Solidarity Teams

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of collective care and solidarity in maintaining a 'zone of fabulousness' amidst challenging work environments. It suggests that self-care is crucial but not sufficient; a support system of colleagues and community members is necessary to stay connected and ethically aligned. The speaker shares personal experiences, highlighting the value of solidarity teams in providing critique, support, and a sense of belonging. The concept of 'Frontline Fight Club' is introduced as a means for frontline workers to find dynamic support, stressing the need for diverse methods to sustain resilience and well-being in demanding roles.

Takeaways

• 🤝 The importance of collective care and solidarity teams for maintaining a 'zone of fabulousness' in challenging work environments.
• 💆‍♀️ Self-care is essential but not sufficient; collective care involves others reaching out to offer critique and support when needed.
• 🔄 The concept of 'zone slippage', where individuals deviate from their optimal performance zone, and the role of solidarity teams in helping to correct this.
• 🤔 The significance of recognizing and honoring the work of others, and understanding the fluidity of roles within a team.
• 🌟 The role of solidarity teams in keeping individuals connected to their collective ethics and motivations for their work.
• 🥊 The introduction of 'Frontline Fight Club', a free service for frontline workers to engage in physical activity as a form of support.
• 💪 The necessity of being dynamic and agile in supporting those doing difficult work, acknowledging that a one-size-fits-all approach is not effective.
• 🔄 The struggle of balancing personal detachment and connection in the workplace, and the awareness needed to stay in the 'zone of fabulousness'.
• 👥 The idea that the best resource for staying fabulous is each other, emphasizing the importance of a supportive network.
• 🌱 The evolution of what constitutes a solidarity team, including the realization that those served by one's work can also be part of this team.
• 🔗 The connection between collective care, solidarity teams, and the ability to resist burnout by staying true to one's values and ethics in work.

Q & A

What is the concept of 'collective care' mentioned in the transcript?

Collective care refers to a supportive environment where individuals look out for one another, offering critique and assistance to help each other maintain a 'zone of fabulousness', especially when someone experiences a slippage from that zone.

What role does self-care play in staying within the 'zone of fabulousness'?

Self-care is important for managing oneself effectively so that the person being served remains at the center of attention. However, it is not sufficient to maintain the 'zone of fabulousness' on its own; collective care is also necessary.

Can you explain the term 'solidarity teams' as used in the script?

Solidarity teams are groups of individuals who support each other, ensuring that everyone involved stays connected to their collective ethics and helps each other stay fabulous. They are the people who shoulder you up in the work and keep you connected to your values.

How does the speaker define 'fabulousness' in the context of the script?

In the script, 'fabulousness' is used metaphorically to describe a state of being where individuals are at their best, serving their clients or community effectively and maintaining a high level of performance and well-being.

What strategies are suggested for frontline workers to stay dynamic and agile in their work?

The speaker mentions 'Frontline Fight Club' as an example of a strategy where frontline workers can come for free and engage in activities like boxing to support their physical and mental agility.

Why is it important for the speaker to make space for the community and peers they work for?

It is important for the speaker to make space for the community and peers because it aligns with the collective ethics and the purpose of their work, which is not about personal prominence but about serving and supporting others.

How does the speaker describe the experience during the fentanyl crisis?

The speaker describes it as one of the worst times, with a particularly challenging night having 17 overdoses. The support of the people around them was crucial to getting through such difficult times.

What does the speaker suggest as a way to resist the language of burnout?

The speaker suggests focusing on collective care and solidarity teams as a way to resist the language of burnout, emphasizing the importance of support and connection with others who share the same ethics and values.

How has the speaker's understanding of their 'solidarity team' evolved over time?

The speaker's understanding has evolved to include not just colleagues and close friends but also the clients they serve, recognizing the importance of their support and the trust built over time.

What is the significance of the speaker's realization about including the community in their solidarity team?

The significance lies in the recognition that the community they serve can also provide support and a sense of belonging, which is crucial during challenging times and helps in maintaining connection and avoiding burnout.

How does the speaker describe the importance of being aware of one's own values and ethics in their work?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in terms of values and ethics, as it helps in recognizing when one is not conducting themselves in line with their own ethics and allows for the seeking of support from the solidarity team.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 Collective Care and Solidarity Teams

The speaker emphasizes the importance of collective care and solidarity teams in maintaining a 'zone of fabulousness' in difficult work environments. They discuss the necessity of self-care to manage oneself effectively while serving others, but also highlight that individual efforts are not enough. The concept of a solidarity team is introduced as a group that supports each other, offering critique and assistance when someone slips from the zone of fabulousness. The speaker shares personal experiences, mentioning the value of having people who understand the gravity of the work they do, such as fighting the death penalty, and how these relationships contribute to staying connected and ethically aligned. The paragraph also touches on the idea of using collective ethics to maintain a sense of fabulousness and the importance of recognizing and utilizing the support of others in the community.

05:00

💪 Support in Challenging Times

This paragraph delves into the speaker's personal experiences during the fentanyl crisis, describing the overwhelming situation where they had to deal with 17 overdoses within a short period. The speaker credits their solidarity team for helping them cope during such challenging times, highlighting the importance of having people around who share the same ethical values and commitment. They discuss the significance of knowing when to lean on others for support and the value of stepping back when necessary, as well as the evolution of their solidarity team over time. The speaker also reflects on the importance of including the community and clients in their support network, as they have learned to serve and be served by those they work with. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the role of love and the collective effort in the face of adversity.

Keywords

💡Fabulousness

Fabulousness in the context of this video refers to a state of excellence or peak performance in one's work or life. It is associated with maintaining a high level of well-being and effectiveness, especially in challenging environments. The script emphasizes the importance of collective care to achieve and sustain this state, as it suggests that individuals cannot remain fabulous on their own.

💡Collective Care

Collective care is a concept that highlights the importance of mutual support and looking out for one another within a group. In the video, it is presented as a strategy to help individuals stay in the 'zone of fabulousness' by offering critique and assistance when someone is struggling, thus ensuring that the group as a whole remains strong and functional.

💡Solidarity Teams

Solidarity teams are groups of individuals who support each other in their work and ethical commitments. The script discusses how these teams are crucial for maintaining connection and resilience, especially in difficult work environments. They are identified as those who understand the gravity of the work and can provide the necessary support to keep each other 'alive' and connected to their collective ethics.

💡Zone Slippage

Zone slippage refers to moments when individuals deviate from their optimal performance or state of being, such as the 'zone of fabulousness.' The term is used in the script to describe instances where someone might be detaching or meshing inappropriately, indicating a need for the support of a solidarity team to bring them back on track.

💡Ethics

Ethics in this video script relate to the moral principles that guide the actions of individuals, particularly in their professional roles. The speaker mentions 'collective ethics' as a shared value system that keeps the group aligned and committed to their work, especially in the face of challenging circumstances.

💡Frontline Workers

Frontline workers are individuals who work directly with the public or in situations that require immediate response and intervention. The script mentions 'Frontline Fight Club,' a support initiative for these workers, emphasizing the need for dynamic and agile support systems to help them manage the demands of their difficult work.

💡Harm-Reduction Center

A harm-reduction center is a facility that provides services aimed at reducing the negative consequences of harmful behaviors, such as drug use. In the script, the speaker works at such a center and discusses the importance of community-focused approaches and making space for the community's needs rather than personal ideas.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. The video script discusses the language of burnout and how it is often used by people seeking support when they feel overwhelmed by their work. The speaker advocates for alternative ways of understanding and addressing this feeling, such as through the support of a solidarity team.

💡Detachment

Detachment in the context of the video refers to the act of disconnecting or separating oneself from a situation or emotion, which can be either appropriate or inappropriate depending on the context. The speaker mentions moments of inappropriate detachment as an example of zone slippage, indicating a deviation from the desired state of engagement and connection.

💡Community

Community is a central theme in the video, representing the group of people that the speaker and their colleagues serve. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding and responding to the community's needs, and how the speaker's solidarity team includes not only colleagues but also members of the community they serve.

Highlights

The importance of collective care and solidarity teams for maintaining a zone of fabulousness.

Self-care is essential but not sufficient for staying fabulous; collective care is necessary.

Collective care involves reaching out to offer critique and help when someone experiences zone slippage.

Solidarity teams are composed of people who support and keep you connected to your collective ethics.

Identifying who shoulders you up in work and accessing them across time is crucial for solidarity.

The role of solidarity teams in fighting against death row and staying alive in dark and hard work.

Frontline Fight Club as an example of dynamic support for frontline workers.

The necessity of being agile in supporting people doing difficult work and the importance of community.

The struggle of making space for the community and peers rather than focusing on oneself.

The concept of enmeshment and disconnection as challenges to staying connected and fabulous.

Resisting the language of burnout and focusing on collective ethics and solidarity.

The personal experience of relying on support during the fentanyl crisis and the importance of ethics.

Recognizing when to step back and seek support from your solidarity team.

The evolution of what constitutes a solidarity team over time and including clients in that team.

The realization that the community you serve can be part of your solidarity team and contribute to your resilience.

The idea that collective care and solidarity are essential for staying connected to the work and the people that brought you here.

Transcripts

[Music]

in terms of staying with the zone of

fabulousness and the fact that we need

each other to do that there's a couple

of strategies that are helpful

the first one is collective care and

solidarity teams self care is important

self care so that you can actually

manage yourself in a way that the client

or the person that you're trying to

serve gets to be at the center but

that's not going to keep you fabulous

that's not going to keep you in a zone

of fabulousness what we need to have is

collective care and that collective care

means that when there's zone slippage

someone else is going to reach out and

actually offer you a critique and help

bring you back that's part of collective

care but it's also doing things like

honoring the work of other people

permission and other people to be fluid

and to be to stay with different ways of

being fabulous solidarity teams meaning

solidarity teams come from figuring out

who it is that's really shouldering you

up in the work who are the people that

really keep you alive and connected to

your collective ethics right and how do

you access those people across time who

are they they may be the people you work

with they may not be some of the people

that helped me the most stay alive in

this epidemic and these poisoning deaths

are people who worked fighting death row

with me people who fought the death

penalty with me who really understand

life and death and staying alive in a

work that is this dark and hard so and

what are the ideas and the practices and

the people in terms of your relationship

with culture and spirituality belonging

the things that keep you connected the

keep the things that keep you well

practices and people and music and

experiences that solidarity team is the

thing that you know can keep solidarity

is the thing that drew us to this work

and to each other because we are

actually week old and ethic for justice

doing collectively and it's the

Solidarity that's going to keep us in

line with that across time you cannot

you cannot stay fabulous on your own

front line Fight Club is a session that

happens twice a week where frontline

workers can come for free and box I

think things like frontline Fight Club

are important for frontline workers

because we need to be really dynamic and

agile about how we support people who

are doing difficult work not not once

is going to be good for everyone and for

me I really like sweating while the the

zone of fabulousness might be where we

endeavour to be at the same time like

there's there's always going to be

moments in a day where I'm you know

detaching when I shouldn't detach or

when I'm meshing and I shouldn't mesh

but but at the same time being aware of

it like say for instance you know even

today I I work at a pier run

harm-reduction center that's open 24

hours a day so we're always trying to

figure out you know as a team how to

make sure that it provides the community

what it needs and and for me like my

struggle is continually that it's not

about me or my ideas it's actually about

the community and the peers that I I

work for so making sure that it's not me

who's like making my voice big but like

making space for them even though yeah

that that's that's a struggle but at the

same time like that's that's where I use

those tools a lot in terms of staying in

the zone of fabulousness the best

resource we have is each other right we

need each other to stay with

fabulousness

so that solidarity team is a team of

folks who are the people that shoulder

you up in the work who are the people

that keep you connected to your

collective ethics our collective ethics

right who are the folks when you get

with zone slippage and you start to move

out who are the people that are going to

offer a critique and bring you back

right and the people on your solidarity

team may not be the people that you work

with it may be people who you've known

through activism or who you've known

through music or experiences in your

life that helped you stay connected and

belonged and in a really good place so

that solidarity team is a group of folks

that you need across the span of your

life to stay with collective ethics and

to stand as our fabulousness how's that

frame how does the frame of the zone of

fabulousness you know looking at

enmeshment and disconnection as people

get drawn in those kind of directions

outside of connection how's that frame

useful for you in terms of solidarity or

collective care well it makes I think of

some of the things that you talk about

around resisting the language of burnout

because that's often the language that

people come in with they're coming

they're seeking me out or they're

seeking out conversation support because

they are burned out

or somebody has told them that they are

burned out people don't know what to do

with I'm burnt out but they know what to

do with ya I'm not at the spot I want to

be with this work that I care so deeply

about I feel very very lucky because in

this work I've been for the most part

and I've worked in a number of different

locations in the Downtown Eastside and

on the fringes of the Downtown Eastside

but I've been surrounded by really

people who I've felt very supported by

and so going through some really hard

times where at the beginning of the

fentanyl crisis when one of our like one

of the worst two nights that I've been

through was where we had um 17 overdoses

and not back-to-back shifts and I could

not have done it without the people that

I had around me and I leaned on I leaned

on most people I think that knowing like

just knowing that I'm talking to people

who have the same ethics are guided by

the same you know kind of love and

strength and conviction means that when

I'm not feeling good when I'm feeling

wobbly you know and I can't I can't hold

myself up I know who to go to and

they've got me and yeah knowing myself

knowing where I sit knowing my own

values and ethics knowing when I'm not

able to conduct myself in line with my

own ethics and being able to be just to

tell people around me like like I'm not

well right now I can't I don't trust

myself right now

yeah and step back and say can you can

you step up like that means a lot to me

and that that's so different than that

solidarity is so different than just

support you know cuz the poor can tell

you to phone the AP and go to grief

counseling or something right but this

is something like we're all in this

still this isn't over

and this isn't ending and we want you to

be able to be abuse across time and you

might need to step back right now and

howl at the moon

and no one's gonna judge you as a bad

professional for that right we are gonna

like hold you through that right mm-hmm

yeah but what's changed for me over the

years is what solidarity team looks like

snow I know at the beginning of the

opiate epidemic as a manager had about

50 staff and about about 300 tenants as

well as you know just kind of like the

community yeah and so it wasn't a person

that was burning you it was something

that was happening which is the opiate

epidemic so you know I'm like my my days

or 18-hour days seven days a week cuz I

couldn't not be there you know I wanted

to make sure everyone was supported

whether it be the tenants whether it be

the staff I'm not taking a lot of time

for myself and what what I realized what

I was missing for my solidarity team was

actually the folks that we serve so I

took some time when I was feeling burnt

out by everything mm-hmm Oh some time to

actually just hang out with folks not in

a crisis way and not in solving way but

like mixing dinners you know what yeah

coffee and that's when I realized that

was one of my big learning things over

the last couple years is my solidarity

team were colleagues and close friends

that I trusted but I hadn't thought

about adding to my solidarity team some

of the clients that have known for just

as long I'm in ways of trusting and it's

actually how I changed my response to an

opioid epidemic was what is it like what

does the community need what do they

need and that's been that I could need

this we need not can kits on each floor

we you know we need we need staff

supporting us we need supervised

injection like all the stuff that we

know we needed I was something just

about taking a moment to be with

community helped me move away from being

burnt out by the opioid epidemic and has

kept me and it is yeah that connection

and the idea that the folks that you

serve can be on your solidarity team is

pretty it's pretty out there

and and of course it's true right

because I think the whole point of

collective care and solidarity team is

what is that the harder you work what

drew you to this work is that is what's

going to keep you here and you're there

for people so then when things get

really hard we get further and further

away from the people that brought us

here which of what you're saying is love

right yeah

you