Find the Change You Want to See in the World
By Ray Brimble, published January 2018
I have developed a wonderful bad habit: picking up the small change I spot on the street. My mother told me not to do it—loose change is dirty, she said. I do it anyway.
But that's a different story. This is about change. Change that's lost, change that's found. This is about finding awareness. There is not enough of that today.
It's about looking and seeing.
We are inundated with things to see. We live in a globally connected time, with 24/7 access to news and opinions from not only the people around us, but also from around the world. This constant access to the web and social media can greatly enhance our connection to other people and cultures. However, it's possible that we are losing our ability to see. While the usual saying is “Can’t see the forest for the trees,” I think it can often be the other way around: the size and sweep of the forest is so overwhelming that we can’t appreciate the loveliness of the trees in front of us.
I found an antidote to this in my wonderful bad habit: I find the change I wish to see in the world by simply looking.
Small change, like Grace, is all around us, just lying there, waiting to be found. Remember the excitement you had as a kid during an Easter egg hunt? Enthusiastic seeking is a first step toward finding change and finding Amazing Grace.
As promised in Matthew 7:7, “Seek and ye shall find.”, seeking does not only require looking. It also requires having the ability to "see." Seekers know how and what they are looking for. They also know where to look. Finding change requires a seeker's eye, the cultivation of awareness amongst the mundane. Small change is not evenly distributed. It is often found where folks are transitioning; getting in and out of cars, sitting on park benches, taking things out of their pockets. It’s fun to discern these places of transition and then to practice looking. Do this and I am sure you will find change on a regular basis.
Finding change hones two additional skills: observation and empathy. Observation requires scanning and understanding the landscape ahead. I like to expand my vision to its periphery while searching for something shining or unusual on the ground around me. Empathy requires you put yourself in the shoes of those who came before you to figure out where change might be found. While practicing empathetic prospecting in any place you find yourself, try to imagine where change might have been dropped, and see if it’s there. To cultivate both observation and empathy, we must practice exploring the space outside of our own selves. Finding the change you want to see in the world requires that it not always be about you.
I have to admit, my wonderful bad habit is fun. But as you may have guessed by now, it’s also a metaphor for something far more essential than picking up loose coins off the ground. My concept is a not-so-subtle homage to Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world." Let's keep working at that, but in addition, shall we also develop a sacred sight for the types of change which are already all around us, every day, so that we may adopt and foster this change for good?
This change is real substance, which can be grasped, carried, and passed on to others. Like a penny, it can be small, seemingly of little value, and often overlooked. You must want to see it and develop the skills to know where to look.
Find the change you wish to see in the world. It lives among us, within us, and in places we may not have bothered to look. It can have a human name, or it could be a place, time, or even feeling which compels you. Reach out, share, keep seeking, and you will find change.
Finally, in case you were wondering, the total amount of change I found during the last year is $5.29. Not too shabby!