Systemic Advocacy is all about planting seeds.
This is my visual when I think of what I am trying to do. I put something out there, wish it well, and off my seeds go.
Where they land and if they germinate into something else, I will never know the full extent.
We get meaningful feedback that recharges our batteries from time to time. But we will never have every single person write us an impact statement. The good or the bad. If you are experienced in systemic advocacy, you are well aware that you often wonder what kind of an impact you are making.
There are a lot of things that people do that no one is aware of. You don’t always have a witness to your important conversations, your insights and next steps, the pivots, allllll of the ka-billion little puzzle pieces that you assemble with people spread out.
I know a lot of people who do systemic advocacy, and they all have their hands in numerous little pots. They have all of these connections, and they have access to these pots because of the years of doing this work. They have built up this web of connections over time. The building of relationships expands your access. You get invited in more often; you get voted in. Through relationships, people listen to you. You get to listen to other people. They feel safe with you, so they open up and talk.
I am in a parents’ Facebook group, and I will always remember the night I went and posted that I was taking my human rights complaint to a hearing. I had mixed responses. Some people cheered me on. Others tried to discourage me. (I think it was well-intended, and they wanted to save me the impending discomfort.) But I will always remember this one person’s comment. They gave me this quote:
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” – Dalai Lama from an African proverb.
The next morning I set my alarm for 6 am to start working on hearing preparation. I had a mosquito that sat on my screen for an hour. Buzzing around and then landing somewhere else on my screen. That quote helped carry me through. Just be the mosquito, Kim, you can keep buzzing.
Thank you to all of the people who have blown their seeds into the wind, never really knowing the impact. The mosquito seed from a parent cheering me on was 5 years ago. Do they know what this has all blossomed into?
My university professor that encouraged me to not drop out. She has no idea what I am up to now.
Grateful for all of the people who have shared their seeds with me, and I hope to pass along my own, knowing full well I have no idea where they are going and to the full extent they will grow.
For the people who do give me feedback, I so appreciate it. It encourages me to keep going. I must be on the right track.