Consistency
The secret sauce of organizing, art, life, and everything
I know I talk a lot about courage and hope, and the importance of both. But today I want to sing the praises of a trait I still have to work hard at nurturing in myself, one that doesn’t come naturally, and maybe because it is so hard for me, one that I respect deeply.
Consistency – the act of showing up, day after day, for the quotidian demands of a writing practice, an art practice, a political movement, a job, a family, a relationship, a commitment of any kind. To be there for the boring parts as well as the thrills. To sometimes make sacrifices in other parts of your life so that you can prioritize this commitment. The ability to tend regularly to what you love and believe in is what builds the structure in which your dream grows and thrives and becomes real. To write better, I have to write almost every day. Writing includes the thinking that goes into it. I have slacked off in the past few weeks and I feel it.
Political action also benefits from being a consistent habit that exists within a thought-out, intentional strategy. We cannot make change by voting once every four years for President. Even if you make voting the crux of your political participation, you should vote in every election in which you are eligible, armed with information. You should spread information about elections and candidates. You should get involved in the campaign of a candidate you really believe in. Knock on doors. Fundraise. Educate people.
There are, of course, many other ways to be politically engaged and civically involved. Having social media and news at our fingertips risks creating a condition of constant vigilance and anxiety which leads to helplessness. We are unlikely to make change by just reposting news bites willy-nilly. While it is good to stay informed, and to help others be informed, it is also important to balance this with action in the world. I struggle with this balance too. Permit me to offer something I tried when my anxiety was particularly overwhelming. In the first two years of Trump in office, I was involved in so many small actions (and some big) that I had to keep track of them weekly to figure out where my time, energy, and skills were being spent. This meant that after several months, I reflected on what I did each week, whether it was calling Congress, joining a protest, writing a thing, leading a planning committee, or arguing with randos on the internet. I thought about what came out of the action and weighed that against what I put into it. I thought about whether it felt aligned with my goals for myself. And perhaps most importantly, I thought about whether I could continue to do more related actions that built towards something, and those ended up being the things I devoted most of my energy to. I could be passionate about doing things, because I had a lot of passion to spare, but I had to be logical about where to spend my time, which was finite and precious.
At the time, I mostly thought in terms of lighting a spark and making it bigger by getting other people involved. Art Hack is one of the actions I’m most proud of. The concept was simple. I knew a lot of nonprofits that needed help, and I knew a lot of artists who wanted to help. I organized them into one evening meeting at a time, and from there the artists teamed up to create a comic, an illustration, a pamphlet, etc. See one of our comics here.
I have had a tendency to start a thing like Art Hack and then move on to other projects, figuring that it was never mine to own and hoping that others would pick it up and continue it in my absence. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. I am learning to leave things more organized, and to respect the process of handing something off so that it has a better chance of success.
People end up as organizers and activists in different ways and for different reasons. But I hope that more and more of us will move into these roles, and stay a while, because we need you. Whether you keep showing up to your local PSL meetings, or decide to run for a position in your local DSA chapter, or keep writing about the labor movement even when it’s not popular, or continue to represent immigrants in ICE detention while the government ramps up its mass deportation campaign – you are embodying the slow-burning, long-lasting energy needed to make sure that courage and hope have a place to rest when they are exhausted.
The news is fucking exhausting. But you know what? This last weekend I saw a comedy show about love, being an aging woman, and fertility at a Vietnamese deli in New Orleans that raised money for a local LatinX immigrant mutual aid group and a man who’s been deported to Viet Nam. I ate extremely reasonably priced food that was delicious and laughed my ass off in the company of friends and strangers, all come together to support good things. I am grateful for the hardworking, hilarious Nguyen family that runs Singleton’s Deli and put on the show. I am grateful to Jenny Yang for doing a comedy tour where all the venues are immigrant grocery stores. I am grateful to the many volunteers who run Unión Migrante.
As I type this, my right arm is throbbing quite painfully. It’s because I have frozen shoulder (again) and I’ve started doing physical therapy for it in earnestness. The effort of doing repetitive motions to loosen my shoulder joint makes it and all the muscles around it hurt like a mutherfucker. But while it doesn’t feel good to do it, I know that I am doing good by doing the therapy. My eyes on the prize – mobility and the freedom it reinstates – keep me steady through the pain.
I wish I had more for you this week than pain tolerance and consistency. But I see it in many of you already. I am just here to celebrate it for the courage and strength it is. Quiet fortitude. I’m thankful for it.
This is a quiet, introspective time for me while I do the behind the scenes work on my projects. But I have an appearance coming up this week at the American Library Association conference in Chicago. On Saturday, June 27, I’ll be signing books with my book brother, Bao Phi, at the Capstone booth 10-11am and participating in Storytime in the Park, from 12:30-1pm. Bao and I will be sharing our children’s book, Ride / Đạp Xe, which comes out in August. Come say hi if you can.
Those Art Hacks are cool!!!