We are in a rapidly changing political climate. It seems that many in power hope those working for peace, equity, and justice will be afraid and, if we’re honest, at Quaker Voluntary Service many of us are wondering how we will navigate the next four years. We asked our Fellows and staff what they are doing to stay grounded in this moment and here is what they said:
- Sometimes I find a place to sit comfortably while blasting music I like and verbally say out loud the things I’m feeling (e.g. lost, scared, unsure of the future) and the things I’m going to do after that lil sesh (go get groceries to cook dinner, do laundry, watch a TV show I like).
- I worked on a podcast episode for Pendle Hill that came out January 21st in the below feed. That process has been helpful for me! https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/
- I pick up my mandolin or guitar. I mend things. I seek achievable sidequests that help others in my immediate vicinity (e.g. talking with someone who is looking for connection on the bus, helping an elder move groceries into their car).
- I help myself stay grounded by wearing certain clothes; a lot of my wardrobe is made up of hand-me-downs from friends and family, or items I got while thrifting with friends and family. By wearing certain clothes during challenging times, I can help myself feel held by the people I love, even when they’re far away.
- I try to turn to wonder and beauty. I actually carry around a magnifying glass with me and use it on snowflakes, flowers, leaves, etc… Seeing how much intricate order there is in the universe helps me feel like there are things that can’t be broken.
I help myself stay grounded by wearing certain clothes; a lot of my wardrobe is made up of hand-me-downs from friends and family, or items I got while thrifting with friends and family. By wearing certain clothes during challenging times, I can help myself feel held by the people I love, even when they’re far away.
Your authors, Ruth and Zenaida, are focusing on what we can control at this moment and drinking water every time we feel despair. (We are currently well hydrated!) Quaker Voluntary Service will continue to be bold. We will continue to deepen our commitment to centering the most marginalized in our communities. What is happening now is not going to scare us from supporting our diverse community from exploring our spirituality and engaging in social justice work in a way that has integrity. We will do everything we can to create spaces where our Fellows and larger QVS community can feel safe.
Quakers have a long history of standing in opposition to oppressive authority figures. QVS Program Director Mike Huber says:
Mary Dyer and other Quakers directly confronted the Puritans in Massachusetts. They sacrificed their lives in order to bear witness to the tyranny at work.
Quaker history reminds us that standing with those who are targeted by tyrants can get us into trouble – the kind of trouble that John Lewis would call “good trouble.” Doing the right thing might come with a cost, but Quakers, at our best, have been willing to pay that cost.
More often than direct confrontation, Quakers have received pushback from those in power because we’ve advocated for those being harmed. Quakers were condemned for our support of those resisting slavery in the United States. We were denounced for supporting displaced Palestinians in 1948 and the Vietnamese during military operations in that country. In 2005, a Quaker named Tom Fox traveled to Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams to advocate for human rights and nonviolence. An extremist group kidnapped four people from CPT. When Tom was executed by his captors, CPT quoted Fox himself, saying, “We reject violence to punish anyone … We forgive those who consider us their enemies.” British Special Forces eventually freed the remaining hostages.
Quaker history reminds us that standing with those who are targeted by tyrants can get us into trouble – the kind of trouble that John Lewis would call “good trouble.” Doing the right thing might come with a cost, but Quakers, at our best, have been willing to pay that cost.
William Penn said “Let’s see what love can do.” We can use the power of love to solve problems, especially when we’re also trying other means and we can’t tell if they’re working. As Jessica Williams said in their recent viral reel, we need to “Throw our arms around the people who need it the most and hang on!”
We want to leave you with this Future Shaping Spell from adrienne marie brown:
what we see in 20 years is what we shape. Right now let’s shape
the future, repeat after me:
We claim the power
Of our outrageous grief
Our righteous anger
Our responsibility to our precious lives
Our interconnected individual and collective joy
And our impossible magic
We embrace our edges
That they may teach us to grow
In right relationship to the living world
Our human messiness
Our weird and brilliant wonders
We know how to be
In so many incredible ways
With these gifts we can
Foment a revolutionary now
That centers love, care, needs
Creativity and magic
We plant the seeds of radical honesty
Vulnerability, authenticity
And the kindness that eases inevitable change
We will not settle!
We will grow weirder and wilder
More interdependent
For our liberation
For our liberation
For our liberation!
In solidarity,
Ruth and Zenaida
Why participate in QVS instead of applying for a job directly with a nonprofit?
QVS Fellows are also offered greater wrap-around support in their QVS city (housing and intentional community, training in conflict resolution and anti-oppression work, spiritual accompaniment) to help them engage in service long term and avoid burnout.
One QVS Alum from 2016-2017 shared:
“QVS gave me a sense of direction — I learned at the end of the year that I needed more education, and more critical thinking around the best space for me to make long-term impact in a community. I found out what my strengths and weaknesses were, and gained clarity towards my next steps…
In my year-long position, I did a lot of typical first-job-out-of-college evaluation, but in my community I think I arrived at those conclusions faster because I had folks at home I could talk to about my experiences and feelings. It also unprogrammed the definition of success I maintained for myself before QVS; now, success is more than work, but also about how I am able to care for myself and listen to my feelings. I owe QVS thanks for more holistic visioning.”
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