some words to get you through the next 48 hours
This weekend, I wrote the penultimate chapter of my book (I think). There’s still weeks’ worth of editing and rewriting to go before I’ll feel confident enough to turn it in to my pubisher; however, what this means is that a shitty first draft (in the words of my friend Brené Brown) is almost complete. And that’s something to celebrate.
I can’t tell you how grateful I’ve been to have had this project over the last eight months. I pretty much started writing the book right as we went into lockdown, before George Floyd, before wildfires, before so much happened in this wacky year. A huge part of writing this book involved interviewing a dozen activists and advocates who are doing really amazing work in the world, and if it wasn’t for the fact that my work required me to listen to their wisdom, I would’ve probably committed hara kiri months ago. There is something incredibly comforting knowing that good people are out there caring so deeply for us all.
I don’t know about you, but today, the eve of what is arguably the most important election in my lifetime, I’m pretty tense. So I find myself returning to some of this wisdom to help me cope (not to mention a calming playlist as I work). Even though I was planning on taking some time away from the blog, it occurs to me that you might find some of this wisdom comforting as well. And so, here are the wonderful people who have lent their thoughts to The Lightmaker’s Manifesto. May their words help ease your mind over the next few days. (And, if you’re an American registered voter, don’t forget to vote!)
"A friend of mine on Twitter the other day mentioned the concept of “edgewalkers” – you know, the people who will go to the edge with you, and look over and talk about it and walk you back? When you're ready to torch everything, trust those people in your life, rely on them. Because they're the people who you can count on to come up to you, walk with you and say, 'okay, let’s look at this together.'"
~ Aaron Billard, minister in the United Church of Canada, and creator of the Twitter page Unvirtuous Abbey
“It is critical to learn to listen, especially if you aspire to be an activist. In my opinion, if there's something that you care about so much that you want to, first of all, open up to the world and let them hear it, and make folks aware, and you also really want to help other people care about this thing that you care about so much, then listening has to be a huge piece of that. Listening is where we find the common places that we share. And if my goal is to bring people with me, I have to start somewhere, and starting by slamming the door in someone’s face isn’t generally going to get what I want.”
~ Asha Dornfest, author, activist, and founder of VotePlus1
"[My activism] comes from a place of understanding that our humanity is sacred – that there is a divine imprint on each of us. And I have all the questions in the world, and zero answers, but … it’s like how writer Henry Nouwen said that all of your life is the chance to say to God 'I love you too.' So everything I try to do is my way of saying, I love you, too."
~ Brad Montague, filmmaker, creator of the web series Kid President and author of becoming better grownups
“I’ve started to write about this a little bit: I don’t think we will have social change of any type for any group without vulnerability. You look at the protesters out in the street – so vulnerable. You look at people speaking out – so vulnerable. So I think there are two things: I think being brave and an advocate takes vulnerability, but it also takes empathy.”
~ dr. Brené Brown, research professor and storyteller
“At the end of the day, I have to go to bed and feel good about myself. I have to go to bed feeling like I made choices of integrity. They have to align with what I think is right. And that’s broader than just political party – that’s broader than what your family says, what your friends say. You ultimately answer to God and yourself.”
~ Jane Mosbacher Morris, CEO and founder of To The Market, an organization focused on providing dignity of work, opportunity and choice to women around the world
“I feel like what calls you to enter into activism can be a whisper and it can be a bang. I think for some people, like myself, I had this very awakening experience that was hard to ignore. But I’ve talked to young people who hear the whisper. They want to get involved more, they want to be active more, but they don’t quite know how. And so the whisper keeps whispering. I say listen to that whisper and do one small thing ... which, honestly, is kind of my advice for everything.”
~ Jess Weiner, an advo-consultant and the creative mind behind huge women and girl empowerment initiatives, like Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, and Barbie’s new diverse body sizes
"Both my art and my activism are threads woven into the desire to connect with the world in a way that is honest and rooted in love. Art is just connection. And organizing is just connection. That’s the root of both of them. When I’m making a painting, I’m not asking myself, “what do I want to say to the world?” I’m asking myself “who do I want to listen to?” The same is true with organizing. It’s not about my need, for example, to convince the governor that I’m right about an issue, and that she’s wrong. It’s about how do I empower someone who’s lived this issue, and ensure they feel listened to."
~ Jordan Seaberry, artist and Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at The Nonviolence Institute
"Curiosity, I think, is the antidote to so many of the pains that we’re going through right now. Because right now, the thing that is horrifying me the most is that a band of very wealthy, incurious men have somehow controlled the narrative so that those of us who have a lot in common can no longer find each other."
~ Mira Jacob, activist and author of the graphic memoir Good Talk
“Spirituality is about experience, and it’s about experiences of meaning. And I do believe activism, which includes experiences in which you are connected with others and connected in an immediate way to living your values, can be very spiritual.”
~ Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick, psychologist, theologian and executive director of The Jung Center
"We are in what feels like scary times right now - but in one way or another, there are always scary times. I try to advise young people or people wanting to be more involved in reshaping the world to do a few things first. One is to get clear about who they are and what they value. The other is to get out in the world and get a better understanding of where the issues are and what they are."
~ Tarana Burke, founder of The Me Too Movement
"I used to think that my breathlessness – those moments when I felt so overwhelmed, so paralyzed, so helpless – I used to think those moments were a sign of my weakness. And it took a mentor to tell me, “Oh no – no, no, my love – your breathlessness is a sign of your bravery. It means you are awake to what’s happening in the world right now." The world is in transition. We are in a massive, painful, convulsive transition as a nation and as a human race. And so it’s okay to feel everything you’re feeling and the key is to breathe, to let breath in your body. And then ask – how can I push? What is one thing, what is one way I can show up now?"
~ Valarie Kaur, Sikh activist, filmmaker, civil rights attorney, and author of the book See No Stranger
"We can only be in this movement from an overflowing cup of energy and presence, and joy is part of what fills our cups up. And joy is our birthright. Our ancestors passed the baton to us, and we’re on a different lap than they were on. They were singing and had joy, and that’s what enabled them to pass the baton to us. An in order for us to be able to pass the baton on, we have to fill our cups."
