Become the change you want to see in the world...
July 3, 2006 at 2:05 It wouldn’t be too big a stretch to say I’ve been a writer all my life. I took my first creative writing class in second grade. I began a journal when I was 11 years old and have been writing ever since, both personally and professionally.
Why do I journal and blog? Mostly I’m driven by the relentless urge to record, dissect, understand, and come to terms with my life and my world. Other times my motivation is to create art, entertain, or to start a conversation. I would never tell anyone I am writing to change the world.
Yet this is exactly what Mary Pipher has titled her latest book: “Writing to Change the World.” In it she explores the power of words to connect human beings and affect change. In a world that often seems overrun with intractable environmental, political, and social problems, she challenges her readers to be hopeful and become an instrument of positive change. Blogging can do just that, whether you’re sharing stories from your life or commenting on larger issues. Here’s why:
“Good writing facilitates the making of connections in a way that inspires openheartedness, thinking, talking, and action. All totalitarian governments achieve their ends by frightening and isolating people, and by preventing honest public discussion of important matters. The way to promote social and economic justice is by doing just the opposite: by telling the truth, and by encouraging civil, public discussion.
“Good writing enlarges readers’ knowledge of the world, or empowers readers to act for the common good, or even inspires other good writing. We all understand the world from our own point of view, our own frames of reference, that allow us to make sense of what our senses take in. Writers help readers construct larger, more expansive frames of reference so that more of the world can be more accurately perceived.
“Good writing connects people to one another, to other living creatures, to stories and ideas, and to action. It allows readers to see the world from a new perspective. Writers are always asking people, ‘What is your experience?’ They listen, they observe, then they share what they have learned with others. Writing to connect is empathy training. And, as Gloria Steinem once said, ‘Empathy is the most revolutionary of emotions.’ ”
(From the introduction of Mary Pipher’s book, Writing to Change the World, 2006)
Reader Comments (4)
One of her key points thus far is that writing can be a tool to build connections to and empathy with people in situations much different from your own. As a blogger, I've "met" and been introduced to a far broader audience of readers and writers, and it's expanded my world and my perspective. In this small way, writing can change the world by changing our reaction to it. The book also addresses writing intended to "change the world"--PR, editorials, speech writing, persuasive essays etc.
I started my blog when I got back from Iraq because when I was over there I would write every day and then send all my friends a big, giant email every 3 months. It would take them days to read it - then several of them forwarded it around. So I figured a blog would be more convenient for all of us. Amazingly, they all read it. We leave for Italy in 9 days, so it should get more interesting then. : )