Recently, I became inexplicably and irrevocably engrossed in none other than the great Harry Potter series by none other than the great J.K. Rowling. Being the English major than I am, I felt it time to delve into the most popular novel series in the world, and so far, it hasn't disappointed. However, if you happened to catch the name of this article, this particular series isn't the thing that can make the world almost 1% better. While Harry Potter may no doubt has the power to do so, he is not specifically who I am looking to talk about. Instead, I would like to point out something that I have recently realized from the legendary Albus Dumbledore.
I must first warn you that the following analogy between Dumbledore and the wizarding world and our everyday lives and the real world is no doubt going to be one of the nerdiest and far-fetched things you are going to read today, but I promise you it works.
My fascination with Dumbledore stemmed from the recent online (and real-world) climate that characterizes our world today. It is ferocious. Not only am I referring to the political sphere of the world, but also the entertainment sphere and the environmental sphere and all the other spheres floating around out there. The ferocity is stemming from two types of people. There are those people that put ideas and opinions of their own out there and those that criticize what those people are putting out there. The original people, the ones who originally threw their thoughts and ideas to the wind, then turn around and criticize those who criticized them for the sole reason that they criticized them. Then people like me, of course, turn around and accidentally and grievingly criticize both the criticizers and the criticize talkers/criticizers.
Sounds confusing? It is.
Among all of this criticizing, I was confused and wary. I couldn't deny that I had opinions, political and otherwise. Sure, I didn't like what some people posted and said and tweeted, but I found myself getting just as upset with the people fighting back against them. If I don't agree with the one group of people, but I don't want to be angry like the other group of people, what am I supposed to do?
This is where my nerdy allusion to Dumbledore comes in. Of course, I love Dumbledore because he is super cool and super good and always has the weirdest yet coolest advice for Harry. Even more than that, however, Dumbledore carries himself with a certain grace. While he recognizes that there is wrong in the world and chooses no to be a part of it, he often refrains from criticism when such criticism will do no good. In the Sorcerer's Stone, he accepts his suspension with grace, still helping those who need him (aka Harry). In other words, he continued to be the goodness he wanted to see in the world and reacted to opposition in a way that he would wish others to react to himself.
Long story short, if you're still bearing with me by this point, I'm not trying to criticize those who stand up for what they believe in. I'm really not. I truly think that now more than ever, there is an endless amount of issues that are out there that we need to address and we need to talk about in order to build ourselves to a better world.
However, among these criticisms, or perhaps mere discussions, I hope that we will also remember that one of the best ways to bring about change, one of the best ways to make the world better, is to do what you want done and be what you want the world to be. It may not be much, but you'll at least be changing almost 1% of the world.Especially with some friends and family, you could easily make the world almost 1% better.
