A sunny movement sparks a shady one.
- Agent McSueño
- May 30, 2016
- 3 min read
In April 2016, the Guerrilla Book Club got its first nudge into existence at a meet-awesome-folks-plus-mindfulness-TED-talk-type-of-event. It was called The Shine Movement. In lieu of name tags, they asked each of us to choose a superpower for ourselves and take a raffle ticket at the door. Now, the thing about being asked to choose a superpower is that it really deserves some long, deliberate thought. You're choosing a superpower—not which socks to wear. You gotta be creative, if not calculating. But in the heat of the moment, and in the spirit of not holding up the line behind me, I settled on mind reading pretty quickly. I affixed my "Mind Reading" sticker like an "S" to my chest and carelessly dropped the raffle ticket in my pocket.
The raffle ticket had been receiving neglect in my pocket for a couple hours and felt like a soft tissue when it was retrieved. The show's host was explaining what was about to happen with it. One member of the audience would receive a donation from the rest of the audience, along with a challenge. The challenge was to spend the donation, in its entirety, with the intention of helping people, starting a movement, or serving the greater good. What a beautiful idea. What a cool opportunity. Oy. What a difficult challenge.
I'm really not an actual mind reader, but I wasn't a surprised when I could feel the tickets numbers about to be called slightly before I heard them. Looking down at the ticket, I questioned whether my mind, eyes, or ears were playing a trick. Somebody had to win it, so it wasn't impossible. My friend double checked my numbers and said, "You won! What are you waiting for?"
I was excited to accept the award, but maybe didn't recognize how big the challenge in store was. The challenge was very open ended, say like choosing a superpower, but I had a lot of time to think about it. I was full of ideas, but none of them felt right. I wanted to change the world; perhaps we all do, no matter how silly or lofty it seems. I wanted it to be practical though—to make a meaningful impact. I pushed myself to think about that. Quite a lot. For weeks.
What I came to realize was this: Scale is irrelevant. There is no difference between a small gesture or a crazy change-the-world idea. Both are capable of succeeding or failing at making an impact. Helping one person in need for a day can be more impactful than trying to start a movement. Bringing a momentary smile to a few people's faces can be more impactful than trying to serve the greater good. The trick to making a meaningful impact is something other than scale—and my hypothesis is that you have to make it personal.
And, giving a book is perhaps one of the most deeply personal things you can do.
Two readers would have two personal experiences with the same book, and those experiences may be completely different from each other. Maybe one loved the book and one didn't. But, when those two readers connect over that book, a third completely unique experience emerges. It becomes interpersonal. It's not just how you felt about the book; now, it's also how both of you felt about the book.
The Guerrilla Book Club is my answer to the challenge to create something good in the world. The idea encourages anyone to give something good to someone else—to give something that is personal, meaningful. And it allows anyone to be on the receiving end of that generosity and good intention. There's no filter between who gives and who receives, just a brush with chance.
You just can't help but feel good when you're doing something good in the world. Take a chance on chance. Give something meaningful to an anonymous stranger. Give them something they won't forget. Go Guerrilla!
