WEBVTT

00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:03.380

This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

00:00:03.380 --> 00:00:04.120

.com.

00:00:04.300 --> 00:00:08.120

Information, resources, and opportunities to support the show

00:00:08.120 --> 00:00:12.140

and connect with others are available at StereoForest

00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:14.660

.com daily reconnect.

00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:19.400

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:22.780

only, and is not a substitute for medical

00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.000

advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.540

If you have specific mental health concerns, please

00:00:28.540 --> 00:00:30.840

consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

00:00:31.560 --> 00:00:33.040

Now, onto the show.

00:00:37.160 --> 00:00:38.980

Welcome to the Daily Reconnect.

00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:42.040

It's March 24th, and I'm your host, Jen

00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:42.400

DeHaan.

00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.640

This podcast is designed to help you reconnect

00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:48.400

with the present while you might feel detached

00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:51.560

or unmotivated with the world around you, or

00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:53.840

if things just feel pretty surreal.

00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.540

Together, we'll re-engage with the reality of

00:00:59.540 --> 00:01:03.000

the world, our minds, and hopefully, each other.

00:01:03.319 --> 00:01:05.220

This podcast is going to be the same,

00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:08.720

with a bit of a weekly reorganization.

00:01:09.220 --> 00:01:10.780

This is while I gear up towards a

00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:12.180

sustainable daily offering.

00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.380

On Mondays, I share some words of motivation

00:01:15.380 --> 00:01:16.780

to continue with your week.

00:01:25.270 --> 00:01:30.070

Life is a struggle, and remaining motivated to

00:01:30.070 --> 00:01:33.450

continue this fight that is existence, and to

00:01:33.450 --> 00:01:37.210

maintain democracy, well, all of it is pretty

00:01:37.210 --> 00:01:38.370

exhausting and draining.

00:01:39.190 --> 00:01:43.570

Other episodes include grounding exercises to settle the

00:01:43.570 --> 00:01:45.090

nerves and reconnect.

00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:49.070

So, use whatever resonates with you, and modify

00:01:49.070 --> 00:01:52.590

or discard anything that doesn't feel right or

00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:53.770

doesn't work for you.

00:01:54.350 --> 00:01:58.090

So, today, we will explore the subtle but

00:01:58.090 --> 00:02:04.590

pretty powerful territory that exists between recognition and

00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:05.250

action.

00:02:05.930 --> 00:02:09.009

It's a space where many of us find

00:02:09.009 --> 00:02:10.690

ourselves today.

00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:14.010

So, by now, you may have come to

00:02:14.010 --> 00:02:18.670

see systems of harm, things such as the

00:02:18.670 --> 00:02:24.490

exploitation that exists in capitalism, or the very

00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.670

dangerous patterns that we're seeing in fascism.

00:02:27.950 --> 00:02:33.850

You might even recognize the interconnected crises of,

00:02:33.970 --> 00:02:38.830

like, climate, and healthcare, and isolation, and how

00:02:38.830 --> 00:02:42.070

fascism rises from all of these things happening

00:02:42.070 --> 00:02:43.090

simultaneously.

00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:48.090

Recognizing this is really important, because that is

00:02:48.090 --> 00:02:52.230

the foundation of any meaningful response that we

00:02:52.230 --> 00:02:54.790

can even make to all of this that's

00:02:54.790 --> 00:02:55.570

going down.

00:02:55.950 --> 00:03:00.250

But this recognition alone, while it's really important

00:03:00.250 --> 00:03:04.430

alone, it changes nothing, or not very much.

00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:09.190

Like, sitting with signs, that doesn't change anything,

00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:12.630

or even attending a rally in a convention

00:03:12.630 --> 00:03:14.450

center, just going and showing up.

00:03:14.670 --> 00:03:17.190

Very little comes from that as well.

00:03:17.510 --> 00:03:21.090

The action after these things, that does change

00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:21.490

something.

00:03:21.830 --> 00:03:25.950

There's a particular comfort in awareness without action,

00:03:26.250 --> 00:03:29.130

a sense that seeing clearly is enough, that

00:03:29.130 --> 00:03:32.970

naming the problem somehow addresses it, just having

00:03:32.970 --> 00:03:33.870

the conversation.

00:03:34.190 --> 00:03:37.130

We tell ourselves, well, at least I understand

00:03:37.130 --> 00:03:40.430

what's happening, at least I'm not deceived.

00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:45.210

We share articles, we share posts on Blue

00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:50.030

Sky, we express our outrage on a Reddit

00:03:50.030 --> 00:03:51.190

thread.

00:03:51.510 --> 00:03:54.430

We might attend a big rally, or a

00:03:54.430 --> 00:03:56.630

presentation from our political leaders.

00:03:57.090 --> 00:04:01.390

We might have passionate conversations with like-minded

00:04:01.390 --> 00:04:02.470

friends of ours.

00:04:02.790 --> 00:04:05.310

And all of these things, yes, they're important,

00:04:05.550 --> 00:04:09.110

but they might stop short of anything that

00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:10.450

is really transformative.

00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:11.870

Action.

00:04:12.310 --> 00:04:15.450

And this moment in history demands action.

00:04:15.950 --> 00:04:17.790

Many of us find ourselves waiting.

00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.670

We wait for leaders to emerge out of

00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:23.770

all of this, ones who will show us

00:04:23.770 --> 00:04:24.490

the way forward.

00:04:24.890 --> 00:04:27.990

We wait for the perfect organization to join,

00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:31.910

or we wait for the perfect organization to,

00:04:32.030 --> 00:04:34.930

you know, get behind and say that we

00:04:34.930 --> 00:04:35.590

support.

00:04:35.590 --> 00:04:39.310

We wait for a moment when the action

00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:42.650

feels less risky, or less inconvenient to our

00:04:42.650 --> 00:04:45.770

schedules, less disruptive of our daily lives.

00:04:46.130 --> 00:04:49.230

We wait for someone else to do the

00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:52.450

work, someone, say, more knowledgeable than you, or

00:04:52.450 --> 00:04:55.770

more eloquent than me, or more qualified to

00:04:55.770 --> 00:05:00.190

organize the resistance, or create an alternate option

00:05:00.190 --> 00:05:00.950

for us.

00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:02.550

We're waiting to act.

00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:04.550

And until then, we don't want our lives

00:05:04.550 --> 00:05:05.450

to be disturbed.

00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:08.230

Now, this is understandable.

00:05:09.030 --> 00:05:11.890

What we're looking at today, our rights as

100

00:05:11.890 --> 00:05:14.790

humans, or the climate, or our workspaces, or

101

00:05:14.790 --> 00:05:18.210

money, or access, or politics, it's enormous.

102

00:05:18.810 --> 00:05:20.510

All these things are huge.

103

00:05:21.010 --> 00:05:26.890

Individual action can seem insignificant against these huge

104

00:05:26.890 --> 00:05:28.750

things, these huge systems.

105

00:05:28.990 --> 00:05:33.150

And yet, throughout history, the significant movements for

106

00:05:33.150 --> 00:05:37.070

justice and liberty didn't start very often with

107

00:05:37.070 --> 00:05:40.210

charismatic leaders, or the perfect plan.

108

00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:44.690

They started with ordinary people who simply stopped

109

00:05:44.690 --> 00:05:45.510

waiting.

110

00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:49.190

These important movements, the ones that have succeeded,

111

00:05:49.950 --> 00:05:53.790

have often started with a bunch of people

112

00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:56.610

in a community meeting in the basement, and

113

00:05:56.610 --> 00:06:00.530

coordinating, and staying in solidarity, being consistent.

114

00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:04.530

Powers that be, they don't concede that power

115

00:06:04.530 --> 00:06:08.050

from way up there, but they do respond

116

00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:12.730

to a significant amount of pressure from below,

117

00:06:12.990 --> 00:06:14.590

from people like us.

118

00:06:15.070 --> 00:06:19.950

Grassroot action, organized effort that just emerges from

119

00:06:19.950 --> 00:06:23.190

the communities that are affected, have been the

120

00:06:23.190 --> 00:06:26.510

primary catalyst for meaningful change.

121

00:06:27.150 --> 00:06:30.070

Now, that doesn't mean that all of us,

122

00:06:30.150 --> 00:06:34.350

every single person, has to become an activist

123

00:06:34.350 --> 00:06:38.550

full-time, or organize a massive movement.

124

00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.110

And if there's something that's already out there,

125

00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:44.670

already organized in motion, go and join that.

126

00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:49.210

But know that these grassroots movements, the ones

127

00:06:49.210 --> 00:06:53.310

that start in basements, they thrive when they

128

00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:59.870

have diverse forms of participation, diverse participants with

129

00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:01.950

a bunch of different skills from a bunch

130

00:07:01.950 --> 00:07:05.170

of different backgrounds that can offer their insight,

131

00:07:05.330 --> 00:07:06.610

offer their expertise.

132

00:07:07.650 --> 00:07:11.110

And what makes these movements so powerful and

133

00:07:11.110 --> 00:07:15.370

so effective is because they aren't uniform.

134

00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:20.370

They're people, they're groups that are refusing to

135

00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:24.210

wait for someone else to do it, for

136

00:07:24.210 --> 00:07:25.870

someone else to fix it.

137

00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:31.050

So honestly assess, sometime this week, assess your

138

00:07:31.050 --> 00:07:34.670

life and see if you are waiting, perhaps.

139

00:07:34.670 --> 00:07:38.030

If you notice any of these patterns of

140

00:07:38.030 --> 00:07:41.450

thought, like I'll get more involved when I

141

00:07:41.450 --> 00:07:44.590

have more time or more energy or more

142

00:07:44.590 --> 00:07:48.350

money, or I'll do something when I find

143

00:07:48.350 --> 00:07:51.870

the best organization, or maybe I'll do some

144

00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:54.170

more research and look into it later.

145

00:07:54.650 --> 00:07:57.550

Or maybe it's something like I'll act when

146

00:07:57.550 --> 00:07:59.990

I feel more confident, like I don't feel

147

00:07:59.990 --> 00:08:03.150

comfortable on video, or whatever it is.

148

00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:06.350

And now these thoughts, they're totally normal.

149

00:08:06.950 --> 00:08:09.070

So many of us share them, but they

150

00:08:09.070 --> 00:08:13.970

end up working as barriers essentially, between recognizing

151

00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:16.370

that big problem, the thing that you recognize

152

00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.750

and understand, and actually starting to act upon

153

00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:21.630

that concern.

154

00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:25.830

So what would it look like to stop

155

00:08:25.830 --> 00:08:26.670

waiting?

156

00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:29.030

You might need to be a little bit

157

00:08:29.030 --> 00:08:31.690

shy or uncomfortable until you get to know

158

00:08:31.690 --> 00:08:34.030

people in the organization.

159

00:08:34.330 --> 00:08:35.190

Recognize that.

160

00:08:35.390 --> 00:08:37.570

If you know that's probably going to be

161

00:08:37.570 --> 00:08:40.210

true for you, recognize that it's occurring and

162

00:08:40.210 --> 00:08:43.490

know that it won't necessarily be forever.

163

00:08:43.850 --> 00:08:46.690

Or maybe you need to reorganize a part

164

00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:48.650

of your week to be able to fit

165

00:08:48.650 --> 00:08:51.890

in some sort of volunteering or effort into

166

00:08:51.890 --> 00:08:53.230

a hectic schedule.

167

00:08:53.690 --> 00:08:56.670

So your contribution might be small, and that's

168

00:08:56.670 --> 00:08:59.370

okay too, because it still matters.

169

00:08:59.370 --> 00:09:04.290

Grassroot efforts and changes, this comes from consistent

170

00:09:04.290 --> 00:09:08.330

and coordinated efforts across many people with many

171

00:09:08.330 --> 00:09:10.270

different skills and talents.

172

00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:13.410

It doesn't come from one or two heroes

173

00:09:13.410 --> 00:09:15.230

or notable names.

174

00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.990

The change comes from hundreds or thousands of

175

00:09:18.990 --> 00:09:22.630

people, each doing what they can wherever they

176

00:09:22.630 --> 00:09:26.950

are with what they have, and that's often

177

00:09:26.950 --> 00:09:27.590

enough.

178

00:09:28.170 --> 00:09:30.450

So find the courage to act on what

179

00:09:30.450 --> 00:09:32.410

you care about today.

180

00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:37.250

Notice when complacency might appear as your voice

181

00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:37.950

of reason.

182

00:09:38.510 --> 00:09:41.110

Maybe that voice is telling you to wait

183

00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:43.690

for something better or any of the things

184

00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:46.010

that I mentioned earlier, like better leaders or

185

00:09:46.010 --> 00:09:49.130

tasks or a better time in your life,

186

00:09:49.550 --> 00:09:51.070

and challenge this voice.

187

00:09:51.390 --> 00:09:51.810

Challenge it.

188

00:09:52.350 --> 00:09:54.050

Be curious and challenge it.

189

00:09:54.810 --> 00:09:57.490

The cost right now with a lot of

190

00:09:57.490 --> 00:10:00.830

what we're dealing with is pretty darn high,

191

00:10:01.050 --> 00:10:03.950

and because of what we're looking at, we

192

00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:06.190

might feel like we're never quite ready.

193

00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:09.410

You don't need to have all the answers

194

00:10:09.410 --> 00:10:11.770

or know the entire path forward or what

195

00:10:11.770 --> 00:10:16.190

we should do, but grassroots action begins with

196

00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:18.570

just showing up in your community.

197

00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:23.430

Bring your honesty, your curiosity, your humanity to

198

00:10:23.430 --> 00:10:27.890

these spaces where people are working collectively towards

199

00:10:27.890 --> 00:10:31.470

justice, towards our shared goals.

200

00:10:31.810 --> 00:10:35.210

And in those spaces, that's where the strategy

201

00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:35.770

comes out.

202

00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:39.830

That's where it emerges through that relationship that

203

00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:40.870

you start building.

204

00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:42.010

Clarity.

205

00:10:42.450 --> 00:10:45.050

What we need to do develops through these

206

00:10:45.050 --> 00:10:50.650

shared experiences, and confidence grows through this little

207

00:10:50.650 --> 00:10:54.330

victories, the small wins that we win together.

208

00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:58.550

Because it's not easy, and it's not supposed

209

00:10:58.550 --> 00:11:01.410

to be, but also you're not alone.

210

00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:06.850

These huge scary systems that we're confronting, these

211

00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:10.890

systems, they want us to permanently wait.

212

00:11:11.150 --> 00:11:12.170

That's how they win.

213

00:11:12.390 --> 00:11:14.250

They don't want action.

214

00:11:14.850 --> 00:11:18.950

So our most powerful response to what's going

215

00:11:18.950 --> 00:11:21.670

on is to just begin.

216

00:11:21.810 --> 00:11:23.210

Just start anyway.

217

00:11:23.670 --> 00:11:28.010

If it's imperfect or partial, like that's fine,

218

00:11:28.170 --> 00:11:31.850

but we need to act decisively and now.

219

00:11:32.290 --> 00:11:35.450

The world that we want doesn't come from

220

00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:39.730

perfection or sometime later, or someone else fixing

221

00:11:39.730 --> 00:11:41.570

it, somebody else saving it.

222

00:11:41.670 --> 00:11:43.750

But if we have the courage to come

223

00:11:43.750 --> 00:11:46.590

together right now, we can build this from

224

00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:49.770

the ground up with the people around us

225

00:11:49.770 --> 00:11:50.230

today.

226

00:11:50.790 --> 00:11:52.730

There's so many more of us than there

227

00:11:52.730 --> 00:11:53.830

are of them.

228

00:11:55.030 --> 00:11:58.490

You're not powerless in the face of these

229

00:11:58.490 --> 00:11:59.010

systems.

230

00:11:59.590 --> 00:12:03.610

Your capacity for action, especially when it's joined

231

00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:08.010

with others in your own communities, that has

232

00:12:08.010 --> 00:12:11.130

a real potential for change, even if things

233

00:12:11.130 --> 00:12:13.730

seem pretty hopeless right now.

234

00:12:14.630 --> 00:12:18.170

And the time for waiting, that passed a

235

00:12:18.170 --> 00:12:18.670

while ago.

236

00:12:19.270 --> 00:12:23.370

The grassroots movements, those will shape our future,

237

00:12:23.910 --> 00:12:26.730

and they're here, and they're growing in size.

238

00:12:27.290 --> 00:12:29.810

They don't need you to be perfect.

239

00:12:29.950 --> 00:12:31.430

They don't need a perfect time.

240

00:12:31.690 --> 00:12:34.630

They simply need you to be there, to

241

00:12:34.630 --> 00:12:38.990

be present, to be persistent, consistent in it

242

00:12:38.990 --> 00:12:42.530

for the long run, in whichever ways you

243

00:12:42.530 --> 00:12:43.930

have the capacity for.

244

00:12:46.530 --> 00:12:49.870

So that's it for today, March 24th.

245

00:12:49.930 --> 00:12:51.910

Thank you so much for joining me, and

246

00:12:51.910 --> 00:12:56.890

let's reconnect again on Wednesday for a grounding

247

00:12:56.890 --> 00:12:58.830

vagal nerve exercise.

248

00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:04.190

Thank you for listening to The Daily Reconnect.

249

00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:08.010

Episodes are released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,

250

00:13:08.210 --> 00:13:08.870

every week.

251

00:13:09.310 --> 00:13:12.270

This show was created, written, hosted, edited, and

252

00:13:12.270 --> 00:13:13.690

produced by Jen DeHaan.

253

00:13:14.150 --> 00:13:16.990

Links to contact information, ways to support the

254

00:13:16.990 --> 00:13:20.430

show, transcripts, the free newsletter, and our community

255

00:13:20.430 --> 00:13:22.870

Discord can be found in the show notes.

256

00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:25.250

This is a Stereo Forest production.