What The Lord of The Rings taught me about everyday resistance (in a world that feels dark and hopeless)

As I decorated my daughter’s nursery, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted her to be surrounded by powerful, yet gentle reminders of hope, strength, and resilience. And what better example of that than The Lord of the Rings. So, now we have artwork hanging up in her room with the following quotes:

• "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future,” Galadriel.

• “I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love,” Gandalf.

Fast forward to this morning: I’m doing my regular doom scroll on social media feeds (as one does) and it’s all Taylor Swift this, Gavin Newsom that. Nonstop discourse about how our celebrities and politicians are either our saviors or absolute failures. And it got me thinking back to these two quotes. 

“I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love,” Gandalf.

Gandalf reminds us that it’s in the small, everyday actions of regular people that make an impact. This wisdom grounds me in the everyday. Change doesn’t always arrive with grand gestures or sweeping legislation. We can't (and shouldn't) exclusively rely on our celebrities and politicians. Frankly, when we put too much faith in those leaders, we're often disappointed. And that's largely because real change happens on a much smaller scale. Sometimes it’s as simple as checking in on a neighbor, sharing a meal, and showing up for those in our community when it matters most. It’s the ordinary folk, the daily kindnesses, that keep the shadows from fully swallowing the light.

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future,” Galadriel.

Galadriel reminds us that although we are one person with minimal political power, we can still make a world of difference. Power doesn’t just rest with presidents, influencers, or billionaires. Even the smallest person can spark change. History has been altered countless times by someone who, on paper, had no business shifting the course of events. And if they can, we can too.

So while the insufferable echo chamber of social media continues to shout and debate about who’s saving the world or ruining it, I’m reminded that real power lies closer to home. With us: The small, ordinary people. It's with the way we choose to act in small moments. With the belief that even the smallest person—even one child or one stranger in a country we've never heard of—can change the future.

When the world feels like it’s spiraling out of control, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the defeating, dark comfort and complacency of nihilism. It’s easy for us to throw our hands up in the air and cry, “There’s nothing I can do! It’s out of my hands!” Especially when our leaders continue to disappoint us left and right. 

But it’s not hopeless, and we’re not useless. Resistance looks different for every single person. And we have to hold onto that. We have to focus on what we can control, even if it feels small. It makes a difference. It’s important. And it matters. 

And when times seem just too dark to continue on, we have to remember Sam’s speech to Frodo in The Twin Towers.

Sam: “It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

Frodo: “What are we holding onto, Sam?”

Sam: “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.”

I believe there’s still good in this world, and I’m going to do what I can to fight for it.