How to Change the World

To Greet the Sun by Barb Black

This is for everyone. All of us. All of them. All of you. Even me. If you're going to read this with an attitude of "Oh, she's talking to them..." or, "See, she's on my side..." just stop reading now. You won't get it, any of it, and I get pissed off if my words are wasted. This is for everyone.

You won't change the world by admonishing people to love each other. You change it by loving.

You won't change the world by preaching to your personal choir(s) on social media whereupon you get enough "likes" to feel self-satisfied or enough opposing opinions to feel justified. You change the world by doing something in and for the world you live in. Little things work, by the way, even simple stuff like holding a door.

You won't change the world by complaining. Stop it. Just stop it. Shit happens. There's no such thing as a fairy godmother. There's no god just waiting for a plea from you so he/she/it can waltz in and hold mighty sway. You change the world by doing. Yes, you. And you. And you over there looking around for someone else to do it first.

You won't change the world through exclusion, but through inclusion. You change the world through listening and gaining understanding. Even if you don't agree, even if you decide to walk away later, at least listen to what the other has to say. You'll learn something from it about your fellow human, and knowledge is a powerful thing.

You won't change the world by belittling others, by mocking them, by posting ugly pictures of them at their worst, by responding to their cruelty with cruelty. You change the world by rising above their behavior(s) and teaching others to rise above their behavior(s).

You won't change the world by claiming to accept diversity and then putting those diverse folks into separate little groups where they must stay forever to continue on in your acceptance. Every person of color I know is different from every other person of color. Every gay person I know is different from every other gay person I know. Every disabled person is different from every other disabled person I know. And everyone I know changes all the fucking time, every day, because we're all fickle, silly humans and that's what fickle, silly humans do. You change the world by recognizing diversity and finding common ground on which to build.

You won't change the world by moaning about how bad you've got it. You change the world by helping someone who doesn't have it as good as you do without expecting anything in return. I mean it. I don't want to hear about how you helped someone and they turned around and shit on you. Too bad. It happens to all of us. You did right, they did wrong, let Karma sort it.

You won't change the world by quoting Gandhi. Just be the damned change already. Be it. Embody it. Cast a great big fucking shadow. Bigger! It works, I tell you. An Example: I love to laugh, and a few years ago I decided the world needed more laughter. So, I made it my "thing" to try to make someone laugh every day (several someones if I was lucky, but one would do). In doing that, I found I was laughing a lot more simply by being amused at the amusement of others. The bonus was/is, funny people began to appear in my life - people with a real sense of humor and a kindred spirit appreciation of the absurd. I was no longer alone in my peculiar take on the world and its inhabitants.

You won't change the world by pointing out all the negative shit going on everywhere all the time. We're all well aware that the world is going to Hell in a hand basket. You change the world by being a positive influence, by as Mother Teresa once said, doing small things with great love. I don't know anyone who ever died worrying whether they'd done enough for a cause, but I do know several who died wondering what about their influence on the lives of those around them - did they love enough and were they loved. Mostly it was did they love enough. Did they show it enough.

So, I say it again. You won't change the world by admonishing people to love each other. You change the world by loving. To paraphrase Stephen King, everything else is eventual.

Oh, but do yourselves a favor? Stop watching the news (or reading it on the internet) all the time. The only people who are gaining anything from the news are those who own the agencies and the corporate sponsors. The Ubiquitous They post the worst possible shit because they know that fickle, silly humans love a good train wreck, and that They will make money off it. And for fuck's sake, stop spending so much time and effort in that depressive suck known as social media.

The Oracle, albeit a tad cranky, has spoken.