everyday is friday.
(Source: 8tracks.com)
November 26, 2011 | 08:30 PM |
November 23, 2011 | 03:51 PM |
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Get the rest of the free mix at: http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/category/music/
November 23, 2011 | 01:54 PM |
On Change
There are days like today when I sit on my couch, hospital bracelet dangling from my wrist, and I intuitively know that nothing has really changed in the past year. I am still that 20-something with a bad case of wanderlust, unable to keep my life in check no matter how much I say I will. It’s easy to tell yourself you’ll drink three liters of water each day, that you’ll control your coffee addiction and have more time to yourself to switch off the maelstrom that is your mind. The realization hits hard that words are often empty promises and introspection is at best completely and utterly flawed. Yes, here I am again, the same as I was and as I will probably be for the rest of my life. I have a great deal of things to be thankful for, but my broken kidneys are not high on that list.
Yet, I have a small inkling of hope left. I no longer get angry or frustrated at others when they say the infamous words, “you need to take better care of yourself.” Instead, it lifts my spirits. “Reckless” and “crazy” don’t mean a thing to me - it’s a term thrown around to describe any perfectly normal idealistic youth on a soul-search. “You need to take care of yourself” reads to me as a kind of unconditional faith in the likelihood that I will learn and actually change this time.
I have adopted a beautiful melancholic concoction of apathy towards the things holding life back and gratitude towards the people who stay when it seems any sane person would leave. In that way, I have changed. I may not be 100% there yet, but the attitude is there. It’s through this year that the passage of time has proven who actually cares, that trust is built mostly on these experiences of needing someone and them coming through, because they want to and it makes them grow too.
Sometimes you find friendship in unexpected places, circumstances, times. It’s people that are going to impact you, shape you, grow you, hurt you. So it’s pretty important to know you have at least one person who will be your biggest fan, who won’t make you feel guilty for your mistakes or egotistic for your successes. Who will care about you beyond the words they say to you or the notes they leave for you. If you’re nice enough to be reading this now, I’m including you. And I try harder to be that person for those in my life too - because I truly love them in all their imperfections, because I’m afraid no one else will be, but mostly because I want to change as they change, stay the same as they stay the same.
April 13, 2011 | 04:23 PM |
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On Bribery
Reading an online Wall Street Journal the other day, I was struck by an article on Tamil Nadu, India. Elections are happening in the next month, and the political fever is running high. However, the two parties at odds with each other (The DMK under Karunanidhi and the AIADMK under Jayalalitha) seem as if they will go to any end in order to gain the wide fan base that they will need.
A democracy means power to the people, right? That may be true, but promising people free things - from blenders, to fans, to gold for your daughter’s dowry, to a flock of sheep! - in exchange for votes doesn’t seem like “empowerment.” And of course, the entire process is entrenched in the hip language of development. To quote directly from a DMK spokesperson, the new blenders and grinders are “a lifestyle improvement.”
Millions of dollars will be wasted in this type of “freebie” campaigning, giving people tools that they are not used to and may not even want. In addition, that money comes right out of taxpayer dollars and will not be spent on effective ground-up policy. In light of the global financial crisis, prolific expenditures will only hamper India’s efforts as an emerging economy.
See the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703280904576246722341966968.html?mod=WSJINDIA_hpp_LEFTTopStories
August 29, 2010 | 07:27 PM |
August 23, 2010 | 12:35 AM |
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(via justpeachykeane)
Haha That’s going to be my game in a couple weeks.
August 20, 2010 | 11:37 AM |
"There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs, and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of the cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly."
From the Wisdom of No Escape, Pema Chodron
August 17, 2010 | 01:50 PM |
August 17, 2010 | 12:04 PM |
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On Resilience
I would have thought that a month in rural India would leave me both desensitized to and despising “development”. What is development anyways? I guess you could call it a series of ventures to bring about change in areas of your life. However, as media often portrays it, development is not black and white, good or bad. Expectations of greatness take effort and dedication, something many texts say is lacking in international development - especially at the top levels, where all the allocated funds have to slowly trickle down to those in need.
However, I could not be more proud at the strides that I see taking place in this field. Getting to know the people whose lives are changing is the first step to successful development. I hope more people begin to realize that India is at the cornerstone of innovation in multiple regards. There exists a real sense of ownership of changes that are taking place, and the democratic spirit holds everyone responsible and accountable for the progress they wish to see. Young and old are working hard to seek a better life - whether that means improving their own community, or educating themselves to move to a different field. A connected world is helping dramatically in this process. In all honesty, I wish I saw this impassioned spirit in more fellow students. Resilience in the hearts and minds of people who have lost much is a force to be reckoned with.
Yet despite the incredible resilience seen firsthand, I believe one of the biggest hindrances in India’s goals for the next decade is the language that is used to describe the people who development organizations often partner with. Imagine being told all your life that you belong to a “backwards caste.” That you are “miserable” and are the “lowest” in the scale of life. Not only associated with the ever-lingering caste system, these words are heard by millions of people every day. And the language further divides those who give aid and those who receive it, instead of uniting them to reach a common goal. Money does not gain acceptance with people - respect does.
With a combination of respect and resilience, I expect great things to happen. The Gandhian spirit is fully alive in rural India. As he once said, “We must be the change we want to see in the world.”
