RRRR: Los Angeles Fires

join me in taking a small but powerful process to show up for communities and help news overwhelm.

This email comes to you from a person who, for many years, found herself staring at her phone in bed, on the sofa, on the toilet feeling panicked and dropping deeper into despair and hopelessness. My job and lifestyle means that my social media feeds are almost entirely social justice, community care, history, journalists, infographics. I don’t want to entirely stop that because I want to be plugged in. But for a long time I was on auto-pilot; I felt like looking at the devastation was the same as engaging with it meaningfully. Over time, I found the more I got sucked into doom-scrolls, the more they made me immobile. I’d end up crying or staring and not doing much else apart from feeling guilty having to carry on with my day. This is helpful to no one. So, I devised a new small but powerful practice to keep myself mentally well, as well as accountable to showing up for community and action. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by apocalyptic style news, I’ll come here to take this process and you can practice it with me, too.

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Here’s the thing, you are no good to anyone, or any community when you are disregulated, upset and hopeless. We could rip through a thousand hot-takes, about climate breakdown, and colonial displacement, about how some of the wealthy are active participants in propping up fossil fuel giants, and we could hot-take ourselves into the core of the earth about how privileged so many of us are to be only witnessing devastation on our phones, how much action we should have already taken and how much learning we should be doing. But there’s time for all that and there’s heaps that you can access if you want to. Instead, this is a place where pulling from the greatest thinkers in this work such as Audre Lorde or Adrienne Maree-Brown and recognising that healing is what’s needed and that being resourced and proactive is how we take action. Solidarity and action across identity lines is the priority, and intentionality – not fear and panic – is how we get better at it.

We have to pause to be intentional.

The truth is, hopeless and disregulated is exactly how imperialist capitalism wants you, because that inhibits you from being able to intentionally work against it. It wants you busy, distracted, over-worked and too tired, because what happens when you’re all of these things? You feel like you have no bandwidth to learn, disrupt or take action.

So, welcome to RRRR. A new process I am personally trying every time I’m overwhelmed by the news: remove, regulate, respond, re-resource. This way, I build a habit of action, and also learn to regulate so I can continue.

If you are in LA, and want the community here to engage with actions please post them in the comments and I will signal-boost them.

If you are not in a position to show up physically in community for those being affected in Los Angeles, if you are not able to get out on the streets and offer community care, offer your home, belongings, or time in mutual aid, then I want you to think about this: you are going to go about your day today regardless of this horrendous reality, and you can either do that without having taken action, feeling hopeless and in despair, or you can do so after taking action, a touch more regulated and with one rep under your belt of practicing how to be ready for the challenges our system throws at us going forward. It’s your call. This whole process should take you around 5-10 minutes.

1. Remove
You have to find a way to put a limit on doom-scrolling. If you have social media (or the news) open on your phone and you feel overwhelmed, hopeless or upset, I’m going to ask you to close the apps. Seriously though. Do It. If you feel you can, delete them for a short period. Redownloading them takes only moments. If you’re struggling generally, set Time Limit on your socials apps to control your usage during big news cycles.

2. Regulate
Next, I’m going to ask you to box breath for 30 seconds. I KNOW YOU DON’T WANT TO!! I know it feels stupid, but tell that to your nervous system. Oh, wait! You can’t! Because it doesn’t care about your opinions on how it works! 30 seconds, eyes closed, let your body soften as much as you can. You can do this along with me in the audio above.

3. Respond
Now we’re going to take actions. Have a little think about amount you can realistically donate – no amount of money is too little. You’re going to split it across these:

• Head to this spreadsheet of displaced Black families in Los Angeles, how much money they need to raise to get back on their feet and whether they have met their goal, cross check with the GoFundMe and donate. No amount is too small for you to give. I’m being serious. Got £1? Give it.

• Pasadena Humane have taken in 300 animals over night and project they will have to take in many more wild animals as burn sites clear. They need your donations.

Donate to support direct mutual aid in LA so they can do even more work on the ground to help people affected by the fires.

This is not an isolated event, but part of climate breakdown. So, consider these actions too:

1. Switch your homepage search engine to tree-planting Ecosia instead of AI powered Google by using these two simple steps. Google’s AI search (which you’ll see appear at the top of the page now) uses 10 times the energy of a regular search.
2. Switch your bank from a big-bank that is literally funding Fossil Fuel giants using this tool. Find out how to switch here. It’s VERY easy.
3. Make one promise to yourself on how you will show up for the climate movement. Will you head to the next protest, join a local climate group, divest your money from big companies who are paying fossil fuel giants or read more about the issue? That’s down to you. Have a think.

4. Re-resource
Again, this will feel stupid but I don’t care and neither does your brain or body, because getting better at this works. You’re going to take one action now, or later that makes you feel comfortable, safe or refreshed. It might be
〰 making a cup of tea
〰 having a shower to reset (my favourite)
〰 going for a short walk
〰 watching a nostalgic TV show
〰 stretching for 5 minutes
〰 calling someone you love to talk
〰 journalling for 5 minutes

Whatever small action works best for you. Right now is best, but if you’re unable to do it now, you’re going to plan it into your day. These simple actions bring us back into our bodies and our own lives after we’ve been distressed by vicarious trauma. The only way to get better at doing them is to, wait for it, prioritise them. Shocker.

And that’s it, all done.

Beautiful job.

G x