Rising Rooted

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We hear a lot about healing the inner child—that small, tender part of us that needed protection, safety, and unconditional love. But what about the inner teenager?

The part of us that raged at authority. The part that questioned everything. The part that saw injustice and wanted to do something about it.

Inner child work often focuses on softness, nurture, and reparenting. But the inner teen? They’re the part of us that doesn’t want to be coddled. They want a cause, a purpose, a reason to fight.

And right now, in this political moment—democracy eroding, billionaires hoarding wealth, fascism creeping into our own backyard—our inner teenager might have something to say.

If yours is screaming, you’re not alone.

The Inner Teen’s Response to What’s Happening

Canada is feeling the weight of a political crisis that isn’t even ours.

Trump has returned, and with him comes the destabilization of U.S. democracy—which directly impacts us. Financial insecurity is rising. Nationalist rhetoric is spreading. Canadians are watching some of our own people side with Trumpism, while we also feel solidarity with those in the U.S. who are fighting tooth and nail against it.

It’s frustrating. It’s exhausting. It’s a reminder that powerful people often don’t care about us.

And yet—this is exactly the kind of thing our inner teenager saw coming.

If you were an angsty teen, this moment probably feels familiar.

• The rage at injustice.
• The distrust of authority figures who serve only themselves.
• The frustration of watching people get manipulated and gaslit.

That inner fire? The one that told us things weren’t fair, that the system was rigged, that billionaires and corrupt politicians would always screw us over?

We weren’t wrong. We just didn’t know what to do with it.

But now? We do.

From Teenage Rebellion to Grown-Up Resistance

Teenage rebellion is often impulsive, self-destructive, chaotic. It’s flipping off authority without a plan.

Resistance? That’s different.

Resistance is strategic. It withholds compliance. It disrupts the system with intention.

We don’t need to burn everything down. But we do need to stop feeding the machine.

Here’s how to channel your inner teen’s righteous rage into real-world resistance.

1. Boycott the Billionaires

Billionaires and corporate monopolies thrive on our participation. They bank on us scrolling, shopping, engaging, fueling their power. If our inner teenager hates being controlled, then the best thing we can do is pull the plug on the things that make them money.

• Delete Twitter/X. Musk profits from every angry tweet—even the ones that call him an idiot. Stop giving him free engagement.
• Cancel Amazon Prime. We don’t need to hand Jeff Bezos more money for next-day shipping when we could support a local business instead.
• Stop feeding Meta’s ad machine. Facebook and Instagram survive on your engagement. Block the ads, stop clicking political content that fuels their algorithm, use it to connect—not consume.
• Move your money. Major banks invest in fossil fuels, fund right-wing politicians, and exploit the working class. Switch to a credit union.
• Resist the urge to make billionaires your heroes. Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg aren’t geniuses. They’re exploiters.

Is it inconvenient? A little.

Is it satisfying to imagine billionaires losing even a fraction of their power? Absolutely.

2. Buy Canadian, Invest in Local

The best way to stop relying on corrupt U.S. billionaires is to build up our own economy.

• Support local businesses instead of corporate giants.
• Push for policies that invest in Canadian industries instead of foreign monopolies.
• Look for Canadian alternatives to American products and services.
• Bank with Canadian credit unions instead of massive banks funding exploitation.

The more we build independence, the less power the U.S. has over us.

3. Speak Up & Shift the Narrative

Your inner teenager never backed down from an argument—and that energy still has a place. But resistance isn’t just about fighting louder. It’s about knowing where your voice is needed most.

Disrupt misinformation when you have the energy. Push back against harmful narratives but also recognize that not every battle has to be fought in the global arena.

Sometimes, the most powerful work happens in smaller, quieter spaces. In your community. In the way you show up for the people around you. In choosing to build something better, rather than only reacting to what’s broken.

Speaking up matters—but so does knowing when to step back, rest, and protect your capacity. Burnout doesn’t serve the movement. Sustained, intentional action does.

4. Set Boundaries with Harmful Ideologies

Not every conversation is worth having. Not every relationship can be saved.

If someone in your life is actively perpetuating harm—whether through racism, sexism, transphobia, or authoritarian rhetoric—it’s okay to draw a line.

You don’t owe them a debate.

You don’t have to absorb their beliefs in the name of “keeping the peace.”

You don’t have to stay in spaces that make you shrink.

Boundaries aren’t about cutting people off at the first sign of disagreement. They’re about knowing when a conversation is productive—and when it’s just draining.

Your inner teen had a gut instinct for what felt fundamentally wrong. Trust that—but also bring in the wisdom you’ve gained since then. Some battles are worth fighting. Others? Walking away is the resistance.

5. Guerrilla Activism: Small Disruptions with Big Impact

Non-violent guerrilla activism is not about violence. It’s about creative, disruptive resistance.

• Guerrilla Art: Posters, murals, and stickers that counteract propaganda.
• Satire & Mockery: Fascists thrive on fear. The moment we turn them into jokes, they lose power.
• Culture Jamming: Taking corporate or political messaging and twisting it to reveal its hypocrisy—think of modifying ads, billboards, or social media content to expose the truth behind corporate or government lies.
• Flash Mobs & Direct Action: Legal but disruptive public demonstrations that get attention.

Fascists hate being ridiculed. They hate being made irrelevant. They hate when people refuse to comply.

So let’s do exactly that.

Holding Your Teen Fire Without Letting It Burn You Out

Your inner teenager deserves a seat at the table—but they also need care, guidance, and protection.

They were right about a lot of things: the world is unjust, authority figures are often corrupt, and resistance is necessary. But they were also young. They carried their fire alone, without the tools to protect it from burnout, despair, or self-destruction.

That’s where you come in.

You—the version of you who has lived through more, who has learned how to fight without losing yourself, who knows that sustainability matters just as much as passion.

• Let them be loud, but remind them they don’t have to scream to be heard.
• Let them feel the rage, but teach them how to rest so it doesn’t consume them.
• Let them rebel, but show them how to resist strategically, not just reactively.
• Let them have hope, but give them the discernment to know what’s real.
• Let them play, because joy is just as much an act of rebellion as resistance.

The world still needs their fire. But it also needs your wisdom to keep that fire from burning you out.

So take them by the hand. Give them a seat at the table. Let them speak, rage, and dream—but remind them:

They are not in this alone anymore.

Extinction Burst: When Systems Fight to Survive

When old systems are collapsing, they don’t go quietly.

There’s a psychological concept called an extinction burst—when a long-standing pattern is disrupted, it often intensifies before fading away. The louder and more reactive something becomes, the more it signals that deep change is already in motion.

Right now, it may feel like harmful ideologies are gaining ground. But in reality? They’re fighting to hold on.

Change is happening. It’s slow, messy, and often exhausting—but it’s happening. And that means your efforts, your voice, and your boundaries matter.

The world our inner teenager dreamed of—a more just, compassionate, and liberated world—isn’t out of reach. The old ways may be flaring up, but they are not the future.

So keep going, in whatever way feels right for you. Rest when you need to. Speak when you can. Trust that the work adds up.

***Check out my other posts for more ideas and info about resisting toxic modern systems!

Resources for Action

• Canadian activist organizations: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Friends of the Earth Canada

• Ethical alternatives to Amazon: Good On You, Buy Me Once, Local Street Marketplace, truLOCAL, bookshop.org

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If this spoke to something in you, there are a few paths you can follow from here:

Each door leads somewhere different. It is my hope that all of them lead back to you.

<3 Rachel