The following is a article by contributing writer Safiya Robinson. She wrote this after being deeply impacted by a question Imagining in Action Co-Founder Suzanne Frindt asked during an Open House Discussion event "Would you be willing to work for something you will likely never see the outcome of?"
Enjoy Safiya's rumination's, you will likely find it familiar.
I recently met someone who has had a great impact on how I think, and I am currently unpacking this idea. This year I want to dive into sharing imperfect ideas so I welcome you along with me on the ride! And as it is Black History month in the US and African awareness month in Barbados, I thought I’d do at least one post this month about where my thoughts are in relation to topics that feel important in this moment. Happy reading, and I’d love your thoughts in the comments!
Are you willing to work towards a goal that you might not see in your lifetime?
I sat with this question after I overheard someone ask it during a call I was sitting in. When I first heard it, my immediate response was—no. I love results. The progress that I am making is often what spurs me on to continue taking action. So the idea of working on a goal that I might never see come to fruition caused me to pause.
How would I define success for myself?
How would I know when I was making progress?
If what I was doing was working, or if I needed to change direction?
How would I keep momentum around a goal that I personally would never see succeed?
How am I ok with the results that are created—even while acknowledging that it wasn’t enough?
I almost feel a bit silly admitting this. As someone who has wanted big things for the world, who wants to see equity and justice, and joy for every person, I had never considered what it looked like to work towards it while understanding that I might not see the result. In addition to being results driven, I am also very impatient, and since I feel like these outcomes are so important, I want them now! I don’t want to wait, and I felt that accepting that it wouldn’t be achieved soon almost felt like I was being pessimistic. It felt like I wasn’t believing enough.
So when I heard the question, I started to wonder—what would it look like to accept that what I wanted might not be achieved in my lifetime?
Could I still want it? Would I still want it?
Or would I prefer to have smaller goals that I could actually enjoy the outcome of? And I could definitely align those goals, but the bigger question was - do I go big or do I go home?
The more I thought about this question, I realized that it was very closely related to concerns I was feeling around my podcast Writing Black Joy. When I started that podcast, I did it because I wanted to center and celebrate Black writers and their joyful stories - I felt as if there wasn’t enough of that being done. I was tired of this feeling that the stories that people wanted to hear were a representation of our pain only. I wanted more joyful Black stories out there and I was happy to contribute to this cause.
But a couple of seasons in, I started to get frustrated. Why am I still needing to talk about Black joy! Why isn’t it just a done deal already? How can I make this happen faster? Do I change the name? Do I give up and go in another direction? And why oh why are we still talking about it! Don’t people already know this? On and on. I began to get discouraged, and the gap between seasons stretched out, particularly as I was working on other things in my personal life.
But as I heard this question, I started to think again about Writing Black joy, and I asked myself a question. How can I still work on this and work towards this when it is entirely possible that liberation and equity for all AND us feeling connected as humans - may not be achieved in my lifetime?
This led to more questions. How can I stay optimistic? How can I stay motivated? How can I feel as if I am actually achieving something? How can I remind myself to continue going even when it feels as if it isn’t making a difference? How can I be ok with where we are now when all I want is to be at the point where talking about Black joy is no longer necessary because we have achieved the equity and liberation that we want? How do I continue to have big dreams even from this place where I am now?
How can I continue to work towards a goal that may not be achieved in my lifetime?
As you probably can see - this is one of those situations where I have more questions than answers. My feelings are mixed. There is a part of me that is almost relieved that all of the responsibility for this is not on my shoulders. There is a part of me that feels like I can drop some of the anxiety I feel about things not happening fast enough, and work to create something that may stand the test of time and continue to work towards my goals even after I am gone. And yes there is that part of me that feels disappointed that I may not see this dream, and chides me for my lack of belief.
Which of those parts will win? Who knows. I just need to be ok with the fact that they are both there, which tells me how important this is to me. To allow myself to be angry, and sad, and irritated. To think about those who have gone before me who have also worked on this goal, and never saw it come to fruition, and yet who still worked. To have my moment, and then return to my work.
So - after having a moment (which let’s face it has lasted several months at this point) I am recommitting to working towards those big dreams that I have for the world and working on season 3 of Writing Black Joy.
I almost don’t know how to end this blog post - I am so used to having my ideas all figured out and wrapped in a neat bow when I write these. But also - I want to throw this question out into the world now - before I have the answer figured out. Maybe you’ll have your tips for me as you work towards these goals. Maybe me asking this question will encourage you to keep working towards your big dreams.
Let me know what you think.
~ Safiya Robinson
Appreciation to Suzanne Frindt, co-founder of Imagining in Action and who posed the question that prompted this inquiry for me. You can get to know Suzanne and read the synopsis of that meeting on the iLumn8.Life Insights page https://ilumn8.life/library/the-hunger-project-and-being-a-sidekick/