Capitalism affects us on a nervous system level.

It ties our safety + survival to work + production.

It teaches us to always be doing + making + producing (because that’s the pathway to security, worthiness, and belonging inside the logic of the system).

And for most of us, this work requires more than physical effort + stamina.

It also requires emotional + mental presence, creativity, and focus.

Which means there’s often a pull + a pressure to stay in a space of mental stimulation + emotional activation -- because this emotional + creative energy is what fuels our work.

Which also means that an activated nervous system often feels productive.

And that a calm nervous system often feels unproductive (+ therefore unsettling, uncomfortable, and/or unsafe).

I think this is especially true for those of us who make money with our art, our emotional labor, and our creative ideas.

This is a lesson I’m learning for myself.

That divesting from capitalism isn’t just about resting, taking space from work, and building belief that I’m worthy no matter what I produce.

It’s also about resetting + rewiring my nervous system,

finding safety outside of states of activity or activation,

seeing value not just in terms of the energy I give + internal resources I spend,

And remembering that my energy + creativity + emotionality are not commodities to be mechanized or assets I can force into linear projections of growth.

Divesting from capitalism is so much a practice of feeling + finding okayness when our nervous systems aren't activated.

When our inner space isn’t buzzing with creativity, deep emotional processing, or problem-solving.

When we're not feeling stimulated, full of energy, or on the edge of mania.

It’s about remembering that there are parts of us that are sacred + just for us.

What might it look like to practice believing + living into that?