My name is Earl

Yesterday I watched the comedy show 'My name is Earl'. Earl is a bad boy who the law finally caught up with. While in goal he was introduced to the idea of karma. Earl's life is forever changed and upon release he writes a list of all the bad things he has done to people. He then sets about righting the wrongs on his list so as to avoid bad karma. He has a very simplistic understanding of karma, which adds to the laughs.

What happens every episode is that Earl goes to make up for his wrong doings. He expects it to be a simple case of righting the wrong. However every episode shows the ongoing consequences that his actions have had on his victims.

Now obviously I don't believe in karma, but the show highlights that even small actions have very large impacts on the lives of the people involved.

When I reflect back on my own life I realise that who I am today is because of the thousands of little incidents that have happened over my life, rather than 4 or 5 'life changing moments'. I realise that how we handle the small things really does matter in the long term. My life has been impacted by small decision others have made about themselves, my interaction with them has been a by-product of their decisions.

Social Justice is a labour of small incidents. Choosing which tea to buy. Reading an article on sexual trafficking. Marching in an anti-war rally. Writing a letter. In and off themselves these are small acts, but they can have huge impacts.

Just like Earl we need to realise that if we do one small thing, good or bad, the flow on effects are huge.

Got any examples?

What I read today:

A peace rally where they wanted the soldiers to fight on

Communication quotes