By Alyssa Frank
He committed to a dream with unwavering dedication. He fought oppressive forces without ever lifting a finger. And he probably could have recited the back of a shampoo bottle and given you goosebumps. He's Martin Luther King Jr., and his fearless dedication to his values is the reason you're allowed to skip school/work today. So, now that you have a day to yourself, what are you going do with it? You could, of course, spend the next eight hours watching cat videos unshowered. But why not take the day to embody MLK's teachings and put your own dreams into action?
To get you inspired, we've enlisted some help from our friends from at Roadtrip Nation. They've spent the past decade roadtripping across the world, interviewing people who have built livelihoods around their passions. In the above video, you'll find a conversation they had with Reverend Samuel Kyles -- a friend of MLK, whose earnest eloquence and languid cadence should really make him the narrator for the next March of the Penguins. Kyles argues that we all have a "specialness;" an inherent calling which is rooted in our passions and waiting to be manifested. When we tune into that calling and pursue our sincere path, we end up contributing to the world in our own unique way -- much like King did.
The question is: if you resolutely pledged yourself to your dreams, what could you accomplish? Whether you dream of solving world hunger, saving the environment, or you've just always wanted to draw video game characters, the point is that no dream is too big or silly to chase, and your pursuit of it will enrich the world because we need people who love what they do. It takes inspired people to solve global warming, and even to make that crochet panda beanie from Etsy you love so much -- and when we live lives fueled by passion, we can fully harness our creativity, ingenuity, and enthusiasm towards our goals. So today, challenge yourself to do something that matters to you: volunteer at a soup kitchen; clean up a beach; draw that crazy video game dragon you've always had in your head. If you're really into it, you can even find a way to someday make a living out of the thing you love -- and make society a better place in the process.
To watch more interviews from Roadtrip Nation, check out roadtripnation.com