My friend Alyson, here in NCCC, was accepted to be one of two U.S. Representatives to the first ever UNESCO youth forum in the America's. As part of her preparation she is engaging in weekly discussions with the other countries' representatives about a broad range of topics. Since I am both really excited for her to go and am fascinated with the questions being asked I thought I would post them here in on my blog. Already two weeks of questions have passed so I am going to start with the third week question but here are the questions from the previous weeks.
1st week question:
This Forum has been called the 1st Americas Youth Forum. What does The Americas mean to you? Which elements of identity characterise this region? Is it possible to talk about a common future?
2nd week question:
Education provides a window to the individual and social development. What is the validity of this statement in the context of the Americas ? Which tools, strategies and actors do you think could be crucial for the construction of a Knowledge Society in the region? Which role could education play in this process?
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 4th
When everyone began talking about where they were last July 4th I had to think harder then I think I should have. then it came flooding back to me. I was back in Belfast chilling in the Botanic Gardens, playing frisbee with Karlo and Stevo. Laurence and Megan were reading. Evan was playing guitar. I think Margaret was out and about somewhere. We had a great bbq back at #11 Mt charles, one of many. I loved that smokey allie of a back yard, if that's what we want to call it. Yup Ramana and Petr were about too causing trouble as usual. We had soo much food. I think kedrick made brownies, Megan her crumble, me a red, white and blue trifle. Oh Potato Salad. Yum. Oh I remember Karlo and Steve brought burgers with the bun all frozen in a box to the park. That was great. Ahh I love you guys.
This year I tailgated my first concert. It was the Violent Femmes and Blues Traveler at Redrocks and amazing natural outdoor red rock amphitheatre that over looks Denver. At 9pm we saw about 25 fireworks shows happening down in the city, then as the fireworks burned out Mother nature lite up her show of force with a great lightening show. THAT was beautiful as the sky lite up I thought what a message mother nature was sending. "Silly people yup your fireworks are colorful, but Mine I can liteup the earth and the sky. I can do without running out of steam and will always out power you." What a great message.
Hope you all had a great 4th.
This year I tailgated my first concert. It was the Violent Femmes and Blues Traveler at Redrocks and amazing natural outdoor red rock amphitheatre that over looks Denver. At 9pm we saw about 25 fireworks shows happening down in the city, then as the fireworks burned out Mother nature lite up her show of force with a great lightening show. THAT was beautiful as the sky lite up I thought what a message mother nature was sending. "Silly people yup your fireworks are colorful, but Mine I can liteup the earth and the sky. I can do without running out of steam and will always out power you." What a great message.
Hope you all had a great 4th.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Sarcasm
Sarcasm seems to be finding me in many places recently, but since my life right now is Americorps NCCC it's my most recent medium for exposure. I would be inclined to believe that perhaps I am just too sensitive to the sharp come backs, the stinging remarks, the laughter disguising angry remarks, but my deep respect for love and the community inform me otherwise. I often interpret sarcasm as teasing in disguise, or anger without confrontation. One friend described sarcasm as "cheap humour at an others expense. Humour for people who don't know how to be funny."
Even in groups where all participate in equally bashing, each equally pointing out every mistake of the others, there seems to be a serious lack of respect for the possibilities of a loving dialogue. Recently team members of mine said they would prefer people laugh and make fun of them when they trip and fall then ask if they are alright.
I know that this is true for many people but I am still appalled when I hear it. When living in Northern Ireland I learned that people like Oprah would never fly in Northern Ireland because their genuineness would be in question. I have heard similar and said similar things of people like Bono. Why is it so hard to accept a genuine loving response? Perhaps because far to often it is used to coerce a gift, favour or fame. Or is it the lack of community depth and relationships which rest on more than the mutual use of the sidewalk?
Recognizing that Northern Ireland and similar places have been shaped by an incredibly deep wound, are we to believe that our community has been equally shaped by a different but equally harming wound? If we are to believe that this wound exists, does our use of sarcasm to mask the wound truly help in the work toward reconciliation. Does the short term relief through sarcasm hurt our long term recovery? Now Northern Ireland is known to have some of the darkest humour, much like ambulance and ER workers, the connections between the two are not hard to make. However the use of humour to collectively gain relief from a serious and difficult time is a wise use of time coupled with other works.
I am digressing. What I am looking at is the replacement of sarcasm with caring dialogue that focuses on the loving/positive aspects of the relationships. Of course without ignoring the hurt. This view of a wounded community is here put into perspective because of my constant search for the good. I know, I KNOW that this search is not my singular quest, but a quest shared by more people than can be counted. I believe that far fewer people actually experience the use of love for coercion than those touched by its effects. Often like in blighted neighborhoods where even if you have had no personal experience with the police you are hardened to their position by the experiences shared in the community. It is that mistrust that breeds the further occurrence of police/community conflict. The work of the police to gain the trust of the community seems that much harder because of the built mistrust. The same definitely goes for those who use sarcasm to hide and release anger without coming to terms with its effects on the self and the other.
Perhaps I have gone to far without truly defining sarcasm and deciding whether there can be constructive and useful sarcasm. I use sarcasm to take jabs at our political figures as has been done for centuries though I personally like to call this wit. Consulting my favorite source for word debates Merriam Webster should help,
Sarcasm: 1:a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain 2:a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual.
Wit: suggests the power to evoke laughter by remarks showing verbal felicity or ingenuity and swift perception especially of the incongruous.
While perhaps with these definitions the differences are unclear the truth still remains that Sarcasm which is used to jab or tease others, however playfully, causes wounds that may be imperceptible to the participants but ripples through the community. I don't know if this is making sense any more but if nothing else sarcasm like teasing and bullying are while sometimes great momentary reliefs of anger they are not constructive ways to actually build a cohesive and strong community.
If we truly believe that love does conquer all, would that mean starting with the conquering of sarcasm that cuts love open like a festering wound in our daily language?
Even in groups where all participate in equally bashing, each equally pointing out every mistake of the others, there seems to be a serious lack of respect for the possibilities of a loving dialogue. Recently team members of mine said they would prefer people laugh and make fun of them when they trip and fall then ask if they are alright.
I know that this is true for many people but I am still appalled when I hear it. When living in Northern Ireland I learned that people like Oprah would never fly in Northern Ireland because their genuineness would be in question. I have heard similar and said similar things of people like Bono. Why is it so hard to accept a genuine loving response? Perhaps because far to often it is used to coerce a gift, favour or fame. Or is it the lack of community depth and relationships which rest on more than the mutual use of the sidewalk?
Recognizing that Northern Ireland and similar places have been shaped by an incredibly deep wound, are we to believe that our community has been equally shaped by a different but equally harming wound? If we are to believe that this wound exists, does our use of sarcasm to mask the wound truly help in the work toward reconciliation. Does the short term relief through sarcasm hurt our long term recovery? Now Northern Ireland is known to have some of the darkest humour, much like ambulance and ER workers, the connections between the two are not hard to make. However the use of humour to collectively gain relief from a serious and difficult time is a wise use of time coupled with other works.
I am digressing. What I am looking at is the replacement of sarcasm with caring dialogue that focuses on the loving/positive aspects of the relationships. Of course without ignoring the hurt. This view of a wounded community is here put into perspective because of my constant search for the good. I know, I KNOW that this search is not my singular quest, but a quest shared by more people than can be counted. I believe that far fewer people actually experience the use of love for coercion than those touched by its effects. Often like in blighted neighborhoods where even if you have had no personal experience with the police you are hardened to their position by the experiences shared in the community. It is that mistrust that breeds the further occurrence of police/community conflict. The work of the police to gain the trust of the community seems that much harder because of the built mistrust. The same definitely goes for those who use sarcasm to hide and release anger without coming to terms with its effects on the self and the other.
Perhaps I have gone to far without truly defining sarcasm and deciding whether there can be constructive and useful sarcasm. I use sarcasm to take jabs at our political figures as has been done for centuries though I personally like to call this wit. Consulting my favorite source for word debates Merriam Webster should help,
Sarcasm: 1:a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain 2:a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual.
Wit: suggests the power to evoke laughter by remarks showing verbal felicity or ingenuity and swift perception especially of the incongruous.
While perhaps with these definitions the differences are unclear the truth still remains that Sarcasm which is used to jab or tease others, however playfully, causes wounds that may be imperceptible to the participants but ripples through the community. I don't know if this is making sense any more but if nothing else sarcasm like teasing and bullying are while sometimes great momentary reliefs of anger they are not constructive ways to actually build a cohesive and strong community.
If we truly believe that love does conquer all, would that mean starting with the conquering of sarcasm that cuts love open like a festering wound in our daily language?
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