The Realist Idealist

I recall very well in college how a relatively small (though seemingly ubiquitous) cohort of do-gooders on campus made a lot of the best things happen. At least things that I thought were “best.” Organizations like Alternative Spring Break, Habitat for Humanity, Manna Project and others that were making incredible things happen, were all run by students - and as on most campuses, those students tended to be many of the same people who were all involved in many things.

While there are countless extraordinary things to say about this group of student activists, entrepreneurs and to be sure, realist idealists, one of the criticisms I’ve had in looking back is how most people in that little world used to brag about how little sleep they’d gotten. Including me. It was bizarrely like a badge of honor. Going to sleep felt like giving up.

Such a habit, and indeed an ethos, is so obviously not healthy that it’s hard to believe anyone could think otherwise. But of course, they do. WE do. The feeling that there is so much that needs to be done to make this world a bit better place can be overwhelming - enough so that we literally “lose sleep” over it - and when you mix such like-minded people together it often only breeds more of the same.

Of course it wasn’t just sleep either. The responsibility (some might even call it a burden…and if you do, that’s a first sign) of making good things (actually) happen can lead to some destructive lifestyle behavior that’s simply not sustainable.

Today my colleagues at Idealist posted a great piece on our blog about this phenomenon:

http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/h/blog/staying-healthy-and-sane-while-working-for-change

Inspired by a woman named Jenn Chau, the post points toward some great ideas on how to get past this do good=do everything mentality, including those from Adrienne Maree Brown and Julie Fiandt.