To Change the World


Recently, I attended my 35th high school reunion. After the usual “hi howya doins” “wazzups”, and “good seein’ yuhs”, one of my old cohorts came up to me. “Remember the way were back then?”
I told him I was sure I remembered it pretty well. He continued “We really thought we were going to change the world; and after all this time, we haven’t done crap. I looked at him for a minute, and then I asked him: Do you really believe that?” He responded “What the heck did we change? The world is going to hell in a handbasket.”
“Let’s see. We had a cold war that never really flared up; we have portable computing devices; greater appreciation for individual differences. Back in the 70’s we never would have seen a black president elected.”
He shrugged his shoulders, and sort of drifted away. Perhaps he expected something more dramatic. Perhaps he thought the world itself would change to fit his needs. I don’t know what he expected, as he never told me.
It got me thinking, however, exactly what kind of changes did we make, and what does it really take to change the world.

We all affect changes, in our own lives, and the lives of those closest to us. Like raindrops striking the surface of a pond, one ripple intersects another, each subtly changing the droplets existence within the pool. We might not even be aware of the changes, and the direction in which we are driven, as the impulses driving us may not be perceptible.

Most people know the story of Rocky Balboa; an unknown boxer, given a chance for the Title. The underdog, not knowing surrender, and not giving up, constantly beaten down, finally overcomes all opposition, to be the champ. In his own way, he changed the world. It caught the hearts of America, and soon everyone was emulating the “Italian Stallion” running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. But it’s only a story you say.

Actually it isn’t. Sylvester Stallone went to Abraham Lincoln High (my high school) in the late 1960’s, only a few years earlier than I did. He was of my generation. (And the generation of the guy I met at the reunion.) He wrote a screenplay about a boxer and he wanted to be the star of the movie. He really wanted to be director. He wanted “his” movie. No matter he had no experience. No matter he had no “presence” or any real contacts in the business. Every time someone shot him down, he kept getting up. No matter how many slammed doors, he kept knocking. While “Rocky” may be just a movie, it was also a direct parallel of Stallone’s early Hollywood career. Both the movie and Stallone showed that a single man could make a difference.

On a smaller scale, another Lincoln Grad became a well known (in her genre) romance novelist. We were “buds” so I never really told her how much I admired her for her work. Romance wasn’t “my thing” but I always thought it was great that she made a living doing what she loved.

As a joke, I used to refer to her as “that hack writer. “ I don’t think she ever really knew the respect I had for her. My respect has only grown for her over the years, as I came to realize, that as a writer, she has influenced many people in many ways, bringing them joy, romance, and at times necessary heartache, that they might not otherwise have had. I also recall one incident in my past, when this same woman, most probably saved my life. I’m not being overly dramatic. I’m just stating what I believe to be a simple fact. I can honestly say this woman changed my world, anyway. So if I haven’t said it to her before, and she gets to read this: Thank You.

Well, this is pretty much the end of this note; my first in a (hopefully) continuing series on the subject of changing the world. I end with one of my favorite quotes. From the Dali Lama: Be the change you want to see in the world.