Activism Needs Introverts (www.tenthousandplaces.org)

Note: While we don't all share the same politics or faith perspectives, I think there are some universally wonderful messages in this post . I've heard lots of my friends struggling about how to show up in the world, how to improve the world and how to balance life and work and health and home. So much is urgent and upsetting and serious which is many of us feel upset and urgent are so serious. If we're contending with ACEs or toxic stress or adverse community events and environments, past or present and worried about the future, it's a challenge. There are no easy answers here, that's for sure, but the message that who we are and how we are is o.k., sufficient, enough and maybe even perfect... for me, it is helpful to at least consider seriously.

I spend a lot of time and energy wishing I had more energy, that my personality was stronger, that leaving the house didn’t make me nervous, that talking to people didn’t exhaust me. But I am trying to do less of that, and focus more on what I *can* do. I can think deeply about things, and I can write (albeit slowly) about them. I can listen well, and hold contrasting ideas in my head without trying to find a facile resolution. I can write (again, slowly) poetry and stories. I can support and cheer for others whose have more energy and extroverted personalities. I can babysit for friends while they go to protests.

I watched a wonderful TED talk the other day by Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective entitled Activism Needs Introverts. She had me hooked when she started out the talk by confessing that she used to hide in toilets (British for bathrooms). Here was someone who had dedicated her life to activism, to making the world a better place, and she was an introvert like me! I have hidden in toilets, on stairwells, on sidewalks, and many other nooks and crannies — and that’s when I could bring myself to leave the house. Sarah said that introverts are important to activism because they are good at slow activism, intimate activism, and intriguing activism. Read more.