We're Being Called to DO Something for Hope, Justice, and the Future

Shyamala Harris is my new inspiration

I suspect I would have gotten along well with Kamala Harris’s mother, Shyamala, from the stories shared about her at the Democratic National Convention. If you missed it, Kamala shared that her mother “taught us never to complain about injustice but do something about it…and never do anything half-assed. And that is a direct quote.”

Shyamala’s feistiness is inspiring to me.

Too often, the power of injustice seems overwhelming, and we can lose hope that anything will change. I get that. I feel it. It can seem like our only options are to wring our hands or surrender to despair in the face of systems that seem monolithic, impervious to input from ordinary people. Complaining helps us vent some of our pain, but like the steam whistling from the top of a tea kettle, it has little transformative power.

We need to stay in the boiling pot in order to have the power to make something new from what’s in front of us. We aren’t going to make the impact we desire if we put forth a half-assed effort. And sometimes, that means it’s going to hurt to commit to doing something in the face of injustice.

That doesn’t mean that all of us who want to transform the world must give up our current lives to become politicians or activists. As a sensitive introvert, I know I’m not suited to those roles, as much as I value them.

Each of us needs to commit fully to taking the feisty actions that we are suited to taking. Once we are doing our part, we must take a leap of faith and trust that there are others who are taking on the rest of what needs to be done.

For me, that means catalyzing others to stop complaining and start doing. My energy is going toward supporting the needs of people who want to tackle injustice but are struggling to clear the mental, emotional, and practical obstacles from their paths. That’s my genius, my gift to share, and the way that I can have the greatest impact on the world around me. Other people with other gifts will run the campaigns, organize the street protests, do the social media posts, get out the vote. There is no shortage of work to be done, so it seems prudent to support people in self-selecting the tasks they do best and feel called to do.

And no, I won’t eradicate injustice through my actions. I’ll wake up tomorrow and not much will have changed, at least on the surface. There will still be a lot of work to do and a collection of old and new obstacles to overcome.

The alternative, however, is to do nothing. To complain. To be complacent. To give into cynicism.

That is not who I am, and I don’t think it’s who you are either. At my core, I’m a fighter, a revolutionary, an idealist, the person who cheers on and cheers up those around her. Doing nothing is not an option that I can live with in my heart or my spirit.

Kamala Harris said, “my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are. America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.”

I am not willing to let a broken system define who I am.

Harris’s words are not just a call for Americans, although we may lead the world in needing to hear it right now. It is a call for each person across the world to show who we are through our deeds. It has never been more important to align our values with our actions, to live our missions, to act with principle for the sake of being who we are.

Or in the immortal words of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation, “never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.” And that thing is our commitment to taking on injustice, using our unique gifts to impact the world that is right around us. Whether you help your child learn to be kind to people who are different from them, donate to a political action committee, or author a bill that becomes a law, you can whole-ass your commitment to a more hopeful future.

Shyamala Harris did that as a researcher. Her daughter is doing that as a politician. I’m doing it through my catalytic work with sensitive idealists. How are you making a commitment to hope in your Singularly Sensitive way? I’d love to for you to reach out and let me know.

Let’s not half-ass our vision for a better world. Let’s lean into supporting each other and doing something, as often as we can, to be the change we desire. Let’s not give into the lie that we are powerless and must accept the inevitability of hatred, disconnection, fear and destruction.

With values-congruent action, we will sustain our hope in the face of all the threats. Let’s do this!