Sometimes, people think of doing good in the world as a big splashy project with lofty goals and wide visibility. Photo by teamstickergiant.

In reality, doing good, and having an impact, has more to do with a consistent effort over time, and staying true to your mission.

I was reminded of this by two recent email interactions. 

In a recent newsletter from Northwestern, I read a story about a graduate engineering student, Bryce Meredig, who started an improv group at the university. (BTW–how cool is that?)  In the following video, Meredig talks about his experience in doing improv at Stanford as an undergrad and wanting something similar in grad school. The video also includes an interview one of the advisers for the group, a mechanical engineering professor at Northwestern, about the benefits for researchers in applying improv to their work. 

 

 

I emailed Patricia Ryan Madson, author of the book, Improv Wisdom, and a retired teacher of theatre and improv at Stanford. I first met Patricia when I interviewed her for my blog, A Bigger Voice, and we've since become friends. I asked whether the graduate student at Northwestern is someone she had trained.

Her reply was quick and joyful, confirming that both the graduate student and the faculty adviser were both improv students of hers at Stanford. She went on to say that it was fun to see their involvement in improv at Northwestern, which she had no knowledge of until my email.

As a theatre and improv teacher over the course of decades, Patricia has done a lot of good in the world, even if it's not fully visible to her.

The second reminder of the nature of doing good in the world came a day later. (Funny how things happen like that.) I received an email from an art therapist in Florida.  She wrote to thank me for writing about navigating change and the power of commitment, in a piece titled, "The Trapeze". She had seen the metaphor used in "Art Therapy Techniques and Applications", whose author had contacted me over two years ago for permission to include in her book.  Photo by kevin.j

The art therapist went on to talk about using the book and the trapeze metaphor with a group of individuals dealing with substance abuse.  She built off of what I had done, extending the metaphor of a trapeze with drawing exercises and small group discussion.  Her gift to me was not only a description of how she had used the metaphor, but also the results:

"The group really responded to the metaphor of the trapeze, gained a lot of insight, and had very meaningful responses."

All of this, from an article I wrote over four years ago, nearly forgotten except for an author who felt it worthy to include in her book.  I felt pretty good for the rest of the day. 

Like Patricia, the good I've done in the world isn't fully visible to me. I feel blessed when someone lets me know the ripple effect.

I hope this inspires you to do two things:

• Do more good in the world, even if it seems like a small gesture.
• Tell others when something they did really helped you.

I would love to hear your stories of doing good in the world. What have been your surprises and delights in hearing about the ripple effect of doing good in the world?