Taking a Break from Saving the World: A Conservation Activist's Journey from Burnout to Balance

by Stephen Legault

Overview

"The climate crisis is an overwhelming phenomenon and eco-activist Stephen Legault knows all about that. He’s been a burnout casualty a number of times and seeks solutions for the malaise, knowing people can’t be effective politically unless they take care of themselves. He has recommendations on everything from diet to organizational restricting – leaves of absence, anyone? Think about it." - NOW Magazine Toronto

Professional conservation and political activist Stephen Legault examines the consequences of overwork in the “save the world” movement.

A veteran of burnout himself, Legault looks at the culture of self-sacrifice that permeates the work done by volunteers and paid staff in the environmental conservation movement, and dissects how to manage our own time, energy, and commitment to our causes. Following a river-running metaphor, and proposing a variety of techniques to help with various states of anxiety resulting from burnout, including clarity of purpose, recognition of limits, fitness and diet, mediation and yoga, as well as organizational structural changes such as leave-of-absence policies, Legault encourages readers to find time to “eddy out”—to rest a moment in quieter waters and scout downriver—to ensure our lifetime of engagement is fulfilling, effective, and self-sustaining.

Just as with teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, paramedics, steelworkers, students, and airline pilots, burnout is a growing concern in many social-change circles. Taking a Break from Saving the World takes a look at the impacts of eco-anxiety, over-work, and the associated stress surrounding the present and future state of the environment and offers practical and insightful suggestions on how to deal with it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771603645
Publisher:	Rocky Mountain Books
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	369 KB

About the Author

Stephen Legault is a full-time conservation activist, writer, photographer, and organizational development consultant. He is the author of Running Toward Stillness, a meditation on Buddhist spiritual practice, running, and parenthood, as well as several photography books, including Earth and Sky: Photographs and Stories from Montana and Alberta and Where Rivers Meet: Photographs and Stories from the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country. He lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife, Jenn, and two children, Rio and Silas.

Table of Contents

Author's Caution 9

Preface 11

Notes on Technique 25

Chapter 1 Paddling Heavy Water 27

Chapter 2 The High Brace 37

Chapter 3 When to Eddy Out 53

Chapter 4 How to Cut the Eddy Fence 65

Chapter 5 Forward Ferry 83

Chapter 6 Thrown Overboard 91

Chapter 7 Reading the River 97

Chapter 8 Bow-in and Pointing Downstream 111

Chapter 9 Rescue Mid-River 133

Chapter 10 Eddy Back In 151

Gratitude 157

Notes 159

Bookshelf 167

About the Author 168