When to be a Movement

Tonight I received a friend request on Facebook from a colleague. So I did what I usually do when that happens; before I accepted I went to my page and scrolled through to just double check and make sure I didn't post anything recently that might offend this colleague. When I did what I found was this speech I had posted a little while ago:

I had the privilege of seeing Becca Stevens speak in May at an event for college students focused on social justice, which is one of the many themes of the above video that made me like it so much that I shared it on my social media. The idea behind Magdalene and Thistle Farms(thistlefarms.org) is amazing, but that's not where I'm focusing now. In this particular speech she speaks to what a movement is, and what it shouldn't be. This...THIS... is what I want to do with my life. I want to be a part of something that is so much bigger than me and can make real tangible differences in peoples' lives.

In this speech Becca says, "A movement can die easily; it can die if we just stay around the table; if we stay insular with ourselves ; if we get bogged down in the bureaucracy in the politics that institutional life sometimes pulls us towards with unbelievable pressure. To be a movement means that you and I are moving beyond that. That we have a higher calling; that we have a higher purpose. We are called to love the world." The piece of this that is so important and I think becomes a constant theme when talking about dissertations and research and what type of career moves you'd like to make is how to really be a movement for whatever it is you want without letting politics and bureaucracy pull you down or change your priorities and direction. When I evaluate myself as a researcher and as a person, I know that's one of my biggest difficulties. I'm not very good at politics because I prefer being genuine and I wind up either completely disregarding the political realm and getting myself in trouble or I compromise my own beliefs to try and fit the mold presented. I feel this way often within my program with people constantly telling me what I should study and why their beliefs are more important. And so I wonder, where do I draw the line and decide this is where I want to go and what I want to do, and where do I simply follow along with what others want from me. When and where do my values become priority and is it a matter of me just taking the risk and being more forward with who I am and what I want.