Busy

“Do you know Joe Blogs?” (not real name)

“Yes. He is, kind of, famous/infamous.”

“He was trying to guilt trip people into activism…”

“I find this upsetting. I was accused of this. It affected me so badly emotionally and physically that I had to drop out of the local group completely. I am alone now.”

To “guilt trip” is a meme. Like all memes it came into existence at some moment in time. Why has it spread? What is its purpose? Who benefits from these 2 words put together? Why would an activist ever try to ‘guilt-trip ‘anyone? It makes no sense. Guilt-tripping would be a way to divide and drive away the people whom we are so desperate for help from. It seems it is a meme that works to divide and weaken communities.

I found out yesterday that people did not like to read things from me like, “I got up at 4am and finished this blog post by 5am” – That, to me was/is a fact… It says something about my mood… lack of stability… need for stability… I am certainly not asking others to get up at 4am and become emotionally unstable.

Four 4 basic moods [Anxious / Busy / Calm / Down]:

>> Mood Mapping <<

“…and I called him out on it.”

“Please never do so again. If someone is saying they are working hard and looking for help, even if it is making others feel bad, please recognise that is mainly the problem for the person whose Anxiety drives him/her into the Busy quadrant.”

Others may be able to move more quickly from Anxiety to a Down-mood or a Calm-mood or be able to remain Anxious. Your typical activist has lost this ability and will rarely feel any Calm/Calmness until after a period of being Busy/very-Active.

Some people do not know, or cannot remember how to move from Anxious to Calm without first being Busy….

>> How to Mood Map <<

“You should perhaps try and connect with him.”

“It can be hard to connect with activists. They are so often close to exhaustion from such long periods of being Busy and very little Calm in their lives.”

Every activist seems to be looking for help. I am reminded of Billy Joel’s

>> “Angry Young Man” <<

There’s 2 minutes of instrumental introduction. The second verse contains,

“Give a moment or two to the angry young man… With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand… He’s been stabbed in the back, he’s been misunderstood… It’s a comfort to know his intentions are good… And he sits in a room with a lock on the door… With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor….”

“Does that sound like your friend, Joe Bloggs?”