Something for the Journey
from Melissa Carvill Ziemer, Director of Ministries and Programs
 A piece by Ijeoma Oluo is being passed around the internet called “How We Get Through This.” While this essay is about naming and navigating the particular threats to democracy in the United States at this time, the advice she offers for living in the midst of chaos and crisis has broader application. Oluo advocates turning toward social relationships and strengthening community connections, attending to a hobby or two (especially ones that offer physical or creative outlets), practicing meditation, and cultivating joy, among other good strategies for attending to our well being, strengthening communal care networks, and avoiding burnout.
Alongside that essay I’m also reading Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. This book first came to my attention during the most intense quarantine phase of the pandemic and all I could manage then was looking up summaries to get the main points. With bandwidth now to read more fully I’m noticing connections. The Nagoskis lay out research and evidence based practices for individuals. Oluo’s writing reflects the ways that activists and educators, organizers and spiritual leaders, among others, are focused on nurturing the well being of individuals AND communities as part of an interconnected whole. I’m grateful for the chance to further reflect on practices of communal care and for the challenge to really integrate deeper practice into my daily life. I suspect I’m not the only one who struggles sometimes to practice what I preach as deeply as I wish. In these longer days of summer, may there be space and time for you to deepen into the practices you need in your life so that you can continue to offer the important gifts you bring to the people and communities you are pledged to nurture.
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