The Gandhi Divide

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

You can't go very far, particularly in the social justice, religious, or university realms, without seeing Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote. Similarly, as I am six days away from leaving the PacNW and ten from leaving the country, I can't go very far without hearing, "Heather, the world needs more people like you."

This elicits mixed emotions. The first thing that inevitably comes to mind, with a chuckle, is, "Oh, if you only knew," by which I mean, of course, that I'm secretly an axe murderer. Joke. But really, we've all got ways in which we are beautiful human beings and ways in which we are not. I have no shortage of the latter.

The next thing I feel is gratitude, for having such supportive, gracious friends, and for having been given so much that I am able to turn into fuel for being the kind of person who may merit such a compliment.

Ultimately, though, I feel confused. I was the girl who was proclaimed "Most Likely to Join the Peace Corps" in high school, and I thought that was nuts. I still think I'm nuts as I'm headed off for a similar (but awesomer, if I do say so myself) two-year program in a few days. I'm confused because I'm just a human being, like any other, who felt compelled to find deeper meaning, like any other.

We idolize do-gooders. But you hear the response in the news all the time when so-and-so saves a drowning child from a torrential river and the media goes crazy. "I'm not a hero," he says. "I just did what needed to be done." I think Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Theresa, whomever you gape at wide-eyed and think "I wish I was more like ____," would say the same thing. They were human beings who did what needed to be done, and struggled and cried and made mistakes in the meantime.

The problem begins with the "I wish I was more like ____." As soon as this is said, there is a great chasm placed between sympathy and mobilization, between the realization that there is a problem, and the motivation to address it. I'd like to call this chasm the Gandhi Divide. When we stop short of it, we reduce ourselves to bystanders who observe the problems in the world, but don't tackle them. This psychological divide prevents us from being the people the world needs. It makes us tell ourselves that we aren't good enough, so thank goodness others are.

Admittedly, this is a scary divide. It's icy and deep, full of inconvenience, apathy, fear, loneliness and hopelessness. Those people--like you and me, ordinary but resolved people--who cross it will require awareness, empathy, and courage. But they don't need to be heroes. Because a hero is created in the crossing.

This is the challenge. Be the change you wish to see in the world by making a lifetime of crossing the Gandhi Divide. The world needs more people like you. And by the way, I've been told there is hope, beauty, peace and joy, for everyone, on the other side.


"When I beheld the suffering, I was angry with God. 'The hungry family. The dying child. The warring country. Where were you?' I demanded. 'I was there,' God replied. 'Where were you?"

FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI: A Shooting Star Moment

I'm not the kind of person who wears rosy glasses, but despite my realism (pessimism?), beautiful things happen in this world. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma's Democratic movement, was released today by the totalitarian military junta that has imprisoned her under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years. She has been freed two other times from her arrest, only to be thrown back into her home after crossing some arbitrary line, but still I say that beautiful things happen. My heart goes out to the celebrating people in Burma who have held vigil at her gates for a quarter of their lives, and to the global community that supports her. When PeaceJam was held at LMU, six Nobel laureates called for her release in my school's gymnasium. I was there to see them rallying, and I am alive to see her release. I realize, of course, as CNN so honestly tells, that no one is guaranteeing her release is permanent. But beautiful things happen, and it's nice to be reminded sometimes :).

Ecological Footprint Calculator

In preparation for staffing a carbon footprint booth this weekend at the Seattle Youth Convention, I prevent you this nifty online ecological footprint calculator, which shows you "how much nature your lifestyle requires." If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.4 earths. How about you?

Global Solidarity Checklist

I've heard more than a few people say, "But living a globally-conscious life is hard." I don't think so! Not necessarily! If we all made small changes, we wouldn't be so threatened by huge problems. Here are a few easy steps to being a better human being.

Do you:

• Wake up in the morning and smile?


• Buy fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, sugar? (The first three are available everywhere)


• Eat organic, locally grown foods? Search for farmers' markets?


• Buy from local vendors instead of big chains?
• Look for an alternative if it says "made in China"?


• Make attempts to car pool? Own and use a bike? Ride the bus every once in a while?


• Reuse plastic bags? Even better, bring reusable bags to the grocery store?


• Compost?
• Take five-minute or cold showers?


• Carry a thermos and avoid plastic bottles?


• Unplug electronics and turn off lights when you leave your room or house?


• Recycle? Even if that entails driving somewhere?


• Search for/attend cultural or educational events in your area? (My favorites: Race for the Cure, casino rueda lessons, Ghanaian drumming)


• Greet homeless people, and consider whether or not to give them money if they ask?


• Write in a journal?


• Read a book instead of watching TV?


• Exercise 30 minutes a day?


• Click the magic food button at www.thehungersite.com every day?


• Give a monthly donation to an organization or charity of your choice? (My favorites: Homeboy Industries, Catholic Relief Services, Portland VOZ)


• Listen whole-heartedly to the people around you?


• Send letters to your friends?


• Do things you thought you couldn't do?


• Read the newspaper or browse a news site? Particularly the global affairs section?


• Contact your Congressman/woman or Senator about issues that are important to you?


• Pray, reflect, or just take breathing time for at least 10 minutes every day?

Please, please, please add your own thoughts to this list!

A Plush Temptress Called Notre Dame

What are your attachments? What do they keep you from doing? Becoming?

As part of my goodbye to the States, I spent the last two weeks in the Midwest—the farmer-ful stretch from Bloomington to Chicago where I unexpectedly grew from a 12-year-old to an LA-bound collegiate. Bridesmaiding for a high school friend merited the trip in the first place, but I turned it into a sixteen day whirlwind tour of the people and places of my past (and possibly my future).

One day trip was to South Bend, Indiana to visit Notre Dame, the university where I almost spent four years. I had made frequent trips there as an undergrad in preparation for going. Being back was lovely and unsettling. It was so…me. And not at all. The students talked of nights at the local bars, cute boys and hot chicks, chemistry homework and dorm wars. My host/friend Elizabeth took me to their Hogwarts dining hall, where you pay $10 for an all-you-can-eat meal. I stuffed my face with veggie stir fry and frozen yogurt and took a bag of granola and three applies for later. We toured the bookstore, the golden-domed administration building, and the shiny law school.

I want.

People my age with similar upbringings. A future in academia. A big name university. Manicured lawns. A comfy dorm/apartment bed in a donated building to which you’re almost too tired to return after a day cramming at the 14-story library. Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you remember those ahhhh college days. And if your experience was anything like mine, you miss them terribly.

I want again (and probably will get). But I don’t want it in the sense that I want Nicaragua.

The spirituality of St. Ignatius—the big daddy of Jesuit Volunteer Corps--differentiates between fleeting wants and deep desires. The former may make you feel good, but they don’t fill you up for long. The latter, which don’t feel good all the time, form the bridge between your God-given abilities and the needs of the world. Prevalent examples of the former in my life are lust, food, dangly earrings, and a posh grad school. The most prevalent example of the latter is JVC.

Here’s where I have to be extra careful. I don’t mean to say that going to Notre Dame (which probably won’t happen to me—I’d like to further my studies in a global city—London, perhaps??) means you are giving in to a superficial craving. That’s about as absurd as saying that God hates me for using a laptop computer or plastic water bottle (alas—I bought one. I’m at an airport, in my own defense). But for me, in the moments where I took a wide-eyed tour of the campus where I could have been, I realized that no matter how hard it was (is) to be able to let go of comfort and prestige, that is what I need right now. So that I don’t run toward those things, solely for the sake of wanting them, not for the sake of using them to the fullest.

I hope that blog title double-taked you, and that you never again picture the Virgin Mary draped in diamonds and wearing horns. I am in no way attempting to offend the university to which this post principally refers. I am, instead, calling attention to my own attachment to what has become a beckoning Hilton hotel, which I pass with a wistful smile, outside the window of the speeding Red Line to becoming myself. Destination: Nicaragua. Someday I’ll hop back on the Red Line and exit at the Hilton stop for an extended stay. I will view it, I pray, with a wiser gaze, ready to use my comfortable economic and social privileges as a stepping stone for the world, rather than for myself.