A long time ago I asked readers for suggestions of what you would like to discuss here. One person talked about questions of “how to stay engaged in social justice issues long after ‘the thrill is gone’ and the mundane realities of life set in.” They were feeling the tension of this especially while in the US where there is a strong pull to live more selfishly, more insularly.
It is a great question.
I haven’t been sure how to answer it!
People often ask my husband and I about our perspectives on longevity. I joke that we are stubborn. Or maybe foolish. And then I add that we have meaningful work we feel equipped for (him: PhD in Educational Development, me: Linguistics and now seminary). We have developed good and supportive friendships with our local community. Our kids have been happy and healthy. We made specific choices as a family. There has been a lot of unexpected and undeserved mercy. I could go on and on, and get into more details in the future.
But that isn’t the specific question. That answers a question more about general expatriate life choices.
This reader is asking about social justice work and how do we not throw up our hands in despair and say, “I’m out”. Now, this was almost a year ago and the term “social justice” has become rather loaded in the USA so I want to clarify. I use it to mean work that contributes to healthy society and thriving people; humanitarian and development work, job creation, education, environmental care, working for freedom and security in violent areas, promoting peace, things like this. This may or may not include faith-based initiatives.
There is certainly an early sense of “thrill” in the beginning days. Zeal, eagerness, rose-colored glasses, and hope that real change is possible and that we can have a hand in it. I wrote this in Pillars, about moving to Somaliland, “We thought changing the world was possible, and we thought we could place our hands on her as she shifted.”
It can be quite discouraging to discover how long, and even seemingly impossible, some change is. Or to realize our little drop of contribution is immediately swept up in a tidal wave of opposing forces. Or to see positive momentum reverse. Or to recognize that what we thought was helpful actually wasn’t, and that we have left a trail of mistakes. There is guilt, pain, confusion, disappointment, and disillusionment.
There are practical things to do to help keep on keeping on. But I do hold two less tangible convictions: Every person uniquely matters and reaching across culture matters.
Every human being who leads a work project, grants me a visa, coaches a team, asks for a loan, ran off with the investment capital, partnered with me in a project that dead-ended…each one is made in the image of God, is a bearer of the imago dei. Looking at people through that lens moves me to celebrate the joys and frees me to grieve the brokenness.
Not everyone thinks it is important to reach across culture or difference, they prefer to hunker down in homogeneity. But in our globalized world, this is almost impossible. At some point, we will interact with people who don’t look, act, think, or believe like us. I believe it matters that we relate with each other. I believe these cross cultural interactions that sharpen and challenge, that sometimes end badly or involve heartbreak, are vital to growing people of character (myself included) that the world desperately needs - humility, open-heartedness, curiosity, expanded world views…
So I start there. Everyone has absolute value and relating across difference matters.
What are your foundational convictions?
Briefly for personal health:
For me, I need good conversation with trusted friends, physical exercise, a challenging book that takes me outside the current issue faced in real life, a day out of the city, kids who make me laugh, and a supportive husband.
What do you need specifically?
Here are other suggestions:
This episode of the podcast The Better Samaritan asks humanitarian workers how they sustain hope. It is a great listen.
Here is an interesting resource which I have not read, so bear that in mind. But the interview is good: In it For the Long Haul: Overcoming Burnout and Compassion Fatigue as Social Justice Change Agents. She talks about being “spiritually grounded, emotionally present, and physically healthy” as foundational.
Specifically for women: Burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle. I read this a year ago and found it helpful.
What do you do to stay in it (whatever your it is) for the long haul?
Thank you so much for diving into this question! I appreciate how you boiled the answer down to two centering truths: "Everyone has absolute value and relating across difference matters." I can so easily become overwhelmed with the amount of need that I don't even know where to start or wonder if what I do even matters. These focal points are really helpful.
Thanks for this reflection Rachel. I wrote a similar reflection a couple of weeks ago. Here's my take on how I keep having the energy to do justice work: https://walkhumblyinitiative.com/learning-community/ama-response-how-do-you-do-advocacy-from-a-place-of-hope-rather-than-anger