Everyone's actions have the potential to effect an equal impact on the world.This means that the U.S. hootenannies decision about what color the terror level is tomorrow may have the same eventual impact on the lives of everyone else on this planet, the state of the planet, and all the non-human inhabitants of this planet as a the decision of little boy in Tazmania to spend the afternoon burning ants with a magnifying glass.
The key to this whole perspective is to unlock yourself from thinking about impact as something that happens immediately and instead force yourself to take a step back (okay, maybe many steps back) and view the planet as a vast system of intricate pieces. You have to look at the big picture, the huge picture, the almost unfathomably enormous picture. In the grandest view, the ultimate impact an event has is infinite. Therefore, thanks to my steadfast belief in the Butterfly Effect, I believe that every decision, every sentence uttered and overheard, every action has equal potential to cause a shift in energy and matter all over the world, nigh, the universe.
I find this perspective comforting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it gives me hope that some little helpful action, some contribution to the positive energy (good vibes) in the world really can cause a big change. Second, when I listen to the right-wing numb nuts rattle on about "values" and "threats" and "democracy," I finally feel I can breathe easy and change the channel on the TV without my head exploding in frustration. The president's idiotic, corrupt, incompetent administration could quite possibly dissolve in a tornado of wisdom and truth. Tony Snow's words hold the same potential as mine or as those of a man in India speaking to his daughter. We can cancel out Snow's lies and stupidity by increasing our own efforts to spread truth and intelligence. We don't even have to counteract his exact points (though that sure helps), we can simply spread energy that is counter to his own.
The real power lies not with the person who takes the action, but with those who are the first recipients of it. Someone once said, "You cannot control what others do, but you can control how you will react." Looking at things under this new light, this saying has so much more meaning! If I choose to react to the bad news I hear with positive, good energy, then perhaps my reaction can cancel out the ill effects of what I heard. Of course this all takes place indirectly, and of course it may not be evident at first or ever. But I have hope that by continuing to smile and laugh and love that I can spread enough smiles and laughter and love among others to cancel out the anger and misery spread by people like Tony Snow, Wolf Blitzer, and of course, Dubya.
This has all gotten very confusing as I have been writing, so I apologize for the disorganized ramble. I hope you get the gist. And if not, I don't care because this is my blog, my journal, and my space for rambling. :-p
