In my leadership development plan I found myself writing a lot about resilience, health and wellness. This is something I’ve had a lot of challenges with over the last six years – wanting to do more, pushing myself to places of deep burnout and illness. I’ve been in a constant pattern of taking on intense work, never quite having total time to recover – and immediately launching into something new. And so, as I begin this next chapter of my career, I am hoping to be deeply intentional about my decisions in regards to wellness, and to be dedicated to the pursuit of personal resilience.
Our reading from last week entitled, “Put down the self-help books. Resilience is not a DIY endeavor” by Michael Ungar has offered me some food for thought and resonated with other texts I’ve encountered. Ungar writes about resilience depending more on what we receive than what we have within us, and that “most of the things that genuinely improve people’s lives are quite mundane” (Ungar, 2019). I can certainly relate to this and see it in the importance of setting small intentions for myself such as taking time to be outdoors, to be with people I care about, to say no when I am feeling tired and to be willing to pick work back up again once I’ve had time to rest. There is another important point which Ungar stresses, and that is the importance of relationships. Ungar writes, “Change your world first by finding the relationships that nurture you, the opportunities to use your talents and the places where you experience community and governmental support and social justice” (Ungar, 2019). Mariam Kaba, an American activist, grassroots organizer, and educator who advocates for the abolition of the prison industrial complex, recently wrote a book entitled “We Do This Til We Free Us”, where she writes about re-imagining self-care. Kaba expresses, “I don’t believe in self care: I believe in collective care, collectivizing our care, and thinking more about how we can help each other (…) You can just care for yourself and your community in tandem, and that can actually be much more healthy for you, by the way” (Kaba, 2021, p.28). I have also experienced this in practice – last summer, when I was heavily involved in planning community protest events, someone created packages for all of the organizers. I remember how much that package helped me, offering a deep sense of being connected and loved. I think this model of collective care can also support a climate action movement where those involved are not only only concerned about the sustainability of the planet, but the sustainability of themselves.
My goal is to start living this by strategically making the time to care for others, build community and foster relationships. In practice I think this can look like choosing to work while sharing a meal or taking a walk. It means calling it a day when you can feel that you and your colleagues are ready for rest, and setting an example for Youth that taking time for yourself is productive. This is my hope for myself, and my hope for my colleagues – we have a long fight ahead of us and it won’t be won if our fires have burned out.
Works Cited
Kaba, M., Murakawa, N., & Nopper, T. K. (2021). In We do this ’til we free us: abolitionist organizing and transforming justice (pp. 2–5). Essay, Haymarket Books.
Ungar, M. (May 25, 2019). Put down the self-help books. Resilience is not a DIY endeavor. The Globe and Mail.