Living To March

Protest is beautiful. The change it tries to promise is exciting. Any group of people can pick a day and march on that day to basically scream “LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE MARCHING FOR! THIS IS IMPORTANT AND WE WILL NOT LET YOU IGNORE IT ANY LONGER!”

What I have realized recently is that each of us can march every day. Marching may literally make you think of walking, however try to also think of marching as action with intention. One doesn’t need a group of thousands (but how insanely wonderful it is when those thousands come together to promote positive change) to actively try to change their world around them.

Right now, you are marching by not letting a prejudiced remark go unchecked at the office even though it might be uncomfortable. You are marching by teaching your children that difference and diversity are lovely and essential to life. You march by deciding and trying to get help if your mental health is slipping. You march every single day, for one reason or another. Make absolutely sure you are marching in the right direction.

A friend of mine once told me “I don’t wake up every day and decide to care about people. It’s who I am and it’s what I do.” That natural instinct to love and nurture combined with active intention can create a march in society, on top of the wonderful movements that are growing and organizing real events every day. Even after the group separates and we have traveled our route and hopefully made that difference, we have to remember to keep marching every single day, to the beat of the drummer that will bring us together.

By, Stephanie Foltz