Making a Difference, Joyfully

By Kristina Rizga, AlterNet. Posted July 6, 2005.

London-based activist and author Isabel Losada is convinced that one person can change the world -- and she maps out a ten-step plan in her new book A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World (HarperSanFrancisco).

A Beginner's Guide describes Losada's journey from a casual observer of world affairs to an international human rights activist working in Tibet. Her fast-moving narrative takes us from street protests in London to Losada's meeting with Chinese ambassadors to stunning PR coups that place Tibet in international headlines. The final chapters describe Losada's meeting with the Dalai Lama and their conversation about how individuals can make a difference.

A Beginner's Guide is part-autobiography, part-manifesto that avoids self-indulgent confessions or a preachy tone. It's an entertaining page-turner full of history, travel and romance, comprised of lively interviews with Tibetans, activists, and Chinese officials.

Helping Tibet gain religious autonomy in communist China can be viewed as a hopeless cause. But Losada maps out a realistic plan with small, achievable targets, and through trial-and-error she continues her work against all odds. Despite frequent obstacles and mistakes, she sustains an infectious sense of joy and optimism rarely found in the world of activism.

Losada's book is a great gift for your "questioning" activist-friends -- those types who vent their angry talk, but never walk the walk. It's also an inspiration for wannabe activists who can't afford to fight causes for a living. Losada is a single mom next door, who shops at Safeway, reads Harry Potter, and turns into a committed, part-time activist. "A Beginners Guide" is a courageous journey from hopeless anger to positive action.

Losada talked to AlterNet about her recent meeting with the Dalai Lama, her tips on being an effective activist, and her secrets to staying joyful while fighting injustices.

Could you tell us why you chose Tibet as your cause?

I've always been interested in the spiritual and alternative worlds. My first book was about why women become nuns today in the Church of England. And then my second book was about happiness and changing of self. And then having done that, I wanted to look at making a difference in the world, to explore the question of what can one person do to make a difference. And while we're in the middle of fighting terrorism in the world, the person who most people perceive as the world's leading proponent of non-violence and peace, is His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I thought, rather than fighting something we don't want, why aren't we rewarding and supporting what we do want. Which is a voice saying that we must be actively non-violent. We must fight causes. We must fight, but without violence. We must promote negotiated settlements, people talking to each other. Obviously, if world governments solved disputes by negotiations, then American soldiers wouldn't need to be dying in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

You mentioned that non-violence isn't much respected today. It's seen as weak not to fight back. Why do you think that is?

Yes, it's seen as weak not to fight back because pacifism and non-violence is misunderstood. It's understood to mean not doing anything. But if you have watched the amazing film by Richard Attenborough, Gandhi, there is a scene that demonstrates wonderfully what active resistance means, which is taking action, always taking action, always resisting an evil system, but not violently. So there's a scene when the Indians are wanting to resist the rule of the British in India, and Gandhi encourages them to strike. The British go in there and they're hitting the Indians over the head with truncheons, and being very violent. But Gandhi said, "Whatever they do to you, don't hit back." Because then you're showing great courage because you have the moral high ground. So you're taking action but you're not hitting back. And that in fact is the action which all the great spiritual leaders in the world talk about, be it Buddah, be it Christ. You resist but you don't shoot somebody. ... The message that is currently going into our grandchildrens' history books is if you follow the non-violent path you get ignored; if you plant a bomb and kill people then you make the front page of the newspaper.

I think one of the most powerful parts of the book is your conversation with the Dalai Lama, when he actually explains how to apply the meaning of the serenity prayer in your life, how to know what one person can and can't do to make a difference in the world. Can you talk about that?

Kristina Rizga is an associate editor at AlterNet. She edits WireTap, AlterNet’s youth-oriented section.

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