Actively Bi
This evening I am tired but very happy. I've just been at the Bi Activists weekend in London and I feel all enthused and empowered and really privileged to know and work with such a great bunch of people.
I've been in a variety of activist kind of groups over the years, and there are some horribly familiar pitfalls of in-fighting and whinging and an 'us-and-them' mentality where people who are categorised as not-activists are looked down on. There may have been some of that going on this weekend, but if there was, I didn't see it (and I don't think there was much). I particularly loved the way people took responsibility for themselves, including saying 'no ... because I don't want to do that' (and getting clapped for doing so), but mostly people volunteered to do things in an obvious spirit of 'I would genuinely like to do that' and it seemed as if people were taking on things they felt well suited to, rather than grudgingly agreeing because it really needed to be done. And there were several instances where two or three people's skills or expertise came together suddenly and we came up with what look like really good new ideas and plans, which is really satisfying. People seemed very respectful of other people's skills (and needs) and I was blown away by how competent and resourceful and getting-things-done we were between us. And we more than kept to time - we finished 15 minutes early - thanks to yoyoangel 's chairing, of which I am, as ever, a huge fan.
I'd committed myself to going months ago, and was slightly regretting it because I'm feeling so tired and overstretched at the moment. But it felt like a really creative space and I've come away feeling energised and a bit less overstretched (even though there's a few more things I'm now committed to doing).
Yay for activism!
I've been in a variety of activist kind of groups over the years, and there are some horribly familiar pitfalls of in-fighting and whinging and an 'us-and-them' mentality where people who are categorised as not-activists are looked down on. There may have been some of that going on this weekend, but if there was, I didn't see it (and I don't think there was much). I particularly loved the way people took responsibility for themselves, including saying 'no ... because I don't want to do that' (and getting clapped for doing so), but mostly people volunteered to do things in an obvious spirit of 'I would genuinely like to do that' and it seemed as if people were taking on things they felt well suited to, rather than grudgingly agreeing because it really needed to be done. And there were several instances where two or three people's skills or expertise came together suddenly and we came up with what look like really good new ideas and plans, which is really satisfying. People seemed very respectful of other people's skills (and needs) and I was blown away by how competent and resourceful and getting-things-done we were between us. And we more than kept to time - we finished 15 minutes early - thanks to yoyoangel 's chairing, of which I am, as ever, a huge fan.
I'd committed myself to going months ago, and was slightly regretting it because I'm feeling so tired and overstretched at the moment. But it felt like a really creative space and I've come away feeling energised and a bit less overstretched (even though there's a few more things I'm now committed to doing).
Yay for activism!