To Write Love On Her Arms: The Power of One Organization’s Influence
I’ve been doing some research of different groups of out-of-the-box people who have rallied around a cause or idea. Many of these groups have established businesses, organizations, and even churches that have made major impact in our culture and world over the last decade. I want to highlight one in particular…
I heard about this group of amazing young adults about 2 years ago. Their story and vision is beyond extraordinary! I didn’t realize that the name of their group is also their cause, which is, “To Write Love On Her Arms” or “To present hope and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.” And in some cases, it is to literally write love on the arms of those who have suffered from the issue of cutting. Cutting has become a common response to young adult and teen depression. And in some cases, it leads to suicide.
I recently finished reading a book by Seth Godin called Tribes. Towards the end, he says something that literally challenged me as a young leader. He said,
“Find leaders (the heretics who are doing things differently and making change), and then amplify their work, give them a platform, and help them find followers – and things get better.”
Here’s my discovery…
Part of my responsibility as a young leader is to help amplify the initiatives of other young leaders. I help amplify their vision; their cause; their tribe. It’s almost like a Freelance PR or something. Or better yet, a “Walking AMP”. This discovery is so important because I realize how much influence and how big of a voice young adults have through social media and word of mouth. We have more influence and impact than we think. Our little blogs, Twitter statuses, and YouTube videos have potential to reach millions.
Now think about this…
Imagine what can be done if more young adults leveraged this potential for a common good. What could we do? What could we change? How much impact could we make? How ridiculously awesome could that be?
And To Write Love On Her Arms is only one of many of what this phenomena can look like.
Any volunteers?
November 24, 2009
Chris Harlan
I very much agree with your sentiment. In fact, on the website, that I'd like you to help me build and maintain, for the Campaign, a large part of it is going to be dedicated to self-education, fostering the Gifts and Talents that God's placed within us by giving people all over the world the tools and resources that will help them. Oh, and a platform by which they're Gifts and Talents will be made known, and some capital, by which the Kingdom of God within them might be established on earth as it is in heaven. Even though it's your blog, Lemme know your thoughts... lol
November 27, 2009
antwondavis
I think fostering that kind of environment would give Christians a platform that currently doesn't exist, or at least not to that extent.
Similar to "To Write Love On Her Arms", if you were able to rally young adults to be more active and intentional about living out their faith and leveraging their resources and the web to make some sort of impact, I think we would begin to see people stepping to the front lines to lead all types of projects, initiatives, and endeavors.
It seems that most young adults remain immobile and lack influence because their idea of influence has traditionally come from famous celebrities, politicians, and the wealthy.
However, I think we're transitioning into an era where young leaders and entrepreneurs like you, me, Jamie Tworkowski of TWLOHA, Blake Mycoskie of TOMS and others are discovering that they CAN rally young people to support an idea or cause. That the everyday citizen CAN build momentum and make a difference. And leveraging the web through social media is just another way to make that momentum a lot faster and that difference a lot bigger.
December 26, 2010
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