“If you have nothing useful to say, then say nothing at all….”

Silence comes easy to me; the effort of sorting my thoughts, expressing them clearly to others – who won’t understand, or who actively strive to misunderstand – is burdensome.

And TBH, the last few months (from May to August of this year) have been challenging – personally, politically, philosophically.

Last night, I think I hit the bottom of what must have been a long-brewing existential crisis.

And you know what? I feel better now.

I’m ready to talk. So thanks for joining me.

The wisdom of others: finding your own path to defiance

I have not been completely silent, nor entirely inactive.

Some of the time, I have been gathering in my thoughts – trying hard to make sense of the shifting political and cultural landscape that is transforming my work in the UK, and more importantly, upending the lives of family and friends here, in the US, and globally.

And I spent some time hanging out, and recording interviews with some of the most brilliant activists and lawyers I know – to research my fellowship project for the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and to produce and launch The Lawmanity Podcast

I asked my friends and heroes the questions that are keeping me up at night:

• is the law a barrier or a tool to achieve change?
• what does justice look like to you?
• what advice do you have for a younger you?

After reviewing those interviews, writing up my fellowship project and spending quite a lot of time staring out the window, silently.. here’s what I’ve learned, about others, and my own journey to defiance:

Step 1: Embrace your silence

Everyone is different, but for me – until I have had space to think through everything happening around me – until I can put my own narrative and story to where I am now, what’s happening for me today, and where I hope to be going … I feel uneasy, unmoored, and uncertain.

So Step 1 is: stay still, stay silent, take space.

Give yourself a hug, practice sitting comfortably with who you are, be compassionate towards yourself and others

I do this, because I must. I have a regular morning practice, which requires spending time with me, and for me. Because many years of lawyering and activism has taught me that this work will literally end me, if I don’t look after myself, daily.

And the end of me (or the end of you) is no triumph for any cause that matters, to either of us.

If you need another reason to sit in the sun, and go easy on yourself, here it is: the most consistent, motivated, effective activists who I know … are bold, confident leaders because they are right with themselves – from the inside.

Where to get started? Try this loving kindness meditation with Andy Puddicombe from Headspace or this mountain meditation written by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Step 2: Encourage your resistance

If you are right with yourself, you start to listen to your inner voice, and trust your instincts.

I think most of us have an inner sense of justice and injustice, which speaks to us entirely separate from the external messages we receive – from friends and family, from work colleagues, from pop culture and social media.

But often, we’re socialised to ignore, or even silence, that inner voice.

I picked up this book, Defy, The power of no in a world that demands yes by Dr. Sunita Sah and read it – more or less – straight through. The author has studied defiance, and importantly, the precursors that people experience and express that lead up to single and sustained acts of defiance.

The book had me hooked at a really simple (and non-political) example of defiance that she shared from her own life – a single, trivial, banal occasion when the author chose not to do what she felt pressured to do. The author demonstrated that we all feel inner resistance, and we all have the ability to tap into the “why” that is causing us discomfort.

So Step 2 is: listen to and encourage your resistance.

Name the thing that is bothering you. Describe – for yourself, but as if you are explaining to others, what exactly is not okay about what is happening, and why you are feeling resistance.

Literally, give courage to your inner voice, but more importantly, ask yourself what a better world would look like.

What are the conditions that would release this dis-ease, and that would allow you to feel an absence of resistance towards this situation, your surrounding world?

Step 3: Embolden your actions

Before we get to step 3, I just want to make really clear that I believe silent reflection, coming to understand your self worth and listening for your inner voice are all worthy actions that already count as potent acts of resistance.

Action does not need to be visible, or effortful or large-scale (in any way), in order to be important, significant.

I also think, as explained in The courage to be authentically you, that our identities mean that some of us carry more risk in being visible, and vulnerable, in our defiance. So what action looks like is going to be different for each of us, and that has to be okay.

But, for me, the last step in defiance does involve doing things, with my mind and my body – and usually, with others or with the purpose of communicating with others.

You will need to negotiate your defiance, on your own terms. But drawn from my interviews with other activists and reflecting on my own decisions, I here are some questions to explore for ideas:

• What do you have the time, resources and energy to do?
• What are you good at? What do you enjoy?
• Where do you hold influence? Who listens to you, and on what (social media or real life) platforms?
• What can you risk and what things in your life are non-negotiable?
• What brings you joy?

Don’t estimate the joy question. Defiance, like any habit, must be rewarding… and yes, of course, joyful

Step 3: make a plan and take step towards defiant action.

Sometimes our intentions fall down between the dreaming part, and the doing part.

So borrowing a little wisdom from the “getting things done” method – I’m suggesting you actually identify and take the first step towards expressing your own defiance in a single, clearly identified action.

That could be:

• text a friend who mentioned a gig, event or action you are curious about joining
• donate £2 to a cause you believe in
• drop in on a campaign group or charity, and ask how you can help
• [your amazing idea here]

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading the Long View – it’s good to be back!

I’d love to hear how you’re sitting with the world this week, whether you have tips for creating silent spaces, listening to your own resistance or getting from planning to action in the changes you want to see in the world.

First published on LinkedIn on 4 September 2025:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-cultivate-defiance-silence-resistance-action-jen-ang-vxx8e

It has been a cold and bruising winter – with some light moments (a surprise wedding) but also some dark ones (an unexpected funeral).

This week, the Long View has been thinking about the miracle of ordinary resistance, and what means for individuals to publicly align their actions and words, with their privately held values and truths.

This is clearly on my mind and in the air because:

We are seeing a much more direct and naked use of the law to suppress expressions of identity and allyship – like Hungary banning LGBT+ Pride marches and an Idaho public school teacher being forced to remove a poster from her classroom that affirms: “Everyone is Welcome Here”.

Using the law (to criminalise expressions of identity) and formal processes (like threatening the school teacher with loss of employment) raises the stakes for individual acts of defiance.

Hungarian lawmakers have reasonably (and correctly) calculated that there are a large number of people – LGBT+ or not – who would attend a Pride march if it is legal to do so, but not if doing so will ruin their careers, endanger their families and land them in jail for an indeterminate amount of time.

Similarly, we have to assume that many teachers in the United States – possibly a majority of teachers ordered to do so – have silently taken down posters that encourage inclusion, celebrate diversity and promote equality, in their classrooms.

Not because they do not believe in equality, diversity and inclusion, but because they feel they cannot afford to take a stand on this issue, when the US Department of Education has launched a website for public reporting called the “End DEI” portal.

But ordinary resistance matters – visible acts of joy, celebration of our unique identities and being role models for kindness, compassion and acceptance – are a potent way of directly opposing the erasure of our communities and a false vision of who we all are.

Here are some of my favourite recent examples of brave, beautiful ordinary resistance:

This video by Lady Rampant, law student and Scottish drag queen legend on ‘ripping up the rule book’ and ‘making your own magic’

This movie: Jojo Rabbit (2019), a strangely gentle, sad and yet uplifting film about a little boy in the Hitler Youth who discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home

This retrospective exhibition of the work of Everlyn Nicodemus – feminist, activist and artist – at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. Can’t make it to Edinburgh? Watch this short film instead.

The courage to find, celebrate and embody: you

Something that I have always found funny around “allyship” is that we often assume that we have to talk about others as being different and having different experiences to us, as a way of figuring out to what we can do to support friends and loved ones who face barriers because of difference.

But. Everyone is, essentially, different. And the feeling of being excluded, humiliated and harmed in some way for being different is definitely within the emotional bandwidth of everyone, on this earth.

So too is the potential to draw on that experience, in order to embody a way of living (yourself) and treating others better than you were treated.

I point this out not to minimise or trivialise harm – some people absolutely experience harm and exclusion on a completely different scale to other people.

The core message here is not: everyone suffers equally. Some people suffer a lot more.

But perhaps, only: everyone suffers.

That’s part of being human. But we can ease each other’s suffering. And that’s part of being human too.

(Maybe that is what we should be putting on posters for schoolrooms, next year)

A challenge, if you’re up to it

So here’s some homework, to help you find and embody your own ordinary resistance, inspired by these flagstones that reference the work of Scottish sociologist and geographer, Patrick Geddes.

If you stand in opposition to regressive movements that seek to ban the expression of diverse identities, suppress facts and truth, and narrow the ground for public discourse, you are going to be confronted, over the next five years with a range of opportunities to: act or not act, speak up or not speak up, do or not do.

(Feel like I’m channeling a little bit of Yoda here – to be fair, Yoda is my spirit animal)

So ask yourself these questions, and do it now – so you’re ahead of the curve when you meet that challenge:

Where will I draw the line? What can I risk, and what can’t I risk?

What are the principles, facts and lived realities that I am willing to defend, for myself? For others?

What lessons do people learn when they spend time with me, and near me?

Can I take meaningful action to give comfort and safety to others (privately), even if I cannot take a visible stand (publicly)?

Thanks again for reading The Long View, this week. I would love to hear your thoughts – if you’re up to it, on whether “ordinary resistance” makes sense to you in the current context, and/or your own favourite examples of people who embody “ordinary resistance”

…

Also, and finally… next week will be the end of a whole year of writing The Long View. I’m pondering whether to continue – and if I do, at the same pace, at a different pace, or whether to try a shift to a whole different medium. Suggestions welcome!

First published on LinkedIn on 21 March 2025:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-embody-miracle-ordinary-resistance-jen-ang-zuxbe

And that means my attention was fully captivated 24/7 by the spectacle of a democratically-elected government enacting policy after policy, aimed – fundamentally – at destroying the livelihood, homes and lives of people it was elected to serve.

Taking stock: Fascism in the White House

In just two months, Trump has shut down or curtailed the roles of institutions that protect people (like the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health) and is well on his way to tanking the US economy.

Elon Musk, as head of the shadowy Department of Government Efficiency, which somehow has the power to email every federal employee in America, celebrated his rise to power with a Nazi salute, and has recently demanded access to private and sensitive data for millions and millions of Americans.

As someone who has lived for two years in Communist China in the late 1980s, and in Ba’athist Iraq in the early 1990s, I think I have a good gut feeling for what cruel and totalitarian governments look like – and what happens to people when those who hold power rule only in their own interests, robbing everyone else of their dignity and their futures – and when there are no means left to hold state authority to account.

It’s not good. Both the US and the UK are heading that way – but now, the US has been pushed off a cliff, and the only question left: who or what forces remain in play, with the power to slow or halt this fall?

The political, economic and social landscape is shifting, globally.  Change is coming at a radical pace, so for those of us who remain committed to ensuring that all people can live their lives in equal safety and dignity, we’re going to need a radical shift in tactics to meet this challenge.

How?

History lessons: Learn from anti-fascist movements

Last night, I had an interesting conversation with middle child. She said that her teacher had brought the poem that I have in my office to her Nat 5 History class, for discussion. (This poem, above, by Pastor Martin Niemoller)

Middle child was surprised to learn that some of her peers (aged 15) did not know that the Nazi regime built concentration camps, where they tortured and killed millions of people during WWII.

Her teacher had told them that concentration camps are not strictly part of their Nat 5 History curriculum – which directs students to focus only on the rise of the Nazi state – but that she felt it was important to also teach them what happened after the rise of the Nazi state.

I told middle child that she has an excellent secondary school history teacher.

Any student of modern history can tell you that the rise of fascism today – especially the tactics – are drawn directly from historical and contemporary lessons about how authoritarian regimes steal and guard state power.

But we also know this thing: anti-fascists have won victories. Over time, popular uprisings have brought down fascist governments.

So how did they do it?

For inspiration, try this excellent article by Professor Bart Cammaerts at the London School of Economics “Five lessons from past anti-fascists struggles” – he urges us to:

connect – dream – make cool art – litigate – resist

Here’s a direct quote from the “taking action” part of his article:

1. “Build transnational and cross-ideological coalitions of anti-fascist resistance within civil society and beyond: The anti-fascist movement not only bridged the geographical boundaries but also the ideological ones. Through the anti-fascist struggle, a strong chain of equivalence was constructed between socialists, communists, anarchists, liberals, Catholics, and freemasons.
2. Develop democratic alternatives to the fascist discourse and its allure to young and working class people: As in the past, there is a material and socio-economic ground for the resurgence of fascism, and as in the last century an interregnum, during which the “old is dying but the new cannot be born” as of yet (dixit Antonio Gramsci), also characterises these times.
3. Re-invigorate a culture and an aesthetic of anti-fascist resistance: Emotions and the affective dimension as well as a sophisticated publicity regime were central to the fascist appeal, which was in turn contested by a creative and exuberant culture and aesthetic of resistance (f.e. Bertold Brecht, John Heartfield, Walter Benjamin, André Malraux, and indeed George Orwell). This aesthetic and affect of resistance not only de-mystified and contested fascism but also celebrated freedom, equality and democratic alternatives; we need something similarly exhuberant and contestational today.
4. Document, record and prepare future litigation: The fascist modus operandi is one of the flagrant abuses of human rights and the manifest flaunting of the rule of law and the separation of powers. History also teaches us, however, that fascist rule is never absolute nor eternal, and that there is always a moment of reckoning. Hence, anti-fascist resistance must also document, record, and gather evidence.
5. Civil disobedience, disruption and sabotage: Finally, sabotage of fascist policies and disruption of their infiltration of state apparatuses was also crucial historically. The resistance against fascism was never just an affair of elites or artists, but also of workers, civil servants, farmers, and even (small) businesspeople, all circumventing and sabotaging fascist rule and policies. This is also something that will become crucial and necessary to develop and nurture again.”

Lessons for the : Choosing optimism over despair

Finally, a reminder: we are not alone in this struggle.

Artists, thinkers, dreamers and activists have already held the ground that we stand on now. They have done the thinking, sketched out a better future and even made some of that cool art – like Mark Titchner x BUILDHOLLYWOOD whose 2025 posters are featured in the photo at the top of this article.

We just need to find their work, and share it back to people who need to see, hear and hold this precious thing: hope

Thanks for reading The Long View again this week. I would love to hear about the thinking, art and activist resistance that you draw inspiration from, and that you think people should be hearing more about, especially now.

And…

Leaving you with this quote, from Noam Chomsky, in his interview “Why I choose optimism over despair“

We have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up and help ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely exist and maybe help make the world a better place. Not much of a choice.

First published on LinkedIn on 14 March 2025:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-fight-new-fascism-jen-ang-ras3e

This week, I feel some reflection on how we speak truth to power is timely as we ponder what to do when truth is publicly contested, undervalued and sometimes, intentionally suppressed – but the stakes for people who confront power remain high.

Power is real, and inescapable

You may not be able to see it, taste it, hear it, or touch it or feel it, but power – defined as the ability or capacity to influence people or things around you – is real.

And therefore, if you are speaking to someone who holds power over you, the first step is to recognise that you are engaging with a dynamic (and potentially unpredictable) force that poses real dangers to you.

Examples of places where people hold power over others include:

parent / child – supervisor / employee – teacher / student – influencer / follower – state / citizen

An argument in favour of the justice of a democratic system, is that voters should hold power over politicians, and therefore, the power dynamic should look like: “citizen / state.”

An inescapable truth is that in any group of people – ranging from family to society – some people will wield power over others. The more interesting questions that follow: how is this is done, with what authority, and in whose interest?

My point is: proceed with caution; power wielded against you can result in loss of friends, family, livelihood, home and possessions – and sometimes, life.

Power is always conditional

I believe that all people are born equal in dignity and worth. For me, there is no intrinsic reason why any one person should have power over another person.

Therefore, when confronted with people in positions of power, I find it helpful to break down the reasons why they hold power, because that helps me think clearly about whether or not I should respect it.

Here are just a few examples:

Physical Force, Law (and the State): many unequal power relationships are backed by physical force – or the force of law, meaning, if you disobey the state, for example, you can expect to face violence: civil or criminal sanction for that action. That can include significant and life-changing punishments, including: fines or imprisonment, poverty and homelessness, exclusion and exile.

The law also distributes and reinforces power in private relationships: for example, the law is responsible for upholding the power of parents over their children (up to a certain age), and of teachers over students (where education is compulsory), and of supervisors over employees (for example, in enforcing terms of employment). This form of power comes from the threat of state sanction.

Money and Resources: people who have greater resources than others – in a capitalist world, this usually means money or the capacity to convert assets into money – wield power over others. In some places, being able to offer resources that people need, like clean water or food or safety from others, is the key to gaining power over others. This form of power comes from holding scarce resources and being able decide who gets a share of those resources, and who doesn’t.

Knowledge, Skills and Ideas: people who have knowledge, skills and ideas that we lack or find attractive can also hold power. Examples include: scientists and doctors, teachers and engineers, farmers and chefs, plumbers and electricians, faith leaders and influencers… as well as artists, writers and musicians.

Our regard for their skills, knowledge and ideas gives them a kind of social capital – power, in short. This form of power comes from belief of people around them.

For example, a scientist whose discoveries are refuted, or a faith leader without a following, or a writer or influencer with no audience, holds no power.

My point is, power is conditional and even if you are on the losing end of power imbalance, it is helpful to recognise that also means that conditional power is vulnerable, in some way.

Many great stories – ancient and modern – are about tackling and toppling unjust uses of conditional power.

How to speak truth to power

So, as promised, here are some suggestions for speaking truth to power:

Consider your audience, and your aims: We may choose to speak truth to power because we want to see a change in current practice or behaviour. It might be that we want our needs to be taken into account; it could be that we just want to be better understood – for our experiences to be acknowledged.

But take a good, hard look: will your actions lead to change? Can you reach the right audience, and if so, do they have the power (or patience, or maturity, or empathy) to deliver the outcome you’re looking for?

Remember that most people with power, seek to retain power: Not always, but usually. If you are looking for people with power, to share power, also consider realistically the levers for change – how is their power conditional?

Identify the risks, and find your allies: Sometimes we choose to take action even when the stakes are high. Better to do that after a sound appraisal of the consequences, and building your own safety net / exit strategy / shelter (from the storm).

Have your say, and find your peace: Do your thing, and remember that at the end of the day, you are doing this thing for you. You can’t control how your words will be received and there might be quite a lot of turmoil, distress and backlash to follow… but the important thing is that you did the thing. That’s your contribution, and where you need to find your peace.

…

There is probably a second article, that needs to be written: how to hear the truth, when other people speak it.

But for today, I need to close out here, because there’s lots for me to do before the day is done

Thanks for reading The Long View again today, and leaving you with this sweet little poem, which I keep near the front door, so we see it every time when we home, and every day when we return again:

First published on LinkedIn on 21 February 2025:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-speak-truth-power-jen-ang-wcbye

This is like that feeling you get on Sunday night, all regretful and worried, but on an epic scale…

I’m lucky enough that I lot of what I’ve got to do this year are projects that I’ve not only chosen, but actually thrown myself forward to do.

I can imagine the Sunday night feeling sits even heavier for those tasks that you did not choose yourself, or that “past you” may have chosen, which “today you” now regrets.

Finding your own kind of magic

So this week’s Long View is a short, sweet look at how we shake off all that doubt – which can stop us in our tracks – and find our mojo, the thing that makes us, us – and that somehow miraculously keeps us going.

The magic that makes you, you – that’s your mojo.

Step 1: Slow down

For me, there is no one thing, and because who I am changes every year, the things that help me slow down and get grounded, can also change.

This year, what’s working is warm and spicy flavours …

I’ve done a lot of cooking over the past few weeks, and without the weekday pressure of just having to get the food out in a hurry, I’ve really enjoyed it, remembering that spices (in particular warm Asian spices like ginger, star anise, cinnamon and cloves) bring such warmth, comfort and joy to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Step 2: Laugh (at yourself)

When’s the last time you actually laughed at yourself? I’m serious. Learning not to take yourself so seriously is a really worthwhile endeavour.

Here’s how you do it:

• Take out a piece of paper and write down this sentence: “I am really worried and anxious about the year because …. “
• Then look at what you’ve written and keep writing: “I believe the worst possible things that could happen this year are …”
• Now evaluate what you’ve done.
• Some of the things you’ve written down will be very real, possible things. For example, I worry about not making enough money this year, and about my health, and about my mother’s happiness.
• But other things (usually, your worst possible imaginings) will be totally wild – and if you are honest with yourself, totally unlikely to come to pass.
• Now get some perspective. If a friend (not you) wrote this list, what would you say? Maybe you would point out that all these worries are not for them alone? Perhaps you would gently cajole, maybe even tease your friend for some of their more outlandish fears? Might you encourage your friend to laugh a little, maybe to lighten up?

If you do this exercise, when you’re finished, tuck that list away somewhere and bring it out at the end of 2025 – I promise if you’re not laughing now, you’ll be laughing then.

Step 3: Plant a seed

Literally, or figuratively. (I don’t know why, but this year I’m also really focused on plants.)

It has been a very long time since I’ve had any new years’ resolutions, but something that I do quite consciously at the start of every year, is to try to scatter a few opportunities a few weeks or months into the year ahead.

This includes:

• getting in touch with people I like but do not see enough, and arranging coffee, or a phone call, or a walk
• planting a way marker for a work project that I will actually look forward to – for example, let’s have this fun gathering in June, so I will get something done by then but also feel happy and excited about reaching that point and sharing my work
• signing up for a lecture or a workshop, about something that sparks my curiosity, and I have never gotten around to exploring

What’s your secret sauce?

On Monday evening, I found myself planting tomato and chilli pepper seeds in my home office. This may be too optimistic, given the average winter temperatures in there, but we all know that I suffer from a chronic surplus of optimism. I’ll post photos of where we get to with those plants in June – there’s my waymarker for that project.

I hope you’re finding your own way through these tricky first few weeks – and please do share any tips for how you get motivated to start the new year… or what sorts of seeds you plant to help you on your way, down the untrodden path of 2025.

First published on LinkedIn on 10 January 2025:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-find-your-mojo-jen-ang-zvede

This is a tricky time of year for lots of people; we’re all looking forward to a break, and many people are going to get one, but there’s an awful lot of social pressure: to conform, to perform, and to achieve during that break – and that can make for unhappy times.

Navigating other people’s expectations

Lots of conversations this month have highlighted that friends and family are navigating many different demands on their time – and over and again I’m being told that people are planning events, meet-ups, and activities that are just – not them.

Or that requires them to curate an image of themselves that sits uncomfortably far from who they feel themselves to be, inside.

Because I know lovely people, this usually comes from a good place – a desire to please others, to put collective expectation above individual preferences, to not make a fuss or be a burden to others, and so on.

But also, because I know lovely people, I have an important general announcement

Remember to respect who you are, when you’re negotiating your time, energy and resources with others

This is yet another “do as I say, and not as I do” bits of advice, but it is heartfelt.

Power, dominant culture and the risks in being visible, and vulnerable

I know I’ve raised a complex issue, and you were hoping for an easy read this week.

So I’ll make it quick, and get us back to the upbeat stuff.

We all know that “be yourself” and “be authentic” talk can feel very blah blah blah.

That’s because in our society, it is much easier and safer to be authentically you when your inner identity is consistent with dominant cultural norms, and assumptions people make about you.

For example: I present as a modestly dressed, petite Asian woman with glasses. People might expect me to be:

• agreeable (maybe even submissive)
• a little bit foreign, exotic
• neurotypical, able bodied
• cisgender
• most likely heterosexual

But take another look, could I also be the opposite of all those assumptions?

Of course I could.

I navigate my life within the dominant cultural gaze that others hold me in – but that doesn’t mean that I’m unaware of who I am inside, or of the complex interplay between outer and inner identities.

I’m also aware of the very real dangers people face when their inner identities are not safe in the outside world.

And that’s why “authentically you” doesn’t mean just letting it all hang out, come what may.

It just means examining much more closely and consciously the line between the “you” that you feel yourself to be (and can safely honour and nurture) and the “you” that others assume you to be.

Being authentically you is the best gift you can give

Why should you do this?

Because you show up better for people when you are calm, confident and cared-for yourself. And we are the first, best, people to care for ourselves.

So here’s my pitch:

Sit down right now and map out your holiday plans

Feel the feelings (and pay special attention when dread or fear shows up)

Renegotiate – ditch the unnecessary, adjust the plans, make new possibilities … even if that means making new traditions … and show yourself just a little bit of respect…

…

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a wonderful break and before you go, here are handful of extra treats to send you on your way to finding your own best gift.

This poem by Chen Chen: When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

This little gem of fortune cookie wisdom:

And finally, a throwback, this legendary Spanish J&B Christmas advert from 2022 – about finding the courage to be authentically you, and extending grace and acceptance to others when they do the same.

First published on LinkedIn on 20 December 2024:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/courage-authentically-you-jen-ang-pw7ee/

Maybe you are optimistically trying to clear your work “to do” list before the end of the year – whilst keeping a wary eye on the looming holiday “to do” list and juggling those December festive events that keep rolling around – lunches, brunches, dinners and drinks .

Personally, I love December – my birthday month – but it’s always a hectic time of year, and I think it’s a pity that people seem to reach the promised land of winter holidays, utterly depleted and nearly rigid with stress.

For those of us who deliver frontline services to people living with destitution, struggling with health and mental health and at the margins of our societies, wrapping up work in December is also stressful because service closures can cause acute crises for individuals and stretch thin the capacity of the few emergency services that do remain open.

Remember this?

But, we all need a break sometime. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when I was locked down in my small flat with two furious (and mischievous) tween-age children, I started trying different meditation apps in a desperate bid to do something positive for my own mental health.

One day, I listened to a teaching by Cory Muscara who flipped the idea of “managing chaos” in a way that actually changed my life:

Calm is not the absence of chaos; it’s being able to exist in the chaos and noise and finding your peaceful centre.

I loved this reframing because blocking out the chaos was not only totally unrealistic – given my responsibilities as well as the physical reality of our lockdown – it was also tiring and unending.

The reframing gave me some hope of finding a way to hold those responsibilities and get some sleep at night. (The good sleep habits took a while longer, but I learned some important tricks between 2020-23 which wanted to share with you now.)

Find your calm in chaos

This is going to be a short one, because – see above - but here are some top tips for finding calm in chaos (with paired book recommendations)

…

lose the unimportant stuff – kick it into the long grass, roll that appointment into next year … be real about what you can do in the next two weeks.

Have a frank conversation with “yesterday you” about what “today you” is and is not going to do. Also, while you’re at it, try and spare a thought for “tomorrow you”!

Need some help reassessing your priorities? I really like David Allen book Getting Things Done – I know that the GTD method has been associated with “hustle culture” and unhealthy glorification of “fitting it all in,” but it works for me. And I think like all tools, what you get out of it has a lot to do with what you bring to it. For me, learning to prioritise and reprioritise with GTD has been liberating, and not exhausting.

…

make time for the important stuff – make an appointment with yourself to do something you love, every day.

During the Covid years, I took the kids climbing in Holyrood Park at 4pm every day. Not gonna lie, sometimes these outings were also stressful, but it was the different kind of stress that made it important, and worthwhile.

Think you don’t have time? Try reading about Einstein Time in Gay Hendricks best-selling book The Big Leap. Bonus if you do? You’ll also get better at cultivating your personal superpowers: what you love to do, and what you do best.

…

celebrate yourself – we don’t congratulate ourselves enough, and instead tend to pin our feelings of self worth and success to the opinion, or regard, of others.

The problem is, other people have got stuff on their minds too, and they don’t always have the time or space or perspective to thank you for having a significant impact on their day, or congratulate you on a job well done.

There is exactly one person who knows how good you did today, and that is you. So go ahead, give yourself the credit you deserve (even if you do this privately, silently, in your head or in your secret journal at the end of the day).

Some days, my “private wins” include: not leaving my packed lunch in the fridge, not losing my rag when faced with a totally unreasonable demand, or doing a half decent (but still not brilliant) job of a task that I had been putting off.

Find it hard to treat yourself with compassion? Take 10 minutes to listen to legend Thich Nhat Hanh‘s calming and deeply loving sermon about why you are amazing and worthy of celebration.

Sending all the warmest wishes for finding your way and getting through your “list” for December.

Thanks for reading again this week, and please feel free to share what brings you comfort, calm and a smooth finish at the end of year

First published on LinkedIn on 6 December 2024:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/finding-calm-chaos-jen-ang-wn09e

I got here, frankly, because I considered not getting out of bed on Wednesday morning.

But I also know of myself, that I was going to get out of bed, and I was going to meet all the wonderful people I’d arranged to meet, and I was going to try my level best to be a decent and pleasant person whilst doing those things.

Perseverance (n.) Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition: steadfastness

We all face situations where we have a choice: persevere, or give up. This is part of the daily grist of life and it shows up all around us, all the time.

Perseverance is not just stubbornness, nor is it the absence of pain, or fear.

Also this week, I’ve watched people around me – including my closest family and friends – really struggling. And I’m totally supportive of people who don’t want to get out of bed today. Giving ourselves time to “feel the feelings” is an act of self compassion, and is sometimes the best, and only, thing to do when those feelings are deep and overwhelming.

Perseverance is finding ways to carry on, and bring our best selves, despite a full understanding of the difficulties, the challenges, and sometimes, the improbability of success.

So, how do we find the strength to persevere?

As usual, I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what’s working for me this week:

Reducing stress and making space (where possible) for feeling the feelings. I do this so I have a clear path for carrying on with the essential things. Experience has told me that I’ll get stuck right here, if I don’t prioritise this ahead of everything else.

Taking stock of where I am, and trying to get a little perspective on what challenges, failures and setbacks mean for me. You all know I’m a big fan of keeping clear what we have control over, and what we don’t have control over.

But sometimes that line blurs when we’re distressed or overwhelmed. So this stock take is about refocusing on what’s in my control, keeping a watchful eye on everything that isn’t.

Showing kindness – to others, but this also has to include yourself. Taking on the weight of the world’s problems, or endlessly doom scrolling, is not kind to yourself, and it is also generally not productive. Give yourself a break. Self love and compassion is the root of your ability to show strength and compassion to others.

Most of all, for me, building community – I have been spending time with like-minded people who inspire and support me. And I owe the rest of everything to those people, and to you.

This Week photos: Lawmanity at Byres Community Hub at University of Glasgow School of Health & Wellbeing, First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls at Impact Arts, The PILS Project 15th Anniversary Event, Belfast

…

Thanks for reading again this week – sending warmest thoughts and hope you’re finding your space, and people who inspire and support you, too. If you feel like writing in, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about, and what you’re doing to embrace perseverance, or how you’re helping others to persevere.

First published on LinkedIn on 8 November 2024:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-stay-strong-persevere-jen-ang-dtele/

If I am ploughing on at all, this is more due to stubbornness than inspiration – and because part of the deal of taking on the weekly challenge of writing The Long View is also exploring what happens when I open my laptop, and … nothing comes.

Struggling with visibility, and empathy

I think the issue is: I can’t shake the idea that there are people out there, actually reading what I’m writing.  I do know this to be true, and I am always thrilled to hear from readers when they write back, but I have always found I needed to keep the idea of an “audience” quite out of focus, in order to stand any chance of holding my nerve and getting through the tunnel of self doubt, to produce any kind of output, on the other side.

The fact that thinking about an audience sends me into a tailspin is kind of ironic, because the very best writing, teaching and campaigning happens, I think, exactly when the person holding the pen has very much held their audience in mind.  That empathy and care is often the thing that helps you to express yourself in a way that really connects with others.

I guess what I struggle with – and absolutely struggled with last night, when I celebrated the launch of a legal briefing for Lawmanity x IRMO – is being so visible.  The actual experience of watching people hold that report in their hands, and start to browse through the pages, minutes before I stood up to speak, nearly ended me.

“But Jen,” a colleague said, chuckling, “You didn’t write that report just for it to sit on a shelf, did you?”

No, obviously, I did not. I really enjoyed the process of writing it, and I’m proud of this work with IRMO – Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation, an organisation led by and for the Latin American community in the UK, to produce together something that recognises, and responds to, one of the most pressing issues the community faces.

Furthermore, because IRMO staff and the parents they support are such talented and passionate people, I’m certain that they will take this report and it will play a small part in big changes to come, at the very least, for individual children and young people who will be one step closer to unlocking the education services and support they deserve.

What I didn’t enjoy, was having to stand up in front of an audience of my peers, my colleagues, and quite a few people I had never met, effectively, to say:

“This here is my entirely my work, or at least the mistakes and the bad parts that you might not like, and yes, it was absolutely the best I am capable of doing, at least for today.”

[slowly backs into a wall, cue fade to black]

Our inner critic, our worst enemy

Audiences are mostly kind, and that means that when we stand up to present our work, unless we have really ticked someone off or are very unlucky, they will mostly respond sympathetically, and may even band together to support a shaky speaker to a solid finish.

Our inner critic, however, will start with the harshest and most unhelpful observations, and may well accelerate through an entire presentation, like a bike heading downhill with no brakes.

What could, or should, I do to make peace with my inner critic?

This week, I asked for help:

• My partner told me that I should be happy with the idea that I did the best I could, in the circumstances.  I wasn’t convinced – because, obviously, my best could be really inadequate.
• My psychotherapist told me I was being too abstract, and for once, she didn’t know what I was talking about.
• Then, I spoke to a friend, who is a filmmaker, and he reflected that presenting your creative work publicly is scary, and that’s the end of it. There is nothing to get over. That is just the price [of producing and sharing art].

I liked this last answer the best, because it felt real, and also reminded me that – in a way – the decision to face our fears (and our inner critic) was already made by us at an earlier stage.

More precisely, at the start of the project: in the moment when set our mind on expressing an idea, or a feeling, or way of seeing the world, publicly to other people.

…

I’m still looking for answers, and have clearly resolved none of my awkwardness about presenting my own work, although I have at least (with relief) made it to the end of today’s article!

Thank you for reading, and I would love to hear from readers: what you do when have a piece of work and become creatively stuck, and do you have any good advice on making peace with your own inner critic?

First published on LinkedIn on 18 October 2024:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-unstuck-creatively-making-peace-your-inner-critic-jen-ang-przwf/

Maybe I’m projecting, but I feel like we’re – many of us, and for different reasons – struggling to find our mojo.

For some of us, it’s the political cycle and apprehension about what changes might come – or worse, not come – from our new governments.

For others, it’s the deepening impacts of a long period of economic turbulence, which has genuinely made many of us worse off – and means we have to work harder, spend less, and worry more about…everything.

And for young people and dreamers – those people trying to change the world – well, from time to time, we just hit that wall when we think that no one is listening, and nothing is going to change.

This feels tricky, but we’ve been here before

If this is you, I’m here to share a few reflections, and hopefully cheer myself up too!

Speak to your elders: thoughtful people do get wiser as they grow older, and one of the coolest things about humanity is that we can (if we choose to) give comfort to others by sharing what we have learned. Older people in your life, and in your communities, can bring perspective to whatever you’re struggling with right now.

Bring warmth and inspiration closer in: there are people and things that you love, and that inspire you. Think broadly, and don’t be too judgmental about what those things are. For me, at this time of year, it’s the feeling of sun on my face, the taste of cinnamon and re-reading a favourite poem. Bring close your comfort things, and do it intentionally, and as a priority.

Take the long view: progress can be cyclical, like the seasons, and not always linear, and increasing (like our performance targets or… umm, the stock market). Ask yourself what winning looks like over your lifetime (or many lifetimes) and try to unstick yourself from the urgency of today’s tasks.

Also, if you’re not seeing a connection between today’s task and what you want to achieve in life, well… there’s always this option:

Still needing a nudge? Some wise words from an elder: Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan climate justice activist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize – which will coincidentally be announced later today.

She was, like many activist legends, a master of long view thinking.

In her memoir, Unbowed, she reflected:

No matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for. The silver lining will come, if not to us then to next generation or the generation after that. And maybe with that generation the lining will no longer be thin.

Thanks for joining us again this week for The Long View.

Are you feeling or this week?

Feel free to share what brings you comfort, and where you’re finding the stuff you need to keep you going.

First published on LinkedIn on 11 October 2024:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-optimist-realist-jen-ang-ebcqe/