If you’re somebody trying to create change in this world, you’re going to need some powerful techniques to keep you energized and hopeful.
Lovely Being!
I feel very lucky to be able to work with people like you who have the awareness and compassion that inspires them to make the world a better place.
I admire the courage of those trying to make a difference, because the pain that comes along with being a changemaker isn’t for the faint of heart…
- You’re usually painfully aware of the suffering in the world – from your local community to a whole species of beings.
- Your tasks and missions can feel gargantuan and never-ending.
- You often have to deal with on-going conflict.
- The majority of the population not only likely doesn’t understand or support your depth of caring, they might even resent it.
ARRRRGGHHHH! With all this in play, your awareness and compassion can easily turn into hopelessness, anger, anxiety, or alienation if you’re not careful.
That’s why, as a coach for changemakers, I’ve amassed a lot of techniques over the years for helping my coachees deal with the emotional overwhelm that they inevitably run into, so they can stay strong in their life and work.
A couple of years ago, though, I realized I needed to find a way to bring together a bunch of those techniques into a mega-tool that is not only powerful, but (knowing how little bandwidth compassionate action-takers have) easy to remember and not too time-consuming. And that’s how F.A.C.E. came to be.
In this week’s video, I break down the four-step F.A.C.E. process and then take you through a guided experience of it.
All you need to bring to it is a situation that’s been difficult for you or a feeling you’ve been struggling with. Then, get ready to be soothed, get some clarity, and uncover the particular energy you need right now to empower you.
***If you’d like to go straight to the exercise, it starts at 6:20
Btw, F.A.C.E. is a tool that you can use over and over again whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed or stuck in some kind of pain, so keep the play button handy. : )
Hugs, Kimberly
GO HUNGRY TO SUPPORT TORONTO VEGETARIAN FOOD BANK!
As you might know, I help run the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank .We provide cruelty-free, healthy, and environmentally-conscious groceries to folks who are living under the poverty line.
We have 300 people who use the food bank — from new refugees to activists who have fallen on hard times to people with serious diseases whose doctor has told them to go plant-based. The pandemic has been an especially hard time for our clients, and we’ve been showing up through it all to make sure they don’t feel forgotten in all this.
Well, it’s time for our yearly fundraiser — the 30-Hour #Fast4Hunger — and we’re looking for some compassionate folks to fast and fundraise with us!
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Sign up to be a part of the Toronto Veg Food Bank 30-Hour #Fast4Hunger
2. Ask friends and family (via email, at work/school, social media, etc) to donate to your fast. You’ll get your own custom donation page that you can set up in 2 minutes!
3. On June 23 (or a day close to), you fast for 30 hours in solidarity with those who go without food on a regular basis. We also have a private Facebook group for those doing the #Fast4Hunger, so we can help each other through. 😛
You can also win AMAZING plant-based prizes by taking part.
And if you’re not able to do the fast yourself, you can always donate here to see ME go hungry. 😉
ANIMAL JUSTICE ACADEMY LUNCHTIME LIVE
This THURSDAY (via Zoom) in the Animal Justice Academy, I’m going to be helping folks work through some of the emotional and mindset challenges that animal advocates can experience in a Q&A/strategy session.
Examples of topics we might cover:
- stressful social media exchanges
- compassion fatigue
- how to get more productive
- what to do with the judgement or anger you’re feeling
- challenges you’re having staying committed as a new vegan
- family or friends who don’t “get” your veganism
- how to make space for healthy habits when there’s so much to do
Folks attending live on Zoom will have the option of un-muting and talking things through with me in real-time or just asking their question in the chat.
If you’re not already a part of Animal Justice Academy, you can sign up for FREE at: www.animaljusticeacademy.com.
JUSTICE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
If you’ve been asking in the last week what more you can do to help Indigenous folks in light of the tragic discovery of the bodies of 215 children in an unmarked burial site outside of a residential school in B.C., I wrote about this last week…
As Canadians, we need to acknowledge the privilege we all have living on stolen land, and amplify the calls for justice from Indigenous folks, like:
- calls for sovereignty/self-government
- reforming the foster care system (which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls “a continuation of the residential school system”). Indigenous children make up over half of the children currently in foster care, despite making up only 7.7% of the ‘children under 14’ population.
- stop the over-policing of Indigenous communities
- stop the under-funding of social services, such as housing on reserves, access to essential needs like clean drinking water, affordable food, and healthcare.
- for the federal government to stop spending millions to fight residential school survivors in court
- to stop governments from sending the RCMP into unceded territory to violently remove air, water, and land defenders in the name of resource extraction
If you’re Canadian, writing a letter to your MP (find your MP’s contact details here) can be a powerful start. Make sure you also cc: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca.
If you’d like to more of a deep-dive, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has 94 calls to action, including 6 directly relating to the residential school systems that you can read.
