Starting an Online Magazine in the Middle of a Storm

Photo Credit: Mr. Wright @Flickr

For the last few weeks, K and I have been putting together a proposal to help take Art Works Projects  to a broader, richer level. We want to launch an online magazine in conjunction with the organization.

We consider ourselves lucky.

It’s extremely risky, too. We’re targeting people who are otherwise uninformed about the issues we tackle. Genocide. Gender based violence. Human trafficking. Child soldiers. Potable water.

Telling the stories of human rights and social justice connects to the difficulties of keeping people’s attention. The stories are too heavy. The issues are too complex. It’s understandable, in reality.

How can you make genocide accessible to a 38 year old Naperville mother of two? Or, get a 23 year old retail clerk motivated about the drug addiction of women and children in Afghanistan?

The problem is not lack of information or access to it. The problem is relevance. How do you get people to care?

Simply put: You don’t. You can’t. You won’t.

Human emotion is not a light switch. Caring needs a starting point. It doesn’t spark out of nowhere. I can give you all the information about the trappings and goings-on of a situation. I can implore that any decent human being should care about the issues in question. 

If, nonetheless, your heart is not moved – my work is in vain. If you feel that such things don’t apply to you, my information is pointless.

So, the hard part of our problem will not be trying to get people interested or to remain engaged. Instead, it will be to fight within the storm of apathy. It becomes difficult to navigate such a torrent because so many people casually contribute to its reign.

Therefore, I’ve become less and less concerned with provoking concern. Concern is at the discretion of the individual.

My goal? Starting a conversation.  Let’s talk about family or children. What about love? Perhaps you will tell me about your job.

The simple desire of sparking concern is not the ideal end result. If all I do is get you concerned – my job is not done.

If, however, I convince you that you are a creator of change – it will be amazing. If you believe you are a ripple effect, I’ll consider it a trailblazing victory.

If you feel you can articulate your own impact through whatever means, let’s celebrate.

Then, you’ll begin to notice that all those things we are talking about are everywhere. Nothing is ever as isolated as it seems. Within the storm of apathy, we’ll remove some of the isolation that helps breed (and maintain) it. After all, isolation begets the feeling that nothing is particularly connected to you – no matter how close it actually is.

Let’s move closer.