How much is enough?
When you read that question, what thoughts and feelings does it bring up for you? Is it a feeling of scarcity, as you consider that there is no such thing? Or is there a feeling of relief that you can stop striving for more? Or do you think - well it depends on what we are talking about - enough of what? Or are you thinking about areas in life where you have so little that enough feels like a luxury you can’t afford?
If you are anything like me, it might be a combination of all those things. Those and many other thoughts went through my mind when I joined the Imagining in Action open house discussion on the topic of enoughness with Anne & Suzanne.
We had an amazing conversation about the idea of enoughness in a world where we are almost always focused on more. The idea of enough can evoke all sorts of feelings.
One thing that can make the idea of enough a tricky subject to discuss is the reality that scarcity exists in many places. In some situations, there are folks with real scarcity of basic necessities, and the pursuit of more is important in these cases. More can do more. I have experienced this while volunteering in non-profits, and raising funds for projects. The truth was - more could do more - feed more families, provide more school supplies, do more good in our communities.
Another difficulty with considering the idea of enough is the idea of value. The world can feel like it’s organized to favor those who already have more, and there may be certain things you need to get more. So it makes sense that we would want more of some things - more qualifications, more talents, more knowledge of the sort that is considered valuable - in order to get our actual basic needs met. In addition, we can feel that those talents or experiences that we have in abundance aren’t enough when these attributes are not considered valuable. In these situations it’s less about how much you have, or even what you need, and more about what can be leveraged.
And the third difficulty about the idea of enoughness is when the gap between what you are trying to achieve and where you are is so huge, that you aren’t sure you’ll be able to close it. I have thought about this a lot recently when I think about social justice movements, and those working to close gaps created by generations of inequality. When I started my Writing Black Joy project, I wanted to highlight Black content creators who were putting joyful work into the world. I felt like there wasn’t enough of that joyful content being celebrated.
But I got worn out pretty quickly - feeling like nothing I could do would ever be enough. Like I could work on this my whole life, and the balance would not be restored. (See my article Beyond Our Lifetime Goals). Like anything I did would simply be a drop in the ocean and not make any kind of real change.
These complicated feelings about enoughness can keep us focused on more. More can seem like the only way to get ahead, to achieve anything. More money, more qualifications, more content. And in a world that glorifies more, we can feel justified in focusing on more as the way to make progress.
But what if instead of always more, we considered the idea of enough.
Focused on places in your life where you have enough, or where you can be enough.
Or on the idea that there is enough.
If this sounds ridiculous, it may be because many of the economies we live in thrive on the idea of more and that resources are scarce. Many systems work because we believe there isn’t enough, and our focus then becomes one of competition for those limited resources.
Check out this short video, shown during the discussion, that illustrates the enoughness mindset as it relates to economic foundational models.
Given the idea that there is enough, collaboration (our superpower) becomes easier than competing. Collaboration is only a threat if you are focused on more. When you need more and the pie seems small, true collaboration is difficult as more feels like it’s more for someone else and that means less for me.
However, when we focus on the idea of enoughness, collaboration becomes natural. We can work together for everyone’s mutual benefit with no threat.
Especially for those ridiculously big goals we want - for ourselves, our communities and the world - for those unfathomable gaps we are trying to close - collaboration is the only way to do it. Doing it alone, our singular effort will never seem like, or be, enough.
When we shift our focus to enough… to the enoughness mindset, that there is enough… that we are enough… to the idea that we don’t need to compete for scarce resources… then we can safely collaborate with others to affect real change, bringing us all closer to our goals. If we see the world through the lens of enoughness, we see that everything is connected, including many of our big goals for our communities, and we can collaborate for the common good.
So - who would you collaborate with - if you leaned into the idea of enoughness?
Invite them to the discussion, share this post!
~ Safiya Robinson
The above article is written by contributing writer Safiya Robinson. It's a synopsis of an Open House Discussion about Enoughness. Edited by Susan Bouet and Anne Peterson
If this sounds intriguing and is the kind of discussions you would love to be a part of, don't miss the Summit! We have a LIVE In-Person option and a LIVE Virtual option. Check it out below!