Activation Energy Weekly: Finding Your Spark!

One of my favorite chemistry and DEI analogies is activation energy. In chemistry, activation energy is the amount of energy required to facilitate change. Each person has their own activation energy level — and when that level is reached, it acts as a spark to ignite action. Most of the time, that spark is rooted in negativity, violence, chaos, and trauma. Understandably. These are moments so undeniable, so impossible to absorb without responding, that they cross the threshold for people who might otherwise stay still. The grief is real. The outrage is real. The urgency that follows is real. And then, often, the energy dissipates. The reaction runs hot and goes cold. And we wait — consciously or not — for the next crisis to activate us again. That is not a change practice. That is a crisis on a loop.

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