It’s been a while since my last update. Today I am writing from Nozawa Onsen in Japan, after a beautiful day of snowboarding and a hot, happy onsen. I am feeling very lucky today, to be enjoying rest and recuperation.
It’s International Women’s Day! So in this blog I’m going to try to highlight a little more about my advocacy, experience as a woman and why rest and adventure are essential parts of me. As you know, I am taking a year to explore and take on the 3,000km+ journey from source to sea on the Yukon. Although I am still volunteering virtually, and doing my best to raise funds and awareness of Endo along the way, it can still feel like it’s not quite enough. Because the world’s problems are large, and the challenges facing women and gender binary folk globally are growing. But adventure and rest are key to my advocacy.
Often we come to advocacy because something we love in our life is threatened. For me that was the environment I love. One day I decided to fight for a patch of nature I loved, and soon I discovered a passion and a skill. But like to many people, I also discovered the intersectionality of justice issues.
What is intersectionality? It is the interconnectedness of social, cultural and environmental issues. Requiring a movement that advocates for the protection of both people and the planet, recognising the interconnectedness of injustices imposed upon marginalised communities and the earth. How can I say that more simply? When the environment is damaged, people suffer too—especially those who already suffer. Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of nature often hurt the most vulnerable communities the most. At the same time, social problems like poverty, racism, and inequality are connected to and can exacerbate environmental harm. The same systems that take advantage of people also take advantage of the planet.
As a woman, and someone with a chronic health issue, I find myself living in an intersectionality. It’s that experience that can help me understand broader and more complex intersectionality. It’s why I passionately pursue solutions to environmental problems that centre people and culture. There are solutions to environmental problems that alleviate oppression. There are solutions to alleviate oppression that help the environment. You can read a little more about the importance of women in environmental and climate protection here: https://iucn.org/story/202303/empowering-unheard-why-womens-voices-are-crucial-environmental-policy-and-action. I hope that as we evolve our thinking these articles will extend to gender diverse people as well.
So how does that bring me to rest? Well basically it can be exhausting constantly pursuing justice. However, when you couple that with a chronic disease that is made worse by stress and fatigue, then it can be a show stopper. I was lucky to have a CEO position that was 4 days a week. Working more than that is simply not possible for me, as my chronic pain elevates significantly. My workplace also made it possible for me, working around my flare ups, medical appointments and more. That support was essential to my longevity in the role.
Now, maybe to a 3,000km+ canoe journey doesn’t seem like rest, but for me it’s where my soul and mind find balance. Long distance journeys have a simplicity to them. Get from A to B. You don’t have to convince anyone else to follow, meet deadlines, listen to the news or schedule out your life. You just exist in nature. When the conditions are tough, if it’s cold and windy and rainy, it reminds me of the power of nature, the respect and awe I feel for the world we live in. I can also rest when I need to. I choose journeys that allow for me to have rest days if I have an Endo flare up. However, I find the flare ups are less common when I am in the environment that I personally find the least stressful!
Thank you for tolerating a slightly meandering and very shallow dive into some of my passions and motivations. I am so inspired by the many incredible women and non-binary folk that I have in my life. I thank all of you for your inspiration!
in 5 days I will be arriving in Canada and then the food prep begins! I can’t wait to share my next update from there! Happy International Women’s Day!
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