by Sarah Day

I sat in my way-too-comfy-you-can-almost-never-get-out-of-it purple chair this morning and read this article by Naomi Klein titled, “Revisiting the Shock Doctrine in the Wake of Haiti Disaster.”  The below paragraph grabbed my attention.

“…participants say they are not just repairing buildings but healing themselves. It makes perfect sense. The universal experience of living through a great shock is the feeling of being completely powerless: in the face of awesome forces, parents lose the ability to save their children, spouses are separated, homes-places of protection-become death traps. The best way to recover from helplessness turns out to be helping-having the right to be part of a communal recovery.”

And it made me think of the word empowerment.

Wikipedia says empowerment is “increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities.  It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.”

One definition that I particularly like, found here, is “the breaking of destructive or non productive cycles and systems that prevent people from achieving the fullness of their potential.”

When we empower, we give someone ability.  We give a community tools.  We educate.  But it’s easy to steal someones ability by doing the job done ourselves.  It’s tempting, perhaps, to build the home instead of giving the tools for building.  And it’s easy to switch from educating to deciding for someone.

How can we empower by what we give, and not just patch, bandage, or worse yet, steal from freedom or recovery?  There are many ways to empower and many currencies with which we can give.  That’s my hope when I give of my time, energy and resources—to release strength in people, rather than to make them feel victimized or helpless.  And it is our aim at Giving Anonymously, to facilitate this kind of giving.  What do you think?  Have you been empowered in a unique way by someone you know?  Have you felt the thrill of releasing someones potential and strength?  We’d welcome your thoughts on this topic!

{image via Pete Day Photography}