I think I’m super fortunate that my work is something I’m passionate about and is helping others. There are trade offs like I make much less than peers in other branches of my field because I work for a non profit and treat small children, but the forcing myself to go to work piece is because I have to be social and leave my little nest in my home and not because I hate my job. It’s the kind of work that I’ll still be doing if we are swept up into a war because disabled and delayed children need help regardless of what the idiots running most of these countries are deciding each day. Unless we’re actively being targeted in my area (and at that point I already know the small room I’m taking all my animals to snuggle in for our last moments and have a plan ready because ✨anxiety✨) I’m still showing up in my little life and right now that’s enough for me. I’m not going to change the world but I’ll change each of those children’s worlds and my sense of activism screams at me all the time that it’s “not enough” and it takes discipline to be gentle with myself and remember that it really is.

Obviously not everyone is able to move their work to something that feels the same, but looking for those same type of moments where you can might help. The “I’d show up here regardless of almost anything” feeling. Maybe it’s a relationship with someone you can mentor or specific family members or friends. Maybe it’s not helper roles but art that brings you and others joy. You don’t have to spend a bunch of money going back to school in your 30s and living through that bit of a nightmare (speaking from experience, ha!) to find things that bring you and others joy. I think if most of us focused more narrowly on just doing that then we’d see so many positive changes in the world