This week found myself in a bit of a winter storm which took my power and left me unable to accomplish much work, not to mention that I found myself burring my food in the snow, piling on the blankets and reading by candle light. In many ways it was kind of relaxing to have night where I was forced to get back to basics. However by night number two as the chill in the house really set-in I began to worry more about the cost and loss of food and my lost wages as I was unable to work without the power. My frustration was short lived of course, but it again had me thinking of how much I have grown reliant on, or should I say feel like I need.
In April 2007 I wrote the following piece; One Day Without the Internet vs. A Life of Slavery, How Does Isolation Help it Spread?, following a day where I had felt almost debilitated in my ability to do what I needed in my daily life all because I was internet-less. The day had me at my wits end, just because I could not get on the internet! Over that day I had begun to think that if I was feeling crippled by the lack of the internet for one day, how does a whole village or society survive without it? Which then led me to question how isolation enables human trafficking and abuse to spread. Now here I was again with no internet and now with now power at all.
Some how in my blackout conditions as time went on I began to feel a little bit powerless. I felt if I could not write any posts, return any e-mails, continue social media, etc. that I would now not only spend the next two days not getting anything done on my giant ‘to do’ list, but that I would also be unable to help anyone and my anti-trafficking non-profit and other work would be halted. When I woke to find no power or heat on day two I began to bury my food in the snow and dig the car out, as I was determined to find power and life somewhere.
I drove to a few coffee shops finally finding one that was open and didn’t look to have a line reminiscent of a Black Friday sale or ticket sales for the concert of the year, as it appeared I was not alone in my quest for power. I grabbed a much needed coffee and went to find a seat where I could plug my dead laptop in and get back to life and work, yet I quickly found there were a limited few and using them were hell bent on not sharing for even a quick charge. First I was reminded at how selfish our society can be to share the resources we have…a preschool lesson of taking turns seemed to be needed, but nonetheless I was not the only one in wait for power.
Patiently sipping my over priced coffee I found some small talk and comradeship in those who were also wanting to share the power and over our woes and stories of the storm I soon found that across the shop small battles were being one and really we had become more powerful in sharing our messages as we all talked…and I mean really talked. I had worried that I would not be able to have an impact on that day as I was power-less however my voice may not have been heard by the masses but one by one I was able to share my anti-slavery message with a few people. Soon a few of us found a power-cord and table to share and as we all worked to find life and get our work done we conversed and picked up on each others work and conversations. By the time my last four new work-mates had left I had educated one who had never heard of Fair Trade on what the issues where, the impact, and how he could easily begin to support children’s and human rights with his next sip of coffee. The newest supporter in the Fair Trade movement left armed with the logo and a new grocery list of items to by that he could enjoy guilt free. One of my other new work-mates found himself enthralled in the world of human trafficking and as we worked continued to Google the issue and go to sites I referred to learn more. My fellow workaholic table sharer and I bonded incidentally over snow boots which some how turned into a chat about children’s rights writing and reporting and micro-loans and next I know we were both educating each other and parted with an appointment to discuss how we could work together to create a bigger impact.
In my quest to escape being power-less I quickly found that I wasn’t actually rendered powerless at all by the storm, but in fact had only tapped into another area of power via my voice and simple comradeship. Power is not in how much you can achieve in a day or even how big the impact is that you make, it is about the significance and depth of that impact. Your voice may only reach one person a day or even a week, but if that one person is moved to make real change than your power was put to its best use. Therefore do not doubt the power you have within you voice to make an impact and promote change at ever corner, as one never knows whose life they will change over a simple cup or coffee.
