FOR YOU - COMMUNITY - ALL LIVING BEINGS - EARTH
The practices below are offered as examples of Love Activism for our daily lives; our work; our interactions with others, including those we love; and our connections and relationships with non-human animals and the earth. Please consider these practices for your life and within your means and abilities. Love Activism is not about perfection; it is an evolving life-long practice that deepens as we learn and reflect on what speaks true to us and our ethical lives as activists.
Practices of Service:
Cook a meal for your friend or partner; visit the ill; take someone to a medical appointment; clean or make repairs for someone; provide literacy tutoring; bring food to the poor and their companion animals; mail books to prisoners; volunteer to clean litter at the ocean or other natural area; mail someone a surprise postcard; walk dogs at a shelter or for elderly or disabled neighbors with limited mobility; start a community reading group; be an advocate for foster youth; plant trees; call or visit someone who may be lonely; adopt an old animal; grow plants that help the environment thrive; join or start a community garden; visit cats at a shelter…
Practices of Empathy:
Listen deeply to someone’s story; read memoirs and oral histories; do not judge someone's suffering; think kind thoughts or pray for those in need; boycott circuses or places that use animals for entertainment; volunteer to answer calls on a suicide hotline; study and read about racism and other forms of injustice; meditate on how you would feel in someone’s difficult situation; look into self-help practices to maintain your balance and well-being…
Practices of Non-Violence:
Go vegan; reject racist jokes; buy fair trade clothing, coffee, and other goods; boycott companies that profit from violence; stand up to bullies; speak out against war; buy organic food; buy cruelty free cosmetics and cleaning supplies; capture and release insects…
Practices of Self-Care:
Take a bubble bath; talk with a therapist or spiritual advisor; rest when you are tired; ride a bike; take walks; love and accept your body; forgive yourself, remembering that we all make mistakes; ask for help/tell a friend when you are suffering…
Practices of Hope:
Smile at strangers; plant a tree; join a community garden or start gardening at home; start reading a great, big book; enroll in a class you always wanted to take; reflect on the positive outcome of a loving act you performed…
Practices of Creativity:
Teach someone how to paint or play an instrument; write poetry; collage; make handmade cards for your friends; visit a museum; see an independent film; donate to an art organization; take an art class; cook/bake; support local artists; send a “thank you” note to a writer, poet, or artist you admire; read about self-taught artists…
Practices of Feminism:
Reject sexist jokes; provide others freedom and not restrictive and stereotypical gender roles; do not critique women’s bodies; study women’s history; become aware of global crimes against women and speak out against violence and abuse; study the history of feminism…
Practices of Mindfulness:
Be deeply present for someone; eat some silent meals; turn off the television/get rid of your television; meditate; eat slowly; offer kind and authentic self-expression; offer deep listening; have moments of silence in your life; refrain from major decisions when you are confused…