Why Your Actions Matter, Even When They Don't Feel Impactful
Oak trees are ecological grand slams. They support 897 kinds of caterpillars; and a single - one! - clutch of chickadees needs 7,000 of those protein-packed caterpillars to fly the nest. Then, those caterpillar-fortified chickadees go forth to reduce our insect population, spread seeds, and pollinate the heck outta plants.
So if bird feed is Scottie Pippen, oak trees are LeBron James.
But here's an obvious truth about oak trees: not a single one of them grew overnight. If a squirrel burrows an acorn in my backyard, it could take 30 to 70 years to reach full height (how to plant an oak tree from an acorn on your own here).
Good stuff takes time. Designer Debbie Millman says, "Expect anything worthwhile to take a while." And often, in that while, it can look and feel like there is absolutely zippo growth.
If we're calling our Senator (here's how to do that most effectively), marching, helping with local campaigns, impact is rarely immediate.
But - and this is key - it does not mean our actions aren't impactful.
Let's take a beat: this can be hard to digest. It can feel like we're planting piddly little acorns while the whole forest is being chainsawed around us. And absent a sense of progress, it can be hard to keep on showing up.
But if we don't put those acorns in the soil, there will be no new forest.
So without clear signs of immediate impact, how can we sustain ourselves in the work?
Here are four elements I find helpful:
Remember Those Who Came Before Us
We stand in the shade of many who quietly, and with little acclaim, dropped acorn after acorn into the soil, inspired others to do the same, and when the sun didn't shine or the rain didn't rain, they made their own damn weather.
Slowly, from that hard-tilled American soil sprouted civil rights, clean air and water, marriage equality, hospice. And more, much more. Not overnight, but over many, many, many nights.
If we continue to show up, years from now, others will stand in the shade we created.
Stand Tall Knowing We Spent Our Time as a Reflection of Our Values
As Howard Zinn writes, "The future is an infinite succession of presents and to live now, as we believe human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
We have acted as we believe humans should act, in service of what we believe humans deserve, and that is a victory itself. Or, as Gwendolyn Brooks put it:
Live not for battles won.
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along.
Action Inspires Others to Action
A neighbor saying she's going to the protest down the street can inspire us to go. A friend talking about how easy it was to call her Senator can move us to do the same thing. Seeing someone out picking up trash can compel us to follow suit.
And surprisingly quickly, one acorn planted can become a copse, then a grove, then a forest of oak trees.
Politicians Need to Know Where Their Constituents are on Issues
Politicians are beholden to their voters. If we don't reach out, don't make our opinion known, they may take our silence as consent for what's happening.
And if we don't reach out, don't make our opinion known when politicians do do something we like, they make think their action was unimportant and do less or none of it. (More on the wildly underrated power of thanking politicians here!)
And One Last Thing...Invite a Friend
After we've called our House Rep, invite a friend to do the same. Tell'em how easy it was, give them advice on when/who to call (try the district office over the D.C. office, usually right around 9am when this first open up). Truly, make it an invitation. Then ask them to extend the invite to one of their friends.
People are looking for ways to make a difference, sometimes they just need an invitation.
And should discouragement thicken as the chainsaws buzz around us, let's keep that great Mexican proverb near our hearts: They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds.