Challenged to Change Ourselves

This post by Dr. Laura Brumberg is part of a series of reflections on the 37th annual Scholar & Feminist conference, held March 3rd, 2012 at Barnard College. This year’s theme was “Vulnerability: the Human and the Humanities.”

At the lunchtime workshop on Environmental Justice, someone asked about how those of us living in less vulnerable communities could help those of us who lived in more vulnerable ones. The answer was to build a presence and a change within our own communities, a force allied with these others in spirit, and eventually to be ready to assist where needed in practice. It makes sense, to look to our own communities for the change we want to see in the world, but I would take it one step further. Let us look to ourselves for the change we want to experience outside of ourselves. For those of us who believe that the macrocosm reflects the microcosm, that “As above, so below” has true meaning, the outer world will always be a reflection of the inner world.

When we see injustice, we need to look to ourselves and where we have either experienced or perpetrated injustice in our lives. When we see deceit, the same holds true; where have we deceived others or allowed ourselves to be deceived.  Victor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor is quoted as saying:  “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

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