Hello, reader. How’s tricks? Ming and I are considering doing significant work at a community we love more than anything. There’s tons to do, so we need a plan to resist burnout.
From previous communities we’ve lived in, we have experience. I wrote about burnout in community recently in regards to disability and power.
Definitely, I know how to do too much, over give, suffer, and harm my health. That can lead to resentment and even trauma. Where do we draw the line? How do I say no? Taking a right-sized bite is important for my own health and well-being– as well as for the community, because I need my work to be joyfully sustainable.
Luckily I have Ming, a bright therapist, much instagram knowledge, brilliant friends who advise me, and more than ten years of community experience. Here I am, ready to care for myself.
In my journal I started to write a plan to resist burnout, and I want to share some parts with you in list form.
plan to resist burnout
Stay grounded in our values and reasons for why we’re there.
Be real about our disabilities and capacities.
Take breaks, rest, say no to more responsibilities, care for the body, and prioritize my health and Ming’s.
Share power, resources, knowledge, and credit. This is just and kind, but also disperses work.
Don’t take big, old patterns personally. Some fuckery is decades old– older than us. Keep a bird’s eye view; don’t drown in details. Look at the bigger picture, and let go of what we can.
Keep a sense of humor and light heartedness.
Know that we will disappoint people, and some people will think bad of us. So be it.
Be ready for betrayal. Not if, but when!
Tell the truth. Be real about workload and how we’re feeling.
Have boundaries and pray for help.
Don’t get bogged down in tradition and precedent. We bring freshness, which his part of our benefit.
Stay grounded.
Prayer, ritual, water, song.
Resist taking sides. Stay friendly with all people, as we can.
Be realistic about my need to withdraw sometimes to protect my energy.
Both of us need to get comfortable with things that need to be done going undone. We can’t take something on, just because no one else will.
Limit how much money we give to the project.
Maintain relationships, art, and life outside the land community.
Maintain diversity.
Along with rest, truth, and our health, prioritize pleasure.
word chunks
Here are some word chunks– we are autistic, after all– as part of our plan to resist burnout.
- No, I can’t take that on.
- I will need to get back to you about that.
- No, that’s not within the scope of my work here.
- Thank you for the feedback. We’ll consider it.
- I encourage you to learn how to do that and find someone to help you.
- No, that’s not within the scope of the project.
defining the project
I can’t define the project of the community, or I won’t here. But I can define the project Ming and I are proposing.
We will caretake the land and keep the home fires burning with love as the land community transitions from what it was, to what it will be, with truth, right-sized bites, and soaking ourselves in the rosewater honey of abundant pleasure.
Sounds like a good time. It’s nice we have no desperation fueling us. It’s just an offering.
questions for discussion
How do you resist burnout?
Are you good at saying no?
Do you need word chunks for better communication?
What are your favorite ways to rest?
Do you like to rest?
What roles do you enjoy in community?
Are you realistic about not pleasing all the people?
Do you see the big picture of patterns?
How do you not take things personally and let go of what’s not yours?
