Dreaming of a Better World? Make One
It's doable--but will you do it?
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~Arundhati Roy
We don’t just have to dream of a better world. We can actively make one. It might feel futile in light of the many atrocities committed around the globe, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.
It matters. I woke up with an orange furry face inches away from mine. Ember was a rescue cat who spent two years of her life feral. She had never lived in a home—until she lived in mine. She’s only been here a few short months, and already, she knows that she is loved and safe. You can’t put a price on that.
Against my feet, a rescue dog is sleeping. He’s a foster, still waiting for his forever family to find him. It’s a small thing to open up my home, but it’s not small to him. He plays with my dogs and lies down sweetly beside me when I’m watching TV.
I don’t know how to save the whole world, but I can save a kitten. I can foster a dog. I can volunteer at a nonprofit. I can donate food to a food drive. I can do something to help someone.
We’re not useless. It’s not futile. Every day, we can do something to make the world a little better. No one else is coming to do it for us.
We can recycle. We can live more sustainably. We can help someone in need. We can grow a garden. We can skip the pesticides. We can free the spider.
It isn’t altruism. It’s our salvation. We do what we can to remind ourselves why we’re doing it at all. Every act of love or act of kindness matters. None of it is wasted.
We can share a post. We can donate our time. We can be kind even when we need some kindness. Especially then.
I often ask my children, “Are you making things better or worse?” This is particularly asked when one child is upset and the other is escalating the situation. It gives them a moment to consider their actions. Are we being kind and comforting, or are we making someone’s hard day harder? It’s a question I often ask myself.
We have choices. We get to decide who we’ll be when we decide what we do. We can make the world better—or we can add to making it worse.