I'm just a small Individual

The Gift of Connectedness

Yes, you are a small individual, like all of us. We are all specks of dust flying through the galaxy.

Did this hold Gandhi back from leading India out of its oppressive shackles towards freedom and independence? Who could have predicted that Greta Thunberg would kick off a global movement by skipping school and sitting in front of the Swedish parliament instead?

Among many other brave souls, these individuals had pain, out of which a vision was born. And they acted upon this vision because of their pain. Sure, they might have had doubts along the way, but the point is: They didn’t let those hold them back. They stood up for what they believed in. They gave their pain a voice. They knew that to affect change, they didn’t have to do it all alone; all they had to do was to make a stand and knock down that first domino, which would knock down that second, third, fourth, and fifth domino, eventually setting off a chain reaction of knock-downs that would push over even bigger dominoes. Did Gandhi or Greta do it all alone? No. They could have never accomplished what they did without a flock of allies. But they had to make the first move. And they did.

One of my deepest pains is that I see people as incredibly gifted but rarely express any of it. That’s why I am dedicated to the empowerment of individuals, especially within my field of Architecture, knowing that every empowered individual is a leverage point that lifts the entire system.

What pains you? What feels wrong to you that you could stand up for? Whether that’s inequality in your workplace, an underutilized community garden, or a struggling comrade at school, there are invisible domino pieces around you at all times, waiting to be set in motion, and you never know what could happen if you take that first step.

Stop hiding. Stop seeing yourself as ‘just an individual’. You are safe. Take down that shield you uphold to protect yourself from stepping up. You are not just an individual. You are an interconnected part of the Whole. You are the Whole, expressed as an individual!

So how much of an individual are you, really?