My Be the Change cross stitch pattern is now available in my Etsy shop!
Via the website Quote Investigator, it turns out that this phrase is one of the six principles of educator Arleen Lorrance’s “The Love Project”: “Be the change you want to see happen instead of trying to change everyone else.” Many attribute this phrase to Gandhi, and although he did express similar ideas, his quotes are not as succinct as Lorrance’s.
As part of their investigation into the origin of the phrase, Quote Investigator does share these words from Gandhi: “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
How do we Be the Change? A good place to start is this BetheChange page at ChallengeDay.org. I’m unsure if this organization is very active in 2019, but this page has helpful information on the topics of “Formula for Change,” “Why be the Change?” “What do We Create When We be the Change?” and “Examples of Acts of Change.” As they say, “Stop waiting for others to change things and be the hero you’ve been waiting for.” Solid advice!
Let this Be the Change cross stitch project, with its pretty border of purple lotus blossoms, make a bright and lovely reminder to create positive change in your world.