Learning To Elevate Ourselves When Systems Knock Us Down: Social Justice & Self Love 

Explore the journey of elevating ourselves amidst challenging systems, blending social justice and self-love to empower resilience and create positive change.

It seems our everyday society is growing more polarized by the day and, subsequently, our minds. Our voices of strength and fight get lost in the crossfire of social debates, degrading our sense of intrinsic responsibility. In a time wrought by environmental disaster, ecosystem collapse, increased access to weaponry, the highest rates of sexual violence, racial hate crimes, and more, valuing self-love and actualization seems to be the least of our concerns. It is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in direct effect: our safety and security are in a state of threat, and our attention to personal growth is not a value of urgency.

Demanding better for our homes and communities can be emotionally debilitating, especially when we have yet to create that sense of security within our inner home and soul. The interaction between self-love and justice efforts may not be commonly discussed, but they remain systematically intertwined. We must first advocate for our inner peace to properly rectify ongoing injustices. Fighting for a human right and loving ourselves are not mutually exclusive lifestyles that supplement one another. To ensure our spiritual health remains nourished, we must have the resources and mechanisms available to cope with what our current socio-political climate throws at us.

Stopping The Cycle

It is no secret that our global society is largely built on the subjugation of BIPOC individuals and the exploitation of their bodies and souls. Although most (but not all) national societies have come a long way from these historically cruel efforts, the systems we face today remain a consequence of the past. Whether it be the structures of healthcare, education, or criminal justice, people of color are not on the same playing field as whites and the wealthy.

Likewise, the media platforms we regularly consume are encompassed by human rights violations and negative rhetoric toward these marginalized groups. The streets we walk on are riddled with homelessness and poverty. We actively reap the impacts of air pollution and climate decline. Inequity is commonplace. And ignoring it, especially structures that affect our well-being directly is not an option.

This consistent confrontation with everyday injustice can extensively influence how we view ourselves and the world around us, skewing and reducing our viewpoints from a place of fear. We begin to internalize each encounter with hardship and spiral into guilt and pessimism toward the world. Increased exposure to depictions of trauma or experienced injustice heavily influences the emergence of feelings of depression, anxiety, guilt, and despair.

This can cause us to disconnect from our loved ones, be unwilling to engage in healing or creative practices, and even lead to an alteration of our life purpose. When we are constantly surrounded by “what is wrong with the world today” sentiments, the good fades away and leaves us hopeless. Therefore, having a safe and healthy mind is not a future issue to be dealt with or suspended but a critical component of changing the very systems that suppress our life ambitions.

As diverse community members, these systems strive to undermine our strengths and aim to weaken us by words and policies. The system is not broken; this is the way they wanted it to work. But we have the obligation to demand better for our polarized society. Our power lies in our ability to resist structures of repression by building a joyful and secure inner rhythm. No one can decimate our mindset or outlook unless we allow them the power to.

The Power We Hold

All sparks of change have begun within the hands and power of the individual. Systems of advocacy are only as strong as those behind the anger and the signs, making our inner self-talk the most important resource for growing our self-worth and societal importance. It is paradoxical to fight for the very sociopolitical change we deserve without igniting a period of change within oneself. Self-love connotes respect, discipline, empathy, and a longing for challenge and growth. Activism commands the same skills. This means that learning to love our ambitions, emotions, quirks, and tendencies entails a great impact extending far beyond ourselves and into the world we interact with daily.

Freely Feel 

This begins with building a space to safely process the everyday grievances we are swarmed with within our workplace, grocery stores, and newspapers. When inequalities surface, we must be able to return to our self-talk to rebuild and maneuver our way through unfair boundaries. This is where we must allow ourselves to be emotionally vulnerable and open to confronting frustration and despair. Whether we begin through journaling, meditation, baking, or other forms of personal connection, when we learn to depend on ourselves for strength and fight, we can likewise fight for the world surrounding us.

Excite The Soul 

Perhaps most importantly, self-love entails an exhibition of all parts of ourselves that we have not allowed to blossom fully. Life is only as mundane as we allow it to be, and changing our outlook means changing our patterns. Explore all you have wished for and adventure where you have dreamed. Feeding our inner home with activities that excite, challenge, and feed will lead to a strong self-efficacy toward external problem-solving. By stimulating your soul, you actively nurture your security and allow natural installments of motivation and creativity to bloom.

Listen and Learn

Observing the world around us is similar to observing our minds’ thought patterns. We are fruitful at acknowledging the discrepancies in the outside world and the individuals needing tangible social solutions. But a variety of people still need processing and coping within themselves. Coping with current systems—and challenging them—starts with coping with individual trauma that we have condoned ignorance of. Instead of brushing off damaging thought processes or sweeping childhood circumstances away, engage in self-confrontation to mobilize the power you hold within yourself. Recenter yourself in times of social distrust by forcing yourself to focus on what is in your control. Refocusing ourselves in times of peak uncertainty will allow us to tackle resistant structures that seem out of reach. Controlling the self can lead to control over all we invest our voice in.

Our outlets are plagued by countless disparities and in need of system restoration. We feel it is up to us, and the healing of injustice should be the prime of our lives. The world’s weight does not fall on our shoulders, but the weight of our spirit sure does. We have the power to conquer prejudice and woes by beginning with the intricacies that lie within ourselves.