Platforms and The Ripple Effect

I don't have a platform (or platform shoes because I tend to fall over and break things and it's not 1975, but anyway).

I don't have a gigantic readership. I don't have a gazillion fans on Facebook. I don't tweet to thousands of people.

I don't have a great big booming voice that echoes across the wild wilderness of the Internet. Maybe I will
someday. Most likely I won't. I can't try to convince people that Cheetos Puffs are really packing peanuts coated in powdered cheese sauce (although somehow they're still delicious) or make a difference for a cause I believe in.

Or can I?

I am not a bleeding heart armchair humanitarian who signs up willy-nilly for the latest charity fad. I am a regular person. I am concerned about stupid things like my hair and my sucky cuticles and panty line faux pas. I can't make it rain dolla billz (unless we're talking about Monopoly money). I am selfish and imperfect and my soul is patchwork-y in places. I don't have a burning desire to address hard topics. I would much rather stay in my comfortable little white box and shut out the misery of humanity.

I don't have the power to change anything anyway.

Or do I?

I am just another human being on this third rock from the sun. There are billions of us. Some are suffering. Some are being subjected to things that only haunt our nightmares. But is it really my place to do something when my actions will be negligible at best and completely useless or even offensive at worst?

The answer is yes.

I am a regular human being. Maybe you are, too. We're not in the spotlight. We don't speak with megaphones. The effects of our actions do not make waves in the ocean of society.

But when we throw stones, we make ripples somewhere. And those ripples can make a difference. In our own circles and our own spheres, we have power. We have a platform.

The first font I used for this made it look like I said "make nipples". #fail

Sometimes a gentle whisper in the ear of a friend is just as strong a force as a thunderous yell.

My friends, I'm whispering to you today with my shaky little voice. I'm stepping out of my white box and facing the ugliness of human trafficking head-on. I'm not the shining knight at the front of the crowd brandishing a broadsword (because we all know I'd accidentally stab myself), but I can be a force for good behind the scenes. There are others who are lending their beautiful voices and their platforms (again, not the shoes). They are making some righteous waves (duuude). I'll link to them below. Please read their words and listen to their voices.

Please consider throwing a stone.

And please, if you ever see me with a sword, RUN. It's for your safety. ;)

Jamie Wright - Jamie the Very Worst Missionary

Roo Ciambriello - SEMIPROPER

Heather Armstrong - Dooce

Kristen Howerton - Rage Against the Minivan