Over the last few years, I’ve observed activism come much more strongly into the limelight. Perhaps it’s related to the greater access of information — the ability to know what people are doing so long as they have internet access and talk about it — but it does feel as though more and more people are engaging in activism in the modern world. This, of course, is a brilliant thing; people — especially youth — should be engaging in the fight for justice and rights, whether of themselves and their communities or other communities they respect and align with.
However, as the world continues to grow, more and more injustices are brought into public view. As I write this, trans-positive ideology and transgender people in the United States are facing genocide, people of colour are globally fighting for respect and equal rights and treatment, marginalized religious groups such as Judaism and Islam are under more and more scrutiny, climate change continues to be considered a hoax by those in power, poverty in the United States is at an all-time high, and influencers like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson have misogyny and toxic masculinity on the rise. The hatred is louder than ever, and those with the will and drive to fight may find themselves overwhelmed with how much there is to fight for or against, while also keeping themselves safe and protecting themselves in the ways they need to.
This dissertation is intended to shed some light on this conundrum, of balancing advocacy and activism with protecting and caring for oneself, with a method I have employed for myself in order to protect my own emotional and physical stability. It may not resonate with everyone, but I hope it can bring insight and allow for the fights we fight to become stronger.
Subject 1: Choose your Fights
Many justice-focused people may feel the draw and need to fight for justice in every corner: attend every march, donate money to every charity, support everyone they can. However, by doing this, the individual might find themselves feeling burnt out, stretched thin, or struggling to balance all of the things they are fighting for.
The method I invoked is simple in theory, but complex and difficult in execution: choosing your fights.
What this means is self-explanatory: finding the fights that are most important to oneself, and putting energy into those. For some people, it could be 1 or 2 movements, for others it could be 5 or 6. Finding the amount that is right for you so that you can continue to give your all is critical, and may take time. Additionally, finding the movements that are most important to you may also take lots of consideration, and come with complicated feelings alongside.
It’s important to understand that you are not abandoning the other movements. You can support them how you can, when you can, if you can, but your focus is on your chosen battles. Overcoming the grief and feelings of conflict regarding not fighting for something can be difficult for some, but in the grand scheme of things, managing your energy is critical so you can give your all in your battles. Giving everything you have to everything there is can mean your contributions are weakened, or you yourself are weakened and more at risk, whether of burnout or other factors.
Putting what you can into your key chosen fights, and giving energy you have when you have it to movements that resonate with you is a balancing act. It takes time to find the perfect alignment of what resonates with you most and what you’re capable of fighting for.
For me, my chosen battles are trans and queer rights in the Northwestern hemisphere, and advocacy for mental disorders and disabilities. These two are the battles that I put the most of my effort into when I am able, but that does not mean I don’t respect and advocate for other movements like Black Lives Matter, Landback (an indigenous movement in North America to get native lands into native hands), and women’s rights. I just know what affects me directly, and what I am able to give my attention, energy, and time to. I continue to research the injustices outside my chosen battles, and I continue to try to learn and grow where I can, but I give my fight to the battles that are most important to me.
Subject 2: Protecting Yourself
Of course, activism and advocating for others is important. It is a necessary act to ensure that justice is dealt, and to garner more support so that even more justice can be seen. But it can become unhealthy to constantly be fighting.
Checking in with oneself and learning where one’s energy, both emotional and physical, can be spent is imperative to continue fighting. As has been studied, taking breaks can often boost productivity and quality of work. This applies to activism as well. By always fighting, always working towards the goal of your movement, one can miss important opportunities to learn, or can burn out, or even cause harm to one’s mental and physical health.
Taking the time to assess energy and health means you can continue to give more and more to your chosen battles. Accepting that you may have to miss a rally to rest, but that you’ll be there the next day, can help you keep your voice loud, or make it even louder.
For me, the physical act of attending rallies and marches can be strenuous and physically damaging. Accepting this, and doing what I can how I can instead helps me manage my health and continue my fight. Continuing to research and learn, informing the peers close to me about injustices in the world, these are other ways I can fight without pushing myself past my own limits.
Additionally, know that you are not alone in your fight. There will always be someone to pick up the slack when you are resting, and you will be there to pick up the slack when someone else needs to rest, whether you see it or not. The movements you follow have likely been cultivated for months, years, or even decades, and have no shortage of supporters to march when you cannot, to rally when you cannot, to fight when you cannot.
Subject 3: Addressing the Shame
For some people, not fighting may bring about feelings of shame, guilt, and inadequacy. Some people may even make others feel this way, coaxing another to fight when they cannot, whatever the reason may be.
Addressing this shame, and accepting that you are doing what you need to make sure you shout louder, you fight harder, and you get your justice, is paramount. Internalizing this, knowing that resting means you advocate better, can help overcome the guilt. Just because you didn’t choose one fight to be your chosen one doesn’t mean you’ve completely abandoned it, and just because you can’t attend a hearing doesn’t mean you’ve stopped fighting.
Developing the thick skin necessary to accept what other people might say or believe about you for not always fighting can be a struggle, but it is worthwhile. Knowing your limits and following them to a T, even when others may dismiss you for it, means you do a better job as an advocate and activist.
For me, this comes in the guilt of knowing I cannot fight for some other causes I align with almost equally to the causes I chose. But I take that guilt, and I tell it that I am making sure I can continue to fight for as long as it takes, and I accept that the rest and leaving some movements to other people means more is done overall, rather than spreading myself thin and becoming overwhelmed, overworked, and burnt out.
Finding a community that accepts you and ensures you are meeting your needs can be worthwhile as well, though it can also be tricky. I have no advice for this, other than keeping close the ones who accept you, and ignoring the ones who do not.
Finally, understand that the person ridiculing you for not fighting may not see the world how you see it. They may have higher limits, more drive, even more to give to their battle, and even more to earn from a victory. They may simply not understand, but it’s important not to discredit their efforts. It is simply up to you if you wish to allow someone who ridicules self-care into your circle.
FINAL NOTES
This piece, once again, was not advice, but rather a short dissertation on how to balance our fights and our self-care. If you, as the reader, identify with anything in here, then that’s great! If you, as the reader, disagree with my points, that’s also great! It isn’t for everyone, but it is something that has worked for me.
In my past, I used to try to be pro-justice in every way I could, and it just made me hate the world. I became unable to see the progress being made, and instead just saw the world as a cold desolate place rife with terror, instead of a full globe of unique individuals all fighting for something. The three stages of this practice (Choosing your Fights, Practising Self-Care, and Overcoming Guilt and Shame) have worked for me and allowed me to continue my fight long after I might have been able to, had I kept trying to divide my attention between everything. I still research the movements outside my chosen fights, and I still try to keep up-to-date on myself and my knowledge of the systems of advocacy. That is enough for me.
And for those that are still hesitant, consider these questions: Would you ask Martin Luther King Jr why he isn’t rallying against climate change? Or Greta Thunberg why she isn’t speaking up about AAPI hate? Or any notable activist why they aren’t fighting for something other than what they’re known for fighting for? Those people chose what was important, and cared really hard about it, and impacted more change because of it. You can do that too.
