Extinction Rebellion - Time Out

This weekend I am exhausted. I have stayed at home and let others continue in London and I know everyone will be fine with that and will actively encourage me to stay away until or unless I want to return. 

I have never been in a movement like XR before, where every contribution is valued, where all the decision-making is consensual, where we organise in small groups who support each other and look out for each other, where we are encouraged to take time out to regain our energy whenever we want to, where there is no guilt-tripping about who has contributed what.

XR places a very high value on looking after ourselves and each other. Despite so much of the XR infrastructure in London having been seized, there are still people preparing tea, coffee and hot, tasty, nutritious meals for all who want them. 

Most of my life I have been driven by a sense of duty and it is a revelation (even though it is completely obvious) that support and respect for each other is so much more energising and motivating.

Meanwhile police officers are doing 12-hour shifts, switching nights and days with no regard for their need for sleep. They are not supposed to eat on duty but if they are lucky someone occasionally brings round a plastic bag containing processed sandwiches, chocolate bars and junk snacks. Apart from the fact that they are paid, they are being treated much worse than we are. It's not surprising that I'm starting to hear accounts of some individuals being snappy, fractious and aggressive and breaking their own rules. I feel for them.

I wonder how many would join XR if they could.