The problem with passion
Anne Helen Peterson recently gave a talk to academic librarians titled “The Librarians Are Not Okay.” In it, she makes the case that passion work (of all kinds) presents a particular threat of burnout and exploitation.
It’s a burnout trap. But it’s also a means of trapping us within our organizations: we become so yoked to our work identities…and so deeply immersed in the work, that it becomes impossible to even conceive of doing anything other than what you’re doing. (Peterson, “The Librarians Are Not Okay”)
For another take on this, I recommend Daniel Sherrell’s Warmth, a climate memoir that explores the emotional labor of organizing. Like Peterson, he depicts a kind of stuck-ness in the quicksand of professional passion.
My first reaction to news of a new disaster was not worry but exhaustion…This reaction was usually accompanied by a commensurate guilt: that I was losing sight of the lives that were at stake, that I was letting my fatigue get in the way of my empathy and my efficacy. That I wasn’t working hard enough, basically. This would prompt predictable thoughts of all the millions of people who on a daily basis had it harder than I ever would…With this thought I could always muster a second wind, and a fifth…In this way, I was able to transmute sadness into work and back again—a loop that’s kept me going for years, one I’m not entirely sure how to escape. (Sherrell, Warmth, 106-107)
Sound familiar? (🙋🏼♀️)
Sherrell doesn’t resolve the tension, although he does reach a tender place where he finds joy in community and hope in the struggle itself:
The story I want you to have, the one I want you to be able to turn to, is not the easy one. It is not: we had the answer, and here it is. It is more like: we didn’t, either, and kept trying. (Sherrell, Warmth, 119)
In the creative space, look to coaches and teachers like Megan Auman, Jeff Goins, Amie McNee, and Beth Pickens—all of whom eschew the starving artist narrative. Creatives are often self-employed, and, as Auman explains, self-exploitation is a danger. We resist by refusing to wait for gatekeepers and questioning the “sell out” trope. It is possible to pursue a craft and earn a sustainable living, but we must challenge the standard terms of status and success. It isn’t easy, they all seem to say, but what work is?
For the librarians (and for passion workers of all stripes), Peterson suggests change across a spectrum of activity…from individual, to team, to organization, to industry. Specifically, she challenges industries to “rethink credentialing,” organizations to “start with honesty,” teams to establish guardrails and build solidarity, and individuals to “cultivate community.” Taken together, these changes could make passion work (worthy activity!) more sustainable and humane.
Sketchnote by me, from Anne Helen Peterson’s “The Librarians Are Not Okay.”
If you are working on this for an organization, industry, or issue, consider taking these prompts to your next leadership meeting. Indies, take them to your next coaching session or cohort gathering:
How might we reduce exploitation and support sustaining work across the ecosystem of our fields?
What power, privilege, and influence do we bring to these conversations?
What anti-burnout strategies should we pursue, beyond self care and personal wellness?
What communities and coalitions walk with us on this path?
What is the very next step?
As you go, remember this pearl from Valerie Kaur:
The way we make change is just as important as the change we make. (Kaur, See No Stranger)
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