Be the Change
It is hard to know who we are without being influenced, let alone who we are without influencing others.
‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ ...but in order for that change to be enacted, people have to see you so they can copy you. In order to influence others, you must have some kind of audience. To be the change, you need a platform! It is unfortunately not as simple as being. To be the change you want to see, you have to be seen.
Oversaturation of content makes ‘being’ that much harder. Especially when so much of our identity is formed and perceived online. It is hard to know who we are without being influenced, let alone who we are without influencing others.
What kind of change do we want to see? Who do we want to be? How do we want to be seen? Each answer might be different! For instance we might want to see a world that’s climate is not crisis, but we want to be a person who isn’t worried about the future, and we want to be seen by others as easygoing and fashionable, which might include wearing non-sustainable clothing, or using animal products, or not talking about the climate crisis, in order to fit in! Aside from that, so much of the blame is placed on the individual consumer, when it is the government's and companies’ responsibility to put policies and practices in place that don’t damage our environment. With all this in mind, it is no wonder change is so slow, and figuring out what kind of change we want to be in the world is so difficult.
Perhaps it is time to consider being in the world. Rather than being the change we want to see, just be.
If we can figure out who we are first, amongst all this chaos, but with no expectations to change any of it… maybe then we will be able to build a solid foundation from which to create real, lasting change, without draining ourselves in the process.
Listen to my podcast episode Connectivi-tea with Jaylene Mbararia for more thoughts on social media and societal change.
For more info on how we can reduce the climate crisis, click here!
