Cultivating Change, Creating Community and Discovering Inspiration
In a generation defined by apathy and mass media, it is rare to find people interested in caring for the well-being of others.
I have been fortunate this year to meet people who are living examples of being the change you wish to see in this world. Simply being in their presence has cultivated the desire in me to discover my own inspiration. They have shown me how to change my apathy to empathy. I have become a better version of myself.
Not one of us would be able to call ourselves human, if it were not for others giving you life and nurturing your spirit. Human behavior is taught to us from the moment we are born. We learn how to behave and interact within our society. Improvements in technology have created a society that does not value or understand the concept of community. We are taught to not talk to strangers, to focus on ourselves, and to get ahead in life we must work harder than everyone else despite the consequences.
After meeting this group of young creative souls, I had one permeating thought cross my mind, "What if everything I have ever valued is completely wrong." In an instant I realized that I had spent the past 28 years focused on my own life, and working everyday to improve my own quality of life. I have always felt connected to my family and friends, but remained apathetic towards strangers and society at large. World hunger, global warming and war seemed like other peoples issues. I had always been taught to mind my own business, and part of me felt like these issues were out of my control.
I found myself struggling to describe to people what I was feeling, or the changes that were happening in my life. I remember that while attending college I was required to write a 10 page essay about global warming. At the end of the essay, I selected a song that I thought helped define my generation. This same song recently helped me to define these feelings of apathy.
"Waiting On The World To Change" - John Mayer
Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want
That's why we're waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
And we're still waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We all have the power to inspire others. We all are brothers and sisters, and were created equal. Regardless of the decisions people have made, or the circumstances that have created your life, you have the power to change the world. One person at a time, one conversation at a time.
What a powerful feeling it is to grant yourself permission to express these guarded emotions. I have been encouraged to embrace and talk to strangers, spend more time listening and less time contemplating how a situation can benefit me. I came to realize that selfishness demands, “What’s in it for me?”, while Love asks, “What can I give?”
BC Serna is one of these passionate and inspirational people I have met this year. He lives a selfless life, has never met a stranger, and somehow always manages to fall into opportunities to travel the world and share his positive outlook with others. He embraces people as if he has known you for a lifetime, gives you his undivided attention and encourages people to become more in-tune with their emotions and spirit. He has also managed to surround himself with people who embody these same values.
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Recently, 25 year old BC Serna and some of his friends went on a cross country bike tour from Denver to California. This summer they donated their time and talents to multiple causes and movements without any expectations or hesitations. It is these types of movements that are going to change the world.
Below is a quick recap of BC Serna's experience in 2 minutes!
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