Thousands? Millions? How many people does it take to create a movement?
I was born in 1956 (feel free to do the math) and it has taken me this long to “march” for a cause. My motivation originally came about by reaching what I call my “adamant negative” point. The “NOT-TY” responses spilling out of my mouth included:
- NOT acceptable
- NOT in my lifetime
- NOT in my country
- NOT in my city
- NOT in my neighborhood
- NOT in my house
- NOT in my family (least-of-which NOT around MY grandchildren!)
So, I marched. Still unclear about why I was there, I knew I needed to be in this space to process all my “NOTs” and get clear on what I DID want – for ME and for the world we are leaving to our grandchildren. It also didn’t hurt that the temps rose to 70 degrees on January 21, 2017 in St. Louis, with a cloudless bright blue sky. Call me “Pollyanna”, but I took it as a sign of better times to come.
Save what matters. The news reported 12,000-plus came out to walk in St. Louis alone. Everyone was marching for their own reasons, and at least 50% of those people had signs. From the signs I could see, it seemed the common denominator was to save something they loved. It didn’t matter if they took a week to prepare their signs (you could easily spot the graphic designers), or if you grabbed a cardboard box and a black Sharpie as you ran out of the house that morning . . . the congruent message was clear . . . “save what matters”!
At one point in the march (it was much more like a slow “meander”, as the crowd was SO big), I find myself next to a small child carrying her hand-made sign, “Save the Animals”. Her Crayola rendition of the horse (maybe cow, maybe dog) was completely in her own hand, as were the letters in the words. By the time I grabbed my phone to take a photo, she had moved out of sight. I allowed myself to imagine her parents encouraging her to “pick something you love which you want to save” . . . and she DID! Her little sign told a BIG story and was truly symbolic of the peaceful, family event . . . overflowing with people wanting to SAVE WHAT MATTERS to them.
No more “NOT-TY” Mouth. My personal take-away from the march experience was to turn each of my “adamant negatives” into a “Positive YES!”.
I say “YES!” (in no particular order) to . . .
- kindness
- diversity
- inclusion
- passion
- patience
- choice
- consent
- respect
- courage
- hutzpah
- audacity
- hope
- honesty
- truth
- values
- safety
And I fully intend to keep adding to my YES list!
What word would YOU include on your YES list?