Sustaining Ourselves for the Long Haul

As you get ready to depart for your summer justice work, we want to remind you that the quest for social justice can be long, difficult, and complicated, even as it may offer a deep sense of purpose and meaning as well. We often find ourselves out of our “comfort zones”, confronted with our privilege and biases, and faced with parts of world (and even ourselves!) that may be disorienting or difficult to accept. At the same time, you may find these new challenges exhilarating and empowering to explore. Given the range of emotions and experiences that may emerge, this work requires deep inner fortitude, and the cultivation of compassion, courage, patience and commitment.

Older activists and social justice advocates who have spent years inthis work tend to give the same advice: “The first thing I would say to a 16 year-old who is an activist is take care of yourself. If you are in it for the long haul, then take care of your emotions, take care of your mind, take care of your body. Reflect on your own judgments and your own biases, and let go of them. And keep being open to serve.” — Former Black Panther Ericka Huggins

The challenge is thus one of learning to sustain ourselves (along with our courage, our commitment and our energy) throughout the long arc of justice building, while also cultivating the kinds of traits and habits that make us effective activists and compassionate human beings.

How can that be done?

There are many possible approaches, of course. At UUCSJ, we firmly believe that developing a spiritual practice is one very powerful way to respond to the challenge of taking care of ourselves and sustaining ourselves for a long, healthy life of social justice work.