Stop calling it burnout.

While old, dominant systems are collapsing, new, hopeful systems are emerging. But how do we navigate the transition between where we are coming from and where we are going? We’ll be exploring this question and more at the upcoming virtual CTZN Summit - September 1-4, 2022. Our theme Practicing Change, Shaping Futures is an invitation to build the courage and capacity needed to meet this moment and show up for each other and the future that we all deserve. We’ve got a stellar line up of movement leaders who will be guiding our shared learning through topics like:

• The Practice of Liberating Survival 

• The Science of Social Justice

• American Detox

• Heart-Centered Organizing 

• Magic and the Power of Imagination 

• And more!

Because we understand that people have different abilities, we’ve designed registration to be “pay what you can” so that participants can locate themselves and engage in ways that feel meaningful and authentic. All sessions will be recorded! Save your seat!

Burnout has become everyone’s favorite self-help topic. And it’s no wonder. Many of us are exhausted by the hustle and it’s taking a toll. We’re desperate for relief and constantly seeking innovative life hacks and personal solutions to our chronic state. But the idea that burnout is our fault is one of the most toxic myths of capitalism. But it’s not burnout that is causing our suffering, it’s exploitation by a system that shames us for not being able to keep up with its unsustainable and inhuman demands.

And as Ursula Le Guin reminds us, we can resist.

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

Understanding that the problem is not located in the self but in the system is essential to organizing for the future of wellbeing that we all deserve.

Kerri (she/her)

Art by @ctznwell

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1. Could an Abortion Ban Put Your Life in Danger? What you should know about your medical rights—and what still needs to change to keep you safe. [click to tweet]

2. Shifting responsibility for the pandemic onto individuals is bad policy—and risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. Stop telling Americans that they’re “tired of covid”. [click to tweet]

3. How long will the U.S. continue to disrespect its caregivers? The economy doesn’t grow or work without care, including for the work force entrusted with the people who matter most in our lives. [click to tweet]

4. What we are seeing now is that the colonial mindset that got us here is gravely incorrect. It is deadly. It is dangerous. It is time for Another Way. Why it is deeply time to decolonize. [click to tweet]

5. Our shared survival requires closing the gap forever, not just in an emergency moment. Here’s a chance to cure America’s preexisting condition: extreme inequality. [click to tweet]

Threats to abortion are a threat to all of us and our right to bodily autonomy. So people are rallying to show up in everyday ways. #500ActsForAbortion is a twitter campaign whose goal is to mobilize 500 people to each do an act that supports abortion on Saturday August 27th, and to share their act on Twitter! Here are it’s principles:

• Abolition — We believe that the criminalization of abortion needs to be fought in concert with other forms of criminalization. 

• Accessibility — We believe that people should have access to safe, affirming abortion care at any stage of pregnancy for any reason.

• Act locally — We believe in prioritizing channeling resources to local abortion funds and clinics who are grounded in community accountability and responsive to people’s needs.

Sign up here and check out these possible actions!

Art by @chaninicholas

Burnout places the blame on the individual. We blame ourselves for not being able to keep up with the pace and demands of dominant culture and corporate America. But someone doesn’t get burned out. They get exploited. Exploitation points the finger at the institution or system that is creating unsustainable and often unfair conditions. We must stop blaming ourselves and one another for our inability to keep up with a violent system. Rather we must locate the problem not in the self but in the system and organize to push back on unsafe and unfair conditions and imagine better for ourselves and one another.

Art by @kkellyyoga Words by @MichaleTheStdnt

Practicing non-attachment and radical generosity.

Art by @sophiestrand

In 2020, @anasatroutman @nicoleacardoza and I came together to ask “what does it mean to be well?”. What came through was @wellnessofwe, an interactive gathering of over 5000 people to reimagine wellness and what’s possible when we shift from ME to WE. And we’re back and hosting a reunion on Thursday August 18th 7EST. Register at wellnessofwe.com

CTZNWELL is community powered and crowd-sourced. That’s how we keep it real. Please consider joining us on Patreon for as little as $2/month so that we can keep doing the work of creating content that matters for CTZNs who care.

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