I am a social worker and this is something that I was taught early on that has stuck with me.
In order to help others, we first need to take care of ourselves. We do no one any favors by giving, giving, giving and burning ourselves out. This is not by any means suggest that we only take care of ourselves and ignore the needs of others, but rather that we have to put ourselves and our well-being first to a certain extent. We do not need to be martyrs.
The next is the We. This is your community. This is your family, your friends, the people in your neighborhood, your town. How can you best support them? How can you enact change on this level? This can look like being a supportive friend or neighbor. This can look like volunteering, this could look like fighting to enact change in your community on a governmental level. When it comes to radicalizing people, you have to meet them human to human anyway. You would be amazed how many people‘s hearts can change by developing relationships with people that are different from them.
The most outer layer is Them. This is people in communities outside of your own, even across the world. It’s so much easier with social media to be tuned into these atrocities happening all over the world. It is great that so many people feel called to Change on that level. Also, it is really difficult. It can be incredibly despairing to realize you do not have as much power to make change on that level as you wish. That does not mean you stop trying, it means you go back to the We and the Me. That will help ground you and give you energy for the larger, marathon like issues. Tune in as much as you can handle and find a way to contribute that is feasible for you. Like. bee1000 said, you do not need to be an expert. There is so much pressure with social media to be tuned in 24/7. Find a reputable news source to check daily, and see what you can contribute. It’s not about completely tuning out, but adjusting the dial a little bit.
Jan 22, 2025
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Like yes volunteer and advocate and vote. I know I need to be in touch with my community right now. But with the current economic situation it feels like everyone is just tired and barely making ends meet all the time. And I'm tired of thinking and hearing about all of the terrible things happening but I want to stay informed. And I'm trying to combat that with good things like hobbies and friends and this website. But it just feels like everyone trying to do good things are working with the rules which is slowing them down and everyone trying to do bad things are bulldozing through rules and safeguards to create the most distruction the fastest they can in ways that are hard to stop while staying in the lines they are ignoring.
It really is like that one quote that is about one of the world wars like what did you all do during the war and the person is like we did the laundry. Like my life is still just going and I'm still keeping up as best as I can. We know it's bad. Them fighting each other is good news honestly.
1d ago
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To be upfront, there are two things about myself that I love:
1. I'm tenacious AF
2. I am generally a positive person. I can handle almost any situtation, and I've had to learn to actually ask/demand more, so it's not always great.
With that being said, I've wanted to die many times. I've experienced a lot of trauma. I have PTSD for years. Things got to a point where I knew if I didn't make really drastic changes I was going to die in some way- I simply could not go on how I was.
The only thing that started to change things is when I started to learn more about myself and my reasons for doing things, being with certain people, getting into certain relationships. Part of my whole issue was that I had major trauma from childhood that I was actively avoiding. So many things happen to us as children, big and small, that we don't have the capacticy to deal with at the time. But as adults, we do.
I remember the moment where things started shifting for me. It unlocked a hunger in me to dig more and more to why I was the way I was, and why I made the choices I did, in a really deep way. I became more action oriented in facing my shit, healing it, and discovering what I was like without it. It definitely wasn't easy, and it wasn't fun most of the time, but in reality the years I spent doing that are small compared to the life I have ahead of me. I'm a whole new person, but the parts of me that are true are the same. I became a more mature, loving, responsible version of myself.
Hating your life is a sign something is not working. If you're unsure what that is, go inward. If you don't know where to start, think about the very next step. That's all you need to do. You're never locked in where you're at now forever. Don't know what you want to do for a career? Switch gears and do a completely different job. There is no timeline. You can literally do whatever you want. When I was doing a lot of the stressful inner work, I worked at animal shelters because I needed something so low stress. And I was mid 20's!!! No career goals in sight!!! Not even anywhere in my brain!!! If you're straight up hating something that is taking up most of your time... just quit it. Life is too short.
Success to me is ease and grace. I want a peaceful, joyful life (most of the time). Sometimes to figure out what you need to do, you gotta take a giant step back. Or a step to the left. Or take a big roundabout. Or maybe a quest needs to be taken...
Dec 4, 2024
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from the perspective of being in therapy, i personally try my best to stay away from this mindset because it only hurts you. one way i break out of this thought is by asking myself a few things:
1) am i physically in danger?
2) has anything changed that will affect my livelihood today?
i think that a lot of times, we look at news and things going on around us or thousands of miles away and we jump to conclusions and kinda forecast what effects will happen to us or others in the near future. that isn’t so healthy if you can’t use this energy constructively to advocate for yourself and others.
so either we accept things and move forward, or we block out the nonsense going around us. personally i do a mixture of both.
Apr 6, 2025
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May 31, 2025
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Humans have always danced. It is part of who we are, yet we have been conditioned to be self conscious, to think that we do not move our bodies good enough. Dancing is beyond judgement. Dancing is not a skill, it is our soul moving through our bodies, expressed in movement. Dancing is healing. Dancing is bodily autonomy. Dancing is FUN! Any feeling you are feeling can be moved through with dance yet even alone, you fear looking foolish. Kill the judge in your mind, shut the fuck up, and MOVE 🌊
Apr 24, 2025
In Tarot, The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana, which represents the life cycle. These cycles we are continuously going through in our lives, not just once. The final card of the Major Arcana is The World (which I have tattooed very large on my thigh), which signifies the completion of a cycle and natural ascension into the next. We are then thrust back into the Fool, with a bit more wisdom.
The Fool as an archetype is one of joy, curiosity, spontaneity, and trust. The Fool is pure of heart, knowing that the Universe has got their back. This innate trust allows The Fool to be playful, to take risks, and truly believe everything will work out. The more we go through life and experience loss, grief, heartache, trauma, the harder it becomes to embrace this energy. I’ve found that as healing goes on, just as it’s shown in tarot, we return to this natural state of being. We start off as The Fool when we are wee little babies, and if we are lucky can return there a few cycles at a time, with more wisdom gained each time.
The goal of The Fool is to have positive experiences, maybe for fun, maybe to grow. There is an acceptance with The Fool, a kind of “this is what is, how can I make this work well for me?” Everything works out for The Fool because they don’t know it can’t. Anything we go through in life, we can use to grow. I personally believe we all could benefit embracing the archetypal energy of The Fool a bit more. The Fool doesn’t stop to worry what other people will think! The Fool does not fret about what if’s! The Fool is in the moment!
6d ago