15 Ideas for the Softer Side of Activism
Activism is the simplest of things. We see something, it calls to us and we respond to it. If we saw a hurt person, a struggling animal or a dying plant, we could just get up, go over and help. But not all phenomena are created equal. When it weaves through human memories, habits, thoughts, and institutions, and relies upon sustained participation, it becomes more analogous to a work of art. A blend of both logic and intuition, brute force and sensitivity, calculation and emotion. In short, it reflects the very art of living and requires a bit of patience and grace.
Rather than a simple physical act of help, like getting up and watering a plant, suddenly we’re faced with, ‘where on earth to begin?’ You look long enough at one knot, only to trace it to another. Then you look at that knot, tracing it to another, then another, and finally back to the original. It looks impossible, but still you feel compelled to act. Until eventually you give up looking all together, and force out whatever act you can, just to do something, anything, to get started.
Like a Zen Koan, we’re left analyzing what seems to transcend analysis or touching something that seems to be untouchable. How to impact beings, part-reason, part-emotion? How to impact a world, part-fate, part-choice? How to act in a world where you are part-observer, part-observed? How to address currents, part-multiplicity, part-uniformity? As such, in one way or another, you find yourself in this ‘softer’, undefined world, thinking how in the world can we make water flow, wheels turn, and even mountains move.
Some things are transient and malleable, while others are enduring and stubborn. This particular phenomenon touches both aspects. There are institutions, ideologies, memories and habits that are solid and enduring, then again, there are thoughts and emotions that can be bent, inspired and transformed. Though it’s a mysterious, high-science, there still is a way to it all. In that a phenomenon formed, it can similarly de-form and re-form. We might not quite master the alchemy of the human world, and turn lead into gold. But we can get closer and closer, and keep on trying, learning and evolving.
It isn’t easy. We just do the best we can, whatever makes sense, follow our hearts and keep trying. It’s more art than science, and many times it’s just the practice of finding the right balance between the extremes of two necessary, though polarized forces. The following are just some ideas with that in mind; not at all rules of thumb, instructions, or specific acts to be followed. Everyone is inspired to act in different ways and must follow their heart. But whatever the cause, or that which inspires one to see some change or manifestation in the world, these are just some ideas to quietly think about in conjunction with one another.
1. Let your cause speak for itself - You may be both knowledgeable and wise when it comes to the cause, in all its facets. Then again, know when to talk and when not to. People need to feel things out for themselves. Though everyone is different, there's a balance here, not too much, not too little, but at some point, your seed needs to be able to do its thing and it works best with a feeling of freedom.
2. Be real - Yes, you want people to feel inspired to change and embrace your cause, but you also want it to be sustainable. There’s a fine line to putting people's preconceived biases at bay and setting unreal expectations that might invite disaster later on. There's likely something real to your cause; something inspiring and self-sustaining. The truth can still be appealing. It's like being given ‘real’ food; it’s still always more fulfilling than the sexier, artificial kind.
3. Put yourself in their shoes - There’s more to communication than fact and logic; it has to balance with the receptivity of your audience, momentary or otherwise. That audience is always changing. Try and meet them where they are before you attempt taking them somewhere else. But at the very least, whatever your means of expression, try to imagine it through the lens of your former self, totally unaware. It might be easier to appreciate that before you let your cause in, you had other worries and desires to occupy your attention. Some can set these aside easier than others, but their hold can be mighty.
4. Beware of collateral damage - Every cause has some opposition, but it is important to be mindful of how you may be turning otherwise open, neutral individuals into the perhaps vehement opposition. Appealing to a small audience over here might simultaneously be alienating a much larger audience over there. Is there some middle ground where you can still communicate to one, without unnecessarily turning off the other? All of us make associations, and not everyone in your audience may be so patient and wise to differentiate their associated perception of a cause and the cause itself. Just like we might lack the faith in the power of small, positive seeds, we might overlook the accumulation of many small, negative ones.
5. Think outside the box - There is an art to communication. It goes beyond the mere saying, and instead is concerned with the hearing and feeling on the other side. It reflects the very depth and diversity of life experience, as if to say we’re not one thing, nor are we robots. It’s easy to forget when there’s much at stake. It’s easy to fixate on the conclusion of our experiences, and not reflect its surrounding depths or foundation. It’s easy to lose sight of the world around us. But our expression suffers as a result. Like any work of art, the closer it reflects that richness of force inherent to all life, the more it resonates. There’s no right way to ‘think outside the box’. But it’s only to say there’s more to our acts of expression than meets the eye.
6. Encourage their better self - The Internet is a phenomenon in and of itself, regardless of what people are looking at. The content is never-ending, appealing (even addicting) and we’re forever plugged in. But the battle for ‘views’ can further inflame rather unfortunate aspects of its audience. You want to reach people, but it’s just worth keeping in mind that a world of temperamental, shallow, emotionally taut spectators who can’t think for themselves isn’t conducive to anything sustainable. Is there perhaps a nicer balance of appeal and quality; temptation and inspiration; entertainment and reflection? Regardless, its helpful to keep in mind that what we do put out there to get attention also set’s the perceived identity surrounding the cause.
7. Leave no trace - Think about how the true heart of your cause speaks to you; that energy without labels, identity or affiliation; without faces or voices. Like finding a lake, at the base of a mountain, all alone in the forest - your very own sanctuary and silent refuge from the crazy world. No garbage, highways, blaring music; an untouched paradise. It’s inevitable that your cause will be seen by others with a blemish of the unfortunately controversial human world (it gets filtered through some medium to reach them). But that purity of the forest is an ideal to work towards; to simply leave no trace.
8. Make friends with the other side - While you can't quite befriend an institution or a corporation that operates with unwavering purpose, when it comes to other people, sometimes it's best to let it go, and just be friendly. They know where you stand, you know where they stand. It’ll be a sparring match. You're 'this', they're 'anti-this'. Their stance might be partly from worldviews and perhaps much more from sheer annoyance and bad memories. Hence, a nice, friendly interaction can only help. Over time, the opposition becomes that much less tied to a hatred of 'the other' to fuel their own stance and cause.
9. Be a calming force - Believe in your cause. If your cause is real (and it is, you feel it), somehow we're likely all unconsciously drawn to it. Perhaps it takes time, but the more people are at ease in their life and the less badly they feel about themselves, the more they have capacity to explore other aspects of life. A bit of laughter helps too. This is more about watering the soil and building compost, than planting a seed. Some causes are so clear (even beneficial) that it can only imply some important insight about the state of the world if it isn't embraced yet.
10. Set the example but be patient - The slightest inhibition can throw a modern consumer into a meltdown. The slightest hint at newness or something not of their own imagined identity, can provoke fury. Unfortunately, change, outside of entertainment or fashion, is not quite in vogue amongst modern society. As such, at some point, whether you’ve pushed it or not, you and your changes may be seen as the enemy. But set the example. Familiarize them with both yourself and your changes, by just carrying on the relationship and living out your lifestyle as though everything is normal, for it is. It takes a bit of patience on your side, but they’re just apprehensive of what seems foreign. A little time and familiarity go a long way, for both your cause and your relations to the world (unless of course it’s your family!).
11. Beware of monetary conflicts - There’s a natural tension between the need to make money and wanting to spend our hours pursuing a passion; selling something and promoting a cause. It can be like writing a novel with your pants on fire: you might power through, but some (or all!) creative liberty or honesty is likely sacrificed. It is a delicate balancing act, and not one to be taken lightly, as we carry more than our own livelihood. The online world is much more sensitive to its negative impact than others (i.e. new products), as the personalities of Social Media inevitably become the face of a movement. But certainly balance and integrity are possible.
12. Be aware of yourself - We’re all human to a fault; we have emotions inside of us, it can’t be helped. But it helps to at least attempt to see what’s going on inside of us, especially if angry. To see the emotional depths as you ready to act and in the same breath ask, ‘What is driving me right now?’ Far from easy, but rather than getting stuck in a fruitless interaction or vain effort, we can at least see it for what it is, and then maybe channel it to something else until it has less of a hold on us. A long walk, a run, yoga, meditation, or perhaps just beating the sh*t out of a pillow.
13. Make mistakes and learn from them - We’re all human and perfection is an ignorant standard. None of us are omniscient or omnipotent. Mistakes are inevitable; less than the ideal is a constant. But we can only evolve so long as we keep our eyes open to our efforts and effects, with a brutal honesty. Perhaps best said as, follow your heart, but use your head.
14. Have a little faith - Everything is made up of the most microscopically small. One tiny particle is the start of something bigger. One tiny step, one after the next, completes a long journey. One small act changes the world. It’s hard to look at a beach, littered with trash, and not be overwhelmed. But freaking out won’t help. It’s still just one piece at a time, and one sustained quality effort. One thing done well is better than many or much done poorly and without attention. Fortunately, there are many others out there helping you out.
15. Be easy on yourself - We’re faced with this gargantuan phenomenon, like an imposing mountain of terror. It’s not a matter of opinion or ideology, but true suffering and destruction in our world. You nor I, nor any one individual made it. Knowing it’s there can make it feel almost impossible to go on, but still you must. Being easy on yourself is far from easy. It’s like waking up to a hurricane’s vast wreckage. It’s unfortunate, it’s there, it happened and somehow we have to live with it. Somehow we have to heal, come back to the simplicity of the present and not let it harden our hearts. Somehow we have to keep believing in life, though somehow we have to fix it.
Rather than a simple physical act of help, like getting up and watering a plant, suddenly we’re faced with, ‘where on earth to begin?’ You look long enough at one knot, only to trace it to another. Then you look at that knot, tracing it to another, then another, and finally back to the original. It looks impossible, but still you feel compelled to act. Until eventually you give up looking all together, and force out whatever act you can, just to do something, anything, to get started.
Like a Zen Koan, we’re left analyzing what seems to transcend analysis or touching something that seems to be untouchable. How to impact beings, part-reason, part-emotion? How to impact a world, part-fate, part-choice? How to act in a world where you are part-observer, part-observed? How to address currents, part-multiplicity, part-uniformity? As such, in one way or another, you find yourself in this ‘softer’, undefined world, thinking how in the world can we make water flow, wheels turn, and even mountains move.
Some things are transient and malleable, while others are enduring and stubborn. This particular phenomenon touches both aspects. There are institutions, ideologies, memories and habits that are solid and enduring, then again, there are thoughts and emotions that can be bent, inspired and transformed. Though it’s a mysterious, high-science, there still is a way to it all. In that a phenomenon formed, it can similarly de-form and re-form. We might not quite master the alchemy of the human world, and turn lead into gold. But we can get closer and closer, and keep on trying, learning and evolving.
It isn’t easy. We just do the best we can, whatever makes sense, follow our hearts and keep trying. It’s more art than science, and many times it’s just the practice of finding the right balance between the extremes of two necessary, though polarized forces. The following are just some ideas with that in mind; not at all rules of thumb, instructions, or specific acts to be followed. Everyone is inspired to act in different ways and must follow their heart. But whatever the cause, or that which inspires one to see some change or manifestation in the world, these are just some ideas to quietly think about in conjunction with one another.
1. Let your cause speak for itself - You may be both knowledgeable and wise when it comes to the cause, in all its facets. Then again, know when to talk and when not to. People need to feel things out for themselves. Though everyone is different, there's a balance here, not too much, not too little, but at some point, your seed needs to be able to do its thing and it works best with a feeling of freedom.
2. Be real - Yes, you want people to feel inspired to change and embrace your cause, but you also want it to be sustainable. There’s a fine line to putting people's preconceived biases at bay and setting unreal expectations that might invite disaster later on. There's likely something real to your cause; something inspiring and self-sustaining. The truth can still be appealing. It's like being given ‘real’ food; it’s still always more fulfilling than the sexier, artificial kind.
3. Put yourself in their shoes - There’s more to communication than fact and logic; it has to balance with the receptivity of your audience, momentary or otherwise. That audience is always changing. Try and meet them where they are before you attempt taking them somewhere else. But at the very least, whatever your means of expression, try to imagine it through the lens of your former self, totally unaware. It might be easier to appreciate that before you let your cause in, you had other worries and desires to occupy your attention. Some can set these aside easier than others, but their hold can be mighty.
4. Beware of collateral damage - Every cause has some opposition, but it is important to be mindful of how you may be turning otherwise open, neutral individuals into the perhaps vehement opposition. Appealing to a small audience over here might simultaneously be alienating a much larger audience over there. Is there some middle ground where you can still communicate to one, without unnecessarily turning off the other? All of us make associations, and not everyone in your audience may be so patient and wise to differentiate their associated perception of a cause and the cause itself. Just like we might lack the faith in the power of small, positive seeds, we might overlook the accumulation of many small, negative ones.
5. Think outside the box - There is an art to communication. It goes beyond the mere saying, and instead is concerned with the hearing and feeling on the other side. It reflects the very depth and diversity of life experience, as if to say we’re not one thing, nor are we robots. It’s easy to forget when there’s much at stake. It’s easy to fixate on the conclusion of our experiences, and not reflect its surrounding depths or foundation. It’s easy to lose sight of the world around us. But our expression suffers as a result. Like any work of art, the closer it reflects that richness of force inherent to all life, the more it resonates. There’s no right way to ‘think outside the box’. But it’s only to say there’s more to our acts of expression than meets the eye.
6. Encourage their better self - The Internet is a phenomenon in and of itself, regardless of what people are looking at. The content is never-ending, appealing (even addicting) and we’re forever plugged in. But the battle for ‘views’ can further inflame rather unfortunate aspects of its audience. You want to reach people, but it’s just worth keeping in mind that a world of temperamental, shallow, emotionally taut spectators who can’t think for themselves isn’t conducive to anything sustainable. Is there perhaps a nicer balance of appeal and quality; temptation and inspiration; entertainment and reflection? Regardless, its helpful to keep in mind that what we do put out there to get attention also set’s the perceived identity surrounding the cause.
7. Leave no trace - Think about how the true heart of your cause speaks to you; that energy without labels, identity or affiliation; without faces or voices. Like finding a lake, at the base of a mountain, all alone in the forest - your very own sanctuary and silent refuge from the crazy world. No garbage, highways, blaring music; an untouched paradise. It’s inevitable that your cause will be seen by others with a blemish of the unfortunately controversial human world (it gets filtered through some medium to reach them). But that purity of the forest is an ideal to work towards; to simply leave no trace.
8. Make friends with the other side - While you can't quite befriend an institution or a corporation that operates with unwavering purpose, when it comes to other people, sometimes it's best to let it go, and just be friendly. They know where you stand, you know where they stand. It’ll be a sparring match. You're 'this', they're 'anti-this'. Their stance might be partly from worldviews and perhaps much more from sheer annoyance and bad memories. Hence, a nice, friendly interaction can only help. Over time, the opposition becomes that much less tied to a hatred of 'the other' to fuel their own stance and cause.
9. Be a calming force - Believe in your cause. If your cause is real (and it is, you feel it), somehow we're likely all unconsciously drawn to it. Perhaps it takes time, but the more people are at ease in their life and the less badly they feel about themselves, the more they have capacity to explore other aspects of life. A bit of laughter helps too. This is more about watering the soil and building compost, than planting a seed. Some causes are so clear (even beneficial) that it can only imply some important insight about the state of the world if it isn't embraced yet.
10. Set the example but be patient - The slightest inhibition can throw a modern consumer into a meltdown. The slightest hint at newness or something not of their own imagined identity, can provoke fury. Unfortunately, change, outside of entertainment or fashion, is not quite in vogue amongst modern society. As such, at some point, whether you’ve pushed it or not, you and your changes may be seen as the enemy. But set the example. Familiarize them with both yourself and your changes, by just carrying on the relationship and living out your lifestyle as though everything is normal, for it is. It takes a bit of patience on your side, but they’re just apprehensive of what seems foreign. A little time and familiarity go a long way, for both your cause and your relations to the world (unless of course it’s your family!).
11. Beware of monetary conflicts - There’s a natural tension between the need to make money and wanting to spend our hours pursuing a passion; selling something and promoting a cause. It can be like writing a novel with your pants on fire: you might power through, but some (or all!) creative liberty or honesty is likely sacrificed. It is a delicate balancing act, and not one to be taken lightly, as we carry more than our own livelihood. The online world is much more sensitive to its negative impact than others (i.e. new products), as the personalities of Social Media inevitably become the face of a movement. But certainly balance and integrity are possible.
12. Be aware of yourself - We’re all human to a fault; we have emotions inside of us, it can’t be helped. But it helps to at least attempt to see what’s going on inside of us, especially if angry. To see the emotional depths as you ready to act and in the same breath ask, ‘What is driving me right now?’ Far from easy, but rather than getting stuck in a fruitless interaction or vain effort, we can at least see it for what it is, and then maybe channel it to something else until it has less of a hold on us. A long walk, a run, yoga, meditation, or perhaps just beating the sh*t out of a pillow.
13. Make mistakes and learn from them - We’re all human and perfection is an ignorant standard. None of us are omniscient or omnipotent. Mistakes are inevitable; less than the ideal is a constant. But we can only evolve so long as we keep our eyes open to our efforts and effects, with a brutal honesty. Perhaps best said as, follow your heart, but use your head.
14. Have a little faith - Everything is made up of the most microscopically small. One tiny particle is the start of something bigger. One tiny step, one after the next, completes a long journey. One small act changes the world. It’s hard to look at a beach, littered with trash, and not be overwhelmed. But freaking out won’t help. It’s still just one piece at a time, and one sustained quality effort. One thing done well is better than many or much done poorly and without attention. Fortunately, there are many others out there helping you out.
15. Be easy on yourself - We’re faced with this gargantuan phenomenon, like an imposing mountain of terror. It’s not a matter of opinion or ideology, but true suffering and destruction in our world. You nor I, nor any one individual made it. Knowing it’s there can make it feel almost impossible to go on, but still you must. Being easy on yourself is far from easy. It’s like waking up to a hurricane’s vast wreckage. It’s unfortunate, it’s there, it happened and somehow we have to live with it. Somehow we have to heal, come back to the simplicity of the present and not let it harden our hearts. Somehow we have to keep believing in life, though somehow we have to fix it.
