Creating critical mass
On April 7, 2003 the New York Times quoted then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as saying that the war in Iraq had not yet reached a “tipping point”. Rumsfeld was giving voice to the idea that sometimes, despite apparent lack of progress, in fact things were taking place that would soon yield a dramatic and obvious change. If it was not in the popular consciousness before this time, the notion of the “tipping point” quickly found fertile ground in popular thinking. In fact, the idea of a tipping point is also a statement of belief in a phenomenon known as “critical mass”, which indicates that once you have built up a certain degree of energy or momentum behind an idea or endeavour then you reach a point where that energy is irresistible. At this point you have reached “critical mass” and things will change dramatically and rapidly.
The notion of critical mass is directly relevant to anyone wanting to live a life of awareness and change. It is empowering to people who seek self-development and who want to see positive social and environmental change. At times it can become easy to only focus on the large-scale changes that you want to see occur and it is tempting to think that small changes won’t make a difference. There is also the ever-present temptation to think that changing “you” or the changes
