Music Playlist for June 2010
Each week we broadcast six New Dimensions programs four times a day. Click here for this weeks listening schedule.
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Making a Positive Difference by Email
by Justine Willis Toms
Michael Toms, host of New Dimensions, has said many times, "Optimism is believing in spite of the evidence, and working ACTIVELY to change the evidence. If we live in the box of problems, then all we have is more problems. If we live in the field of possibilities, then anything is possible."
Each day I receive emailed reports from caring friends about the challenges we are facing as a global culture. Each of these emails is highly informative, and points out that bad things can no longer happen behind closed doors. All of us are now privy to information about the many injustices and environmental challenges as they unfold. More than ever we are aware of the suffering of others across this globe.
For me, and I know for you, knowledge is not enough. We need to take some positive action. Otherwise we end up feeling numb and passive or, worse, we become depressed and immobile.
I know that many of us participate in the global education process by passing information along to our circle of contacts via email. I suggest one way to be even more effective—and to satisfy our need to "take some positive action" — is to take a moment before you press the "Forward" button on your email toolbar and write a couple of personal lines about why this particular issue is important to you. Then think of some action related to the issue that you'd like your friends to take. If that includes writing or calling someone, search out the correct address, name, and/or phone number. This will ensure more people will stand up with you to make a louder noise. Remember the old adage, the "squeaky wheel gets the oil." The more noise we make—that is, the more action we take—the greater impact we will have. The easier we make it for each other to take an action, the better off we all will be.
A good example is an action taken by former New Dimensions guest Marianne Williamson during the summer Olympics in Australia. Early in the games, NBS aired an advertisement by Nike that showed a masked man with a chainsaw chasing a woman through the woods. When Marianne saw the ad she was so incensed, she wrote about it in an email and sent it to some of her friends. In that email she included the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the president and CEO of NBC and the president of Nike. That message subsequently got forwarded to hundreds and eventually thousands of others who responded with equal passion, and within twenty-four hours the ad was pulled by NBC. The effectiveness of the campaign was empowering and uplifting to all those who participated, and it sent a strong message to the networks that depicting such violence against women will not be tolerated.
I believe we need to complain and stand up and be counted for what we see that is unsustainable, inhumane, and shortsighted. It's equally important to, in the words of Bill McDonough, "celebrate fiercely" what is healthy, courageous, and decent. We all want to make a difference in ways that can truly be of benefit to others and to life on this planet. With this in mind, I encourage each of you to do a little more research before you automatically forward an email. Find the name and address of a key contact person and include them with the email. You might even give an example of a letter that you are writing or an action that you are taking... When we multiply this action by tens of millions of concerned people, the world will surely change for the better.
Thanks for letting me rant.
Justine
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