Last week I went to see Robert Redford speak at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco during a series he is currently doing called The Art of Activism representing the Redford Center in Berkeley which has been part of his lifetime commitment to social and environmental change. The night was framed as a conversation about activism with Redford who has years of experience under his belt.
Overall it was interesting, however I surprised that the format seemed very informal and unprepared. San Francisco is already a very active city and I think the people that attended the event were really hoping to gain some solid advice about how to make significant changes. Most of the night consisted of Redford and the director of his center discussing his past achievements, which although very impressive I had heard about in the past.
Although the night wasn’t everything I was hoping for there were a few great things that I took away with me and thought I should share them with you all.
- The theme of the event was the art of activism and he turned the tables to the audience and asked, What is your art of activism? What is the one thing that you want to see happen that you are willing to stick by and see all the way through. He said he has seen a lot of people dapple in different causes but never fully see them through to the point of creating worthwhile change.
- Do our actions reflect our values? A simple but important question to ask yourself when going through the motions of everyday life.
- How much are we going to develop for our world and how much are we going to preserve? What kind of condition are we going to leave our world in for the generations to come?
- Take advantage of the roll nature can take in your life. With all the media constantly bombarding us take time each week to step away from technology and listen to your thoughts and the sounds of nature.
- The foundation of making any social change in the world begins with the art of storytelling and connecting all the stories we hear. Make sure to spread your story and make your voice heard, with all the communication outlets we have at our fingertips it couldn’t be any easier.
To sum it all up there is ALWAYS something to be done and always something we can do. For me the challenge is really finding one thing and sticking to it, going to events like these and seeing the incredible accomplishments of one person who puts there mind to it definitely helps push me along.
I want to leave you with one quote that Redford said that stuck in my mind, “There is only the trying the rest is not our business” – T.S. Elliot
