action

And writing a few paragraphs on a blog doesn’t change the world.

And this is what it comes to….we can read and talk and even write but that won’t change things; we need action if we are to transform our lives and the world.

Often that can be the difficult part. I know that I, and I think many others, can get stuck in the question of “what do I do?” It can be a debilitating way of thinking about activism and change. Really, we can do just about anything we want. The impetus is there—we know how horrible so many things are. We recognize that war, imperialism, and hierarchy result in incredibly tragic outcomes. We know that oppression is happening; we know that complicity hides in the shadows of silence and inaction. We must simply decide that the time is now. We can no longer delude ourselves into thinking that we can bring about change with a vote or a discussion about how bad things are. We need to make the decision to act for change, to directly engage the world around us.

The moment we make this decision, possibilities arrive in our minds; actions and their potential outcomes hover on the horizon. By then taking those actions, we can arrive at those outcomes.

Of course, these things take planning, creativity, and cooperation—things we humans are actually pretty good at. Just get together with a group of people and we are amazed at the fluidity of creative interaction that occurs. Before long, goals and outcomes are arrived at, plans are made, and then action happens.

I don’t know what works and what doesn’t; I just know what results from doing nothing. I don’t know what actions are the best or most effective and I don’t think anyone does. That is why the more the merrier. Some actions will work for some people, while other ways of acting will make sense to other people. A diversity of tactics is a positive element in the movement of transformation, precisely because it addresses different desires, concerns, perspectives, and circumstances.

So, what am I writing this for? Partially, it is to flesh things out in my mind. I often work that way—I write down ideas (or discuss them with others) in order to better understand them and to develop them personally in a way that makes sense to my own worldview. Also, I want to encourage others. I hope that is not high-minded sounding. Like I said, I certainly don’t know what works and what doesn’t but I do know that things as they are now are not desirable. And I believe that most of us feel similarly. So, I want to say to others that there are things we can do! It is not hopeless. We are individuals that can make our own decisions and our own actions. There is nothing to stop us! All we need do is decide that we will do something and then go about doing it. There is nothing to lose and there is so much to gain.