change the world
Sometimes I feel like my life is consumed by my activism (which mostly doesn’t show up on this blog, so you’ll have to take my word for it!), and other times I feel like it is impossible to ever do enough. To be effective enough. This is an uncomfortable tension, to say the least.
The frustrating thing, in some ways, is that it is never up to one person to change the world. At the same time, it is always up to one person to change the world. What I mean is that we all have the chance to change the world by every action we take, every decision we make. Be the change we want to see, right? Ghandi said it so simply, so profoundly. Itty bitty changes, they are, but combined together they can become significant. If everyone did one small thing, it would be revolutionary in the difference it would make. We all have that power.
In fact, the only way real change will happen is if we all make those changes, be those changes. It starts with us, it comes from us. It isn’t about who is elected to this position of power or that position of power. We decide, we act, we change. Together, we change the world. Sounds naive, doesn’t it? Yet it is realistic as well…much much more realistic, in my opinion, than thinking that change will magically happen if and when the “right” person is elected to a position of power.
Whenever I think about these things, Ben Harper comes to mind. “With my own two hands”
Deb~ I am sure that what ever you do, in the real world, has a huge impact, that you can not see. It is your willingness to do, that always shines through…
and that shine is the light that guides!
lead from the front lady-o, I’m following!
Thank you for this, Deb. Up until now I had paired this kind of thought with the song “Your Next Bold Move” by Ani DiFranco, but honestly she relies too much on changes in the government. This song by Ben Harper suits me much better!
Sorrow - thank you greatly for your confidence! I wish I could be as certain, but that’s what hindsight is for. lol.
FW - glad you liked the ben harprer! ani definitely believes very strongly in democracy, though I’m not sure I’d say that she relies on change within it. There’s a line to one of her songs…something like “they give us just enough to make us think that we see change” - but that is likely more indicative of her views of the corporatocracy that runs this country than a fundamental belief that governments will always screw it up. I admire her belief in democracy, even if I don’t share it. Me, I’m an anarchist. I relate a lot more to utah phillips in that sense, such as in his spokenword/song, “anarchy” (I think that’s the title):
No matter how much the government changes, it is still up to us in the end.
Deb, I feel overwhelmed sometimes by the world we live in. Like, this earthquake in China: What can I do to help? But I try to remember that each day, I can do something as simple as smile at someone and maybe that will help that person feel OK and then they may smile at someone else…etc. Your blog has made a difference in my life. Your honesty makes me feel less alone in the world.
I don’t know if the next president will change anything; I don’t hold much hope for that. I’m going to keep trying to remember what Gandhi said, and try to practice it.
Sandra,
It is impossible, I think, to not be overwhelmed sometimes by all the really really horrible things that happen. And the earthquake in China, the tornadoes all over the place lately, the cyclone in Mynanmar…those are all independent of human actions, just pure mother nature flexing muscles…that’s bad enough, the devastation, the scope of the tragedies.
But then you think about things that WE do. And oh. my. god. The murders, the poisons we dump in the water, the unthinking unrelenting consumption that drives sweat shops and slaughterhouses and chocolate slavery, the genocide, the wars. How do we deal with THAT?
Doing thing as simple as smiling can be huge, even though it feels like nothing in the scheme of things. It is that ripple effect, we never know what the overall effect of our smiles and good deeds might have. That’s what keeps me going, keeps me trying.
I’m so glad my blog has made a difference for you! That makes my day, actually.