When life’s not going your way, it’s easy to feel despondent and angry. When I look around at the state of play in my world (especially as described by the mainstream media*) I feel it acutely.

In the city where I live, Wellington, New Zealand, the government has initiated some fairly brutal cuts to the public service. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are losing their jobs. Those that remain are left in the wake of this tornado, picking up the pieces with the scant resources they have left. 

For me, as a self-employed consultant, a large chunk of my work comes from Wellington. That work has pretty much dried up as budgets are slashed and people keep their head down. I’ve found it challenging to find enough people to join the latest cohort of my Change Makers programme. My days have been filled with more coffees than usual!

It’s been a brutal pruning.

Yet pruning clears the way for new life.

As J.K. Rowling said, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Spring is here

As we move into spring here in the southern hemisphere, I sense new life emerging.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been in conversations and attended events where the energy for possibility and fresh thinking is finding its way into the light.

I attended a full-house event hosted by The Goodlife Collective where Jon Alexander, author of Citizens, spoke about the opportunities for us all to level up from being a passive, consumer-centric society to an active, citizen-led society. The energy in the room was palpable.

I had an incredibly generative conversation with leaders from one large public sector agency. We explored how to support and connect the change-makers across their organisation to create new ways of delivering value in a resource-constrained environment.

And in the past week, people came out of the woodwork to join Change Makers (yes, the cohort’s now full!)

The hunger for agency

Beneath the surface, there's hunger.

That hunger is for agency. This is not just about Wellington. In a year where there is a record number of elections being held worldwide, people are increasingly hungry for ways to shape their worlds. To contribute to something bigger. And to look forward, not backwards. 

A meaningful life, meaningful work, is one where we have a sense of contribution to something beyond ourselves. I’m sensing that the silver lining resulting from these cuts is a new sense of possibility. Something that reflects a part of the human condition that can shape what happens next. 

The human spirit, when nurtured, is indomitable. We have an in-built drive to create. The rose bush is hard-wired to grow roses.

Where are you at?

Know this: If you’re someone who’s feeling a hunger to make a difference, others are too. 

Sometimes they’re looking for confidence, or clarity about what that difference might be.

Most times, they’re looking for connection to others who also want to make a difference.

Seek out the hunger. The hunger that resides in others, and in yourself. In your conversations, get out of the problem pool, and listen for the sparks of possibility. When you hear them, grab them and amplify them. 

That’s where real change starts.

* Kudos to journalist Paddy Gower for going against the grain and establishing a positive news story initiative This Is the F#$%ing News.

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