Self Care For Activists

There’s a lot of talk these days about self care. The world we live in is stressful and most of us need to be able to take a break from the pressures of the 21st century.

To that end bubble baths, long showers, mani-pedis, and massages are all lovely but, especially for activists, self care means much more.

Here’s the thing about activism, it means that you are looking squarely at an injustice in the world and trying to correct that injustice. It means that rather than pretending something isn’t happening or that, because it doesn’t directly impact you it doesn’t matter, you are taking a different position. You are taking the position that we are all connected and that what impacts any person matters.

Taking that perspective means that you are involving not only your head but your heart. It means that you are empathizing with that other person or group and have decided to do what you can to make things right.

Some things can be made right quickly and with little effort. Those are the things that feel good and keep our spirits up. Then there are the battles that are going to still be going on for a long while, possibly even after we are gone from this planet. Staying in action for those causes, the ones we don’t expect to see to the end, that takes a toll.

The inevitable disappointments and setbacks can wear away at us and learning what it is that we need to be restored is crucial to staying in the good fight.

Each of us is going to need a different combination of things to keep us feeling strong and in action. Figuring out what that looks like for you is worth the time. Ideally you do this when you are feeling strong, it’s way easier than trying to work this out when you’re already feeling depleted.

Let’s get to this:

1. What do you think of when you read the words, “self care”?

Those things that immediately come to mind are your easy “go to” places. And, yes, things like baths, a day at the spa, or the nail salon count. But I want you to go deeper. What would really feel nurturing?

Is there a hobby that you have forgotten about that truly soothes your soul? For me, it’s knitting. Knitting calms me, gives me quiet mind time, and, at the end, someone, sometimes it’s me, winds up with a nice hand-knit item.

Another nurturing thing for me is reading a book with no redeeming social value. I love a good mystery, I’m really fond of Scandinavian mysteries. Just sitting and reading a mystery is so restorative for me.

Those are two things that really help me. They take me out of the, sometimes really draining, work that I am doing each day and into a space of peace and quiet that has nothing to do with anyone but me (and that poor Scandinavian murder victim).

Write down at least 2 things that you can do that are just for you. Things that, when you do them, always leave you feeling better.

2. Where can you make regular time in your life for the things you’ve identified?

It’s great if you know what you do for restoring yourself but if you don’t actually do those things they aren’t going to help.

Find space in your week, better still each day, to incorporate one of the things that you find nurturing. Even 15 minutes, a few times a week, of time spent doing something just for you makes a big difference.

If you feel like you don’t have time, I suggest you put your phone down and pick your nurturing thing up. Our phones are great tools when we’re using them intentionally. It’s really easy to spend way too much time mindlessly surfing and that never leaves us feeling better. So put your phone down and do something you truly love for even just a few minutes. Schedule it in your calendar, put an alert on your phone to remind you to put your phone down, and then follow through!

3. Community is life blood for activists.

The work of changing the world, individual lives, social constructs, and policies does not happen with just one person. It’s the impact of communities of people working toward a shared goal that ultimately shifts things.

Not only is your community essential to achieving your goals but they are also the people who will keep you going when things are hard. They, better than most, will understand the challenges that you are facing and be there for you when you need support.

Reach out when you need it, and be there for others when they need it. It feels so good.

Lastly, because self care isn’t a one size fits all thing you may have to do a bit of thinking to figure out what it looks like for you. Spend the time. Restorative time is essential to staying in action as an activist.

4. Find Joy

One of the things that activists have to stay particularly aware of is the tendency to burn out. Burnout happens when we are hard at it, working for our cause every day and forget to refill our emotional and pscyological well. Burnout happens because sometimes we don't feel like progress is being made.

A point on that last thought, we can't know what the ripples of our actions will be. We can't know what someone we inspire will go on to do. That not knowing makes it easy to feel like we're just spinning our wheels. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't, we can't know.

What we can do is keep our larger vision in front of us. What we can do is deliberately Find Joy in our life. Whether that looks like staying home with a good book on a day off or going out dancing til 4am doesn't matter. Do you! Do what feels nourishing and restorative for you.

Make a habit of finding joy in little things during the day, a cute puppy in real life or online, a truly delicious cup of coffee, a funny conversation, the snowfall or sunset. Joy lives all around us and having it live within us will keep the flame and energy of activism alive within.