Don't mourn, organize!

A fellow Quaker blogger said this to me in the comments section when I was expressing some sadness about an event. Or sadness about lack of change. Or sadness about endless war. He said "Don't mourn, organize!" Now I have heard this slogan. I believe he had the best of intentions. But it stuck in my craw and kinda hurt.

I think, as activist people who are working for change, we need to feel our feelings. That needs to be ok. That's part of what makes us human. No, I don't think "wallowing" in sadness gets things very far. And yes, it's important to "organize". I've done a lot (not bragging) and I'll do more, I hope. But his comment bothered me.

It felt tantamount to going up to someone who is clinically depressed and telling them to "Just cheer up!"

Maybe I can follow the lead of my friend Ms Ether, and say "Don't mourn, can tomatoes!"