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ysabetwordsmithIn the 1970s, educator Arleen Lorrance wrote, "Be the change you want to see happen." Which is all well and good, but personally I think one ought to get one's friends to be the change you want to see happen. In that light, I invite you to...
Challenge #15
In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
This can be big or small; strictly fannish or extending across all aspects of life; a challenge you saw someone else do, or that used to run and you miss, or something you have thought up just now, or something you yourself are already doing. Earnest, silly, fun, all three! Send us off into the rest of the year by challenging us all to give it a go.
Check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
You know how people are always saying, "Somebody ought to do something about that?" Be Somebody.
It's up to each of us to make our little corner of the world a better place. So put on your cape, Captain Somebody, and get to work. Here are a few ideas to get you started ...
* What do you think our world needs more of? Make a fanwork showing what that would look like andpost it. Ifyou're not a creator, you can do this one by making a rec list of works that demonstrate your theme.
* Learn a new hero skill. You never know when you might need it. Most of the time, heroism is in the little everyday things. Here are some ways to be a hero.
* Develop your heroic virtues. It doesn't take super powers to save the day, it just takes super compassion.
* Explore heroic transformation. One good exercise is to read or watch stories, including fanfic, and imagine what you would do in that situation. Remember the Battle of New York with aliens rampaging everywhere and Iron Man shooting down the flying monsters? Now who spotted Hawkeye helping people out of a wrecked bus? One of those things is something anyone could do.
* Cultivate the situational awareness, observation and deduction of a hero. When you go into a room, especially somewhere crowded like a restaurant or a theater, locate the exits and multiple routes to them. Can you see a fire alarm, fire extinguisher, hose, first aid kit, AED, landline phone, or other emergency equipment? You may need these in case of a crisis. You also need to identify hazards to avoid. Here is an example for spotting poison ivy.
* Practice thinking outside the box. It will serve you well in urgent situations where the usual solutions may not work.
* Do you have a first aid kit? A self-soothing kit for emotional first aid? If not, make or buy one suited to your needs. Here are lists for a party monitor kit and a beach hero kit. Do you control a larger space? Add a quiet room. It will save you much trouble.
* Promote emotional first aid for all ages; it can save lives by keeping small problems from becoming big ones, just like physical first aid can. Know how to do emotional and spiritual triage in an emergency.
* Understand and model how to cope with stressful situations and emotional drop. You may want to memorize this list of basic self-care steps. Be prepared in case someone goes nonverbal.
* Know how to interrupt sexual assault and handle the aftermath of sexual violence.
* Take steps to reduce violence in schools and elsewhere. Teach peace and kindness skills. This would create a lot of social changes that upset the people in power. Do it anyway.
* When picking your battles, punch up, not down. However, if an ordinary thug foolishly chooses to punch Superman, then Superman is entitled to flatten him. Here's an example in fighting self-checkout lanes that steal jobs.
* If you don't think of yourself as the heroic type, there's a different skillset you can master that really truly helps in a crisis: Keep Calm and Get Out of the Way. Do that, and you let the responders focus on the problem. You're one less thing for them to worry about. Getting out of the way is always a legitimate and valuable response, especially if you have no applicable skills or other reasons you shouldn't get involved.
* Be part of Bridge Crew, Spaceship Earth. Work toward sustainability.
* When you screw up, make a concrete apology. Heroes do the hard things.
* Reach out to online friends in distress. There are ways you can help even from a distance.
* Take precautions to avoid compassion fatigue from the news. Rule #1 is Do Not Make Yourself Another Casualty.
Further Resources
https://www.amazon.com/Action-Heros-Handbook-Perform-Fugitive/dp/193168605X
https://www.amazon.com/Action-Heroines-Handbook-Jennifer-Worick/dp/1931686688
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Worst-Case-Scenario-Survival-Handbook/dp/0811861368
https://www.amazon.com/dp/164030648X/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1925979105
Pick any item from the above list and do the thing, or do a similar thing of your own choosing to make the world a better place. If you feel comfortable sharing, post here that you did the thing.
What other ways do you like to make the world a better place?
Challenge #15
In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
This can be big or small; strictly fannish or extending across all aspects of life; a challenge you saw someone else do, or that used to run and you miss, or something you have thought up just now, or something you yourself are already doing. Earnest, silly, fun, all three! Send us off into the rest of the year by challenging us all to give it a go.
Check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
You know how people are always saying, "Somebody ought to do something about that?" Be Somebody.
It's up to each of us to make our little corner of the world a better place. So put on your cape, Captain Somebody, and get to work. Here are a few ideas to get you started ...
* What do you think our world needs more of? Make a fanwork showing what that would look like andpost it. Ifyou're not a creator, you can do this one by making a rec list of works that demonstrate your theme.
* Learn a new hero skill. You never know when you might need it. Most of the time, heroism is in the little everyday things. Here are some ways to be a hero.
* Develop your heroic virtues. It doesn't take super powers to save the day, it just takes super compassion.
* Explore heroic transformation. One good exercise is to read or watch stories, including fanfic, and imagine what you would do in that situation. Remember the Battle of New York with aliens rampaging everywhere and Iron Man shooting down the flying monsters? Now who spotted Hawkeye helping people out of a wrecked bus? One of those things is something anyone could do.
* Cultivate the situational awareness, observation and deduction of a hero. When you go into a room, especially somewhere crowded like a restaurant or a theater, locate the exits and multiple routes to them. Can you see a fire alarm, fire extinguisher, hose, first aid kit, AED, landline phone, or other emergency equipment? You may need these in case of a crisis. You also need to identify hazards to avoid. Here is an example for spotting poison ivy.
* Practice thinking outside the box. It will serve you well in urgent situations where the usual solutions may not work.
* Do you have a first aid kit? A self-soothing kit for emotional first aid? If not, make or buy one suited to your needs. Here are lists for a party monitor kit and a beach hero kit. Do you control a larger space? Add a quiet room. It will save you much trouble.
* Promote emotional first aid for all ages; it can save lives by keeping small problems from becoming big ones, just like physical first aid can. Know how to do emotional and spiritual triage in an emergency.
* Understand and model how to cope with stressful situations and emotional drop. You may want to memorize this list of basic self-care steps. Be prepared in case someone goes nonverbal.
* Know how to interrupt sexual assault and handle the aftermath of sexual violence.
* Take steps to reduce violence in schools and elsewhere. Teach peace and kindness skills. This would create a lot of social changes that upset the people in power. Do it anyway.
* When picking your battles, punch up, not down. However, if an ordinary thug foolishly chooses to punch Superman, then Superman is entitled to flatten him. Here's an example in fighting self-checkout lanes that steal jobs.
* If you don't think of yourself as the heroic type, there's a different skillset you can master that really truly helps in a crisis: Keep Calm and Get Out of the Way. Do that, and you let the responders focus on the problem. You're one less thing for them to worry about. Getting out of the way is always a legitimate and valuable response, especially if you have no applicable skills or other reasons you shouldn't get involved.
* Be part of Bridge Crew, Spaceship Earth. Work toward sustainability.
* When you screw up, make a concrete apology. Heroes do the hard things.
* Reach out to online friends in distress. There are ways you can help even from a distance.
* Take precautions to avoid compassion fatigue from the news. Rule #1 is Do Not Make Yourself Another Casualty.
Further Resources
https://www.amazon.com/Action-Heros-Handbook-Perform-Fugitive/dp/193168605X
https://www.amazon.com/Action-Heroines-Handbook-Jennifer-Worick/dp/1931686688
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Worst-Case-Scenario-Survival-Handbook/dp/0811861368
https://www.amazon.com/dp/164030648X/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1925979105
Pick any item from the above list and do the thing, or do a similar thing of your own choosing to make the world a better place. If you feel comfortable sharing, post here that you did the thing.
What other ways do you like to make the world a better place?
