A River Cuts Through Rock: The Power Of The Individual
Molly Costello Art
“What does your heart beat for? Equal access to healthcare, social justice and human rights, or protecting the planet?”
This is an actual sentence I just read online, and it sparked a lot of thought in me. How do you choose one global focus when they are all so interconnected? My heart beats for the collective realization that the issues we face as people are not separate.
When I was younger I was interested in social work. I wanted to either work with the underprivileged or get into law. I wanted to be a voice in empowering and uniting others, and feel like I was making a difference. Years later I ended up studying holistic health and fell in love with the spirit of nature. It felt like the most attainable way to connect to a higher intelligence in a fast moving and hard to understand world.
Meanwhile, my Dad was in and out of homeless shelters and I unknowingly became a social worker, part of the very system I wanted to help change. Except it was much more personal than I expected, and therefore much more powerful.
I've learned that in my everyday life I am able to make an impact, in subtle and consistent ways. I practice non-judgement, compassion, and support for those around me. They are heavy tools of transformation that don't receive enough recognition in a world of disagreement and hammering belief systems.
I work at a spa where I get to paint peoples skin with botanicals and provide a space for them to leave the worlds stress for an hour. I still battle the feeling that I'm not doing enough but once again, through the subtle we impact. Maybe I am showing how freedom is found through self. When people learn how to take care of themselves they are better able to take care of others.
I feel blessed every time I am able to walk my backyard peacefully and think of the millions that have never known that. I always think of how incredibly wealthy we all are and don't even see it. "To much is given, much is expected" haunts me because of the responsibility I feel for my earth family.
I dream of an equal world, where access to true health is also the innate human right to acceptance, opportunity, expression, wild places, breathable air, clean water, pure food, and resources to sustain all living beings. As we speak against the destruction of our planet, we also speak of our innate right to live harmoniously healthy within it. We are entering a time where belief for a better world and daily action can't afford to be separated anymore. And through our everyday work, the collective impact can be great.