Changing the world isn't about one person doing a lot, but many people doing a little.

Text and photos by /"European North Travel Observation Diary"by Hong Zimin (Special Correspondent)

That night, I was on a plane from Australia to Singapore, eight hours in a tiny economy seat, as the Southern Hemisphere gradually gave way to the Northern Hemisphere and the sky turned deep black. Jet-lagged and unable to sleep well, I was stuck in the cramped space of a low-cost airline's economy class—no entertainment screen, not even knowing where I was. I pulled down the window shade and pressed my face close to the reinforced glass, trying to see outside. Even I thought that in such a pitch-black night, there probably wouldn’t be anything to see……

Looking out from the quiet cabin, in the star-filled sky at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet with zero light pollution, I couldn’t help but gasp softly, “So beautiful…”. Then, glancing slightly downward, I suddenly saw what I had assumed to be a pitch-black sea dotted with countless tiny lights like stars. “Ah… fishing boats.”

Guessing that I must be flying over the equator near the Indonesian archipelago, with not a cloud in the sky, I pressed my face closer to the small window again. Small islands, irregularly speckled with the lights of civilization, slowly emerged, resembling a delicate artwork embroidered on the dark globe with strands of golden thread. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck the sea in the distance, “Wow…” The sheer beauty made my heart skip a beat…

As I squinted, mesmerized by this somewhat surreal view, I suddenly noticed that the lights of those fishing boats—which looked like stars fallen into the black sea—were radiating faint halos of light outward from their tiny diamond-like centers, scattered across the equatorial waters. The once pitch-dark sea was gently illuminated by these tender little lights.

“Ah, I want to be someone like that,” a voice inside me said.

In the years since leaving school, I’ve often wondered how much difference one small person can really make in this world, no matter how hard they try. Even if I keep moving forward, there are times when I feel discouraged……

“Does that mean all these efforts aren’t worth it?” I kept asking myself.

It turns out that what the world needs isn’t the fleeting brilliance of a startling lightning bolt, but these tiny lights that gradually spread across the dark sea. No matter how dark the sea may be, how overwhelming that darkness feels, those lights may be so inconspicuous—we might not even remember their names—but they still manage to cast a small circle of brightness, a small circle of hope, in the darkness. And if more and more of these gentle little lights emerge, then perhaps this world will slowly grow warmer.

You don’t need to remember my name—just remember the bit of light you felt.

“To change the world, it’s not about one person doing a lot, but many people doing a little.” — Anonymous