Activist Affirmations
Ideas and ideals to practice while we try to change the world
It is no secret that activist communities are not often the most emotionally healthy places. Despite their beautiful and vital efforts to change society for the better, many activist groups, community organizations and collectives collapse under the weight of their own internal strife and contradiction. How is it that in spaces so dedicated to healing systemic problems, issues of infighting, drama, exploitation, emotional abuse and reenacted trauma become so prevalent?
I have a rather simple hypothesis about this: people get driven to disillusionment with the status quo by experiencing or witnessing the trauma it produces. Those who get interested in activism as a result tend to see the cause of suffering as external, and therefore view healing as a process of changing external circumstances. While this view is certainly legitimate and important, it ignores the fact that internal shifts in belief, habit and behavior can also (perhaps, more effectively) create healing and reduce suffering.
The problem is that if you try to heal the pain in your life only through healing the world outside of yourself, you will perpetually fail to feel better. That chronic trauma never gets resolved, and so it gets projected, whipped up with legitimate urgency and genuine…
