Awareness as a Catalyst for Change
The journey of life is not quick, nor is it easy. It’s full of seeing, feeling, and learning; a whole lifetime of these three processes that will lead you to little details and sudden realizations. In the end, no matter which of the three occur first, you gain something from them: awareness.
We grow up and experience what our lives have to offer, but sometimes, we limit these experiences only to what is right in front of us. Often, we don’t even see past the tip of our noses. The awareness we gain from seeing only through our own eyes may be enough to fuel and change ourselves, but it isn’t enough to bring the world the change it needs.
It is in this way that awareness is fundamental. It becomes the building blocks of change, but only if we open our eyes to see even what is beyond what our fingertips can reach.
Awareness shouldn’t just benefit ourselves, but rather, the people around us as well. No matter how far from us these people are, when we educate ourselves on a grave issue that may not take a toll on us but ruins the lives of other people, we are able to connect with them. Someway, somehow, we empathize with people who have been victimized due to the color of their skin, or the people whose country is in ruins, despite not having experienced such things ourselves. We see their pleas for help, we feel their pain, we learn of the horrors they’ve had to face. We do not live the same lives, but we see their suffering, and the pain of just watching what they have to go through moves us to enact change. We realize that just watching from the sidelines as the rest of the world burns will never be enough. To make the future we all dream of a reality, we must work together to educate ourselves and the people around us. The more we learn, the more we grow; that development and growth is what our whole lifetimes are dedicated to.
It’s times like these, when the whole world seems to be on the brink of destruction (or already there), that this awareness, or lack thereof, shines through the most. When we raise our voices and lift up our intentions to whoever will listen, we create a change in the world that can only be achieved by the ones who are aware that this change needs to be made. When one person steps forward, others follow. When one person speaks up against an abuser, other victims feel seen. They feel as if they aren’t alone in a situation where they’ve been made to feel alone, unsupported, worthless. A single lit match thrown into a sea of unmoving gas creates a powerful, burning fire that proves to be hard to extinguish.
Sadly, that is where the problem lies: only those who really know of the problem will demand the change that is needed.
Those who don’t care won’t bother learning, while those who don’t know lack the awareness that would have moved them to create said change. It all goes back to how important it is to be in the know; because if you aren’t aware that something bad is going on, you won’t be able to do something about it. When you learn, when you gain perspective, when you educate yourself, you gain the knowledge and understanding of issues that don’t concern you. When you’re able to understand and feel for people you may not even know, you are driven to do anything you can to help them.
What we become aware of is deeply rooted in the content we take in, both in real life and online. Nowadays, as we stay at home, a huge chunk of the things we see come from the online platforms we frequent. We won’t witness the discrimination we previously would have seen first hand; like the “weird” kids being pushed around at school, or the belittlement that janitors and household helpers experience. Sometimes, people won’t even make the effort to lift their heads and look the less fortunate in the eye. They don’t acknowledge a very real problem that doesn’t hinder them simply because they are not affected by it. They pick and choose what matters and what doesn’t based on what affects them, and that’s no way to create change in the world.
At the same time, you cannot fight all the battles in the world.
One person cannot change the entire world, but the progress that they make, the work that goes into things they can change, makes all the difference. Even lifting your feet from the ground that it’s been stuck on for the longest time to take a step in the right direction can make all the difference.
In the situation we’re in, at any time we want, the internet can give us access to become aware of all the different issues that people from around the world face. We scroll endlessly on social media, stuck in our own households, and lose touch with reality. Time doesn’t feel like it’s passing when we’re in a constant state of sleep-eat-work-repeat, and that takes a toll on how we live our daily lives. So, we scroll on social media and digest all the information the internet has to give us, all the problems that people everywhere around the world face. Though the internet is powerful enough that it can render us knowledgeable of every single issue in the world, the overflow and overwhelming amount of information that we take in can cause us to subconsciously ignore what we see, and scroll right past it.
The internet gives us no excuse to remain ignorant as we can educate ourselves so quickly, but the amount of information we process in such a short time desensitizes and demotivates us from even attempting to take action.
Hearing about what’s happening in a country halfway across the world from us can also cause us to forget about the heartbreaking realities that people in our own country face. It’s important to keep in mind that baby steps pave the way. We must think global, but act local. We should create change in our own communities before branching out to others.
Even when you’re centered on one thing, it’s important to keep learning and growing outside of what you already know. Practice open-mindedness and don’t hesitate to ask when you don’t know about something, or aren’t sure if what you do know is accurate. Know that it’s okay to change your stance once you’ve learned more about a certain topic, and are presented with knowledge you didn’t previously have in mind. To create a change, people must be aware that it needs to be made; for them to know, we must not be afraid to start the conversation. Start conversations and ask questions, no matter how obvious the answer seems to be.
It takes more than one person to change the world, after all.
The journey of life is long and hard, but even more so for the others who do not hold the same privilege as a lot of people do. Let us do our part, for both ourselves and those who need it most. The road to a better world for every single person begins with us, and the awareness we raise is fundamental to the change the world needs.
Written by Bernice Leonardo, a wonderful writer from our team who has been changemaking together with us for more than a year.
