What might “radical care” look like on UW’s campus?
From fitbits to scented candles to reminders to “treat yourself!” womxn and nonbinary folks are constantly being reminded to take time for “self-care.” But time can be hard to come by, and as Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry proclaims, “It’s hard thriving in grind culture.” Care is complicated, and more often than not, it requires a whole network of people to pull off. Perhaps, as the community organizer Mariam Kaba suggests, it’s useful to shift our focus from self-care to collective care – to “thinking more about how we can help each other.”
Taking inspiration from Kaba’s words, and in response to UW’s Thrive Week, W3+ invites womxn and nonbinary staff, faculty, graduate students and postdocs to an online, lunchtime chat about radical care on campus. What does – and should – care look like on campus? How have you and colleagues cared for each other in public or below-the-radar ways? We welcome stories, strategies, brainstorms, and half-baked ideas!
Attending W3+ events
W3+ (Waterloo Womxn + Nonbinary Wednesdays) is a community of womxn and nonbinary grad students, post-docs, staff, and faculty that meets on the last Wednesday of the month. W3+ events take place in the W3+ Team on Microsoft Teams[http://bit.ly/w3plusJoin]. You'll find them in the "General" channel there. You can also email w3plus@uwaterloo.ca to request a calendar invite.