Yours.
Theirs.
Yours come from within.
Theirs come from without.
To succeed, being fluent in both is essential.
Knowing when to draw the line, when to bend, and how to articulate why you stand for what you do also comes in handy.
The 13 protesters and their anchors who dangled from the St. John’s bridge in Portland last week spoke both languages in order to make their point about arctic drilling practices. Fueled by inner beliefs, their actions challenged the collective standards about how to be heard, commerce, personal safety. As a result, the collective conversation changed — if only for a little while.
Some argue their efforts were for naught. Others claim it was a raging success. Regardless, they spoke. About what’s important to them. About how to get an audience to notice. About questions everyone needs to be asking.
Whether we side with them or not, they defined new standards for us all, raising the stakes for when the next time to speak up comes around.
