“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ...We need not wait to see what others do.” ”
Have you ever thought to yourself… “I’m just one person, how can I make a difference?”
But you can, in small, simple ways that can have a huge impact. What if 10 people shifted their mindset so that “I am one person, and I can make a difference!” Or 100 and then 1000!
Some people think of this as Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). Doing something today for another person that is unexpected and giving. Buying coffee for a stranger, sending a note to a long-lost friend… Anna Brones, a talented writer and paper-cut artist recently wrote on her digital advent calendar about Random Acts of Kindness… it’s definitely worth the read.
Yet I want to take us beyond RAK to show how we can, as one person make a difference. There is “power” in just one person making a difference.
How often have you passed by litter and thought “gosh, why do people do that?” If 1 person stops to pick up garbage along the roadside, in a park, on a sidewalk then that one person is beginning to “be that change they want to see in the world.”
Last year during on Day 15 of Project Peace, I talked about the Copper River Delta Knitted Birds Project. On this post, I encouraged Project Peacers to knit birds and send them to the exhibit that Dotty from The Net Loft was creating. Last summer I had the chance to visit Cordova, Dotty, The Net Loft community and the bird exhibit. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What impact could a room filled with knitted birds look like?
Powerful…
Graceful…
Sweet…
Global…
And evidence of peace spreading around the world…
I stood in the museum in solitude and silence, weeping with tears of joy, astonishment and evidence… that the act or seed planted by one can make a difference… we worked collectively to contribute to this magnificent display.
This room was filled with hundreds of peace doves… doves from Nicky’s generous gift of the dove pattern last year. From all around the world… Knitters for peace… symbolized by the migration of peace birds all the way to Alaska.
And as I continued to meander through the birds and the tears persisted, I knew they were also tears of gratitude… for our knitted community dedicated to peace.
Peace seed #12.
Never doubt that you, just you can make a difference…
Today, as we begin to extend our peaceful thoughts and actions outward, identify one simple seed you can plant today that has the potential to positively impact others. Whether it be a Random Act of Kindness or you stop to pick up some roadside litter, or identify a local group that accepts knitted winter weather gear, or stop to talk to someone about knitting and peace.
Plant seeds of peace…
P.S. To my knowledge, the Copper River Delta Knitted Birds Project is ongoing. Maybe we should send a skein of Pearls to Cordova?