What to do? What’s necessary?
Not a vow of poverty, but close to it. Not a vow of abstention from gratuitous violence in entertainment, but close to it. Not a vow to totally transform the ground of being of American education, but close to it. Not a vow of silence, but an opening up to listening much more than preaching in the future. Not a vow to reject all high tech gadgetry, but something fairly close to that (once you’ve had a chance to glance at what the links provide in a piece a colleague wrote this year for both Countercurrents and Reason Bowl… which generated virtually no response). Not a vow of refraining from the habit of writing socially-conscious/environmentally-conscious articles mainly because it pleases you personally to do so, but close to it. Not a vow to never take an airplane, but something along those lines. Not a vow to get off of whatever treadmill you’re on at present more often, but a commitment to definitely do something about that dynamic. Not a vow to be respectful to everyone under all circumstances, but close to it.
A vow, however, to not cower when it comes to securing significant reins of decision-making power. And a vow to not support any Holy Wars.
To honor all life incessantly.
I trust that the reader can see how what’s advocated goes far beyond the notion of Be the Change.
It is not honoring all life to merely serve as a good example for others, important as that is.
To honor all life incessantly. The truth that life is sacred.
To do that one must do something new with others in solidarity.
Rachel Olivia O’Connor is a freelance journalist. She can be reached at [email protected].