About two years into my teaching career, the mother of one of my first students introduced me to someone as her daughter’s teacher and role model. I remember cringing a little at the role model part. My Master’s degree and 15 years of teaching entitles me to the term “teacher” but...role model? That one feels heavy. I remember shying away from the term during the introduction; I said something about how my students are constantly teaching me and how I am consistently inspired by them. Of course I knew, even back then, that my students were watching me and that I was compelled to lead by example. It wasn’t the responsibility making me uncomfortable, but rather, the implication that a “role model” is someone who has it all together, all figured out, aspirational, and perfect...something I have always known I am not destined to be.
About two months after my first piece of writing was published in a magazine, I heard someone introduce me at a party as a writer. Again I cringed a little. I immediately began clarifying. I’m not a writer. I’m a teacher who likes to write. I’ve had the opportunity to tell some great stories and even get paid for my work, but writer that’s a term reserved for my literary heroes. Real writers are the author’s and journalists, novelists and poets who expand my worldview, ignite my imagination and speak to my soul. I remind myself (and anyone who might accuse me of grandstanding) that I’m not a real writer, I’m just a girl who knows the power and possibility contained in a story. Once again, I shrink away from lofty titles that feel as big and awkward to me as mother’s high heeled shoes beneath the feet of a toddler playing dress-up.
In recent years, I’ve occasionally had some other lofty titles tagged on to my introductions. I hear myself adding amendments like, “I’m not an artist, I just like to try new things”, “We’re not filmmakers, we just believe in visual story-telling.” I’m not a humanitarian, I just believe in the power of seeing people and sharing their stories.” One by one, I dismiss them all. Some more vehemently than others, and one the most vehemently of all...the term “Influencer”. “Oh no, I’m not an Influencer!” I hear myself insist. I delete invitations to “influencer events”, I explain emphatically that the only people I need to influence are my own two children and the ones who skip and shuffle into my classroom each morning. That’s it. That’s enough. But lately, I’ve been thinking about the other influencers that pull at the attention of those children who mean the world to me. I think about the influencers who pull MY attention away from whatever is happening in my real life, as I automatically slide my thumb across my phone screen while in line at the grocery store. They’re not shrinking away from titles, they’re using their platforms to sell us messages and products unapologetically. We live in a time where just about everyone is armed at every moment with the power to add joy or encouragement or hope or even fear to the lives of the people who “follow” us by simply clicking “post” on whatever it is we choose to share. That’s influence and power, whether we embrace the title willingly or reject it completely. The truth is, no matter how large or small your platform is, you are an influencer too.
When I look back at my life so far, other important titles come to my mind: mother, friend, advisor, confidant, role model. I didn’t feel worthy of, or ready for any of these titles when they were first assigned to me, but my lack of confidence in my ability to measure up to those terms didn’t make them any less true, and my shrinking and amending didn’t lessen my responsibility one bit. In the same way, on some level, maybe the most important level, we are all influencers. Instead of explaining all the ways that we aren’t or shrinking away from our positive or negative ideas about what an influencer looks like, we have the power and the opportunity to claim the title and the power that comes with it, to make a ripple in a sea of posts and maybe even turn the tide.
From this autumn forward, Wild Precious Now is moving in the spirit of hope and gratitude, that this season is known for, to use our #INFLUENCE4IMPACT and we want you to harness the power of YOUR influence to join us! What if our social media scanning left us feeling inspired and grateful and motivated and full of hope? We’re dedicated to using our platform to elevate what’s right in the world and the people and organizations who are making this world a better place! Locally we are spotlighting some of our favorite non-profits from now until the Lancaster Community Foundation’s Extraordinary Give, but then we’re going to keep on elevating stories of love and change and hope on all of our social channels.
Join with us by using the hashtag #Ifluence4Impact any time you’re using your social media outlet as a place to spotlight a cause you believe in or an organization that’s making a difference. Follow along with us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter as we repost shoutouts that bring attention to difference makers and world changers, and follow the hashtag #Influence4Impact to curate and fill your own feed with posts that inspire gratitude and giving everyday of the year! We don’t need to get swept away and lost in a sea of uncertainty, or shrink back from the Influencer title, instead we can make it our own, and encourage others to do the same.
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