Be the Change

If you want to make the world a better place, then be the change you want to see in it. This is the most simplest of advice that all of us have heard our entire lives.  However, it is the most effective and the more daring of methods, and so not enough of us instill this wisdom in our practices.

It might be that girl, the one you’re looking at.  She’s that model in the magazine and she is everything a girl would want to be.  But the world doesn’t know that she might have an eating disorder or be addicted to any kind of drug.  She is such a good actress that no one suspects a thing, and she makes both vices look cool to everyone around her.  However, the perfume in the ad smells even sweeter because she is selling it.  You’d never guess that your fantasy girl might have problems herself.  One day it’ll be too late, because everyone around her refuses to notice or intervene.

Or maybe it’s the actor on the big screen.  He can’t distinguish real relationships from fake ones and so he is depressed.  He abuses alcohol on a regular basis.  But it makes everything better for him, and he is able to smile on camera.  Perhaps he suffers from a recent accident, or perhaps a parasitic cancer is consuming his body.  But he finds a way to numb the pain and do what he loves.  It puts pep in his step and a twinkle in his eye.  And people idolize him.  He keeps it a secret until he can’t conceal it anymore.

It’s probably the song you can’t get enough of on the radio.  Did you know the songwriter committed suicide a month after her song hit the charts?  She found the passion to write after she was recently attacked and raped.  She experimented dangerously with drugs and ODed three times in a week before the fourth attempt took her.  She tried to cry out to the world through another voice, and still no reply came that would save her.  The artist now sings the song with so much emotion and honor, it is hard not to believe it is not her own and no one remembers the pain of the songwriter.

These are popular themes in all types of work, the entertainment industry included.  However if we take Michael’s advice, the world would be better instantly.  For example, I work out instead of eating too little, I prefer to use raw/minimally-edited photos, and I strive to lift others up along with me, rather than isolating myself from inspirational talent.  Be the change you want to see in the world and lead by example.  Make an impression that lasts a lifetime and put your efforts toward that which matters.  How can you make a change?  Go out of your way to throw that energy into the universe and see what you reap.  Maybe it’s eating better, not smoking, saving money, being more considerate or humble, recycling, etc.  Whatever you choose to pass forward, good luck and stay true!