Types of Rest ∙ Microaffirmation
Wins: IEA report, ruling in the Netherlands on Shell, EV trucks, universal healthcare commission in Washington state
I’m contemplating how to organize the XYZ in a way that offers both structure and flexibility.
I’ve tentatively arrived on the following balance: I’ll have three sections (for the three letters in “XYZ”) and always end with wins. I’ll title the newsletter for the two “wild card” sections and list the wins in the subtitle so you know what’s in it.
If you have any writing wisdom or general feedback, I'd love to hear from you! You can comment on this post or send me an email at writeme@emilyhazelton.xyz.
Types of Rest
Are you a chronically tired, burned out individual? I know that has described me in the recent past.
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith says that our high-achieving, high-producing society leads to this outcome. And restoring your energy requires more than just sleep. Sleep is a physical recharge, but our daily life requires energy in seven different categories.
What are steps to remedy chronic fatigue? Dr. Dalton-Smith recommends:
Assess where you used the most energy during your day.
Focus on restoring energy in that area.
Ok. That might sound a little basic, but it can be hard to understand how to recharge a specific area. Here are some ideas:
Mental: stop solving problems (make a list and promise yourself to come back later if you keep cycling); schedule some future time to think through a specific challenge; play a game; engage in something creative or social
Spiritual: take a walk through nature; express gratitude; journal about what’s most important to you; light a candle and think about your ancestors and future generations that don’t yet exist
Emotional: set boundaries around emotional support you offer to friends, coworkers, and family; arrange hangouts with low-interaction activities (reading, lying on a blanket together); read stories and experiences from people who share your identity or struggles; ask for validation and support
Social: spend some time alone doing an activity you enjoy; take a solo walk; put headphones on and listen to your favorite music or podcast
Sensory: sit in a quiet, dark, cool place; close your eyes; get away from screens; take a hike; sit by a lake or a river
Creative: do a routine task where you already know the process; exercise; practice satisfaction and acceptance for things you’ve created; explore and delight in someone else’s creative work
Physical: stretch your body in ways that feels good; take a hot shower; sleep
Microaffirmation
Have you heard the term microaggression? Here’s a definition from Dr. Derald Wing Sue, who is a professor of psychology and education and studies the psychology of racism:
“Microaggressions are the everyday slights, indignities, insults, put-downs, and invalidations that people of color experience in their day-to-day interactions with well-intentioned individuals who are unaware that they are engaging in an offensive or demeaning form of behavior.”
I found this interview with Dr. Derald Wing Sue helpful — he explains ways to diffuse microaggressions and also catalogs typical slights that different minority groups experience.
“African Americans are most likely to experience microaggressions of dangerousness and criminality. Asian and Latinx Americans receive microaggressions of perpetual foreigner in your own land. Women get microaggressions of sexual objectification. LGBTQ individuals face microaggressions of sinfulness, that not only is it pathological — their lives and orientation — but that they are sinning.”
I recently learned a new term from work — microaffirmation. A leadership team member used it in an email educating staff about the use of pronouns and encouraging staff to add pronouns to their badges as a microaffirmation. Introducing yourself with your pronouns (she/her, he/him, or they/them) is an everyday way to validate that there are more than two possibilities for gender expression.
I’ve been looking at that list of typical microaggresions and thinking — what is the flip side of each of these biases? How can we affirm, in everyday life, a sense of beauty, talent, community belonging, and humanity? How do we celebrate each others’ realities?
Wins
The International Energy Agency (IEA) published a BFD report in mid-May. As a climate activist, many of these feel painfully obvious, but it’s not the type of communication you see from official authorities. I’m glad the IEA is making these assertions:
Opening any new oil or gas fields and opening new coal-fired power stations needs to stop this year.
New cars around the world should be all-electric by 2035.
The world should more than double investment in energy; this will be a net benefit to the economy.
Governments are coming out with net-zero commitments, but there is a huge gap between rhetoric and reality.
Technology to halve emissions by 2030 is already available and could boost global jobs by an estimated 25 million (30 million new jobs and 5 million lost jobs in sectors such as coal). Governments can do a lot to ease this transition for impacted workers.
If emission cuts are left to the future and not made in this decade, it will be too late to stay within the 1.5C global heating limit.
A district court in the Netherlands ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must reduce carbon emissions from its entire energy portfolio by 45 percent. They have until 2030 to make the reductions against 2019 emission levels. This is the first time a court has found that a company has any legal duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with Paris agreement goals. The plaintiffs used international human rights standards to make their case, so it’s a legal example that global citizens can replicate.
Ford is coming out with an EV truck that costs $40,000. I’m not a Trucky, but the NPR article says $50,000 is average for a gas-powered truck. This is exciting because in the race to electrify vehicles, the heavyweight options are more of a challenge. The truck has a range of 230-300 miles (which sounds impressive).
Also, it could be hooked up to your home and act as a generator, which is exciting in the face of extreme weather events. This feature leverages the giant battery of the truck to give power back to the grid. One of the limitations in moving to renewable energy on the power grid is a limitation in battery storage capacity (when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, you need to be able to draw from stored energy). Perhaps EVs have a role to play in this?
WA state passed legislation to establish a universal public health care commission. A baseline report is due by Nov 22, 2022, which will describe the current system and present strategy options. Any Washington agency that has the authority to make forward steps on report recommendations is authorized to do so (such as the Health Care Authority or the Department of Health). And if the report ends up outlining necessary funding through Medicaid expansion, it sounds like the state is required to apply for that funding within 60 days of the finding. In essence, the commission is designed to prevent bureaucratic delays after the report is published.
NOTE: if you are terrified of public healthcare and point towards Canada as a classic failed example, that’s not surprising. The health insurance industry ran PR campaigns to scare Americans and trash-talk the Canadian system. Wendell Potter, who ran the PR Department for Cigna Health Insurance, published his whistleblower story in the Washington Post last August, starting with this admission:
“Had spokesmen like me not been paid to obscure important truths about the differences between the U.S. and Canadian health-care systems, tens of thousands of Americans who have died during the pandemic might still be alive.“
Wow. Boom. Yeah; I'm in favor of universal healthcare.
Did I miss any wins from the past few weeks? Feel free to share in the comments!