Yesterday I facilitated a group of nonprofit Executive Directors from around my state. It was a retreat, but not like the kind I host these days. It was a culminating gathering to a nearly year-long cohort experience they have been on.
I don't really facilitate things like this anymore, but the request hit home because it came from the people who run an organization I used to be the director of. I care about them and the work these EDs do, so I said yes.
I was struck by the weight of what they're all carrying because this is arguably the most challenging time any nonprofit leader has experienced.
Something unspoken that kept coming up was a feeling that they're the only ones who can do the things they do. If they don't keep carrying it in the way they've been carrying it, community will suffer — they all work with young people and small children.
A massive weight of responsibility.
The truth is, the most stabilizing support we can give our community is recognizing we're not actually that special. We are conduits between the cause and the cure*.
I understand how the weight of responsibility can feel like a heavy bucket of water we cannot put down, not even for a second. I'm intimately familiar with the feeling. I've been there, in past work lives and even at times in my Mariposa life.
This is obviously unsustainable.
3 prompts to consider for any area of your life:
Without judgement, ask yourself:
- What's a bucket of water you're carrying because you believe you're the only one who can carry it?
- What will happen if you can no longer carry it?
- What's one action you can take or decision you can make that will allow you to set it down (even for a little bit)?
Lots of love,
Annie
*the cause and the cure comes from my teacher, Tracee Stanley.
p.s. My guy released new, uplifting music yesterday which I did the cover art for. Give it a listen on Spotify or wherever you listen to music!