Post by Ravyn Crescent on Aug 23, 2008 12:51:45 GMT -5
Too many times do I hear that one person cannot affect the world.
I've asked people, "Now that you know about Human Trafficking, why not try and end it?"
And the reply is almost always the same. "What can I do? I'm one person."
... There seems to be this theory that one person cannot make a difference. Or if they can, that one person will. So who is this one person? No one seems to know or be willing to take that role.
Let me remind you all, though, that one person saved me. I wrote about Hunter so I often credit him for my freedom. He was the start of it, but Hunter existed only in my mind. The physical person was just one woman who enjoyed my poetry.
She showed it to someone and that someone was the councilor at my school. It was an accident, too. She had brought my poetry book to the front office while making copies and the councilor picked it up.
That councilor talked to me, and then vanished. It seemed the event was over, except that it gave me the push, the edge of encouragement I needed and I told the D.A.R.E officer (I believe) at my school.
... Ever since then, my life sure has gone up and down. The pain didn't end, things got so stressful at my mother's house she threatened to send me away... but slowly things grew better. They aren't perfect, they never will be, but I am alive.
I can honestly tell you that without that one person, I do not think I would be here in this world anymore.
Did that one woman undue all the past damage? No. Did she stop me from being molested? No. Did she prevent me from suffering from the psychological damage already on me? No. She didn't. She didn't make it so my father never hit me. She didn't make it so I wasn't living in constant fear of everyone around me. She didn't make it so I could look in the mirror and not hate what I saw there.
So what did she do? She saved me. I hated her for it, at first. Things got so scary and so strange; I hated her for doing it to me, but now I owe her my life.
I myself am just one person and look what I have done. ALERT and freetheslaves.net both congratulate me on my novel, I have won awards, I am doing book signings and going to conventions. You are all here because I write.
You are all warriors. We are all champions. We're not just one person lost in this world anymore, we are a force.
However, it struck my mind that there needs to be a better system here. Something we can do to better show our impact on the world. Each of us. As an individual. I want to better show that one person can make an impact.
And so, let me introduce you to the Butterfly Affect.
As you may know, the Butterfly Affect is a term based on chaos theory where one butterfly flapping its wings could affect tornadoes or even prevent them.
Thus, we introduce the butterfly rewards. Take note, this is a work in progress since there is a lot involved in getting it up and running, but the premises is simple:
Do good, earn wings.
On the forum, there will be a few butterfly icons in different colors. Each color will have specific meaning.
You already get 500 gold for human trafficking reports and 1000 gold for book reports on Predator Turned Prey. But gold isn't enough! So now, you can earn butterflies. I warn you, though, they will be fairly tough to get. They are supposed to be a reward, something to earn. And if it were just easy to get them... they wouldn't be special.
If you do a report for school, a local paper, any newspaper, a blog, anywhere, really, on PTP or myself, you'll get a butterfly (you'll have to prove it, though) for the forum that everyone will see. You will also get your name on the Star List.
If you go out and tell people in the world about PTP and this forum, and make a large impact you can get a butterfly shirt. These shirts will be custom for each person with a quote from a specific list on the front (the person who earns the shirt will get to decide on the quote from the list) and on the back, wings. There will be a list of wings made and the person will select a pair.
Now, I know many guys might be put off by this. No every man wants to be known as a butterfly, and that’s understandable. The winners of the butterfly reward will either get a butterfly colored to match their effort (as your efforts increase, so will your butterfly count and colors), or a star.
Why butterflies?
Butterflies start out as caterpillars. They are programmed to eat, sleep and go about their lives without taking their eyes off the path ahead of them. They are all a little different. Some are brightly colored, some are not, some are poisonous, some only eat specific things, some are huge and some are small. They are all growing, but some never live a life as anything other than caterpillars. They can make silk which they can use to swing from or to form cocoons.
However, caterpillars can change. They can turn away from their mundane lives and look inside themselves, taking a moment to research what their desires really are. They might shed their skin five or six times to accommodate their new desires. And if they find it within themselves, they can become butterflies.
Butterflies see the world in a whole new light. It is said that a single flap of a butterflies wings can affect tornados thousands of miles away. A butterfly isn’t some graceful little flutter bug, either, they impact the world and can tell us things. Early arrival of butterflies can show the impact of climate change. They help make people happy, alert others about storms, and they are a signal of freedom.
Caterpillars are often raised and used for harvesting silk; they’re frequently poisoned and often devoured by other insects. Butterflies are caterpillars set free. They can fly away, and they are beautiful each in their own individual way.
Why stars?
Because shooting stars shine the brightest.
