Behind the Difference

When I'm asked how I came up with the idea for

Benevolent Planet.com and The Difference a Day Makes, I

often wish I could point to a single, lightning-strike event that

would make for dramatic storytelling. But in fact, it was a

series of events and conversations over a period of several

years that eventually led me to the Difference premise: that

you and I can enrich our inner lives by looking outward. That

we can reconnect with our best intentions, tune in to our

shared humanity, and reclaim our influence in a society that

has convinced us, for too long, that individuals are insignificant.

And we can do it without examining our navels, quitting our

jobs, or running off to a monastic retreat. We can do it, in fact,

in just a few minutes a day.

The events that shaped this vision are familiar to us all. The shootings at Columbine High School. The murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. The dragging of James Byrd behind a pickup truck until he died. The September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Although, like most of us, I'd seen human cruelty and suffering before, something about this series of incidents changed me forever. For the first time, the inhumanity I was watching on television felt personal, even though I didn't know any of the victims firsthand.

Now I've come to believe that it was personal; you felt it, too, in those days after September 11, when we all walked around wounded, regardless of how far we lived from New York, Washington or Pennsylvania. Some attributed that feeling of shared grief to patriotism, but you had only to look at the reactions of people in Great Britain, Australia, Russia, Japan, Israel and a host of other nations to realize it was much greater, much more universal. It was our common humanity, violated, and needing restoration.

Remember how many people rushed to help, to donate blood, send money and letters, and ship relief to exhausted rescue workers? We didn't just want to help, we needed to help, sensing that by aiding others we, ourselves, could achieve some measure of healing. For at least a few weeks, we walked down our familiar streets, no longer alienated from or oblivious to others, but keenly aware of all we had in common. We felt compelled to connect, and when we did, it was transforming.

That state of awareness lasted only a month or two; The Difference a Day Makes is designed to revive it. The daily actions prescribed in the book are its centerpiece, but they are simply tools to help you get started on the "path to more purposeful living." Making a difference requires you to be aware, awake. To resist societal influences that lull or numb you into sleep-walking through your days. To realize that the self-improvement programs you've undertaken in the past can only take you so far. To acknowledge that food, fitness, work, shopping, even your own loving family can't fill that nagging void, and to be willing to try a new remedy.

You can decide that one person, taking small steps, can't have an impact, and thus make it so. Or you can decide that it starts with you, whether you help one person or thousands. Take the simple actions that resonate with you, every day for a week. See how it feels to be making a difference. Reclaim your influence, your humanity -- and your role in an emerging Benevolent Planet.

Contact the author at "info at karenmjones dot com."