How To Find Your Focus When The World’s On Fire {Without Burning Yourself Out}
I heard this term the other day: polycrisis. And it’s what we are currently experiencing and have been experiencing for the past decade with the snowball effect adding more crisis’ to the world. A polycrisis is the word used to describe when climate disasters, political unrest, rising inequality, tech disruption, and mental health struggles stack on top of each other causing us to burn out, freeze, and turn to more and more distraction. But with that comes guilt, shame & apathy. So, what do we do about it?
Running a business the last few years has felt like an uphill battle - with every inch forward, I feel myself get knocked back down with another fearful headline, a social media post showing the absolute wreckage of Gaza, and the daily insanity from the political sphere across many countries. I have been taking the month of instagram and I recognize my privilege to be able to do so, but it’s the only thing that kicked me out of my daze of horror. Within less than a week of being on instagram, my heartburn disappeared, I began to create more, and I did things that refueled me (meditation, painting, reading, writing, crafts, etc.). I want to make it know that logging off instagram doesn’t mean removing oneself from the issues at hand - in fact, for me it allows me to see them more clearly and to take aligned actions that make me feel like I’m making a difference. I realized part of the uphill battle was my own incessant need to doomscroll and the fact that I would continually consume content that would keep me down - I was the one knocking myself back down.
Journal Prompts:
When I hear the word “polycrisis,” what emotions surface for me?
Do I notice myself avoiding the news—or doomscrolling it? Why?
Which crisis feels closest to home in my day-to-day life?
The best way for me to explain how I feel these days is like these world crisis’ are piled up on top of me and every day I get the choice of choosing which one to chip away at, but the heaviness of all the others exhausts me too much to do anything. Whether it is the genocides in Gaza, Congo, Sudan & elsewhere or the fact that there is a subset of people in my province that want to separate from Canada, it’s literally one issue after the next - BUT. They are all connected. And understanding this connectedness will be the piece that helps us save ourselves while we try to save the world.
When we focus on putting out all the fires everywhere, we have no energy left to stop the fires from starting in the first place. Expecting people to know all, speak to all, and bring down all systems is a ridiculous expectation - not only were our biological bodies not prepped for this, but it’s also inefficient at best. One of the most frustrating things about being in social justice circles is the amount of infighting that happens because we aren’t “doing enough” or “doing it right” = it adds another level of stress and pressure that is unnecessary. None of us is doing this “right” or “perfect” - but I believe that every little bit helps. So, here are a few ways that I’ve started to think about my role in this new world.
Find a cause that I have influence in & I am passionate about
I have influence in the body image & mindset arena and I am passionate about advocating for people’s right to have dignity, love, and respect regardless of their bodies. My work in this space is not only something that I can passionately and eloquently speak about, but it starts to pull the thread on the tapestry of oppression. Helping individuals feel empowered, confident, and centered in their authenticity is my gift and while I do love to yap, I realize a big part of my goal is removing the blocks from OTHER leaders & creatives so they can yap alongside me. The World needs more people, especially those in underrepresented bodies, sharing their truth, their stories, and their experiences, but more often than not, many folks (myself included) fight against limiting beliefs created by oppressive narratives that keep us stuck, small, and quiet.
Journal Prompts:
Where in my life have I already tried to “do it all”? How did it impact me?
What’s one historical or modern leader I admire, and how did they narrow their focus?
What might it look like to trust that choosing one thing is enough?
2.Looking at the Sphere of Concern vs. Sphere of Influence
The sphere of concern relates to the things that I cannot control or single-handedly dismantle (war, patriarchy, racism, sizeism, global markets, etc.) whereas the sphere of influence relates to the actions I can take and make an impact with (boycotting, attending rallies & protests, where I spend my money, how I use my voice & creativity, etc.) By focusing more of my attention on the sphere of influence I am able to have a better impact and be more sustainable in the process. And this is where it’s important for us to look at what is possible for us individually and not hold anyone else to our standards of activism - one of the biggest issues with being a progressive is the amount of times I’ve had people slide into my DMs or leave passive aggressive comments that I’m both doing too much and not doing enough. Remember, online is only part of what we see - we never know what people are doing offline and not sharing. More often than not, people are donating to places they believe in, attending in person events, lectures, etc. or supporting their local business owners who are directly impacted by the ongoing crisis’. About a year and a half ago, I decided to start doing ONE thing daily (for the most part) to chip away at the cause of my choosing. Sometimes people knew about it, sometimes they didn’t, sometimes it was a big donation or hands on approach and other times it was leaving a message for my city counsellor or mailing a postcard to the prime minister. And then sometimes, it was showing up for the people in my business or in my community that need my attention, time, and expertise. We can be aware without becoming consumed by it all.
Journal Prompts:
What issues am I deeply concerned about but know I can’t control directly?
What small but tangible areas of influence do I actually have right now?
3. Understanding my values & using them as my compass
I’m a sucker for a good values exercise and I try to do this every year because sometimes I narrow in on the specifics of my values and define what they mean to me. By remembering my values, I am able to direct my efforts in the direction of those. My current values are: AUTHENTICITY, CREATIVITY, CURIOSITY, & COMPASSION. I had to ask myself : What matters most to me? And at the end of day, these are all the things that matter most. Leaning into these helped me to show up more unapologetically - particularly authenticity & compassion. I had to give myself grace for simply being who I am and who I am is someone who might do things differently than most and who uses her own experience to relate to others. My curiosity allowed me to learn more about the issues that were tugging at my heart strings. To ask questions about things I didn’t know about and to get curious about…well, everything! My ANCHOR is body image and mindset work and how we can use these two things to embrace our authentic selves.
Journal Prompts:
What values guide my decisions when I feel most like myself?
Which current crisis lines up most clearly with those values?
4. I picked an anchor cause and lightly manage the others
Again, my anchor is body image & mindset work to help build resiliency in individuals. Because this work is not just my job, it is my life, my air, my water it already consumes more of me than a lot of folks who have a regular job and commit to their anchor issue in their free time. I then dedicate other aspects of giving and showing up in a way that allows me to lightly impact the other issues that I care about, but I no longer allow myself to be consumed by it all. This was a huge change and as a former Good Girl & people pleaser it did come with guilt - but not with shame. The guilt was placed there by the “should”s - I should do this, I should do that, I should say this, I should say that, etc.
Journal Prompts:
If I could choose one “garden” to tend in this season of my life, what would it be?
What’s one small way I can contribute to other causes without burning out?
5. I manage the guilt like I manage my body image insecurities
Our society loves to make us feel like we are never enough - whether in how we look, how we produce or how we fight for justice. This is baked into our DNA and as previously mentioned, it’s a big part of the reason why social justice spaces can be more harmful than helpful. It’s similar to the infighting we see between people in the body positivity movement - there was no room for discourse, nuance, or anything else and this is a big part why the movement has backslid away from its original intentions. I have seen a lot more talk about shame based approaches to activism, but rarely does that work for long lasting change. I’ve seen people belittle others who are just now speaking up about certain issues instead of welcoming them to the fold which is why people rebel and usually say or do nothing. We will never get it 100% right. What does create change, however, is curiosity, compassion & empowered action.
Journal Prompts:
Where does “not enough” guilt show up in my activism or awareness?
How does guilt affect the way I actually take (or avoid) action?
What would it feel like to approach change from compassion instead of shame?
