Balancing Personal Change & Avoiding Burnout
On the road to social or technological progress there will be good news and bad news. It is vital that we challenge ourselves and reassess the beliefs we have whether the news is good or bad.
In regards to bad news we should be careful not to overload ourselves, to sacrifice our mental health and stress for every bad news story that comes along. It's your responsibility to find the balance, to take time for yourself when you need it, to find things that make you happy, and so on. Myself and many others will write or create things that show the darker side of humanity, show the responsibility we share to reduce suffering and oppression, and to reach new understanding. For you, as with me, we have to face these problems but not drown in them.
We have to face the problems ahead of us, but we shouldn’t drown in them.
A tool I often use is to see if said bad news has a solution or possible solutions. Read the bad news but with the understanding that something can be done about it.
Police brutality can be addressed through policy change, better training for mental health responses, and dismantling of racial discrimination in the system. Climate change may be causing increased wildfires but a combination of policy, technology and personal change can begin to decrease our carbon output. Animal agriculture being the leading cause of species extinction can be drastically reduced with new policies to change subsidies, new environmental standards for businesses, as well as diet and lifestyle changes.
Is it still heavy/terrifying to read about 60% of global wildlife populations being killed off in the last 4 decades? Yes it is, but it's also not hopeless and you as an individual can make an impact on whether that trend continues. Is it terrible/heartbreaking/frustrating to read about the most recent victim of police brutality and racial discrimination? Yes it is, but you can help make changes to policies and our justice system, as well as educating yourself on the matter. I find it is easier to bear the weight of a problem when there is hope. I'm curious if you have any tools you use to balance out the good with the bad?
*(bad news as in awful things to learn about but still good quality information).
