Iyer tells us, we all have a role in social change, so I assume that translates to us all having a role in resisting whatever you would call all this egregious behaviour and the despair it invites. And then, just this morning, I asked myself, why do I assume resisting has to make me miserable and leave me deprived of all happiness? 
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Misanthropy is defined as a "dislike of humankind." More broadly, it can include dislike or distrust of the human species, human behaviour, or human nature. With so much bad stuff happening in the world, it is easy to toy with nihilism. To mumble “I hate everyone” or "people suck" to ourselves several times daily. To want to stop trying. To tumble into misanthropy. Today, I want to share Radical Gratitude Spell from adrienne marie brown that I read for the first time a few weeks ago. But first, some words from the book Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. I found them encouraging, and that is my hope for you as well, as I risk copyright infringement. This reminder is as much for me as it is for you.  Happy New Year! Today, I am celebrating my 44th birthday and the 4th anniversary of Disrupt For Good, started so long ago now with my New Year’s Revolution/40th Birthday Manifesto. We’ve covered a lot of ground together in those four years, and more recently, our discussion has centred around what I think are some key shifts we need to make together to be most impactful in our work and to continue doing the disruptive work of creating the society we want to live in.  October is my favourite month - the weather, the leaves, travel for conferences, cozy sweaters, my daughters’ birthday, Thanksgiving turkey dinner, what’s not to love? However, I’ve been feeling a tension between being in my favourite month, and the harmful/ideologically-fuelled policies popping up:
And as I have turned my attention to Canadian federal politics and the polls more this fall too, things getting worse feels…inevitable. But our job is to disrupt that inevitability. For good. So I’m sharing three unrelated things that are keeping me hopeful and motivated right now.  Last month I wrote about a new word for me, acurpar. And then within days, I had a chance to practice acurpar as encampment residents were forced out of a park in Barrie. And then our premier went on TV and said people in encampments just needed to get off their A-S-S and get a job. And then the BC government yoinked harm reduction supplies. And then multiple provinces started talking about legislating involuntary treatment for mental health and addictions. And then the House of Commons went back in session, and the divisive rhetoric ramped up to 11, to the point where it seems impossible that any conversations of substance can take place this fall among our federal elected policymakers. So it’s been a rough month for the hope-y change-y crowd. It feels like a lot of ground has been lost. Mix in some energy-draining conversations in my own life, and my September fresh-start optimism had worn thin. And then. A couple of things happened.  Last September, I wrote A Nudge to Action because September always feels like a fresh start after a summer of softer schedules, and I tend to have some restless, renewed energy that I’m ready to direct…somewhere. Today, I have a new word to share with you that comes with another inherent nudge to action. And as I dug into it this week to learn more, I think I also found what I’ve been searching for for a while now: how to articulate why these shifts in how we work that I’ve been writing about are so vital. The word is acuerpar.  Last month, I started sharing some field notes on my recent experiences practicing shifts in how I live and work. My story about shifting from certainty to curiosity in Saskatoon got long, so I saved my story of shifting from activism to organizing in the Yukon for today. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me!  It’s finally, officially summer, and I am loving the pace, with a more gentle start to our days and breaks built in to read outside. Admittedly, it’s largely fiction books in hammocks for me in the summer, so I don’t have much substance to bring you from my reading. However, I’ve had some opportunities lately to practice shifting from certainty to curiosity and from activism to organizing, and I thought sharing these stories may help you find spots to try this in your own life. (If you feel like it. I’m not trying to tell you what to do.)  I recently finished Charles Duhigg’s Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. It’s a great book in an easy-to-read style, and I recommend it to anyone interested in having better conversations. The part I want to share today is the importance of knowing what kind of conversation we are in. It sounds obvious, and it is a just a slightly more nuanced version of what we have all heard before: “Unless we know what kind of discussion we’re hoping for--and what type of discussion our companions want--we’re at a disadvantage. We might want to discuss practicalities while our partner wants to share their feelings. We might want to gossip while they want to make plans. If we’re not having the same kind of conversation, we’re unlikely to connect.”  Over the years, I have signed up for the mailing lists of several organizations doing great work. I regularly receive thought-provoking and inspiring articles in my inbox. A few weeks ago, I received three emails highlighting three very different articles
Now, if you’ve been here long, you know I have a bit of an ongoing internal struggle with the tension between trying to engage decision makers in meaningful discussion and marching in the streets as changemaking strategies. Not that either are good or bad, right or wrong, effective or ineffective, but more a question of which style is more good/right/effective for me? If systems change requires the full spectrum from delegating at city hall to chaining ourselves to trees, where do I fit? What is my role and where do I bring the most value? A small, committed group changes the world, yes, but what is the group DOING, Margaret Meed??  |
AuthorI'm Jennifer. I am an advocacy and communications strategist working with multiple charities and nonprofits. And I want to disrupt our sector for good. Archives
January 2025
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