Z is for Zeal #AtoZChallenge
My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.
In American society, emotions like zeal and enthusiasm and eagerness tend to have some negative connotations. They are naive or too intense for public display. We use those words to censor others and, worse, to censor ourselves.
I want to make the case, in my final post of the A to Z Challenge that we engage with zeal.
Here is the definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something : fervor
To sustain our activism, we’re going to want to find passion, courage, and zeal for the work.
Here are some ways that help me to cultivate zeal:
- Meetings give me ideas, energy, and community.
- Action begets action. Once a ball is rolling, my play is to simply chase it.
- Inspiration comes from my favorite thing — books! This month I was inspired by Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown and On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder.
- Daily attentiveness normalizes activism for me and gives me daily opportunity to seek delight and zeal.
- Monitoring my feelings and self-care helps me build a deeper foundation for my zeal.
I also love this quote from Gloria Steinem:
People, at my age, do ask me, “who am I passing the torch to?” And I always say, “First of all, I’m keeping my torch, thank you very much, and I’m using it to light other torches, because everybody needs a torch. That is a way better revolutionary image than one person with a torch.” ~Gloria Steinem, 25 April 2019, PBS Newshour
What helps you maintain courage and zeal for the work of building a better world?
Congratualtions on finishing the challenge with zeal!
Thank you for reminding me of Emergent Strategy, I’ve been meaning to read it! And such a lovely Gloria Steinem quote, a perfect reminder for us all.
Congratulations on completing the challenge! It’s been so wonderful to follow along!
What a perfect quote! Your posts have inspired me. Thanks so much for all you do.
Congratulations on finishing this challenging goal. I guess what gives me zeal is all the intelligent, thoughtful people in this world. Thankfully, we seem to outnumber the haters. Now, we have to figure out how to get control back.
I love that quote! Why should a torch be “passed on”? That suggests the passer-on won’t need it anymore.
A great ending to a great series, Joy! Hang on to your torch and keep lighting others.
Congratulations on finishing the A to Z challenge. I’ve enjoyed your blog and learned much from you. Good luck with your advocacy. I’ll be out there too.
Love the Gloria Steinem quote. Good luck with keeping your zeal alive.
Ronel visiting for A-Z Challenge Zeus: The Sleaziest of them All & My Languishing TBR: Z #AtoZChallenge2025 #Books #Bookreview
I think zeal is a wonderful quality to have and I’m glad it’s one of yours! Here in the US (I’m not sure where you are located, Joy) it’s critical to have some now! And isn’t “On Tyranny” the best book? There is so much packed into that tiny volume. I have read it over and over and one year gave it to many on my Christmas list.
Thanks for coming by! I’ll be back for England day!
reading Emergent Strategy: “The dream of the cell is to become 2.The dream of an idea is to become 2. Idea wants to be shared and in the sharing it becomes more complex and interesting. When you are tempted to say no, ask “how” instead.”
Emergent Strategy: “The dream of a cell is to become 2. The dream of an idea is to become 2. Idea wants to be shared and in the sharing, it becomes more complex and interesting. When you are tempted to say no, ask “how” instead.”
Sorry I entered my comment twice. Now I know.
Thank you for this wonderful series of posts, Joy!
I like the idea of torches for everyone!