Action is the Antidote to Despair

Finding peace in troubling times

Good morning, everyone. How are you doing today?

I’ve really enjoyed the discussion we’ve been having since Saturday’s post, when I decided to spend the weekend cleaning my apartment. Your comments and shares were motivating and supportive as always. I still have a ways to go, but I focused heavily on organizing fabric and clothes, preparing loads of laundry, and separating items that need to be donated or sold. A much needed pre-spring cleaning. Unfortunately I didn’t wear a mask or face covering, and there was a bit of settled dust, which I foolishly breathed in and out throughout the day. I’m saying ‘foolishly,’ because I tend to react strongly and rapidly to things like that, my body launching itself full blast into fight mode, struggling to stave off a nearly inevitable sinus infection. It’s abstract and exhausting, hovering in this threshold state, trying to keep myself from getting sick. Lots of rest, endless replenishments of warm drinks and broths, the typical seasonal activities. You know how it is. Do take this as a PSA though: don’t breathe in the dust! It might not seem a big deal now, but it may become a big deal later! :D

At the moment, I seem to receive a daily update of someone whose become ill - cold, flu, RSV, Norovirus, an unidentifiable strain of something new. Between the weather and the flu season, the news and the stress, it feels like our systems are currently more vulnerable to breaking down. As we all know well, stress weakens our immune systems, increasing our cortisol and adrenaline, disrupting our hormone balance. Stress upsets the balance of our gut bacteria and our digestive systems. Stress reduces the number and function of T cells, which are needed to fight infections. We depend on our T cells/lymphocytes, our personal protectors/fighters, to be ready for action in case we’re exposed to anything contagious or harmful. They produce antibodies and keep our immune system powerful. Stress reduces the number of them in our bodies and exhausts them. It’s like taking our guards and shields down, shifting our immunity to inflammation, welcoming in a virus to attack us at willing, extreme exhaustion, a perfect place for anxiety and depression to take hold after we crash, when all we feel able to do is hide from the world and sleep.

This is a simplified way of framing things of course. We are complex beings, and there are many internal and external factors that are both in and out of our control, but the basic point is, we need to take care of ourselves during this increasingly stressful era we’re living through.

As we consume daunting news and political updates, we can easily recognize the effect it has on our brain, our body, our sleep. We can feel our heart rate climbing, the heat rising within us, the nausea, the tension, the headaches, the clenched jaw, the tight muscles, the stress hormones coursing through us, the anxiety. All of this is real, and we need to prioritize our health and wellness perhaps more than ever before.

We need to ask ourselves every day: What am I doing to take care of myself during this time?

We need to consider preventative measures, balancing, and emergency repair.

It’s important we do continuous check-ins for each zone of our self care and wellness.

How am I taking care of myself in the following areas of my health and wellbeing:

Mental

Emotional

Physical

Spiritual/Existential

Creative

Environmental

Social

What is working? What isn’t working?

In which areas am I struggling? In what areas do I need more support?

What can I shift/change about my routine in order to better support myself in these areas? What are some activities I can add to my routine to better support myself?

For example, we might find ourselves in a loop of reading/consuming high amounts of stressful news. Maybe the stress of the news and heavy worry regarding the future is permeating all areas of our present lives: physically affecting us, disturbing our sleep, causing ruptures in relationships, distracting from our responsibilities and our life purpose. This is natural and 100% understandable, and something we are all struggling with at various levels/moments.

We don’t have to completely cut out the news and live in the dark about things in order to feel better. It certainly can be a way to alleviate the stress, and we can and should take mental health breaks from consuming data and information, but we also need to stay informed and aware of what’s happening.

So we need to find a balance.

If we are spending a certain number of hours per day/week consuming news, we need to look at how the rest of our hours are spent. Are there several hours where we aren’t consuming news that are being spent thinking about the news? Is there a way to carve out a few hours to do something else instead - paint, draw, play music, write, dance, release our energy, do something that feels good, practice a craft, get into a state of flow, get back in touch with ourselves again, immerse ourselves in imagination, create something, complete something?

The truth is, as we all know, a lot is being asked from us right now. We are being asked to live in highly complicated times, bombarded continuously with information, and right now that information can be extremely scary. The unknown of the future can feel absolutely terrifying, and if any of us spend a little too much time reading the news, going into downward spirals of apocalyptic thoughts and existential despair, everything can feel like utterly way too much to handle.

We are only human, and in some way or another, we all have the same ultimate goal, which is to feel happy and at peace. Being alive is such a precious gift, and it can feel so unfair that our time on this Earth is being robbed from us by people whose values are completely opposite from our own. It would be so beautiful if all recognized our interconnectedness, if the world was a place of harmony, free of extreme greed, where the highest of value was put on kindness, environmental preservation, health/wellness, education, and a total alleviation of excess waste, overproduction, poverty, famine, and violence. It’s such an absolute shame that the world is so unbelievably fractured and we can’t get together on these simple ideals that should be viewed as basic rights for everyone. The fact that billionaires exist is so bizarre, the fact that we still have wars is so strange, the fact that world leaders don’t prioritize the climate crisis is mind boggling. The fact that people are still cruel to each other because of their innate differences is absurd. Beyond being utterly tragic and disturbing, it all just seems so silly, a seemingly endless and daily disappointment.

The good thing, the important thing to focus on and remember every day, is that among all of the hatred and evil behavior, there are individuals, leaders, groups, organizations, towns, cities, and nations everywhere who are resisting. People everywhere are doing amazing things everyday. People are not giving up hope.

As Joan Baez said, ‘action is the antidote to despair,’ and this is always what I live by. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.’ We need to find like-minded individuals, talk about what’s happening, and do something together. We need to make sure we are taking care of ourselves, and that our friends, family, and teammates are taking care of themselves, too. This is how we revolutionize together.

If there is a specific area, cause, or topic that you are especially angered, frightened, worried, and passionate about, it feels very good to spend time researching the initiatives happening now that align with your values, and to reach out and see how you can be involved and part of the solution.

In the post I wrote a few weeks ago, I shared the things that help me. These were the key takeaways:

What makes us feel better? What leads to achieving our goals?

-Taking action, making a shift, challenging the present reality with a new move, a new option, a solution

-Finding like-minded individuals and groups, connecting with community, and reaching out to others

-Recognizing our power, our abilities, our successes, our strengths, and our achievements. Realizing what works and what doesn’t, and applying that formula to anything we want to do.

-Writing out goals, thinking them, and saying them out loud in present, positive personal, tense

-Being kind and patient with ourselves

-Staying connected with compassion and hope <3

Every Goal in Present Tense

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When I was a senior in high school in 2005, we had to find internships, submitting a long-form essay and doing a public presentation on the subject of our studies at the end of the year. My passion throughout high school was the climate crisis, or ‘global warming’ as it was referred to more widely then. I interned with two local environmental groups in NYC and also worked with Ralph Nader, traveling with him and his right-hand Matt Zawisky, shadowing them both as Ralph gave talks in cities and towns all over the country.

My paper and presentation focused on climate change and environmental activism, most specifically on the extreme burn-out that can affect activists during times of crisis. Being an activist is a 24/7 job. The people who put their lives into this work are giving all of themselves, basically they are offering their life, volunteering their entirely livelihood, mental wellbeing, and physical health in order to make the world a better place for the rest of us. It is not a life for the faint of heart. They don’t get to go home at the end of their shift and forget the day’s work. It is always in their minds, present while they are sleeping, greeting them when they open their eyes every morning. They are consumed by the cause that drives them, because it is much bigger than them, bigger than us all. The stakes are immensely high. It’s our lives and our future they are fighting for.

The way that we feel when we consume too much news - that stress that courses through us, that panic and fury, that is the fuel that drives activists to action, and it is also the intensity that can burn them out. The unwavering desire to be part of the solution, to declare an emergency, the urgent need to do something about it today. Now. Tomorrow. Every day. That feeling is intense, a lot to navigate, there is no off-switch, and the more that is done, there is always more to do. This work is noble, but activists are humans too, with bodies and hearts and minds like everyone else. So without balance, this work can lead to extreme burn-out and debilitating fatigue. Activists need to rest, restore, sleep, take care of themselves. It is a highly important part of the work. As we know, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

Right now the world is changing, our future is on the line, and we are collectively finding ourselves consuming high levels of frightening news on a regular basis. We need to balance this out with prioritizing our self care, staying connected with each other, and whenever we are able, taking action to be part of the solution. All of these things done in tandem, in cycles, and in balance, will continuously help us when we are feeling badly.

Taking local and immediate action can mean many things. We all have different skillsets, passions, platforms, communities, abilities, and ideas. It starts with recognizing our roles - what we are able to do and where our time and energy can be most beneficial. How we can best utilize our efforts. Organizing or joining an ongoing initiative, starting our own to fill in gaps where they are needed. Writing, calling, speaking, organizing. Supporting those who are in need. Volunteering. Speaking with children or the elderly, doing our best to support in alleviating stress whenever and wherever possible. Remembering the equation: Skills + Helping others = Purpose

For me, it really helps to stay regularly connected with colleagues and mentors to work on solution based initiatives. I will give more updates on this on another post, but I am so happy and thankful to be able to talk with my non-profit partner Rebecca Foon, the director of our technical team, Yuill Herbert, and one of our dear mentors and collaborators, Bill McKibben. Not only are we working on solution based projects that boost further optimism for the future, but we also update each other on the current work of others around the country and around the world. Hearing the news of positive efforts going on at all times certainly helps in reducing the stress, highly elevating the feelings of hope. I’m grateful for conversations with these three, and grateful for everyone everywhere who is working for the betterment of humanity and our planet.

Antidote for Despair: Action and Rest. Balance. <3

It’s all about balance, and it’s important to remember that at any given time, we can only do our best. We need to make sure not to overdo it, and we need to keep a gauge on our energy levels. Not to get too low that we give up, not to push too hard that we crash. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘if you can’t be a tree, be a bush. If you can’t be a highway, be a trail.’ Meeting ourselves where we’re at, doing the best we can at any given time, and doing so while continuing forward with faith and hope. Always recognizing our value and the importance of our roles. Never giving up on life.

Let’s continue to take care of ourselves and each other, and continue to check in. A daily check-in with the self is highly important. Check-ins with each other as often as possible are highly important, too. When feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, or helpless, turn to a new strategy. We are here for each other. <3

Thank you for reading along with me. Let’s continue to express ourselves, get out of our heads, find each other, have conversations, develop and offer tangible solutions. Let’s remind ourselves to rest and continuously restore our much needed strength. <3

Please share any thoughts you have, any concerns, struggles, things that are helping, or Substack publications, organizations, or other resources you’ve found inspiring. Wishing you a peaceful and powerful day ahead. <3<3<3