Service--and what we're prepared to pledge
President Elect Barack Obama has always said that the change in America isn't going to come from him--it's going to come from us. It's going to come from our asking not what our country can do for us, but asking what we can do for our country.
Change is coming. But what I think we may not understand, or that we may only be beginning to understand, is that Gandhi was right--to change the world, we must "be the change that we want to see in the world". We cannot, cannot, cannot continue in the same old way, and expect the country to change, because we ARE the country. If the country is to change, then we have to understand that change begins inside and works its way out--not the other way around.
Service is a dirty word in this country. Service is what the waitress gives. Service is what the soldiers do. Service is for someone else, not for us. We don't have anything to offer--not anything important, anyway. Nothing earth changing. Nothing that will mean anything.
Except that, collectively, anything means everything.
Watch this:
MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge
Every single tiny little thing that gets done in the name of the greater good means something. It may look like service--it might be a greater involvement in philanthropy or volunteerism. It might look like holding a position in the reserves. It might look like building houses or passing out blankets and coffee with the Red Cross. It might mean giving blood, or putting yourself on the register for bone marrow donation. It might be a great big deal, where you're a great big hero.
But it might just mean being more conscious, more patient, more polite, more mindful. It might just be not tailgating, or choosing a paper bag over a plastic one, or shutting off the lights. It might be pledging to be more positive at work, or more kind to the people you know, or pledging to be an even better friend than you already are.
Today, I shoveled my parents' driveway.
I do that a lot--most of the time, actually. But today, I did it with a lighter heart and a better attitude. And I made my father laugh, and my mother smile and feel less lonely. I pledge to be better to them.
Today, I visited a friend who had just lost her job, and made her laugh and drank coffee and watched the snow pile up with her, and talked about the new president, and the hope that she and all of us could feel. When I arrived, her every joint was aching with arthritis and depression--by the time I left, we had conjured enough magickal endorphins to ease the ache without naproxen, and I went out of my way to let her know just how important she is to me. I pledge to be a more mindful friend to her.
Today, I made three new friends on Live Journal (thanks, popfiend). I pledge to make what they read here something that adds to their lives, and not something that diminishes them. And that goes for the rest of you as well.
I pledge to applaud more. I pledge to tell more truth, in a kinder way. I pledge to remain true to the ideals that we've all been talking about over the last few days.
I pledge to smile more, bitch less and whine...well, as little as possible! ;-) I pledge to celebrate success--especially the successes of the people I know. I pledge to write more letters of commendation to people who perform their jobs well. I pledge to let people know that I love them.
Your pledges don't have to be big, huge pledges. You don't have to do big things. It may be something that is no more concrete or defined than simply pledging to live more consciously, and acting on that consciousness in ways you never did before.
Appeal to "the better angels of your nature"--I can think of no better way to serve your country, and your new president, than that.
ETA--and in the spirit of contributing to a happier, more lightheared nation, I give you....
...the inauguration built entirely of Legos!!!
Change is coming. But what I think we may not understand, or that we may only be beginning to understand, is that Gandhi was right--to change the world, we must "be the change that we want to see in the world". We cannot, cannot, cannot continue in the same old way, and expect the country to change, because we ARE the country. If the country is to change, then we have to understand that change begins inside and works its way out--not the other way around.
Service is a dirty word in this country. Service is what the waitress gives. Service is what the soldiers do. Service is for someone else, not for us. We don't have anything to offer--not anything important, anyway. Nothing earth changing. Nothing that will mean anything.
Except that, collectively, anything means everything.
Watch this:
MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge
Every single tiny little thing that gets done in the name of the greater good means something. It may look like service--it might be a greater involvement in philanthropy or volunteerism. It might look like holding a position in the reserves. It might look like building houses or passing out blankets and coffee with the Red Cross. It might mean giving blood, or putting yourself on the register for bone marrow donation. It might be a great big deal, where you're a great big hero.
But it might just mean being more conscious, more patient, more polite, more mindful. It might just be not tailgating, or choosing a paper bag over a plastic one, or shutting off the lights. It might be pledging to be more positive at work, or more kind to the people you know, or pledging to be an even better friend than you already are.
Today, I shoveled my parents' driveway.
I do that a lot--most of the time, actually. But today, I did it with a lighter heart and a better attitude. And I made my father laugh, and my mother smile and feel less lonely. I pledge to be better to them.
Today, I visited a friend who had just lost her job, and made her laugh and drank coffee and watched the snow pile up with her, and talked about the new president, and the hope that she and all of us could feel. When I arrived, her every joint was aching with arthritis and depression--by the time I left, we had conjured enough magickal endorphins to ease the ache without naproxen, and I went out of my way to let her know just how important she is to me. I pledge to be a more mindful friend to her.
Today, I made three new friends on Live Journal (thanks, popfiend). I pledge to make what they read here something that adds to their lives, and not something that diminishes them. And that goes for the rest of you as well.
I pledge to applaud more. I pledge to tell more truth, in a kinder way. I pledge to remain true to the ideals that we've all been talking about over the last few days.
I pledge to smile more, bitch less and whine...well, as little as possible! ;-) I pledge to celebrate success--especially the successes of the people I know. I pledge to write more letters of commendation to people who perform their jobs well. I pledge to let people know that I love them.
Your pledges don't have to be big, huge pledges. You don't have to do big things. It may be something that is no more concrete or defined than simply pledging to live more consciously, and acting on that consciousness in ways you never did before.
Appeal to "the better angels of your nature"--I can think of no better way to serve your country, and your new president, than that.
ETA--and in the spirit of contributing to a happier, more lightheared nation, I give you....
...the inauguration built entirely of Legos!!!