Making Change

I've been thinking a lot about how to make change in the world lately. Of course there's the famous Gandhi saying: "Be the change you want to be in the world"---and I do believe we need to act according to how we want people to act. However, I think it's more than that, too.
We need to understand the opposing viewpoint--no matter how hard and repulsive that may be--and offer ideas. It takes more work to change. It takes caring to change.
Last week, I held a World Fair, celebrating diversity. A friend asked me why I put so much energy into the project. I answered that it is because I want to live my life based on what I believe. I believe in diversity, in creativity, in kindness, in growth, in celebrating people at all stages of life. Holding a diversity fair for children within my community fits into so much of what I believe. Yes--it takes work, planning, and exhaustion. Passion. And it's worth it.
I'm afraid that fewer and fewer people live with intention. Fewer and fewer people want to put forth that extra effort to do what they believe. Maybe, even, fewer and fewer people know what they believe. I am lucky to be passionate.
In the same week as my World Fair, I had a run-in at the bank. The ATM machine ate a check of mine, and with horror I heard the "Crunch, crunch, crunch" sound of shredding paper. It was after hours. There was nobody available at customer service. The security phone number listed about the ATM machine was not helpful. And the following day, when I did reach customer service at the BIG bank (not the local bank), they didn't really know what to do either. It was a few days later that a bank representative let me file a claim. When I spoke to people at the local bank, suggesting that they have a number to call in case this happens, and let people know that it happens---the bank's assistant manager didn't care. She said "9 out of 10 times there is no problem". It wouldn't be enough for me to have a 90% accuracy with other people's money! I brought that point up to her.............and condescendingly I was told to leave the bank because I was upsetting the decorum.
Making change sometimes means upsetting the decorum. I have forces in me saying "be sweet", "be kind", "be gentle", "don't be obstreperous!"..... I don't plan to be a wild woman. I believe in kindness as much as I believe in passion. I need to use my strength to choose my battles----and then be willing to be treated with condescension and misunderstanding. I need to have the beacon within that tells me what I do is right.
The biggest change I wish for the world right now is CARING. The bank asst. manager's apathy really struck a nerve with me, similarly to my friends' not understanding why I put forth effort to organize a fair. We don't all need to care about the same things. But if people all found out what they cared about and worked with value towards what mattered.............imagine how the world will be.
I will try to model this.
And I think I'm going to write a letter to the local paper about the bank, and pull my money out of that bank and put it into a different, local, more small-scale one.
On to my next project--a poetry celebration for third graders!