Changing the World?
Changing the world. It sounds so wonderful, yet it seems impossible. We live in a world where the sheer magnitude of issues that need to be addressed can feel overwhelming. Climate change, deforestation, world hunger, our food sources, child labour, and the list goes on.
A few days ago something occurred on social media that stopped me in my tracks and caused me to think long and hard about how we can make a difference. A young man with Asperger’s had invited his classmates to a birthday celebration at the local bowling alley and not a single person had responded. His mother posted on Facebook asking people to text, or send messages to her son via a special Bowling page that she set up for his Birthday. People responded. Not only did they respond, but it went viral. Facebook, Twitter, local press, news stations, and on and on. There was a photo of a police officer with his police dog visiting the young man. There was an offer to go and spend time in the pits at the local race track. People came to the bowling alley with balloons and gifts. The Toronto news stations and papers picked up on it and it was a headline in the paper a couple of days later. The story took on a life of its own as people all over the world responded. Absolutely stunning!
It got me thinking about how many people were affected by what happened. I doubt the young man will ever look at life the same after this. I can’t help but wonder if he will go out and make a difference in the world in his own way after having experienced the outpouring of support. Then there are the people who responded, who cared enough for a young man without friends, to reach out to him. How many people without prejudices, people with compassion, people who resonated with his story because of cruelty or being made to feel different in their own childhoods? People who took a few minutes out of their day to reach out to a young man on his special day. His mother who must be reeling at the response, far beyond her wildest dreams. So many lives touched, hundreds of thousands, started by one person who cared.
Last night I got into a heated discussion over using social media for change, to make the world a better place from grassroots up. The person I was with chose to see social media as an access point for young people into darkness and terrorism. I was saddened that they focused on the dark and refused to see the potential. It is where we choose to live or not live that matters. I choose to live seeing the potential beauty, the chance to change the world, single people sowing a seed that takes off leading to organizations, companies, governments, having to back down and act in alignment with what the people want.
Take our food source, GMOs, food dyes, questionable ingredients. Yes, we can make a difference. If we speak with our wallets, refuse to purchase foods that are dubious, even the use of GMOs can shrink. As more and more people are choosing to buy organic, non-GMO, or locally grown via Farmers’ Markets, we reduce the demand on genetically modified food and on processed foods loaded with contents with names we can barely pronounce. We hurt the companies’ bottom lines and they have to change. Look at the menu changes in many fast food restaurants as people search for healthier options. We are making changes from the ground up. I have chosen to take it a step further. I have made a point of using Facebook to follow companies who sell Organic food and food labelled ‘Non GMO’. I contact them and send them a message saying how I appreciate what they are doing. They reply.
I support companies that I believe in by buying their goods, I give encouragement to those who choose to help those who are discriminated against. What if we were to check into the companies supplying the goods we use, the companies that sell them? Are we unknowingly supporting child labour, sweat shops, corporations that don’t take care of their employees? Yes, we can make a difference.
Another idea. Follow the organizations that put out petitions for change. There are many great ones that give us an opportunity to add our names to their causes. It used to be that petitions were taken door to door, a few signatures that took a lot of manpower to obtain. Now we can reach thousands, tens of thousands, worldwide via social media. Anyone can start a petition. You only have to follow these petitions to see the changes that have come about because people like you and me have added our names.
I’ve changed the way that I look at the world. I’m choosing to see the good, not the bad. I am choosing to support those who are working to make a positive change. Social media is powerful. Let’s find ways to use it to spread the word about how to make the world a better place.