I recently watched a TED Talk where the speaker ended with a, to me, powerful line:
“Beat a drum, build a tribe, start a movement.”
I can’t stop thinking about it because it feels like a truth that’s been guiding my life for the last few years. A truth that sprang forth organically in my work and has now been validated through the musings of another.
The idea is simple: everything begins with a rhythm. You beat your drum (figuratively or otherwise) and that steady pulse draws people in. At first, it might just be one or two curious souls who hear something in your rhythm that resonates with their own. They come closer. They start to add their beat to yours.
This goes on and, before long, you have a tribe; people who share the same rhythm, your rhythm, your purpose, your sense of belonging. And if that rhythm carries far enough, if it stays steady and true, it becomes something bigger – an honest to goodness movement.
The above tagline struck me because it perfectly describes what I’ve been doing, whether I realized it or not.
For the past few years, I’ve been out there beating my drum (sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly) trying to rally people around the idea of community. The idea of helping one another, sharing time and skills, building systems that lift people up rather than leave them behind. From time co-ops to free health clinics to community advocacy programs, it’s all part of that same rhythm.
What’s funny is that it never started with the idea of a movement. It started with a small beat; a simple desire to make life a little better for the people around me. But as more people joined in, the sound grew louder. The energy started to build. And now, I look around and realize that we’ve got something that feels bigger than any one of us.
“Beat a drum, build a tribe, start a movement.”
I think this is, from now on, my personal tagline; because it captures my way of life. It’s about taking initiative, creating rhythm where there’s silence, and trusting that others will find you when they’re ready to march to your beat.
And I think that that’s how change happens. Not necessarily all at once, certainly not from the top down, but one steady rhythm at a time, from the ground up.
So if you’ve got something worth sharing, something worth building, start by beating your drum. Someone out there just might be listening. Or, if you hear someone else’s beat that moves you, join in.
Join us in making the world a better place. You’ll be glad that you did.
Cheers, friends.