American Dreaming

By Marie Masters

It’s easy to feel helpless when it comes to politics—even for those of us living in a democracy. Besides voting for representation, we often wonder what we individually can do to effect change.

We’re left feeling like a dust speck visible only when the sun pours golden streamers through a window. Against the mountain of problems plaguing America, it seems impossible for mere particles like us to be seen or heard, let alone make a dent in its rocky veneer. Then there’s the pearl to consider…

One of the most beautiful gems begins as a grain of sand irritating an oyster. It takes time and persistence to generate the pearl’s iridescent perfection. And only steadfast believers have the faith to keep looking until they strike treasure.

Maybe pure optimism is the way to go.

It Starts With A Smile

With all the anger management classes and stress reduction therapy, America should be the calmest nation on Earth. But as anyone who has recently driven in traffic knows, that’s not the case. So, next time stress hits, smile… smile… smile.

Driving and waiting in line won’t go any faster. Orders will still be wrong at fast-food restaurants. But it’s about feeling better… and survival. Release those endorphins. Grumpy people don’t know how to retaliate against people so confounded upbeat. Plus, the mystique created by happiness helps when dealing with service folks; they’ll often flock to the rare customer who’s smiling because it’s less scary. (Everybody remembers his or her first job behind a counter, right?)

There’s no need to walk around with a goofy grin all the time. And there’s always the chance to rage at humanity later. Meantime, try a smile and see if it ignites joy in others.

Giving to Receive Is Not Passive-Aggressive

It’s too bad people have to endure terrible accidents and tragedies—or, alternatively, extreme success—before they learn to “give something back.” No telling who coined that so-familiar phrase, but what about giving “just because.”

Everyone, without exception, has been in need at one time. Imagine the hand that reached out to pick them up or feed them… how much it was appreciated. Maybe it was someone to listen or someone to provide a job… the giving person receives a type of payback currency that fills the soul like nothing else can.

But feeling rewarded for volunteering at a hospital, a shelter, or an elementary school is not selfish. That’s a myth. It feels so good because it’s confirmation that reaching out and connecting with others is so right.

A Little Less Today Means More Tomorrow

Don’t worry, this is not a serious sermon about conservation. Our planet has yet to be saved by paranoia to “act now or else.” But perhaps Mother Earth could be spared through a concerted effort that’s really no-effort at all.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt used this approach in 1938, when he suggested that if everyone gave a few dimes, even during the Great Depression, no one would miss the loose change and all those coins piled up together could help find a cure for infantile paralysis. That was the birth of the “March of Dimes,” and we know how that story defies ending and keeps being reinvented.

Conserving resources and the environment can be achieved the same way. Would anybody really miss giving up one gallon of gasoline per year, or turning down the air conditioning a couple of degrees now and then?

In a country that’s population is approaching 300 million, think of the power of the people if everyone was to…

• Reduce driving speeds, which accelerates fuel burning
• Combine running errands to minimize numerous trips and gas usage
• Turn off electric lights five minutes earlier at night
• Keep the furnace at 68 instead of 70 (and turn the air conditioner up a notch)
• Turn down water heater from very hot-hot to just plain hot
• Water grass one day less a week during drought
• Shower a minute or two less
• Replace herbicide with bleach to kill weeds in sidewalk cracks
• Walk out to the compost heap with a few more banana peels, and
• Plant a seeding or sapling

None of these conservancy cures takes much human energy. Only a little thought now and then. And shouldn’t we all be doing more of that this election year? The legacy left to our kids—of a more pristine and hopeful America—is worth it.

To borrow a line from the John Lennon song “Imagine,” “You may say I’m a dreamer…” But who else would dare think a few small changes could make a significant difference?

Optimistic Americans, that’s who.

Marie Masters is a Southeastern Michigan-based writer, college educator, and community activist. She welcomes comments at mariemasters@earthlink.net.