Urgency: A message to Activists

I often hear people say we don’t have time to vision or to take the time required to build the relationships needed to create a diverse movement.  We don’t have time to take care of ourselves or even our families.   We are driven by our sense of “urgency”. 

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about “Urgency”.  We no longer have the luxury to talk about working for change in the long term.  I’ve heard many activists say “I know that we won’t achieve the change we’re working for in my life time, but…??? 

But what???  

If we don’t achieve change in our lifetimes, we are fast approaching a place of no return.  We are so close to a tipping point with global warming, non-sustainable lifestyles, and rampant rise of violence and poverty, that we have very little time to turn around the self-destructive direction we are going in. 

We are living in urgent times.  However this sense of urgency can also lead to our downfall. 

We must slow down; build the trust and relationships and networks that allows our work to go much faster. I recently heard a story of a heart doctor training her assistant in surgery.  She said, “Once we open the chest and access the artery, we only have 1 minute to make the repair.  Therefore, it’s imperative that you take your time.”

Likewise, I’ve learned that if we take the time to build inclusiveness, safety, trust, and take time for visioning and reflection, not only will the work for change go much faster, it will be much more successful.  As we move toward more and more urgent times, it is essential that we slow down and work in a way that is sustainable; in order to go fast – in order to build a movement that can win real and long lasting change.