If you wish that things were different and dream about a better world, you are not alone. The smallest action can make a difference. We all want the world to a better, safer place. Kinder, more friendly, fairer. Sometimes change seems so overwhelming, too much to do, and whatever we do is never good enough.
We feel what we do won’t make a difference anyway....so we don’t do anything. The butterfly effect suggests that lots of little actions can make a difference. And even if those actions don’t change the world, they can change our world and how we feel in it. The world is full of folk trying to live better lives.
Nothing says any one religion, faith, political philosophy or whatever has a monopoly on good ideas (although some of them have had a huge amount of bizarrely bad-sounding ones!). Who knows, maybe a bit of pick and mix is what we need, take what works for you and leave the rest behind. If you are happy and fulfilled and you are not harming anyone else, that’s great, but with just a little extra thought, we can all manage one more action that has an effect, however small. Add them all up and collectively there is change.
You don’t have to go vegan, become political, change or adopt a religion...there is nothing to get right or wrong, just a slight recalibration. We all hate sweat shops, right? But it’s a full time job (and often a very expensive one) to live sweat-free. We could, however, all buy one pair of sweat-free somethings! Similarly, organic, free-range and non-GM alternatives may seem expensive but might end up not costing us the earth. We may not be ready to go completely veggie, but guess what? We can actively help animal welfare, reduce global warming, cut down on wasted transport costs and defy faceless corporatism just by switching from a Mac burger to a local, or even homemade veggie alternative, a couple of times a week. We can have the bigger debate later.
We need to love each other, take care of each other, embrace diversity, inspire each other to live together and at peace with the earth instead of destroying it. Many people, now and in the past, have developed, articulated, argued and fought for ideas that could transform lives. The historical dates in this organiser celebrate a history of heroes, many of whom have been lost or ignored by popular history. There are also dates of new events, national days, holy days and anniversaries that can be celebrated, remembered (or ignored!), but all of which go to prove that you are not alone, not now, not ever.