image from bobster1985

The other night I was at a discussion group for a challenging philosophy book, and the leaders suggested that we start out by getting clear on what the terms we were throwing around—words like “philosophy” and “materialism”—really mean, in a deep and concrete sense.

Doing this ended up providing most of the fodder for our discussion for the rest of the evening. In trying to fully define the words we were using, we ended up exploring and coming to a far more profound understanding of them.

Afterward, it occurred to me that “activism” is one of those seemingly simple terms that has a lot more meaning in it than what we usually think, and that we might gain a lot from looking at it more closely.

What is activism? In its broadest sense, it means taking action to bring about change. The iconic images of activism we carry in our minds— people carrying signs and chanting slogans, angry protesters facing off against walls of police, enormous crowds assembled around monuments—mark milestones in history.

But the actions that make up change aren’t necessarily huge in scale or profound in scope. Nor must they fit into the march and protest paradigm. Everything counts, from sending a letter to your congressperson to suggesting your friends meet up at the farmers’ market instead of the mall to calling your grandma when you don’t feel like it. In every decision we make, we have the opportunity to change things for the better.

Personal development falls under activism, too, at least when its undertaken in the right context—“Grow enormous muscles so everyone will be impressed by me” isn’t quite the same motivation as “Get stronger so I have more energy to participate in life.” But it’s important to expand our capabilities so that we can engage in ever-larger projects. And as we engage, as we bump up against the limits of what we think we’re capable of and try and fail and succeed, something magical happens—we grow.

Caring deeply for something larger than ourselves can carry us past our fears and limitations, bringing us into completely new ways of being. In this way, activism not only demands that we learn to embody what we seek to create; it also acts as an engine of change within us. Gandhi’s plea to “Be the change we wish to see in the world” ends up working both ways—the task of creating the new world we want to live in cannot be separated from the task of becoming fit to live in it.

What do you think about when you hear the word “activism”? What does being an activist mean to you? Does it just mean taking action, or is it more?