How to Make a Difference; or, Thoughts on Dharma

Reading the news today, you would be forgiven for thinking that the world is on the brink of complete destruction. Everything that can go wrong, is going wrong.

I've been struggling with this idea for the past several months though, as it has proliferated on every media channel imaginable. And I wonder if, perhaps, we are not falling prey to a dangerous ethnocentrism. The world has, without a doubt, been in worse places before. One needn't look further than the last few decades to see this: the Khmer Rouge, the Rwandan genocide, the Syrian conflict, the recent persecutions of the Uighurs in China, the protests that are occurring right now in Hong Kong. The world has always been ending for someone, in far more violent and horrible ways than we could imagine. And while our struggles in the U.S. are very much worth fighting, perhaps we could exercise some caution as to where we rank them, on a scale from 1 to Apocalypse.

The problem with this ethnocentric view is that it can lead to a self-fulfilling prophesy. Psychological studies have shown that humans tend to emphasize and dwell on negative events far more than we do positive. This is an evolutionary trait, and has kept us alive for millennia. The problem when we live in this echo chamber of negativity, however, is that it leads to apathy: the task is so great, and we are so inadequate to address it, that the whole thing seems like a lost cause from the start. Why even try? It is so much easier to throw up our hands and do nothing.

This sense of apathy is especially strong when it comes to the environment. For example, I get requests from readers to feature certain content: Will you please talk about how to reduce plastic use? Will you write about making better produce choices? And while I will feature this content because I think it's important and I want you to have all the info you need, I'm also sure, if you thought hard enough about it, you'd figure out by yourself how to reduce your reliance on single-use plastic. I'm sure if you wanted to, you could plug 'environmentally friendly diet' into Google and get a thousand good resources.

The problem is not a lack of knowledge.

It's not that the cultural and societal deck is stacked against you.

It's not that the task is so insurmountable that you can have no ability to influence the outcome.

'Making a difference' is really quite simple and small. There aren't a whole lot of rules. You don't need a social media following, or a MacArthur Genius grant.

You don't need more information.

You don't need a how-to, or a shopping list.

You don't need another degree.

You don't need to be perfect.

Want to know how to really, truly make a difference? Here's the secret:

Just do the next right thing.

This is the real work, friends. Your brain will find many excuses; the apathetic tide will threaten to overtake you; the procrastinating urge for 'more information' will rear its ugly head. Fight through it. Your small, individual choices are exactly what is needed, what is required, to change the environmental situation we're in. The world is far from ending, and you - yes you - are perfectly ready and capable of doing the work.

You know what the 'right' thing is. The question simply is, will you do it?