Being the Change

The kids tend to repeat much of what they hear. They have in recent months been known to chant "We Want Change" or "Yes We Can". I don't think they have any concept of what they want changed or what it is that they can, so I thought we would put those words into action and join the MLK Day of Service yesterday.

There weren't many events that were appropriate for children, and I hadn't signed up for any in advance, so we joined the drop-in site at Ocean Beach. Our job was to clean up the beach. We were given gloves, trash bags, and granola bars, and sent on our way.


There were possibly hundreds of volunteers, so there was not that much garbage for each person to collect. That was fine, because it allowed us to enjoy the beautiful day, dig in the sand just for fun, and appreciate the ladybugs we found in the dried seaweed.



We still managed to collect plenty of paper, glass, plastic, styrofoam, cigarette butts, and even a dirty old sock. I did not think that our contribution would change the world. Then we saw all the bags in one pile at the end of the morning, and it did seem like we made a difference together. That may have been the best lesson after all.


Thank you to Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring today's posting's title:

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.