January 18, 2026: Ripples for Change

During a phone conversation with a wise, treasured friend, I was lamenting over the fact that I couldn’t do more to change the destructive course that our beloved country seems to currently be on. Each day, as I listened to the news, I was filled with a sense of both despair and frustration. I’m normally an optimist, but hearing and observing the anger, chaos, fear and vitriol pervading the news and social media, I was continually experiencing a sense of failure that I am not doing more to oppose it.

I was raised with a legacy from family members who stood up for the rights of others. It didn’t seem to matter what color their skin was, country or origin, religion, or choice of life partners. My dad’s sister Marylou, marched with Martin Luther King to protest racism. She began the first Headstart Center in Roxbury, and even in her eighties, volutneered at a local prison to help prisoners improve their literacy. My grandfather, Walter H. Bucher, who had emigrated from Switzerland, was a world renowned scientist, who while helping some colleagues escape the Hitler regime, lost others to the Holocaust. While living in Cincinatti, he took my mom and her siblings to different places of worship on the weekends, to show them how it was a poignant example of human connection in how people chose to worship rather than something to diivide us. As a result of hearing these family stories of courage and dedication, i grew up with the sense that we should use our gifts and/or talents to try and make the world a better place.

After hearing my remorse that I wasn’t doing more, my friend said quietly, “you want to be a tsunami for change, and aren’t realizing that the your daily acts of compassion, kindness, support and tolerance can make a powerful difference too. ”

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

I’ve thought a lot about her poigant advice, wondering “what can I do to make a positive difference in these times of turmoil?” These reflections made me realize that each one of us has our own unique resources with our abilities, energy, talents and time. If we want change. we can choose to put these resources in the areas of concerns that are most important to us. We have choices every day in the kinds of ripples we send out to the world. If we want more kindness, we can be kinder. If we want more tolerance, we can be more compassionate, empathetic and supportive to others who might differ from us. And if we are in despair over what’s happening in our country, we can speak out.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

― Margaret Mead

I love Margaret Mead’s quote. We each have our own unique ways of speaking out, but like ripples in a pond, each step forward to help heal our country, can be a step forward…..and not have us be paralyzed in denial and fear. Instead of relying on information from social media, or just one news source, we can educate ourselves and fact check and/or research issues and share factual information to combat misinformation. We can call/write our representatives in congress.  We can PEACEFULLY protest.  We can sign petitions to protest against further atrocities.  We can donate our money/time  (blankets, water, etc.) to organizations working on the ground.  We can vote!  (In the last national election, 1/3 of the population chose not to vote). These are but a few ways that as “thoughtful, committed citizens we will change the course and climate of anger and hatred that is taking over our beloved country.

We can be ripples for change.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my reflections. If you too, want change in your life, our country and or world, here are some quotes I have found to be inspiring. I invite you to share quotes and this post to someone who will find it meaningful.

In peace and harmony,

Wendy Oellers-Fulmer

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ON CHANGE‘

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
– Harriet Tubman, American abolitionist and political activist

“All great changes are preceded by chaos.”

– Deepak Chopra, Indian-born American author and alternative medicine advocate

“A small change can make a big difference. You are the only one who can make our world a better place to inhabit.

So don’t be afraid to take a stand.”

-Ankita Singhsl

“We must be impatient for change. Let us remember that our voice is a precious gift and we must use it.“
Claudia Flores, Clinical Professor, University of Chicago Law School

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We are the change that we seek.”

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

“Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.”

– Shonda Rhimes

“Every single person has the power to change the world and help people.”

– Laura Marano

“The fact of the matter is, we need to do something different. Compassion, love, empathy, and understanding are the keys.”
―Andrew Drasen, A Vision of Hope: A Story of Redemption and Purpose