Day 12: Change is social

Since I began my challenge (picking up rubbish twice a week for 30 minutes) I wanted to stimulate conversations and engage people walking by me about my challenge. I’ve unfortunately had minimal success on this front. I’ve been out picking up rubbish on several occasions in my neighbourhood at this point on different days and times, and to date, engagement with passers-by has been limited. The response has been a little underwhelming and, if I’m honest, a little disappointing, as part of the reason I took the challenge on was to engage people in the practice of change. I’m going to have to figure out a new strategy for engaging others in my challenge beyond what I’m currently doing. I’m not sure what that might be yet, but I’ll keep everyone posted when I figure it out myself.

One thing that has inspired me though is the conversations I’ve had with our GY111 class on the successes and challenges they’ve had with their own 30-Day commitments. I am genuinely encouraged by what they have been doing and how they are pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones. The conversations that they have managed to engage in with family and friends has been fantastic. The fact that some family members are also taking on the challenges is testament to the commitment of students to lead by example and influence others. 

P.S. Proof of my most recent haul on the streets of Artane in recent days!

Darren