Those who dare to create change for a world with a future
Great art, great work, change…is hard.
Easy instead to stay small. To not step into the arena.
The first time I stepped into the public arena with Big Blue Sky, an event a small team of incredible people co-created in my local community, I knew a few things.
My commitment was 100%. The event was happening, no matter who showed up or who did not.
It was about starting. Taking a stand. Putting that first stake in the ground.
I was the steward. The keeper of the integrity of the idea behind Big Blue Sky.
It was not about me, it was about the purpose for which we all toiled.
What I did not know at the time was that when the attack would come from the incumbent system that we were seeking to disrupt, I needed to have people around me with the experience of being in this place…the public arena in the face of attack.
When the attack came, I was not prepared. And I did not have that support.
I took it personally. It shattered me that an idea held so beautifully by many people towards a world with a future would be so viciously attacked.
It took me over a year to recover. To realise that at the point of attack, had I known better, I would have said…ah…we must be doing something right. The cage has been rattled. Now is the time to endure. To hold our nerve. To stay the course.
Instead, I retreated. I went through a very dark night. I questioned everything. It almost broke me.
I wonder how many beautiful ideas towards a world with a future never see the light of day because those stewards who hold the space for their unfolding do not have mentors around them to hold them steady when the seas storm with viciousness from those most threatened.
Change is hard. Creating a world with a future threatens so many people who profit from things exactly as they are, even though they may profess to be innovators.
When the attack comes, which it will hold steady against the wind. Be held by those who know this path, who know and love you.
And more than anything, do not be that person who attacks. At the least, see the courage of those who dare to step into the arena. Even if you do not agree with their idea, if their effort is sincere, and their purpose is for something greater than self, applaud their courage.
It is we, those who dare, who slowly, surely, steadily, create change for a world with a future.
February 2nd 2020
Photo taken February 2nd, 2020
