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Writing a Commitment Statement

Filed Under: Contemplative Practices, Everyday Feminism, Racial Justice By Beth Godbee July 31, 2020 Leave a Comment

This image shows the word “commitment” written in white chalk on a grayish blackboard.
What commitments (deep dedications and priorities) drive everyday living?

This question feels essential for everyday living for justice. Too often, though, it remains unanswered or even unarticulated.

Without knowing what matters to us deeply—so deeply that it mobilizes, energizes, and guides decision-making—it’s too easy to be on autopilot and to feed the status quo, even when it undermines professed beliefs.

To interrupt the autopilot conditioning that preserves oppression and ongoing violence, I believe it’s important to spend time really getting to know commitments and to understand what’s implicitly and explicitly driving actions.

One way to do this (one that I value as a writer and writing teacher) is through writing a commitment statement: a document that can be drafted, revised, and revisited often.

For years, I’ve been drafting and revising my own commitment statement, and I’ve been suggesting others do so, too—to make decisions about where, when, how, with whom, and why to put energy and attention.

This week, I’ve taken the scary step of sharing my statement as a way to answer the question:

What mobilizes, energizes, and guides the work you find here at Heart-Head-Hands: Everyday Living for Justice?

Navigate over to the new commitments page to read the full statement, which shares not only commitments and land acknowledgements, but also application to the work you find here (from blog posts and research writing to courses and coaching). My statement answers a number of questions, including:

  • What’s guiding the work you find here?
  • How am I striving toward accountability?
  • How do I relate to money and resources?

I share my commitment statement as an accountability, acknowledgement, and re-alignment practice, as I commit again to striving toward social, racial, and environmental justice.

I also invite you to write a statement of your own.

As my close friend and confidant Rasha Diab has taught me: these aren’t statements we write; instead, these are statements that write us. So, I hope you’ll take some time for this practice and reach out to share feedback, reflections, and ongoing efforts in the work.

Committed to showing up imperfectly ~ to learning and unlearning,

Beth

—
This post is written by
Beth Godbee, Ph.D. for Heart-Head-Hands.com. If you’re interested in learning more, read the full commitment statement.

Become a subscriber via Patreon to receive ongoing support for your efforts of striving to live for justice (social, racial, and environmental justice). And consider subscribing to the newsletter for additional resources and announcements. Thanks!

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Tagged with: commitments, environmental justice, habits, learning, racial justice, resilience, resources, social justice, teaching, writing

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Embodied knowledge matters. So do commitments. And especially acting on commitments as part of everyday life, BIG and small. This website—a mix of blog posts and research writing, along with courses, writing groups, coaching, and other offerings—shares ongoing efforts toward everyday living (feeling, thinking, and doing) for justice.

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#Repost @thebodyisnotanapology with @make_repost
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✨Happy Birthday, Angela Davis✨Posted @withregram • @culturestrike Happy 77th birthday to Dr. Angela Y. Davis, one of the most consequential revolutionaries and communists of our time. Davis’ legacy as an abolitionist, Black feminist, philosopher, academic and author has been critical in shaping our conversations around racism, class, and, perhaps most notably, the prison system in the United States.

Today we offer you a quote to meditate on when thinking of Davis’ legacy: “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”

Art by @emilys_list 
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[image description: the above quote by Angela Davis is written in black on the left-hand side of the image against a yellow-orange background. On the right-hand side is a digital illustration of Angela Davis. She has brown skin and a dark brown Afro hairstyle and is wearing peach lipstick, bold gold hoops, and a green top. She is pictured mid-speech, her mouth open as she speaks truth to power.]
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#TheBodyIsNotAnApology #TBINAA #RadicalSelfLove #AngelaDavis
Writing groups are just a week away! A common cha Writing groups are just a week away!

A common challenge facing writers is showing up on a regular basis, and a writing group can help with showing up—for yourself and others.

If you’re seeking accountability and support for a current writing project, consider joining this weekly writing group.

There are options to meet Tuesdays or Fridays or both days through February and March. Link in bio. <3

#writing #writers #WritingGroups #WritingCommunity #WritingSupport #WritingAccountability #SupportForWriters #WritersSupportingWriters #writer #WritersOfInstagram #AcademicLife #Academics #Written #HigherEd #WritingInspiration #WritingRetreat #WritingRetreats #OnlineWriting #OnlineWritingRetreats #OnlineWritingGroups 

This image shows writing tools (phone, keyboard, journal, pencil, and pen) along with the event information: “Online Writing Groups. Tues & Fri mornings. 9 weeks: Feb-Mar. 10am EST  9am CST  8am MST  7am PST. Come Write Together: Heart-Head-Hands.com.”
Exactly. Everyday learning. 🧡 Striving with foo Exactly. Everyday learning. 🧡 Striving with food is all about striving through anti-oppression and for justice ... 

#Repost @sanctuary_publishers with @make_repost
・・・
"True, veganism is neither cruelty-free nor perfect; however, to reject nonhuman animal exploitation and thus, human supremacy, is to begin to also chip away at the oppression of marginalized people. "
-Julia Feliz Brueck

in "Food Justice: A Primer" 

Edited by Saryta Rodríguez
#FoodSovereignty #Community #SanctuaryPublishers #Food #Undocumented #MarginalizedPeoples #ConsistantAntiOppression #Justice
I'm grateful that my partner Jonathan and I decide I'm grateful that my partner Jonathan and I decided to leave DC last week. (It was a complicated decision during the pandemic, but we’re grateful for car camping supplies, including a portable toilet and the capacity to plan + pack food for the week.) 

Time near the ocean and in marshlands provided a real respite. Here are a few of my favorite photos -- with deep gratitude again (and always) for the earth.

Photo 3: Here I am teetering (what life feels like these days): holding onto ropes, balancing on tree logs, and crossing a swampy area of marshlands.

#Nature #Hiking #Swamp #LearningFromNature #Respite #Restore #Refuel #Recommit
I'm grateful that my partner Jonathan and I decide I'm grateful that my partner Jonathan and I decided to leave DC last week. (It was a complicated decision during the pandemic, but we’re grateful for car camping supplies, including a portable toilet and the capacity to plan + pack food for the week.) 

Time near the ocean and in marshlands provided a real respite. Here are a few of my favorite photos -- with deep gratitude again (and always) for the earth.

Photo 2: Tree trunks branching in multiple directions -- horizontal and vertical -- in a brown and green forest setting.

#Nature #Hiking #Trees #LearningFromNature #Respite #Restore #Refuel #Recommit
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About Beth Godbee

I'm an educator and former college professor who believes our fully embodied selves matter in the world. We can’t just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, violence, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. We must feel and act, too. [Pronouns: she/her.] Read more ...

This image shows books alongside the words: courses, coaching, consulting. learning + unlearning.

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