Gandhi famously said:
”Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
We look at that statement as wise words, and we often quote them, we typically feel like that's an idea we can get behind.
But how often do we actually sit down and consider exactly what this ”change” we want... looks like?
When you go out there, and go about your daily business, what exactly is it that you're doing that represents a change from the majority paradigm? What exactly is it that you're trying to change? Or are you just saying "pretty words" while sailing through life pretty much on autopilot?
Wait! Gandhi Didn't Actually SAY That!
I remember being at a spiritual retreat a couple of decades back, and after one of the workshops a group of us sat around in the common room at the retreat center and discussed this very quote. And while we were doing that we also got on the subject if so many of these quotes have wisdom we have in our social consciousness… and how we take them to heart and speak them, but how do we actually implement them? Are we actually implementing them?
As it turned out, one of the retreat attendees was actually a Gandhi scholar, and informed the group — in part as an illustration of the way we tend to adopt "pretty words" without actual intention and thought — that Gandhi actually didn't say this thing everyone attributes to him and joyously add to their email signature lines.
He explained that the "quote" is actually a popularized synopsis of the following passage:
“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. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Which brings me back to the point about what we actually do as we go about our daily business. Regardless of whether you go by the popularized quote or the original passage, how are you conducting yourself?
Leaving the World a Better Place
My former father-in-law — who was *no saint — was fond of saying that the meaning of having lived a good life was "to step lightly and leave the world a better place for our having been here."
It's a bit like the unwritten rule of wilderness campgrounds: "leave the campground a little bit better than you found it."
If we all do that — with campgrounds, and with our lives — then maybe we can "be the change" we wish to see in the world!
These are all fine deals, we just need to implement them, not just say them!
The Deeper Implication
Regardless, the deeper implication behind these wisdoms and truisms has always been that we need to be the change. We can't just sit around and wait for some fictional "they" or "somebody" create change.
In a sense, the microcosm that is the Hive Ecosystem is a great example. There is no "Hive, Incorporated" in charge of calling the shots here. WE — the community members — are our own catalysts for change.
Wish there were a group for knitters? Well, create one! Wish there were a group for vintage car buffs? Well, create one. See where I'm going with this? BE the change!
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
How about YOU? What is the change you wish to see in the world? Are you setting that example, BEING that change? Do you realize that YOU are a catalyst for change? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20220329 00:28 PDT
0534/1780