Me with members of the League of Women Voters - a great organization.
Well, I've spent months trying to figure out the next step in my activism, and I still don't have it figured out yet. I spend some much time in my home office that it feels good to get out now and then to do activism work. I call this "going out into the atmosphere." See, I leave my little suburban neighborhood and I drive across the county or into the big city of Atlanta and I try to make a difference.
On Thursday, I gave a PowerPoint presentation on global overpopulation to the North Fulton League of Women Voters. Serious, it felt so nice to be out in the field again. I am now convinced that while web sites and emails are great support tools, they alone will never save the world. If you want to save the world, you have to get out into the public and talk to people by giving presentations, organizing forums, tabling, and tirelessly talking to people one-on-one.
I have done a tremendous amount of soul searching since I hit "burnout" in 2003 and it's been a real roller coaster ride. I think the answer is to be very, very careful about not overcommitting myself and not getting stressed out. From 1997 to 2003 I spent six years with the gas pedal completely to the floor, and I paid a price for that. For one thing, six years of my life are a blur, and for another thing, at times I neglected my family. So, I think the answer is to still venture out into the atmosphere, but I need to commit myself carefully and really learn how to say "no" (something I've never been able to do). The goal is to "pace myself" by doing just a couple of outreach events a month, while continuing to do all the other work that I can do from home.
Well, I'll try this for a while and see how it goes. I just finished reading the great book, "The Impossible Will Take A Little While." Yes, it took forever to finish it, but the book was a direct hit with what is in my soul.
"The book helped me to see the big, long-term picture. It replaced despair with hope and optimism."
