Written July 5, 2013
This week I touched just a bit on the surface of change. I offered a hint of how I think about things with the treatise on social change based loosely on the Theory of Spiral Dynamics. It’s no secret that I find this theory fascinating.
A few words of wisdom have resonated deeply with me to bring home my feelings that change is an internal thing first and foremost. The saying “Be the change you want to see in the world” has been heard so many times, but its essence is more intense than I believe we often realize. No matter what change you hope to see in your environment, it MUST start with YOU first. This is what I wrote on my Facebook page to illustrate this concept:
If you find yourself resisting change in general and worrying how it will affect stability, LOOK INSIDE. Are you resistant to personal changes and shifts in beliefs that will seemingly upset the structures of your own life too much and make you feel out of control? More specifically, if you find yourself resistive to change that would create social equality, LOOK INSIDE. Do you feel less than others and accept that as the norm? If you feel angry that social changes aren’t happening fast enough, LOOK INSIDE. Is there something holding you back from a personal change you long to make? Can you name your excuse? Quick examples and I could list another dozen, but the bottom line that sums up ‘Be the Change You Want to See in the World’ for me is: DEFINE what you want to see in the world, then STOP. Before you proclaim it and fight for it and get all angry about it, LOOK INSIDE and do whatever it takes to MAKE IT A TRUTH FOR YOUR OWN INNER LIFE. Then the outer world will have a chance to see its future in you.
A few other reminders to help us understand this can be found with the concept that the internal mirrors the external as well as Eckhart Tolle’s words about the human consciousness.
And then my dear friend, Regina, shared her artwork and her vision of change that is embodied in her pieces. A beautiful end to my week.
