Staying Engaged in Making Change in Difficult Times
How do we stay engaged in our organizing to end the climate emergency (or racism, or sexual exploitation, or . . . ) and have a good life as the conditions in our societies get harder and harder?
The climate crisis is going to keep getting worse before it gets better. Society is collapsing, and economic struggles for most people are increasing. As society collapses and people’s lives get harder, people get more restimulated and act out their distresses and oppression on others. We all are either struggling ourselves or know people who are struggling.
At a time in human history when we need to be at our best to handle the crises facing us, the objective conditions around us are more challenging than ever for most of us.
As the International Commonality Reference Person for Care of the Environment, I’ve made a big commitment to lead the RC Community in addressing the climate emergency. I care deeply about humanity, and I want to do what I can to ensure our well-being and certainly our survival. I’m glad to have the chance to make this big of a difference, but I am challenged by the frequency of hard events and how they restimulate me.
Thank goodness I know RC and am good at using the discharge process. My Co-Counseling sessions are consistently good. I have lots of sessions, and I function pretty [quite] well most of the time. But I want to be able to draw upon my intelligence all the time and not be derailed by restimulation. My main tool has been working on the early roots of feelings of discouragement, overwhelm, and fear. I try to do this in every session. And whenever I find myself struggling in my life, I get a session to work on the early material [distress].
I also came up with [thought of] a strategy to help me stay on track [keep moving in the right direction]. It puts my work as a client in a larger picture that’s focused on staying engaged in my climate work. Here’s my strategy:
1. HAVE A PLAN TO MAKE BIG CHANGE. I have goals and a written plan for how I am tackling the climate emergency. I review it regularly and modify it as my thinking develops. If I get restimulated and off track, I discharge and come back to my plan to see what my next steps are.
2. WORK ON EARLY DISTRESS. I work on any early distress that would interfere with my sticking to my plan. Mostly this is the discouragement, overwhelm, and fear I mentioned before. If I’m not feeling enthusiastic about my climate work, I work on this material.
3. STAY CONNECTED. I don’t do this work alone. I have lots of partners and close allies I try to stay connected to. I build new relationships. I ask for help often. I want to bring lots of people with me in this work.
4. HAVE A GOOD LIFE. My goal is to live a good, healthy life (but not too good—it is a climate emergency, and I live in the United States, so I try to use my resources well and avoid pulls to comfort).
5. DON’T BE HARD ON MYSELF. I remind myself that I am a good person, that what I do matters, and that I deserve no criticism or blame.
I hope this is helpful to others. I would love to hear how you are staying on track with your goals, given the state of our societies.
Shoreline, Washington, USA
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC Community members
(Present Time 211, April 2023)