Agency is one of those interesting words that seem to have polarities of accepted meaning. At one end, the association with external agency- estate agencies, advertising agencies, government agencies.
At the other end, our personal agency. How we interact with the world, what we take responsibility for.
I think it’s about locus of control. Those we authorise to exercise power on our behalf, or over us implies an external locus. Not down to us, down to them. We always have an “out”. Not our fault.
Internal locus of control is very different. It’s down to us. There is no “out” or place to allocate blame. We have no choice but to show up.
Right now, with everything that’s happening from coronavirus to climate, and the consequences, we have no choice to have agency. We are enough, and besides, no one is coming to rescue us. It’s down to us.
All around us, there are good things being done by people who care. They need our help.
On our own is difficult; with a few others, less so.
Agency is a choi…
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