Ever wanted to do something to make a difference, but felt unsure how to go about it? Maybe you’ve wondered if taking action is for someone like you? Our friendly Peace Babs group got together again this month to explore a whole variety of actions we can take. Join us at the BRIG Cafe on Tues 10th Nov to share how we can support each other to keep going.
Thanks to everyone who shared
🤔 Your curiosity abut different types of action;
💪 The actions you’ve already taken, and what helped you;
📝 Your plans for an action you’d like to try in the near future;
Keeping curious
We started this session by considering images of different types of action. What’s going on here? What issue is this about? Why did people try this approach? What did passers-by think?
It was helpful to remind ourselves of the importance of story-telling, creativity, humour and connection in taking action. It’s also helpful to stay curious, approach unfamiliar ideas with an open mind. As we think about the types of action that suit us, we can still uphold others who choose a different style.
What helps us take action?
We moved on to considering a wide range of possible actions we could take – from signing a petition, to providing pastoral support at a demonstration, to crafting an item to send to a decision maker (and so may variations in-between!) Whatever our time, energy and preferences, there’s something to suit us.
We realised that we’ve all taken some sort of action already, and reflected on the things that helped us take that step – access to reliable information, an invitation to join in from someone we trust, existing skills that we can put to good use. That pool of resources is available to tap into as we start thinking about future actions we’d like to try (or try doing more of).
We started making a simple plan, making use of some prompts:
- What action will I take?
- What change do I want to see? How does this contribute?
- When will I take my action? How will I know when it’s done?
- What information & resources do I need? Where can I get those?
Building community as we take action
Our final prompts asked:
- Who can I ask for support & accountability? What will I ask them for?
- What support could I offer someone else?
We’ve already started to build a small supportive community through these sessions. It’s often easier to take our first steps if we’ve told someone we’re going to do it. When we’re nervous, tired or a bit overwhelmed, having others give a bit of moral support can be the bridge we need.
As we move into the last of our current three sessions, we’ll be thinking about building on this sense of community. How can we connect with others to keep going long term, push ourselves a little beyond our comfort zones, and build collective resilience when things are tough?
Join us on 10th November at the BRIG cafe Digbeth to explore these questions, and share in our little community.