"With great power comes great responsibility."

We are a generation of amazing power. I’ve heard this phrase so much lately. And used it to empower myself as I get into the working world and try to avoid becoming just another drone in a factory working for “the man.” But really - how often do you hear that? Steve Jobs said it - and did it with the iPhone after dropping acid. Bill Gates, a college dropout, created one of the once-greatest (yeah, I said it) organizations of all time. And just to dip out of the technical sphere, Gandhi led a movement of peace and solidarity.

Generations later, we have tools at our disposal that past revolutionaries (buzz word alert) didn’t have. We have the internet. Namely - Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine ... They say (pundits, analysts, Boomers) that we are a generation that likes to share. They say we are a generation that documents our lives, and I bet the folks at Google Glass would kill to have every individual vlog his or her life and upload it to the cloud for analysis - yeah, that’s the paranoid way of looking at it, but imagine what power you have.

You can reach and connect with others in an instant. If you are interesting, entertaining, or motivating enough, you can touch hearts. Look at Karmin Covers - she and her fiancé went from singing on YouTube to the Ellen show to my elliptical at the gym! And she’s got pipes! And talent! What’s your talent? What are you passionate about - whether it be singing, dancing, politics, technology, business, poverty, public affairs...? The list goes on and on. And it’s hard to find passion, yes.

It takes a lot of energy to get out of bed in the morning. Yeah, that bed is really cozy. It takes a lot of energy to slog away every day trying to do something, as you’re told to do it. But I’d like to issue a challenge to you, as I have issued to myself. Find one thing that you want to do every day and do it. Little by little, do something. Whether it be digital or not, do that thing and make sure that its outcome benefits humanity. It can be art, music, math, or even basket weaving. Do something beautiful that you can show others and look back upon proudly.

I think that’s what we’re here for, and that’s why we were given so much more informational power than generations before us. I encourage you to use it without regard for the consequences - like a child. I encourage you to bound forward even on the days when your legs are tired and maybe even jump once - because jumping once is better than not jumping at all.

I’m writing this post because I believe the world is a really screwed up place, and as I get older, I see more bad things than good things. I don’t know if that’s cynicism taking root (it’s not) or if I’m just looking for something to become deeply passionate about (I am). I express this through code and leadership. How do you?