This moment that we are living through right now, is really rather extraordinary.

Tens of millions of us are sitting at home. We don’t have our military patroling the  streets, threatening to shoot us if we don’t comply with the shelter-at-home directive. We are foregoing many activities that we love to do, and for an unknown period of time. Why?

The Atlantic summed it up nicely:

“We are witnessing people everywhere, acting mostly independently but all together, shutting our country down—a move that ensures millions will face a massive, incalculable economic hit—to give the weakest among us a better chance against the novel coronavirus. We are each sacrificing our daily routines—our gyms and coffee shops and offices—to keep health-care professionals from becoming overwhelmed.”

In my eyes, that makes every one of us a leader. We are stepping up to help and protect our community. And we feel it as a community. The grocery store that has set up sanitizing stations outside their doors, a neighbor that veers many feet off the sidewalk so as not to get too close to you, and so many other small steps we are all taking to keep each other safe.

It recalls this wonderful talk that I saw on TED Talks a while back. It’s a funny story about how one person irrevocably changed the life of another, and had no idea he had done so. Just like the person who won’t get infected with COVID-19 because you or I stayed home. We’ll never know.

Which brings me to the activism we are practicing at home right now. Whether you are writing postcards or sharing information on social media or something else, you are likely affecting people’s lives and don’t even know it. You may inspire them to take action and never know.

I encourage you all, as you sit at home, to take a moment and give yourselves a pat on the back for staying home. For positively affecting the lives of your fellow neighbors. For staying active politically and potentially influencing someone to take action. Without ever knowing it.

We are all leaders.

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Tags: activism, community, coronavirus, Explainers, featured, get inspired, inspiration, leadership