AbbeyoftheArts.com/Lift-Every-Voice
Christine Valters Paintner is joined by author Claudia Love Mair for a series of video conversations. Every other month they take up a new book by or about a voice of color. The community is invited to purchase and read the books in advance and participate actively in this journey of deepening, discovery, and transformation.
This month they are joined by Dorcas Cheng-Tozun to discuss her book Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul: How to Change the World in Quiet Ways.
A timely, delightfully readable, and much-needed book. —Booklist, starred review
Social justice work, we often assume, is raised voices and raised fists. It requires leading, advocating, fighting, and organizing wherever it takes place–in the streets, slums, villages, inner cities, halls of political power, and more. But what does social justice work look like for those of us who don’t feel comfortable battling in the trenches?
Sensitive souls–including those who consider themselves highly emotional, empathic, or introverted–have much to contribute to bringing about a more just and equitable world. Such individuals are wise, thoughtful, and conscientious; they feel more deeply and see things that others don’t. We need their contributions. Yet, sustaining justice work can be particularly challenging for the sensitive, and it requires a deep level of self-awareness, intentionality, and care.
In Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, writer Dorcas Cheng-Tozun (Enneagram 4, INFJ, nonprofit/social enterprise professional, and multiple-burnout survivor) offers six possible pathways for sensitive types:
– Connectors relational activists whose interactions and conversations build the social capital necessary for change
– Creatives artists and creators whose work inspires, sheds light, makes connections, and brings issues into the public consciousness