Being a change

"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

I can change the world
With my own two hands
Make a better place
With my own two hands
Make a kinder place
With my own two hands
With my own
With my own two hands

I can make peace on earth
With my own two hands
I can reach out to you
I can clean up the earth
With my own two hands

I'm gonna make it a brighter place
I'm gonna make it a safer place
I"m gonna help the human race
With my own two hands
With my own
With my own two hands

With my own two hands
I can comfort you
With my own two hands
But you got to use
Use your own two hands
Use your own
Use your own two hands - Ben Harper

"Be the change that you want to see in the world." I see this quote from Mahatma Gandhi on a daily basis. Friends sign their e-mails with it; the quote is on the wall at the yoga studio where I practice. I also listen to this song by Ben Harper on a regular basis. Recently, I realized that these are not aspirations. They are happening. I am making a change in the world and I am doing it with my own two hands. This is true, not just for me, but for many of us.

It is exciting to realize that change is happening. The scale might not be grand but the impact may be. What helped me realize that I am making a difference? Small ordinary conversations - some while walking the dog, others while weeding the front garden, still others waiting in a line of some sort. For example, yesterday as I was walking around the block, one of my neighbors was tilling up soil. I complimented him on his yard, saying that there can never be too many flowers in the world. He looked at me and asked "Which house is yours? I told him and he said "Ah, yours is the one with the Livingstone daisies in the front. I saw them last year and have about 100 seedlings growing now."

It's a small thing but knowing that planting a flower gave such enjoyment to another that they are doing the same makes me feel humble and happy. Gardening is powerful magic, healing the people who plant and till and weed, and feeding the souls of those who observe with beauty. Our actions are like gardening. Each smile is a seed for another, each opening of a lane in traffic to another car is an opening of our hearts, each kind act roots us more in today and provides the strength for tomorrow. So... I may not know which change I am being on any given day, but to know that I make a difference is inspiration to keep learning and being. And so may it be for others.