Trying to become a Changemaker
One cannot change everything but everyone can change something
In the midst of an online course called ‘Becoming a changemaker: An introduction to social innovation’, I found myself questioning my contribution.
The 3 questions that truly matter in life -
Are you giving to your community?
Are you at peace with yourself?
Are you trying to be as human as you can be?
— Tuesdays with Morrie
Everyone has a way to give to the world
I believe everyone has a gift to give to the world. I believe everyone has their own way of giving back to their community. And figuring out that “way” and giving back is our only motto.
I have been very grateful to have found my way, my medium — words. I found myself questioning, “Am I using my medium in the way that it should be used? Am I writing enough about things that should be written about?”
Personal Growth and Lifestyle content are good, it’s great actually, and I am grateful for the fact that people have found it helpful. But I want to write more than that. And it's time to use words for what their use is.
I want to write more about topics related to society. I want to have the confidence to speak up. Speak up about something that I don’t agree with. To have an opinion. To not be afraid to speak up and inspire others to speak up.
Why are people afraid to speak about societal issues?
The majority of people are afraid to speak up, the majority including me. Of course, the internet has made it very easy to put your opinion and your voice forward. But it has also made it very easy to use that voice to troll other people, to give backlash.
The dark side of the internet is actually the dark side of people.
On one hand, it has made it easy for people to speak up and put their voices forward but on the other hand, it has also made it difficult for people to speak up because they’re afraid of the “troll”, afraid of the “backlash”.
Especially people with the power of influence and following, the majority of them refrain from saying anything about societal issues, for the fear of getting opinions thrown on them.
It, in fact, must be the opposite. People of influence and power can and must use their platform to encourage change in the area of society they care about the most.
But, instead of complaining about what others are not doing, why not talk about what we, as common people, can do?
One cannot change everything. But everyone can change something.
Here is what I believe would work -
Pick one social issue, any issue that you care about the most, that you have an inner drive to create change in. Unfortunately, you have a variety of options to choose from — be it education, poverty, environment, health, discrimination and so much more! As I said, there are a lot of options.
Once you have chosen your issue of interest, the next step is to figure out a way of giving your contribution in creating change in that issue.
Either by giving to charity or volunteering or creating art to educate people about that issue.
And this will be an ongoing process, this figuring out ways to give, will be a process that will go on throughout your life.
“Every decision you take from now on, should be in favor of that”
It doesn’t have to be a huge decision. It’s just small things. Do those small things. If it bothers you, you need to figure out a way to do something about it.
Here’s where I am at —
From now on, I will strive to write more, to speak up more, about things that should have been written about more. To weave my stories with my experiences. To show up. Being silent and playing safe is not an option anymore.
It’s a tension of opposites, to create for your own sake and to create with the aim of changing the world. I am somewhere in between, trying to balance the two.
