Unsubscribe from the Weight of the World

I gotta be honest, the weight of the world feels pretty damn heavy right now. The rise of fascism and oligarchy, economic "retaliation" and conflict on all levels. In a very short time, many of the assumptions we held about the world order, security and certainty have been flipped upside down. We can no longer count on the things we once counted on. That's a lot to process.

What has been so helpful to me as I struggle with this is remembering that while yes, I am small and my actions will never be powerful enough to resist the scale of what is happening, I am also part of a collective. In my hope and my imagination, there are millions of other people out there, feeling the values trespass that is happening at this moment, and resisting and disagreeing and unsubscribing in their own small ways. And if we all do our small things, our small acts of disagreement and resistance, that adds up to something big.

What keeps us in a place of power instead of despair, is to do the things we can. To acknowledge that we do not agree with what's happening, that we value humanity, equality and compassion, that we will stand for our beliefs and values in the ways that we can, with the skills, resources and capacity available to each of us.

Not sure what that looks like? The resources below may shed some light on the many ways we can play a role.

I've also been taking comfort in that old saying, "think globally, act locally." I can do that.
I can't change global things, but I can take local action and contribute in that way.

We have an election coming up in Canada. What are the local things you can do so that your values are well represented by the leaders of our country? Can you encourage people to vote and share information about how to spot disinformation, like our WLI team member Caitlin? Can you do some volunteer work for a local candidate you believe in? I did a few hours of volunteer work during the Provincial election, and it made me feel a lot better, like I could do something. Even though our candidate didn't win, I feel better because I tried. It was a small thing, a few hours, but it made a difference.

We can be paralyzed when we feel like there's nothing we can do. It shuts us down, but it's also a waste of the skills and resources we do have. Small acts of resistance and values alignment make a big difference, not only to us, but to the collective of which we are a part.

Please keep doing what you can do. It matters.

In community,
Belinda

RESOURCES:

➡️ Twenty Archetypes of Resistance

➡️ Callings & Roles for Collective Liberation

➡️ Alyssa Burkus, Shift Wisdom Newsletter - Body of Work (Alyssa always seems to find the resources that I didn't even know I needed)