[Editor’s note: I must start by saying that what unfolds below is a team effort – thanks to everyone who has contributed to this list! So, for better or worse, many parts of the world have been recently occupied – and in some places, like Vancouver, this may or may not be coming to an end. Many elements of the Occupy Movement have issued demands. Personally, I see many problems with demands, as they imply binary-negotiating and/or unchangeable beliefs. Personally, I see more value and possibility in ideas and collaborative brainstorming – though this is a much harder process for certain. Some other folks share a love for collaboration and they have kindly offered their ideas in world-changing list-form. So, without further ado, here is part two of a four-part series that is meant to get our community thinking about how our brilliant, passionate, inspiring, adaptive, funny, delicious, healthy, and innovative humanity can make the world a better place. Thanks for the memories, everyone!].
How can we leverage our humanity to solve the world’s problems?
Here are ideas 1-25. And here are ideas 26-50:
- Find photos from the nineteenth century. Strive to emulate the facial hair styles found in the photos. It is hard to take yourself too seriously with a silly looking beard or mustache and the world would likely be a better place if we all took our ourselves less seriously.
- Find your passion. And help others find theirs, too.
- Volunteer at something. It could totally sync with your interests and talent and get you the experience you need to start a career, or it could be a task, trade or activity that makes a difference and/or brings you pure joy.
- Strive to eat foods that are inspired by other cultures and contain locally harvested ingredients.
- Go camping. And take an urbanite with you so that they can see the stars!
- Honour your grandparents. Ask them to talk about their lives. Listen with pure love.
- Practice compassion. You may not be able to take on all causes, but you can send your support in spirit. Leverage those warm fuzzies, draw from the marrow of your own sorrows, and send loving understanding out to all who struggle.
- Forgive someone. Feel that painful weight you’ve held in your chest for years? Let it go.
- Come to your senses, and no, I don’t mean your common sense. Savour delicious morsels, pause to listen to cello players peeling out beauty in the subway, lift your face up to the sun.
- Another way to leverage your humanity is to make out more often. Grab your lover and take luscious long moments to reconnect. Simple pleasures will fuel you in the good fight.
- Do whatever you can to empower women, especially in the developing world. Honestly, doing what we can to be in possession of more female leaders will make the world a better place.
- Speaking of #31, to the senior citizens (about 78% of our readership) out there, leverage your epic knowledge of life, the universe and everything and tell it to one, or several, young person/people.
- Speaking of #37, which spoke of #31, to the young people (about 4% of our readership) out there, write down our elders’ life lessons. Ideally, digitize them on the Internets.
- Google “Slow Food.” When you begin to think about the taste and texture of what you consume, you also start to think about the quality of your food and where it comes from — it’s amazing what we realize when we slow things down.
- Watch a TED talk once a week. Start with this one.
- If you have children or you want to have children, consider what poet Kahlil Gibran wrote: “ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the earrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”
- Laughter feels so good. Find the “funny” in as many things as you can. People are more likely to listen if they think you don’t take yourself too seriously.
- Take the opportunity to gain a basic understand of how the law works; of how your body works, of how your car works and how your computer works. And the teach your children. It’s nice to be able to fix even the most basic of problems, yourself.
- Personally, I think this is one of the most important things you can possibly do to change the world: tell the people you love, like, and care about how you feel about them. Today. This week. This year. Text, email, call or set up a coffee date. It’s hard at first but if we close ourselves off to the words that heal others, we risk hurting ourselves.
- Start a book club and hand over your reading time to someone else — you never know where inspiration is going to come from.
- Continue to give to charities but consider whether the non-profits you support encourage the people on the other end to climb up and out of poverty and prosper. Kiva is a great organization to start with as well as charity:water.
- Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. Also, let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.
- Get involved in mentoring; inspire someone who is coming up in the world and also soak up wisdom and experience from people who have been where you want to go and done what you’re planning to do.
- Listen actively and carefully. Showing that your absorbing someone else’s story is a immensely rewarding experience both for yourself and for the one telling the story.
- Have children. The world recently reached 8 billion and we have a population crisis. Yet, having a child can be the ultimate affirmation that another life will make your world better.
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Masthead photo courtesy of Kurt Heinrich, who is awesome.