One voice. It sounds infinitesimal. Who are you but one person with one small voice in a world of 7 billion people? Yet, you share the ideas of many around you. There is only one defining difference: Some people are not as willing to speak up because they believe there’s no power in their voice. What they forget is how many other voices would join theirs.
It took one man named Tony Collier to drive around LA collecting leftover food from restaurants and dispensing it to the needy from his garage before investors gathered to help him establish the LA Food Bank. Feeding the needy — this is not an innovative idea. The people who fill the gap created by a need are not trailblazers for their ingenuity. They are leaders for their resolve to take action.
Taking action sounds like a big commitment. But large-scale change is not done by one alone. It only starts there. How do you catalyze a big change? Spread your ideas.
Spreading ideas can be fun. If you went to the last Tom Shadyac Convo, you learned of two alumni who walked and played their instruments from Pepperdine to 3rd Street and by the time they reached Santa Monica, they’d accumulated a mass of people singing and dancing with them. It built community, and all they did was let go and let loose. Thus it was with relative ease that they built up the party.
What changes do you want to start? Maybe you want to break the mold and start your own dance party in the Caf this Friday. Get inspired by Google searching “one man dance party” and learn how you can go from one awkward person busting a move to inspiring a hundred people to bounce around you like jumping beans.
Maybe you wish all professors would mandate double-sided printing for your assignments to set a responsible example for us rookies. You will learn that quite a few peers share your same desire. What next? Pop in to your prof’s office hours and suggest your eco-friendly amendment to the syllabus. After that, tell your friends your tale of crossing the threshold into office hours, and get wild admiration for your daring feat (while spreading your earth-friendly idea).
Maybe you actually want to talk to the grill cooks in the Caf instead of filling out an impersonal, wasteful piece of paper. Bending down to circle all your options takes up more time than speaking to a fellow person. It also allows for misunderstandings, while discouraging conversation. What next? Use your voice to build community, and ask the cooks if you can order directly from them. Adding a smile ups your odds. As they grill your food with the extra ingredient of happiness from your human interaction, stroll over to Dining Services and tell them you wish they would save themselves money and do away with this anti-sustainability paper system. If it’s after-hours, bend to the system and fill out a comment card.
So speak up, because others will join you, and there you’ll build friendships. Friendship: highly sustainable.
