When Pleasure is Protest: 5 Ways Pleasure Changes Activism
There was a time I was in every club, every meeting, every movement. I had a hand in food recovery, women’s alliance, conscious living, outdoor equity, education reform—you name it, I showed up for it. My schedule was so packed it practically needed its own protest sign. And somehow, at 21, I could still hold two jobs, keep my grades up, and shout at rallies with a full-throated fire.
It was electrifying. To care, to connect, to change the world. It made me feel alive.
Until one semester, I hit a wall I couldn’t bounce back from. Burnout doesn’t knock. It body-slams. I was stretched too thin to even remember why I started, and something had to go. I stopped going to meetings. I stepped back from organizing. And just like that, I lost the piece of myself that believed I could help fix things. It wasn't that I didn’t care anymore. I just couldn't keep self-sacrificing in the name of activism.
I tried to return to it after college, but the thought of keeping up with the current legislation, community meetings, and protests felt exhausting before I even left the couch. All I would think of was the burnout and overwhelm that activism led me to.
For a long time, I did nothing. I spiraled. I disconnected.
Guilt whispered in my ear- You’re a bad person for not standing up for what you believe in. You could be doing so much more. You must not really care about these causes- you’re such a fake.
It wasn’t until I found myself kayaking across a still, mirror-like bay that something in me finally clicked. At the time, I was working as a wilderness guide—spending my days off exploring new waterways, feeling deeply connected to the land, flooded with a quiet kind of joy. But just as quickly as the peace came, so did the guilt. A local campaign was underway to protect a nearby island and turn it into a bird sanctuary, and I hadn’t lifted a finger to help. I felt like a fraud—someone who claimed to care, but wasn’t showing up in the “right” ways. And then, like the wind shifting on the water, it hit me: My joy is resistance. My pleasure is a protest.
We live in a culture that demands our constant productivity, our emotional labor, our pain. To choose peace, to choose enjoyment in a system that profits off our depletion is revolutionary.
So I stopped shaming myself for not showing up in the “right” way. And I started asking: What if pleasure is part of the movement? I’ve spent the last 5 years showing up in activism (and my life) in a way that feels pleasurable to me.
Here's What I've Learned:
Pleasure Prevents Burnout: Sustainable activism is rooted in the sustainability of the self. Joy, play, intimacy, and rest nourish our nervous systems. They help us stay in the work, rather than flaming out from martyrdom. When we give ourselves permission to enjoy life, we create longevity in the fight.
Pleasure Builds Community: Ever been to a protest where people are dancing in the streets? That’s not a distraction. It’s community care in action. Pleasure is magnetic. It creates spaces of belonging, trust, and celebration. Movements that include ritual, food, laughter, and tenderness are the ones that last because they are resourced from within, they do not rely on external actions or assets.
Pleasure Heals Trauma: So many of us come to activism through our own wounds, but we can’t heal the world if we abandon our own healing. Pleasure reclaims our bodies, calms our nervous systems, and restores safety. It reminds us what we are fighting for, not just what we are fighting against. And when we are healed we are able to better navigate the triggering and activating work of advocacy.
Pleasure Reimagines the Future: The revolution doesn’t live in spreadsheets or on cardboard signs (though we love both). It lives in dreams. When we center pleasure, we invite imagination onto the frontlines. We move from surviving to envisioning something radically different. Sensuality, our ability to sense the unseen, gives us the language to feel what liberation might be like. It is from there that we can begin to build it.
Pleasure Is a Form of Liberation: Every oppressive system thrives on control, especially the control of our joy. Capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy: they all demand we earn our rest, mute our desires, and disconnect from our bodies. But what happens when we feel good anyway? We reclaim our bodies, our minds, and our freedom. It is a quiet riot, an internal flame that cannot be put out.
Pleasure in activism is not disassociation, avoidance, or spiritual bypassing. It is not turning a blind eye to injustice or standing idly by while harm unfolds. It does not mean detaching from the struggle under the guise of "self-care" or pretending that love and light alone will dismantle systems of oppression. Rather, pleasure in activism is the deep knowing of when and how you can show up fully and effectively for the causes you believe in. It is honoring your limits without abandoning your values. It’s taking intentional rest so your vision can remain clear, your spirit intact. Pleasure in activism means refusing to let the weight of the world extinguish your fire—and when it does, having the courage and tools to reignite it.
If you’re feeling too tired to keep up with the fight, reach out for a free 20 minute consultation to find the herbs that can best nourish you so that you can tap back into your pleasure and get back to changing the world.
