Be the Change You Wish to See

I've noticed something about our society: we LOVE a good cause and we get all fired up about it. And then we move on to the next cause without following through on the previous one.

Yesterday, 9% (100/1130--yes, I went through and counted) of my Facebook friends changed their profile photos to the red Human Rights Campaign logo. On Twitter, you can see real-time trends on a map here: http://trendsmap.com. It's very cool. Right now #MarriageEquality is trending in California, Minnesota, and New York.


But if you check out this infographic from HootSuite.com, you see the Top 10 Twitter Trends of 2012. The Olympics was the top trend of 2012--do you remember who won your "favorite" events? Maybe. We don't pay attention to Olympic sports for three years and eleven months out of the year and then we live and breathe Olympics. The election we can all still remember. Justin Bieber? Well, I don't pay attention to him! But look #4: Hurricane Sandy. We ALL came together for that. We could donate to the Red Cross, there was the 12/12/12 concert, there were all the hashtags sending the victims love and support...but do you still think about those victims? They're still recovering and we're not even paying attention anymore. Do you remember anyone who won an MTV Music Award? I don't. James Holmes was eighth in the World News category. Do you know who that is without "Aurora" being in the same sentence? In July were you incensed about his actions and were talking about the Aurora tragedy non-stop? After the Sandy Hook tragedy did you start talking about gun control again? Are you still talking about gun control, or is gay marriage (or anti gay marriage) now your "cause"?











And check out these other graphics from 2011 and 2010. Look at numbers 6, 8, and 10 in the 2011 Trending News category. Do you remember the Egyptian, Brazilian, or English riots? I don't. I went back and looked up the Egyptian riots and it jogged my memory--I was really upset about them. Do you remember the Libyan conflict? I do--I cried and wrote a letter to Obama when we shot missiles at Libya. But I never followed up with him. The earthquake in Japan was in 2011. Remember that? I made so many cookies and cupcakes for bake sales for them! They are still recovering from that disaster. How often do you think about it? I guess I did for the first time in almost 2 years on their 2 year anniversary earlier this month. But back then, I wanted to help and I made it my top priority.

In 2010, the Gulf Oil Spill was the top trend on Twitter (It's already been three years?!). Remember how fired up we all got about oil companies making sure they were keeping the environment clean? When's the last time that hit the news? Do you even think about it anymore? I barely ever do. The World Cup was also in 2010. Who won? I remember watching it and being incredibly into it--I even refashioned a Brasil jersey for myself to wear! And the earthquake in Haiti--how many bake sales did we all have? How much did we all donate? Do we know now how Haitians are doing? Nope.

My point with these graphics and pulling out "big" stories is that what means so much to us right now ends up becoming just another statistic on a graph somewhere. Unless we choose one thing and make it our mission, how effective are we being? I write every day about current events, but is anything changing? After Sandy Hook I wrote about gun control. The entire country felt like it was moving toward stricter gun control. One hundred days after Sandy Hook, nothing's happened and the window of opportunity for change is closing fast. After the BP oil spill in 2010, we had a window to regulate oil companies more. That window is definitely shut. After the earthquake in Japan we had a window to talk about nuclear energy--it's shut.

We must take the opportunities we have to make change. Yesterday the Supreme Court talked about how they're concerned that this gay marriage case is even in the federal court, because it's "younger than cell phones or the Internet." But this is our window. Look at these big issue windows in just the last three years that we have allowed to close without seizing the opportunity that's at hand. 

I love watching the news. I love making noise about the news and what we need to do to change it. But what will it take to really make change and not just make noise? This is a time for us--we are on the cusp of change: gay marriage rights, gun control, education policies, and so much more. If we become silent because an event falls too far back in our memories, change and progress will never happen. It is up to us to keep the conversation going. It is up to us to bring about the change we all so crave.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi