The Act Factor
In our current times of so much uncertainty about the future, about so many unknowns and with so many threats, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. The enormity of the problems is so that we become stagnant. We feel useless and think that whatever we try is won’t make any difference. And then, we become apathetic and just keep living as if everything is all right.
I believe that is the worst attitude we can take.
Let me share this little story about a hummingbird that Wangari Mattaai tells to children:
The story of the hummingbird is about this huge forest being consumed by a fire. All the animals in the forest come out and they are transfixed as they watch the forest burning and they feel very overwhelmed, very powerless, except this little hummingbird. It says, ‘I’m going to do something about the fire!’ So it flies to the nearest stream and takes a drop of water. It puts it on the fire, and goes up and down, up and down, up and down, as fast as it can. In the meantime all the other animals, much bigger animals like the elephant with a big trunk [that] could bring much more water, they are standing there helpless. And they are saying to the hummingbird, ‘What do you think you can do? You are too little. This fire is too big. Your wings are too little and your beak is so small that you can only bring a small drop of water at a time.’ But as they continue to discourage it, it turns to them without wasting any time and it tells them ‘I am doing the best I can.
There are many stories, quotes, poems and songs with similar messages. For instance, take the Gaviotas case, a legendary village in Colombia that was created by a group of visionaries lead by Paolo Lugari about 40 years ago, in the middle of the eastern savannas. After all these years, and after trying many things, among many amazing things, they have created a 20,000 acres forest. But the important thing here is that, as Lugari explains, he never intended for Gaviotas to serve as a blueprint for sustainable development, or even a clearinghouse of appropriate technologies. Instead, he wanted to show the world that is was possible to live sustainable by drawing on local resources, or as he describes, living within the economy of the near.
One of Lugari’s mantras for their work is A.V.V., alli vamos viendo, meaning we will see what happens as we go along.
All the extraordinary things in Gaviotas have not happened as a result of brilliant planning but of a trial and error process, replete with wrong turns and detours. It hasn’t been an orchestrated march towards a finished product, what has been important is only the process, the unpredictable evolution of strategies and ideas say Seth Biderman and Christian Casillas that recently visited Gaviotas.
Other examples:
Antonio Machado’ poem that says caminante no hay camino.. se hace camino al andar; meaning traveler, there is no road; the road is made by walking
An old Chinese proverb: the journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Dag Hammarskjold said never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only those who keep their eye fixed on the far horizon will find their right road.
There is even an old Latin phrase that goes Solvitur ambulando, meaning it is solved by walking or the problem is solved by a practical experiment.
That is the key point, no matter how bad is the outlook, we must try something, we must take the first step.
We must hit the road and try our best. Caring and having empathy for future generations will help.
If we all took this approach, we will be building resilience and things can be very different.
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