The Ripple Effect

— michael r. ogden
teacher, scholar, storyteller

When contemplating this month’s Creative Mornings theme, “Ripple,” my mind wandered… I recalled a Grateful Dead song of the same name on their 1970s album, “American Beauty,” that expressed the joys of music and how we must all choose our own path. I thought of my childhood growing up on a farm watching fish rise to sip bugs off the still surface of our pond causing concentric “capillary waves” (i.e., ripples) from the fish’s action (and the bug’s demise) that eventually reached the edge of the pond only to gently rebound back and slowly dissipate from view (still continuing, only at the invisible “nano-level”). The “science-geek” in me also thought about gravitational waves rippling through the universe as massive black holes merge, barely detectable by our present scientific instruments, yet they continue for infinity in the fabric of space-time. I then remembered one of my favorite ice cream flavors, “huckleberry ripple.” That made me hungry, so I got a snack!

In the realm of Psychology, there is the concept of “the ripple effect.” Irvin David Yalom, an American existential psychiatrist and emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, introduced the phrase in his book, Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death (2008). I’m not here to talk about death (although, one could venture the belief in reincarnation to be a ripple of one’s consciousness through time, I suppose). No, it is Yalom’s explanation of the “ripple effect” that most interests me. He writes that the phrase, “…refers to the fact that each of us creates—often without our conscious intent or knowledge—concentric circles of influence that may affect others for years, even generations. That is, the effect we have on other people is in turn passed on to others, much as the ripples in a pond go on and on until they’re no longer visible but continuing at a nano level” (now you know where idea in the first paragraph came from!). 

2020, for most of us, is a year we’d like to forget, strike it from global memory, fingers in our ears, “la, la, la, la… go away 2020, I can’t hear you!” But, there is no denying that COVID-19 caused global ripples through our health care systems, our economies, our communities, our families, and our psyche that are still rebounding today and will likely continue at the “nano-level” for a generation, maybe longer. The “ripple effect” from the pandemic brought fear, frustration, and anger as well as denial. People grew suspicious, rude, and aggressive. They took to social media to vent with globally devastating effects as concentric waves rippled from our “doom-scrolling,” potentially impacting us and others in ways we may never know, rebounding until only the nano ripples remain… unseen but felt.

But, what if the “ripple effect” was one of compassion and kindness. Instead of spreading emotions such as fear and anger, this “ripple effect” spread emotions such as love and caring. I’ve noticed it myself when watching a video showing a kindly act and just how hopeful it makes me feel, restoring my faith in humanity, and brightening my day… Kindness and compassion are never wasted, absolutely never. Like huckleberry ripple ice cream on a warm day.