Blog written by Maddie Taylor

 

Hello, my fellow CP Young Adults! My name is Maddie Taylor and from August of 2019 to December of 2021, I served as the Education and Communications Intern for the Coalition for Appalachian Ministry! This position was brand new when I was hired back in 2019 and was transformed over the last couple of years. Originally, I focused on monthly newsletters and over the first few months created a new website for CAM. Over time, I transitioned to more of a focus on social media. You can find them @coaltionforappministry on Instagram and Facebook at Coalition for Appalachian Ministry. There I would post weekly on an Appalachian organization I think that people, interested in supporting the Appalachian region, should check out! On Mondays, I posted what I called “educational” information regarding the organization and then follow up on Friday with an “advocacy” post that tells you how to get involved with the organization! Also, on Wednesdays, I did a little #WisdomWednesday where I post a little nugget of wisdom from a famous Appalachian!

The job was truly a blessing. I got to study a region that has become my home over the last two years while being able to support myself financially through college. Most importantly, I was able to meet and get close with so many amazing people like my supervisors Kristi Lounsbury, Pam Phillips-Burke, Melissa Malinoski, and Rachel Starks. Those four women have shown me what it means to be a supportive, motivating, and grace-giving manager. Grace-giving is the keyword here as it is what has kept me afloat through the complexity of holding this job while being a full-time college student who some might say is over-involved.

I was not perfect in this job, and I think daily about how I failed certain tasks and how I could have done better. I don’t just feel this way with my previous work with CAM. This is an almost daily struggle with this overwhelming feeling that I will never live up to the perceived expectations of the people around me. I know that I am not the only one, especially at our age, who feels this way. Maybe it was the introduction of social media at a young age or the economic crisis we saw our parents live through, but dang. Young adults are going to work themselves to death and will still not be happy with the work they produce. And…I don’t have the answers to help fix the work-acholic nature of our generation. One answer we have all seen over and over is to introduce self-care rituals which could include journaling and a foot massage or shopping “till you drop” to cure your anxiety. I think a form of self-care, an individualized form, can work. For me, a set morning routine, occasional therapy, and organizing my room is my form of self-care. But all in all, I wish the world had a different answer for us. Maybe our workplaces need to lower expectations. But even then, my experience with CAM and my supervisors is what dreams were made of. All of the expectations within my role of CAM are ones that I created and pressurized within myself. So maybe the answer can lie in how the world raises us and teaches us that we must expect things for ourselves. “Even if those expectations are crushing to our mind and body…at least we will be successful.”

Maybe we take this lesson as we begin to interact with the future generations, whether that be as we raise children or provide guidance as youth/camp leaders or become aunts and uncles. But as for us, I feel just the acknowledgment that others around me are trudging through the same mud, makes me feel less alone and makes the overwhelmingness feel a bit more tolerable. But I also challenge you to not just notice the trudge but link arms with others who are suffering the same fate to make it through. I’ve always heard that we are “stronger” when we do things together. I don’t necessarily want to be stronger. But maybe by us discussing and feeling through this together, we can link arms and feel noticed and the overwhelming joy that will come from that may help overcome the feeling of overwhelming expectations. Doesn’t hurt to try, right?

For more about CAM visit https://www.appalachianministry.org/

“under pressure” by Robert Couse-Baker is licensed under CC BY 2.0