Start writing. Putting words down, on paper or digitally forces you to think, to refine your ideas, to look at others' ideas. Start a blog. Post articles to OpEdNews, to other community blogs like dailykos, firedoglake, boomantribune, mydd, atrios, americablog, huffingtonpost... Comment on other people's writings. This gets you into the "energy cycle" and your energy will change and grow from it.
Support alternative media. VOlunteer, give time, money, promote it to others. Start local branches. OpEdNews lets you create your own pages for your county, your state, your city...
Develop regular communication with your legislators. And let them know that you are in touch with a lot of their constituents.
Communicate with the main stream media. When they suck, when you change the channel, tell them. When they do something good, tell them.
Become a leader. Volunteer to take on a project. Follow through, do a great job and finish it. Make sure you DO NOT commit to do something you are unlikely to finish and do a good job at. Be comfortable saying NO. But when you can, say yes.
Ask what you can do. Offer your time and help. Be selective about what you agree to.
Don't let old-timers who are burned out get you down. When you meet one, learn what you can, ignore the negativity and go out and recruit someone younger than you.
Open your heart. Take risks, be brave, have courage. If you are too comfortable, if you have too much leisure time, you are not working and trying hard enough.
Make sure you are stretching your personal limits, your personal edges. Find and create new edges for yourself. If you stop doing this, you have let the growing part of you die. That is a tragedy.
When election times come around, do some scut work. No matter how smart or experienced you are, it's good to get out and do basic grassroots work-- phone banking canvassing, knocking door to door. You get input and see what's going on in a way that all the reading, all the polls in the world won't help you to see.
There are big projects that need to be planned-- assaults on the bastions of power that are based on boycotts, letter writing, visibility, demonstrations and more. Start talking about them with your local compatriots. Find others locally who are willing to take the risks and do what you are willing to do.
Support alternative media. VOlunteer, give time, money, promote it to others. Start local branches. OpEdNews lets you create your own pages for your county, your state, your city...
Develop regular communication with your legislators. And let them know that you are in touch with a lot of their constituents.
Communicate with the main stream media. When they suck, when you change the channel, tell them. When they do something good, tell them.
Ask what you can do. Offer your time and help. Be selective about what you agree to.
Don't let old-timers who are burned out get you down. When you meet one, learn what you can, ignore the negativity and go out and recruit someone younger than you.
Open your heart. Take risks, be brave, have courage. If you are too comfortable, if you have too much leisure time, you are not working and trying hard enough.
Make sure you are stretching your personal limits, your personal edges. Find and create new edges for yourself. If you stop doing this, you have let the growing part of you die. That is a tragedy.
When election times come around, do some scut work. No matter how smart or experienced you are, it's good to get out and do basic grassroots work-- phone banking canvassing, knocking door to door. You get input and see what's going on in a way that all the reading, all the polls in the world won't help you to see.
There are big projects that need to be planned-- assaults on the bastions of power that are based on boycotts, letter writing, visibility, demonstrations and more. Start talking about them with your local compatriots. Find others locally who are willing to take the risks and do what you are willing to do.
I've written more about this topic area. Here are a few of my other articles.
Time to Take Action; Depending on Congress is Not Enough
The Good and The Bad , and What to Do
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
