image courtesy of David Paul Ohmer

This week I’m getting ready to move, and so I’ve been focused on small, mundane details and plans. Rushing around getting everything ready, I realized that I tend to see the day-to-day minutae of my life as somehow separate from the larger mission of creating a lovely, fair, functional future, like I have to choose between attending to what needs attention right now and what needs attention in the larger sense.

Silly, right? I think most of us do this, though. We focus on the everyday demands placed on our time, and we lose the thread of our larger desires and goals. How do we stitch the two back together? How do we live each day, and make each choice, in the context of creation and responsibility?

It depends on where we put our focus, and how we spend our time. Here are some things to keep in mind as you decide where to apply these precious resources each day.

Train yourself to be more positive.

This doesn’t mean walking around like a dope. It just means letting go of some of the fear, worry, and anger—and their more mundane cousins annoyance, grumpiness, and irritability—so that you can see more options and possibilities.

Look beyond the normal arguments.

If thesis is the way things are, and antithesis is the reaction against the way things are, look for the synthesis—the higher level that embraces and makes a new kind of sense out of both sides of a disagreement. If you look at 2 opposing forces and squint your eyes, sometimes you can see where they aren’t opposed at all. Sometimes you can’t, of course, but it’s always worth a try.

Pick a project.

Become obsessed with something. Get to know it intimately. If you’re fascinated by fashion, learn about its history, where clothes are produced, who is involved, and how others are working to transform it. If you love food, hang out at the farmers’ market. Grow food and cook it and eat it. Dive right in with enthusiasm and leave the cynicism behind (see point 1). You’ll invariably see things that you can and want to help with.

Keep working on yourself.

Practice honesty, courage, grace, and integrity. Become a better instrument. Increase your power, your determination, and your ability to think on your feet. Stand up for what is right and expect more from yourself every day. Remember that the stronger you are, the more good you can do in the world, and every day brings opportunities to become stronger.

Changing the world can seem like a far-off, daunting task—big and scary and impossible. But it’s not. It comes down to the simplest choices we make every day. Do I watch TV tonight, or read a book to educate myself? Do I stay home or go to this meeting? Do I do what’s comfy and familiar, or do I push myself a bit?

This is how the world is changed: each of us taking on more responsibility to change it, dedicating ourselves to something higher, and working together to bring the possibilities shimmering like a mirage on the horizon into the here and now.