Take a look at how you make decisions in your household. Does everyone have a say? Who is the ultimate authority? When there is a dispute, how it is resolved? Our homes are training grounds for our participation in the wider community.
Organize a group in your community dedicated to effecting social change. Meet regularly to share ideas, exchange energy, and find concrete ways to act upon your vision. Christopher Childs in The Spirit's Terrain outlines a 12-step educational program to develop activism. Key steps include finding positive role models; identifying a desired, ideal, and long-term outcome; promoting your cause; and celebrating all significant positive results. Another book on this process is Wisdom Circles: A Guide to Self-Discovery and Community Building in Small Groups by Charles Garfield, Cindy Spring, and Sedonia Cahill. The authors see these groups as "places to share a vision, define a mission." They detail the basics of calling a circle together, creating rituals, sustaining the process, and rotating leaders.
