In sync by choice

I retreated to the small.
To the detail.
In a world that felt out of control, I found it comforting to notice the tiny beauty under my nose. I felt uplifted by the quiet goodness in the world around me.
Two things recently reminded me of this.
The first was hearing Sheetal Deo’s uplifting and inspiring account of her career and life in our She Breaks the Law** event last Thursday.
The second was reading Huxley’s Brave New World, where the protagonists Marx and Watson rebel against ‘this year of stability AF632’, which discourages individual thought (“when the individual feels, the community reels”) by undertaking such devious acts as spending time alone.
For most of us, this world of big, existential issues, polarized politics and noise can be exhausting.
Sometimes it feels that the loudest voice in the room sets the tone.
Sometimes, it feels like we’re not far away from the “groupthink” described in that other great anti-utopian novel, ‘1984’.
Sometimes it seems that being alone, thinking independently and engaging at a small and quiet level, is truly a devious act.
And when I think this, I remember the power of the small. The power of the personal. The power of reflection. The power of one person’s story to enlighten, provoke, challenge and comfort.
Then I remember why, just when it all feelsfelt too much, the world of the small and the personal becomes so important.

* H/T to the facebook group Insects of WA for almost all of the content
**join our community via (5) She Breaks the Law | Groups | LinkedIn