PMFA Nap Update
What we learned from our time of rest…
As we shared at the end of last year, the main organizing committee of Public Media for All decided to intentionally re-energizing during the first quarter of 2024. Inspired by The Nap Ministry, this was intended to be a time for our community of BIPOC volunteers to reflect and reinvigorate. When we made our announcement, we promised to check in with our amazing community of supporters in April to share an update on our dreams and learnings from this time of rest with you all.
Here’s what some wisdom our coalition leaders gained while resting:
During my time of rest I’ve been meditating a lot on how our bodies are not machines and our lives are not corporations. Yet, we live in a society that's so enamored with capitalism that it tries to optimize everything from self-care to raising children to daily routines based on corporate best practices for maximizing quarterly profits for shareholders. This is a little like trying to use a poison as the antidote. We cannot address the way society is grinding us down by grinding harder.
I have been using the break to invest further in both the care of my elders and in my own health. Recently, it’s been challenging, because I feel driven to work more and faster. After 15 years in broadcast media, I am used to working long hours and turning around assignments quickly. However, that habit has been deleterious to my health and my relationships. As a whole human, my work matters, but I cannot succeed at it by neglecting my humanity.
Despite the continued backlash against work to create a more inclusive and equitable workforce in this country, as I continue to research retention of journalists of color in public media, the need for real progress in this area is more urgent than ever. It’s easy to give in to the backlash, but that would be ignoring real harm that is still happening to Black, Indigenous, Immigrant and other people of color in workplace settings.
Major takeaway for me has been the amount of time that it took for me to shake off the ‘ghost’ of a task list. While we officially began our “nap” in late December, I found myself constantly checking calendars and inboxes/folders looking for emails and invites as a muscle memory activity well into the next month and only then it required a self reminder that I should be resting. The serious impact was that it tapped into feelings of when my Mom passed and I felt compelled to check-in with her through the first year of her being gone.
I rediscovered my ‘listening ear’ and ‘critical reading’ senses during this time. Opposed to reading an article, blog, or book in the context of an upcoming conference, webinar, or meeting ‘the nap’ allowed me to return to an objective sponge where I was able to discover, question, and take notes on -even re-read- ‘chosen’ text and digest it freely. It resulted in a more fluid brainstorm in other areas of my life and work (production). It also produced a new level of motivation.
This time of rest has taught me to prioritize health in all capacities, physical, mental, emotional. Life comes with trials and tribulations and sometimes we get lost in the midst of it all. Re-centering health has helped build better boundaries at home and work, which in turn has motivated me to focus on the projects / initiatives that I value most.
What’s next?
From these learnings, we’ve decided to center gentleness, honor the natural rhythms of our bodies, and take as much time to think as we want and deserve as humans. For all that and more, we’re “hitting the snooze” button, and waking up slowly.
This next month, we’re going to start taking some strategic meetings with key stakeholders, and our coalition will be in conversation and community with each other. However, though we remain as committed as ever to this essential work, we are not resuming full operations quite yet.
As we asked of them during our time of rest, we will continue to encourage the over 40 organizations that have joined PMFA to continue their DEI work in small, peer-support groups. We're excited to reconnect with them soon, and learn what progress and conversations have evolved.
We expect to be in touch in the next couple months with more learnings, resources and ideas to share. Until then, we hope you all are honoring yourselves and your time, live your values, and continue on your DEI journey, while understanding that rest is part of the process.
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