About a month ago, a recent Stanford grad came to our local Awakin gathering with his friend; as people in the circle spoke about looking critically within their inner selves, he spoke about how his life was great but that he sensed a lot of fear and regret in the circle.  Yet, his heart felt alive in an unexplainable way, and he came back next week -- alone this time.  When it was his turn to speak, he said, "This is my second time, and I just want to say that these circles get better every time."  He repeated something of the sort the third week.  In an after hours conversations, he said with a tone of seriousness, "You know, I was telling a friend that somehow I'm a nicer person on Thursday and Friday instead of Monday and Tuesday.  I think its the Wednesday after-effect."  This week was his fourth (and he seems to enjoy keeping a counter :)).  Before he left, he said, "Somehow, I don't know why, but I had this unrelated thought in the circle today -- that I've never thanked my parents.  Ever.  I just don't do that, but today, I was thinking that maybe I should."  By the end of that conversation, he decided that he would.  I don't know if this kind of work qualifies as activism, but we feel grateful that our little family room gets to hold space for these subtle shifts that are perhaps irreversible.