I’ve spent most the last few days offline. And while there is a part of me that has the pull to check in and see if we have launched nukes yet, I also know that there is a long game here and I need to be able to play it.
Which means, I need to take time to do the work to take care of myself. To calm my nervous system the fuck down. To see my therapist. To spend time cuddling with my little guy while watching Peppa Pig. To spend time with my becoming-a-young-woman learning about the women of American history and reading fairy tales from different cultures and talking about the archetypes and running themes within the stories. To do the laundry and pick up the toys. To read. And to write. To connect with friends, new and not new, for conversation.
Because the horrible shit will still be happening tomorrow. And today (and yesterday and Saturday) I needed time to breathe.
And we need to remember that while the short game is vital, and truly lives are depending on us being in the arena for the short game, the long game is also vital. And sometimes we can only be in one arena at a time and sometimes we can be in both and sometimes we truly have to tap out and sit on the sidelines for a moment.
And THAT there is the beauty of the collective and of community. It means that not a one of us has to Do It All. It means that we each have a role, a place and sometimes that looks like being a supporting character and sometimes that looks like being in the lead and sometimes it looks like being the understudy sitting off stage. And sometimes maybe, it looks like being the director or producer or the one who’s bankrolling the show. And maybe sometimes it means we are in the audience, giving witness to all that is happening. And maybe sometimes we are the ones sewing the costumes or building the sets or even writing the play itself.
My point is it takes a whole community of people for change to happen, for there to be true revolution. And because it take so many people, it also means that each of us can take the time to care for ourselves. Because if we are the lead, the understudy can step in for a night, to continue that analogy.
We can’t burn ourselves out one week in.
Pace yourself.
When and if you can be in the arena for the short game, do it. Call your congress people. Go to the marches and rallies. Go to the town hall meetings. Go to the community organized events that teach you how to be a revolutionary, how to be an ally, how to be an asset in this fight. Volunteer. Donate. Offer support in whatever ways, to those who are in the trenches, and have been – offer child care or take them a meal or pay for them to get a massage. Do what you can.
And we all need to be in the arena for the long game. Doing the things we each do to bring our consciousness shifts as well as working towards that 2018 election.
We will win. We have to.
And the only way we are going to is if we get in community, take our role, and remember to pace ourselves, set boundaries, and give ourselves breaks as needed.
We’ve got this. We do.
In rebellious solidarity, always.
xoox
I’m offering two workshops where we will learn and practice how to soothe our nervous systems, come into our bodies, and process and sit in uncomfortable emotions & sensations. One is in-person here in the Seattle area, is six weeks long, and begins this Friday, March 3. To learn more about it and register click here. The other is an online six month circle that begins March 15. To learn more about it and register click here.