I am a person who loves history. Particularly American History, but I am a dabbler in regional histories, too. A lover of architecture and forgotten cultural events the world over, and I think I’ve pretty much always been this way. When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I became particularly interested in the Vietnam War, with its murkiness and complexity. I read everything I could get my hands on—from old LIFE magazines to letters from soldiers to proper books on the history of this event. My mom took me to a VFW hall where I spoke with veterans, and wore a POW bracelet for a decade following. The one thing that became incredibly clear was that there was very little clarity about it. Unlike World War II or the Civil War, it was hard for my young mind to understand what happened and why. The Vietnam War represents the first time I was introduced to the idea of how complex the lens of history can be, and also to the idea of political activism and what it looked like then. Back then, mass assembly of American citizens had an impact. Activism meant showing up and holding signs and marching and sometimes really upsetting the status quo.
I’ve been thinking a lot about activism and what it means. Strictly speaking, and if we are going to look at a dictionary to guide us, it is a noun that means, “One who advocates a doctrine of direct action” or “A person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.”
When I looked up the etymology, it turns out that it was initially coined in the first decade of the 20th Century, but came to be used more as we use it today in 1915. Not surprisingly, it came out of a time of war. World War I. And Sweden was neutral (so were we!) and a group of newly labeled “activists” organized in Sweden to eliminate neutrality, support the Central Powers, and fight in the War with everyone else (it didn’t work). Of course, this may be where the word started, but it is not where “activism” started. Throughout modern history, activists have changed the world they live in (Bastille Day, anyone?).
I think I have been thinking about activism because I feel like this has been a really rough stretch in the United States. I have been really contemplating my role in this world and trying to better understand the ways in which I live to my values and try to engender change in a way that is consistent with my political and personal beliefs, which isn’t always an easy thing to do.
Regardless of your political belief, if you are in this world and paying attention, there is pain and tension and distrust everywhere you turn. Let me review a “greatest hits” from just the last couple of months:
Let’s start with the Kavanaugh hearings, which felt divisive and painful and which resonated for people in ways that I would not have foreseen. For women who had been sexually abused or harassed, and who had not been heard or validated in their own lives, these trials were an open wound representing a cultural disregard for women’s rights and safety. For advocates of Kavanaugh, it was a witch hunt needlessly slandering an honorable man. Either way, the tension and level of personal investment were high.
Then we had a man sending pipe bombs to everyone and their mothers who ever said a bad thing about Donald Trump. Now, I live in a predominantly liberal place with a lot of famous people, so you know mail was being rigorously checked! The thing is that mail should be SAFE. Not necessarily kind, but safe. You shouldn’t lose a finger or your eyesight after opening an envelope or small package.
Then there was the terrible tragedy at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a shooter entered and killed 11 people. Tragic in all regards, this hate crime compromised what should be a safe haven for people to commune, to connect, and to pray. Then we had the shooting in Thousand Oaks CA, in one of the safest cities in the nation, at a country and western bar filled with college students who simply enjoyed dancing and having some fun on a Wednesday night. Hot on the heels of that terrible tragedy, in California we have had devastating wildfires. Killing an unknown number of people, and indiscriminately robbing people of their homes, their sense of safety and all of their possessions. Many are lucky to have made it out alive.
Should I go on?
My point, I think, is clear. We have lived through a relentless succession of painful events experienced on a mass scale. And all of it has gotten me thinking of activism. When confronted with so much senseless loss and upset, I can’t help but scratch my head and wonder “What can I do? What would it look like right now to be an activist?”
I’d like to go on the record to say that I think organized activism is necessary and empowering. The thing is, that it is finite. You can’t demonstrate on a mass scale forever. We all go back to life. And the media cycle continues to churn. And tomorrow is another day where one million women are not marching, and immigrants are not marching, and and Wall Street is not “Occupied”, and everyone has to go back to work.
So I’d like to invite you to think about and possibly reimagine what activism is and can be. To me, activism does not have to be loud. It does not have to be many. It can be one person. You are an activist. Right now, sitting and reading this blog. Who knew, right?
Activism is intentional. It can hold the intention of making this world better, kinder, more open, and more tolerant of whatever belief you hold. Activism can be small. It can be consistent. Not an event that happens once every three or 8 years, but every day. Every minute.
So let’s switch gears here and talk briefly about something we all have some knowledge of: The Butterfly Effect.
It turns out that in 1963 a fella named Lorenz was trying to figure out how to predict weather. He had collected meticulous data and extended all of it to 6 decimal points, or to a millionth of a point. He plotted and predicted and recognized that 6 decimal points may not be necessary, and it was taking precious storage space in his computer to maintain this rigor. Let’s remember that in 1963, computers had about 3 MEGA bites of memory. He thought about it, and decided to save space, he would instead calculate out to three decimal places, or to a thousandth of a point. Initially he calculated this by hand and felt that the change was so minute, it would yield only a slight change in outcome.
The thing is, that when he re-ran his full data set, it was drastically different. So much so that he initially believed it was an error with the computer itself, but ultimately he realized that in those three decimal places, essentially, in a change of a fraction of a thousandth of a point, a huge change occurred. This is what came to be known as the butterfly effect. That the unpredictable unfolding of a series of events, with even the tiniest variation in influence, can exponentially diverge across time.
In a day, in our life, there are infinite possible causes of disruption. Any one interaction has the potential to start an unpredictable unfolding of events and reactions. On one hand, this is a disturbing circumstance, as we are very well designed to predict, to anticipate, and to believe in the certainty of our environments and outcomes.
But on the other hand, it is beautiful and filled with potential–if we can accept that life is always unfolding in ways that are marginally controllable and extremely sensitive to the many influences in our multiple environments, we open a door to unimagined outcomes and possibilities.
So I would like to propose that activism at its most base and easily implemented is this: Intentionally living in a way that consistently fosters kindness, connection, and love. To strangers, to those we know or who we don’t know very well. Activism does not need posters and mass emails (though you can use them). Activism requires intention, clarity and consistency. We each are the butterflies, moving through this world and whose love and kindness have the potential to have an unpredictable but very real impact over time.
I truly believe that you can make a choice right now, reading this blog, to be intentional in your presence. In your ability to demonstrate and teach kindness. To open doors of communication and foster curiosity. To teach those you encounter that we are more alike than we are different, to generate and perpetuate conversation and thoughtful discourse. To hug someone who feels different from you and to recognize that a heart like the one beating in your chest beats in theirs.
Am I being naive? I don’t think so. Am I being hopeful, and believing in the very best aspects of our nature? Absolutely. I think it’s a great place to start.
Don’t wait for the next demonstration to stay up late into the night painting signs and to make it on the local news. I mean, do that too, but first and now do this. Claim your place as an activist in a world that can be heavy and hard and relentless. Reach out. Build a bridge. Shine light. Give kindness. Be love. It’s all free of cost and has the potential, in ways unanticipated, to change the world we live in.
My thanks to you in advance.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
Cate says
Please do a session on this at the AOSW conference – every sentence I want to yell YES!! Thanks for the inspiration. In a time when we are living in threat physiology and constant fear it is easy to become paralyzed by it … but one small token or step can make a large impact, one drop of water can start a waterfall.
lorelei bonet says
Cate, I love this. Thank you for reading and thank you for getting it! The problem is that I have more ideas than I have time to develop full talks…though this will probably be a small part of my talk in Tucson next year. If you’re there, I’d love to meet you!
Marika says
I can hardly absorb this powerful, superb writing without feeling the need to do more and make a difference in any way possible, whatever that may be. You encourage with such clarity and innate understanding, how all of us can make change happen.
lorelei bonet says
Thank you, I am glad this post resonated with you!