Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something!

Some thoughts for those who hear a call to action.

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

I am among the 48.4% of American voters who are (choose one or more) [devastated/heartbroken/angry/ disappointed/ anxious/ frustrated/ despairing] over the 2024 Presidential Election result.

Hundreds of people have taken to print and digital publications in recent weeks to offer their own answers to the big questions: Why did this happen? Is this the country I thought it was? What happens next?

I will leave these questions to the pundit class, who are able and more than willing to offer their opinions. But another question has launched a hostile takeover of my brain: What do I do now?

In the days since recovering from the initial electoral shock, I have felt welling up in me a resolve to do something. But what?

Before exploring the “what,” however, I need to say a few words about why this is an issue for me.

Not Plan A

True confession: This was not how I envisioned my retirement.

For many years I participated in civic life and worked for social change. I was employed by several nonprofit institutions that tried to make a difference for people with little means or opportunity. I worked to strengthen relationships between my synagogue and the residents of the neighborhood in which it sits. I sat on several nonprofit boards. I held leadership positions long enough to recognize that leadership, at its core, is an opportunity to get beaten up by your friends.

But when I made the momentous transition from self-employed to self-retired, I intended to put all that behind me. For several years I have enjoyed watching, from my comfortable position on the sidelines, as the world continues madly spinning.

This year’s presidential election shocked me out of my lethargy. For reasons I can’t entirely explain, it has made me feel guilty for remaining on the sidelines in what feels like an all-hands-on-deck moment of crisis. And so I have been stumbling around for answers to what I can and should do.

Three Inspirations

Three recent essays have influenced my thinking more than any of the excited punditry declaring democracy has failed, all hope is lost, who is to blame, and reasons to renew your passport.

The first essay, by a young activist named Sam Delgado, discusses how belonging to a community can provide the emotional support that humans need to survive and thrive, particularly in times of loss. She also points out that community building is not a one-and-done activity. “It requires consistently showing up, being willing to give and take, and managing uncomfortable disagreements.” This observation confirms my own experience – it’s easy for people to volunteer for one-day or one-hour feel-good projects, and hard to find people willing to make the long-term commitments necessary for meaningful change.

The second piece, by a postdoctoral research fellow in psychology named Liza M. Hinchey, extols the benefits of performing small acts of kindness and connection. Small acts can add up to big results, she says. “Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective,” she writes. “This is true at multiple levels: between individuals, between people and institutions, and between cultures.” Connecting with others “strengthens relationships, which strengthens communities, which influence societies.” Her essay gives me hope that even little things I do can be change agents.

The third is by Lou Blazer, who writes a great newsletter called We’re All Getting Older. She writes about the work of Deepa Iyer, a social action movement builder and the author of Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection. Iyer answers the question of “what can I do?” by describing 10 roles that a person can play to make meaningful contributions. Briefly, the roles are weavers (connecting people and ideas), experimenters, frontline responders, visionaries, builders, caregivers, healers, disrupters, storytellers, and guides. This strikes me as a helpful way of seeing how our own strengths and abilities, varied as they are, can help communities and organizations move forward.

The Way Forward

Taken together, these three readings have pointed me in a general direction that makes sense for me: Something involving community-building, more meaningful personal connections, and small acts of kindness.

I know that nothing I do on my own will change the course of American politics or save the nation from an authoritarian government. But I never thought I could.

I cannot ignore, however, the stirrings of what I call the Prophet Motive. I believe I have a calling to act in the interests of justice, fairness, and decency.

Though I’m still exploring the “how,” I accept an obligation to play a small part in reaching across lines of race and class and wealth, building connections, listening more intently, and looking for ways to build partnerships and community. I sense that my rightful place is, in the words of songwriter Iris DeMent, “working on a world I may never see.”

I’m coming off the sidelines. What are you going to do?