The Art of Changemaking

A few months ago, I was asked to complete this sentence:

“Nothing can stop me from being a _____”

My answer came fast and easy:

“Changemaker.”

But I know that changemaking is neither fast nor easy. Change doesn’t happen overnight; it takes a lot of commitment, courage, conviction, character, competence, and consistency to effect change. It is also very difficult, often subjecting the changemaker-in-training to sleepless nights, stress-filled days, nerve-wracking decisions, and gut-wrenching actions. There is always more things to do than time, physical capability, or probability will allow; there are always plenty of reasons and excuses to do something else instead.

“I’m busy enough as it is.”

“I’m so tired.”

“I don’t have enough resources.”

“I can’t do this alone.”

But this is also why I believe that changemaking is an ART. It often takes a miracle and the collusion of cosmic forces to make change possible. It takes unconventional wisdom, out-of-the-universe thinking, resourcefulness, and a Higher Invisible Hand to bring good things about. It is also often inexplicable. No matter how hard we try to account for the results of our actions, there will always be that Unfathomable Something that makes change happen when it is most needed, where it is most needed, and often in the most uncanny ways.

Changemaking is an art. I am an artist. And this is a window into the life that I choose to lead.