“Do your little bit of good where you are. It’s those little bits of goodness put together that overwhelm the world.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Very few people have influenced my work for the better quite like Desmond Tutu. His Truth and Reconciliation work piqued my initial interest in South Africa, where I’d spent formative chapters of my twenties. His book No Future Without Forgiveness impacted my concept of mercy. His conversations about joy with the Dalai Lama helped articulate so many things I knew deep down.
His quote above on little bits of good has particularly been really encouraging over the past few years at points where it’s felt like the world has spun too far out of control for things to be better.
All the hallmarks of Tutu’s legacy: restoring relationships, being guided by an open minded faith, a sense of humor—are all a solid match for what I want out of my own life.
He stood up to some of the worst stuff humans are capable of- prejudice, apartheid, violence, and he laughed at it. Subversively. The smile rarely left his face in spite of it all, like he knew how things turn out in the end.
I’ve spent my whole career doing justice pursuits- for refugees, for true climate- and the gravity of it is often a funny contrast with the fact that I don’t like taking myself too seriously. I love Desmond Tutu’s example of a powerful, beautiful way to make that happen.
Desmond Tutu