Activism Without Burnout: A Survival Guide for Former Church Kids
It’s a weird time for all Americans, but if you grew up in high control religious spaces, some things might also feel disturbingly familiar.
Fear-based messaging. Gaslighting about your literal lived reality. Rigid us-versus-them narratives being promoted by those in power. If you’ve seen this before, it can be especially jarring to watch it happen on a larger, more public scale.
For many former church kids, there's something darkly ironic about what’s happening politically right now. You already spent years learning to see through this kind of authoritarian rhetoric. And now you're watching it happen all over again in the global arena.
It will take some intentionality, but there are ways to stay engaged in activism and resistance while not re-traumatizing yourself in the process.
Pick Your Lane
When you first start paying attention to social and political issues instead of staying in your church bubble, it can feel overwhelming. Climate change, reproductive rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ advocacy, economic inequality, immigration… The list goes on and on.
And when you've spent years being told that caring about others is the most important thing, it can be tempting to try to tackle everything at once.
The problem is, no one person can dismantle hundreds of years of systemic oppression single-handedly (trust me, a lot of us have tried.) And if you spread yourself too thin while trying to make up for lost time, you’re going to wind up burning out hard.
Activists who have been at this for a long time will tell you that it’s important to do what you can, take breaks, and choose sustainable actions over grand gestures.
How to Choose Your Lane
Pick one (maybe two if they naturally overlap) issue to focus your energy on. You can ask yourself these questions:
What issues are most urgent in your community today?
What issue makes you genuinely angry or energized?
What are your actual skills and resources?
What's happening in your local community where you could show up consistently?
Maybe your lane is voter registration. Maybe it's mutual aid organizing. Maybe it's LGBTQ+ youth support or environmental justice. Whatever it is, commit to it and let go of the guilt about not working on everything else, all at once, all the time.
Remind yourself that you’re not reinventing the wheel. You’re looking for opportunities to join those who have been doing this for longer than you have. (And while you’re at it, let go of the guilt about that fact, because it doesn’t do anyone any good.)
Meet Yourself Where You Are
If you’re supporting a family, navigating disabilities, or getting your own mental health under control, your advocacy and activism is going to look different than your neighbor who is single and well-resourced. That’s okay.
Our capacity will never stay the same without fluctuating, and that’s normal. Having some ideas in your back pocket (no matter what your current capacity is) can help you avoid the paralyzed feeling of, “What now?” when shit hits the fan.
Survival Mode (Very Low Capacity)
If you're in survival mode, your activism might look like:
Staying minimally informed (reading headlines, following one trusted news source)
Researching current ballot measures and voting
Signing online petitions
Sharing posts on social media
Low-to-Moderate Capacity
With a bit more energy and a few more resources at your disposal, you might add:
Monthly donations (even $5 matters when it's consistent)
Attending one event per month
Calling representatives weekly
Joining one local committee or advocacy group
Higher Capacity
For folks who have the desire, time, and energy, activism might include:
Regular volunteering
Taking on leadership roles in local organizations
Organizing events, rallies, and campaigns
Making more significant financial contributions
Rest is Not Surrender
If you're rage-scrolling without the capacity to take any action, feeling paralyzed instead of motivated, or snapping at loved ones, you probably need a break. Avoiding the news entirely because it's too overwhelming can also be a sign that your nervous system needs a reset.
What a Break Can Look Like
Micro-breaks: Even in times of urgent need for action, you’re allowed to take a social media break for a day. If something happens that you need to know about, someone will text you.
Short breaks: A week without attending meetings or events (especially if you’ve been attending consistently without a break) is not the same as quitting.
Medium breaks: A month focused on just your baseline commitments can be an intentional choice you make as a way to gain back the capacity to keep going. It’s not lazy or selfish.
Extended breaks: Stepping back from in-person activism or leadership roles for a season is also not selfish. That’s what community is for. Find someone to hand the reins to for a bit.
If you hear that voice telling you that you're not doing enough and that you should be doing more, I’d like to remind you that it sounds suspiciously like the church leaders who taught you that rest was selfish.
We learned that our worth was tied to constant service and that caring for ourselves meant we didn't care about others. But you're allowed to be a whole person with needs, even during a crisis.
Actually, especially during a crisis.
Building Sustainable Resistance
Harmful systems didn't build themselves overnight, and they won't fall overnight either. Your community needs you healthy and present for years to come, not burnt out beyond repair after six months.
Expand Your Definition of Resistance
Remember when just being yourself felt like an act of rebellion against everything you were taught?
Coming out as queer when your church said you were an abomination. Embracing your neurodivergence instead of forcing yourself to be "normal." Wearing what you wanted, loving who you loved, taking up space as your authentic self. These were all radical acts of resistance against a rigid system that wanted to control you.
That hasn't changed. Your existence as a queer person, as a neurodivergent person, as someone who refused to stay in the box they built for you is still resistance. Especially now.
Moving your body, creating art, and living joyfully are an integral part of resistance. Dancing, hiking, painting, writing poetry, playing music, and existing proudly are not frivolous when you're living under oppressive systems.
Creating beauty when they want you afraid is a radical act. Taking up space joyfully in a body they told you to hide is political.
These are the things that remind us why we're fighting in the first place. They keep us connected to joy, and joy is what makes sustained resistance possible.
You can go for a run AND call your senator. You can paint on Sunday mornings AND organize mutual aid. You can live authentically AND show up for your community. It's not either/or.
You're Enough
By approaching this work differently than the church taught you to do things, you’re breaking the cycle of seeing yourself as just a tool for a cause, and reminding yourself that you’re a whole person.
You left high-control religion because you couldn't keep participating in systems that caused harm. Now you're learning to resist other harmful systems without sacrificing yourself in the process.
Whatever pace you can sustain is a good one. Pick your lane. Take your breaks. Move your body. Make your art. Show up when you can, and rest when you need to.
We need you here for the long haul.
