Beyond the Fight: Honoring Your Role in the Revolution

What if creating real change isn’t about choosing a side, but about understanding your role?

By Rosie Mencia

The Call to Action Looks Different for Everyone

In every major shift—personal or collective—there’s a call to action. But action doesn’t look the same for everyone.

Some are called to the front lines, raising their voices and challenging the system. Others are drawn to the deeper, quieter work—healing, teaching, or holding space for transformation.

For years, the idea of spiritual bypassing has sparked conversations about the role of inner work in real-world change. At its core, spiritual bypassing is about using spirituality as an escape—avoiding pain, ignoring discomfort, and staying in a bubble of “love and light” instead of engaging with reality. And yes, that can be a problem.

But what happens when the fear of being seen as passive causes us to doubt the very work that strengthens the foundation of change?

True transformation requires both action and awareness. Without inner work, we risk repeating the same cycles under a different name. Without action, awareness stays isolated and unexpressed.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

The Vision That Wouldn’t Let Me Go

I woke up with a vision that shook me. It wasn’t just a passing thought—it felt like a knowing. A deep, undeniable truth that settled into my bones.

I’ve had this vision twice—once in 2020 and again last year. For a long time, I kept it to myself, sharing it only with a handful of people. I wasn’t sure how to put it into words, and honestly, I was afraid. Afraid of being misunderstood, dismissed. And yes, even afraid of being labeled crazy.

But the more I sat with it, the more I realized:

This isn’t about me.

It’s about all of US.

It’s about how we move forward—"Together".

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The Moment That Made Me Question Everything

Last year, during a time of turmoil, I felt called to contribute in the way I knew how. I reached out to a friend who was deeply involved in what I saw as direct action. We had collaborated before, and I thought we could again.

I suggested we bring people together for a large-scale meditation and awareness event—something that would shift the energy and consciousness around the situation.

I thought she’d be open to the idea since we shared the same viewpoint. Instead, she shut it down immediately.

She told me that people like me were the problem. That she felt I was just sitting back while she and others were doing the real hard work. That my approach was an example of spiritual bypassing—an excuse to avoid responsibility.

I remember staring at the message, my stomach sinking, my eyes watering. I even had to look up spiritual bypassing just to understand the full weight of the accusation. And even after I understood it, something about her argument didn’t feel right.

I did what anyone in my position would do—I spent the next 24 hours analyzing the message, breaking down every word, asking myself the hard questions.

Was I really doing nothing? Or was my work something that wasn’t easily seen?

And more importantly—why did it have to be either? Why couldn’t it be both?

Instead of fully expressing myself, I stayed quiet. Instead of seeking clarity, I let the conversation fade.

But the question never left me.

Different Approaches to the Same Goal

There’s a belief that runs deep in social justice spaces: that change only happens through external action—protesting, organizing, speaking out, dismantling structures.

Meanwhile, in spiritual spaces, there’s a belief that real change happens within—through personal healing, energy work, meditation, and shifting consciousness.

The truth? We need both.

We need the people marching in the streets just as much as we need the people doing the unseen energetic work that holds the foundation steady.

We need the disruptors who challenge the system, and we need the healers who help people process and rebuild.

We need those who speak loudly and those who listen deeply.

The idea that one path is “right” and the other is “wrong” is one of the biggest barriers to real change. It keeps us divided when we should be working together.

Why Action Without Awakening Fails

History is full of revolutions that toppled one system only to replace it with another version of the same thing—just wrapped in a new package labeled change.

Because when people are still operating from the same conditioned beliefs, the "us vs. them" mindset only allows the cycle to repeat.

• We rage against oppression, but do we stop to recognize the ways we still seek to control others?

  
  

• We fight for freedom, but are we truly free from our own fears and limitations?

  
  

• We demand change, but are we willing to change ourselves?

  
  

Without inner work, we are just shifting power from one hand to another, like passing the baton in a relay race. And without action, awareness alone doesn’t create impact. It stays isolated.

So, we need both.

The Vision & The Message I Received

After that conversation with my friend, I took a step back. I wanted to understand why this moment had affected me so deeply.

Then, one day, I was sitting in stillness when I received a message:

"Stay out of it. This is meant to play out."

I didn’t fully understand why I was being told this, but I knew I had to trust it.

Then came another message:

"Not every battle is meant to be fought head-on. Not every movement needs more fuel added to its fire. Sometimes, the most impactful thing we can do is hold space for something different to emerge."

At first, I struggled with this. Was I just making excuses? Should I be “doing more”?

But what was more? And who gets to decide what enough looks like?

The truth is, my calling has always been to guide. My work has never been just about me—it’s been about the collective.

Once I recognized that, I became more aware that we all have different roles in this shift. And no role is more important than another.

Coming Together Instead of Tearing Each Other Apart

Imagine a world where we honored all paths to change instead of arguing about which one is more valid.

A world where:

• Activists and healers worked side by side, processing change and guiding awareness toward our shared responsibility.

  
  

• The spiritual and the practical weren’t seen as opposites but as complementary forces.

  
  

• We recognized that every person contributes to transformation in their own unique way.

Because the truth is, we all want the same thing.

We want healing. We want freedom. We want a better world.

And the more time we waste fighting each other, the longer it will take to get there.

The Most Radical Thing We Can Do

The most radical thing we can do isn’t just inner work.

It’s coming together.

Recognizing that every path of change is necessary. Just because my role looks different from yours doesn’t mean I don’t support the cause. By doing the deepest work I know how to do, I am making a difference.

And so are you.

Here is how it turned out:

I’m not just sitting back doing nothing while you do all the work. I’m helping more activists, teachers, guides, and space holders find themselves so that the collective can rise together—united and unstoppable. By doing the deepest work I know how to do, I am making a difference, I am screaming for change, just like you!

I wish I could say that my realization happened quickly, that I immediately found peace with my path. But the truth is, I lost that friendship—not because of our different approaches, but because of my own fears. I didn’t confront the conversation.

I knew I didn’t have to but I let the discomfort sit inside me anyways, questioning myself for almost a year. Was I really avoiding responsibility? Was I doing enough? Was my way of contributing just an illusion? The weight of that doubt nearly silenced me. But in the silence, I eventually found clarity.

I wasn’t wrong for trusting my role—just as she wasn’t wrong for trusting hers. What I was wrong about was letting fear stop me from speaking my truth. Instead of full expression I didn't see the truth is what she was saying and instead of asking for clarification, I didn't give it anymore of my time so I thought.

Losing that friendship was painful, but it taught me something invaluable: avoiding the conversation doesn’t make the questions go away—it just leaves them unanswered. And sometimes, the most radical thing we can do isn’t just inner work or outer action—it’s standing in our truth, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Let’s Continue the Conversation

Does this challenge how you see activism and change? Have you ever struggled with feeling like your way of contributing isn’t “enough”?

Let’s talk about it. Connect with me at Rosebud and Sprout or email rosebudandsprout@gmail.com.

And if this resonates, check out my upcoming podcast episode where we go even deeper into this conversation.

As always, I see you. I value you. I honor you. I love you.