Love the tips, love the reference to WALL-E ( which should be required viewing in all consumption-based societies), and of course the nod to the one and only Jill!
No but seriously this is SO on point, why is it such a rare take? "If consuming less content makes you feel like you’re not doing your part, consider actually doing something."
We have been conditioned by the past ~15 years of online/hashtag/share-to-story activism to think that content is a viable pathway to social and political change. It once kind of was, and consciousness was certainly raised, but it’s not working anymore. It’s time for a new take!
Totally - it was great in the beginning! Have you read Hyperpolitics by Anton Jäger? Just read it so it's all I'm thinking about atm - but essentially everything is political, we're stuck online, super lonely in real life, assume NGOs will deal with it and no longer have organisations with proper collective power (easy to join, too easy to leave) and social capital through membership. Time to start proper groups irl, I reckon?
I haven’t read it, but I’m adding to my list! And totally agree on proper IRL groups. I think any effective movement now needs to exist both in physical and digital spaces but we need to take back the physical first.
Could the next missive maybe have some suggestions for what one could actually do?
I have friends who march and open their doors and get out there among the people. They campaign and raise proper awareness and keep themselves properly informed and have opinions. I can't do that for many reasons, and it makes me feel guilty.
So I've started giving blood and plasma. In Australia, one can give plasma every two weeks; whole blood every 4 weeks. The nearest Lifeblood spot to me is a plasma one. Luckily, I don't have health issues that will prevent me giving plasma or blood as often as I like.
So every second week (or so, depends on the rest of the world), I trek off my acreage into the physical office, leave the office early (giving blood counts as work time in my exceedingly excellent workplace), lie back in a stupidly comfortable chair, pull up a book on my iPad, politely request a choccie milkshake, and feel insufferably virtuous AND forced to do nothing for an hour or so (plasma takes longer than blood because they give you back all your red blood cells). The impact on my mental health of this win-win-win scenario is flippin' astonishing and I honestly get upset when I can't do it at my two-weekly intervals.
It's the easiest way to do true, necessary good that I can think of, and I recommend it to anyone who can do it.
Then I eat All The Snacks while making sure I'm not going to keel over (Lifeblood in Australia has the BEST snacks). And then I go into the big shopping centre and look at all the shiny things I could buy but won't because I'm still riding that insufferable high.
Then I go into the bookshop and maybe the art store and I might hit the craft store on the way home and go slightly wild because, well, books and materials for making things are different. (Even if I'm only just learning how to paint and I'm no good at it, but it SMELLS so good and it's very satisfying). Which leans into #5. I'm learning watercolours, because they're the easiest to do quickly but also it turns out playing with how water moves colours is fascinating :)
I'm still navigating how to pay sanity tolls. I need to do something with actual humans more frequently, but I live at least 80km away from my good friends, and I live on acreage because I'm an introvert and I dislike commuting. This is the year I try to really do something about it though.
Exactly this … thankyou so much :). As a woman who was so batterd by the system and got very sick 8 years ago, I somehow pulled through, for my family… had a lot of parenting to do to 2 very little (at that time) girls… (slightly bigger now)… but my illness left me partially-blind and partially-deaf (I’ve learned to adjust and adapt to these but my eyesight and hearing are what they are… but I have plenty of VISION… probably more than ever and am on an “Accessibility Mssion” for ALL humanity… and boy, do we have a long way to go as humanity to get back to systmic care, love and oneness!). … So, I’m typing blind and on Braille buttons, with feedback from touch and audio (from my screen-reader… text to speech for blind people)… so just thanks… this deeply resonated. And often for those that can’t easily exercise out of doors, or indeed, get out of the house easily without human collaboration, online connection is invaluable and “deep”… but if yeu are in a position, and reading this to help someone who has barriers to gotNg out face-to-face and in ature… offer your arm and companionship :). Thanks so much 💖🦯🪄🌈☄️✨
Charmaine! You are so very welcome. Thank YOU for your VISION and STRENGTH and for leaving this wonderful comment that reminds us to make this world more accessible to everyone. I will start adding alt-text to my newsletter images from now on. Systemic care, love, and oneness for all! Taking you by the arm in spirit. 💓
As per usual you’ve lit a fire in my belly Liz and now I want to start a screaming women’s choir, like the Hamburg girls choir, and have a sing song/scream every week.
Careful, there... you're turning into a life coach... But, all joking aside, your post reads like an epiphany... I feel completely discombobulated, much like everyone else, and I guess we very much need this kind of reminder. Thanks.
Love the tips, love the reference to WALL-E ( which should be required viewing in all consumption-based societies), and of course the nod to the one and only Jill!
And I love this comment! ❤️
So anyway, I started restacking...
No but seriously this is SO on point, why is it such a rare take? "If consuming less content makes you feel like you’re not doing your part, consider actually doing something."
We have been conditioned by the past ~15 years of online/hashtag/share-to-story activism to think that content is a viable pathway to social and political change. It once kind of was, and consciousness was certainly raised, but it’s not working anymore. It’s time for a new take!
Totally - it was great in the beginning! Have you read Hyperpolitics by Anton Jäger? Just read it so it's all I'm thinking about atm - but essentially everything is political, we're stuck online, super lonely in real life, assume NGOs will deal with it and no longer have organisations with proper collective power (easy to join, too easy to leave) and social capital through membership. Time to start proper groups irl, I reckon?
I haven’t read it, but I’m adding to my list! And totally agree on proper IRL groups. I think any effective movement now needs to exist both in physical and digital spaces but we need to take back the physical first.
An excellent post.
Could the next missive maybe have some suggestions for what one could actually do?
I have friends who march and open their doors and get out there among the people. They campaign and raise proper awareness and keep themselves properly informed and have opinions. I can't do that for many reasons, and it makes me feel guilty.
So I've started giving blood and plasma. In Australia, one can give plasma every two weeks; whole blood every 4 weeks. The nearest Lifeblood spot to me is a plasma one. Luckily, I don't have health issues that will prevent me giving plasma or blood as often as I like.
So every second week (or so, depends on the rest of the world), I trek off my acreage into the physical office, leave the office early (giving blood counts as work time in my exceedingly excellent workplace), lie back in a stupidly comfortable chair, pull up a book on my iPad, politely request a choccie milkshake, and feel insufferably virtuous AND forced to do nothing for an hour or so (plasma takes longer than blood because they give you back all your red blood cells). The impact on my mental health of this win-win-win scenario is flippin' astonishing and I honestly get upset when I can't do it at my two-weekly intervals.
It's the easiest way to do true, necessary good that I can think of, and I recommend it to anyone who can do it.
Then I eat All The Snacks while making sure I'm not going to keel over (Lifeblood in Australia has the BEST snacks). And then I go into the big shopping centre and look at all the shiny things I could buy but won't because I'm still riding that insufferable high.
Then I go into the bookshop and maybe the art store and I might hit the craft store on the way home and go slightly wild because, well, books and materials for making things are different. (Even if I'm only just learning how to paint and I'm no good at it, but it SMELLS so good and it's very satisfying). Which leans into #5. I'm learning watercolours, because they're the easiest to do quickly but also it turns out playing with how water moves colours is fascinating :)
I'm still navigating how to pay sanity tolls. I need to do something with actual humans more frequently, but I live at least 80km away from my good friends, and I live on acreage because I'm an introvert and I dislike commuting. This is the year I try to really do something about it though.
You are already doing more than most. ❤️
I will definitely write much, much more about what we can all do.
Exactly this … thankyou so much :). As a woman who was so batterd by the system and got very sick 8 years ago, I somehow pulled through, for my family… had a lot of parenting to do to 2 very little (at that time) girls… (slightly bigger now)… but my illness left me partially-blind and partially-deaf (I’ve learned to adjust and adapt to these but my eyesight and hearing are what they are… but I have plenty of VISION… probably more than ever and am on an “Accessibility Mssion” for ALL humanity… and boy, do we have a long way to go as humanity to get back to systmic care, love and oneness!). … So, I’m typing blind and on Braille buttons, with feedback from touch and audio (from my screen-reader… text to speech for blind people)… so just thanks… this deeply resonated. And often for those that can’t easily exercise out of doors, or indeed, get out of the house easily without human collaboration, online connection is invaluable and “deep”… but if yeu are in a position, and reading this to help someone who has barriers to gotNg out face-to-face and in ature… offer your arm and companionship :). Thanks so much 💖🦯🪄🌈☄️✨
Charmaine! You are so very welcome. Thank YOU for your VISION and STRENGTH and for leaving this wonderful comment that reminds us to make this world more accessible to everyone. I will start adding alt-text to my newsletter images from now on. Systemic care, love, and oneness for all! Taking you by the arm in spirit. 💓
As per usual you’ve lit a fire in my belly Liz and now I want to start a screaming women’s choir, like the Hamburg girls choir, and have a sing song/scream every week.
DO IT, TINA!
Careful, there... you're turning into a life coach... But, all joking aside, your post reads like an epiphany... I feel completely discombobulated, much like everyone else, and I guess we very much need this kind of reminder. Thanks.
It’s an honor to be your unhinged life coach. Stay strong out there.
You got it, coach…