Went to see Bernie Sanders in Santa Maria recently and it got me thinking about the intersection of political and personal life, and how much I admire those leaders who are able to fashion something consistent and relatable out of the two.

When you live in a society that is built on injustice from the ground up you can’t expect it to change overnight. Of course there will be resistance. You should expect that those in power, whatever the flavor, do not relinquish it lightly. But the more you recognize other people as a source of support rather than as a threat, the less we need those who hold power over us. Don’t let your expectations for a single election paralyze you. Don’t let partisanship dominate the conversation or destroy hope for solidarity. After all, there aren’t any candidates that are exclusively good or evil. People are far more complex than that.

And so are societies. But we’re all connected, which means that every person, including you, affects how other people live, think, and feel. By making an effort to do something good for someone else in our own individual lives, we make the world a little brighter, a little warmer. But individual flames are easily put out or hidden away. When we join together to do something good that benefits the whole community, we can build a stronger fire that’s not so easily doused. When you hold the intention to help others throughout your day you can spark little fires of compassion at every opportunity. And what could be more revolutionary than that?