Social Motivator: The Sound of Silence

In the words of Simon and Garfunkel, “what you see is the inability of people to love each other, …called the sound of silence.” We often think of silence in terms of metaphors – as the inability to love, as a kind of solitude, as a kind of release, or as a sweetness. Despite all these metaphors, people still deal with it as a natural thing, as a part of the human moment. Yet so many people still have no idea what to do with it.

In a Ted Talk given by John Francis in 2008, we hear about a silence which lasted 17 years, and the very first words he says after it. More importantly, we hear about the silence which allowed him to change the world. In his talk he shares the story of what motivated him, and what he learned through the silence. If we could just say nothing, and listen to the world and everything that goes on in it, what would we learn? In his talk, Francis describes learning how the world moves, and how people are moved – he talks about an experience where he’s teaching a class without using words, and the kind of discussion and learning it invites in a classroom; it was enough to even teach him, despite him being the instructor.

This silence is everywhere. Buddhist monks practice this silence and stillness in their meditation, and as such, they learn to see the world in ways which one would never hope to imagine. I like to sit in silence before I begin writing a poem, so that I can hear what the world has to tell me. The sound of silence isn’t a silence at all; in fact it is a vivid and loud resonance that creeps throughout the world. It isn’t an inability of people to love, but rather a call for people to listen and love. To conclude this blog, I want to share with you a piece by John Cage, called 4’33”. It is supposed to get us to listen to the art which is the world around us.

Personal Motivation: The Year in Review

Happy New Year to all! 2009 was a year of many interesting memories for me, and despite the last two weeks reflecting on major events, none of them really relate to my personal experience.

Throughout 2009, I learned many things about myself, experienced many adventures and grew as a person. Just a few examples of this follow:

1. New Friends: I met at least two new people who I am so thankful to have in my life. You should know who you are. It needs to be said that you have helped me to grow up as a person.

2. Old Friends: Throughout the year, you reminded me what it meant to love someone more than yourself, and one of you taught me what it means to love someone more than anything in the world.

3. Tough Times – There have been some challenges throughout the year, but I learned two very important things because of them; the first is that I need to take risks so that I can stay true to what I believe in, and second that sometimes the only way to fix things is to let go.

I’ve gone through a lot more than this, but obviously I wouldn’t be able to fit it all. Throughout the year though, I’ve seen things change, people change, and more importantly, my own change. Whether it’s for the best or for the worst, I couldn’t say. But since 2010 is here, I’m going to just keep going forward. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out a disaster.

Social Motivators: The Year in Review (Part Eight)

As a university student in Toronto, and specifically at UTSC, I think it’s important to think about accomplishments in this past year. While there really aren’t that many at the local level worth thinking about that many outside would care about, one worth mentioning is the bid for the 2015 Pan-Am Games. On November 6, 2009, the victory in Toronto’s bid for the 2015 Pan-Am Games was announced at the party on Queen’s Quay. Mind you, I’m not much of a sports enthusiast, but to see an international sports event finally being held in one’s home city is exciting for a social enthusiast, especially since these events seem to bring countries together in a very unique way.

I don’t really have much more to say about this, so I’ll just add some links for you guys, and leave you with this question: Have you guys been to sporting events that operate on an international level? Is it worth holding them, in your opinion?

Links:

Globe and Mail Article

CBC Article

Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games Homepage

Social Motivators: The Year in Review (Part Seven)

Over the past year, technology has comparatively improved in many respects. I can think of one in particular which crosses the mind of many PC users; Windows 7. When I tried the PRC, I wasn’t too impressed with the outcome of it but that could have been for a number of reason caused by a failure of a Virtual PC emulator *ahem* Microsoft *ahem*, once I actually installed it, I had a realization: Windows Vista was the bastard child of Windows XP and Windows 7 after a night of cheap beer. Windows 7 was a major improvement to Vista’s horrible (shiny, but horrible) excuse of an operating system. At first glance, it doesn’t obviously look much better, but delving deep into test runs, the difference between the two is astounding. I won’t bombard you with details, but many have agreed that while 7 isn’t visually much more impressive, it is more efficient in many other respects.  For a definitive opinion on this matter, read through this webpage.

Another bit of technological improvement (okay, more like addition) on the internet is the new Google suite, Google Wave. While it is still invite only, its release has been much anticipated by developers and freelance techies as well as the average users at home, and without disappointment. Many of its features are still buggy or missing, but again, the main reason for this is that it’s still being tested. Apart from those two major developments in software, there are many hardware improvements. On this list are the PS3 120GB, the DSi, HP’s TouchSmart 600 PC, and the iPhone 3GS.

There wasn’t too much in terms of technology this year, but the improvements that were made are ones that we can consider significant enough that it doesn’t matter so much that we didn’t get to see many more.

What’s your opinion? What made your technological year worthwhile? Or, if the question fits, what ruined it?

Social Motivators: The Year in Review (Part Six)

One of the big things that happened this year in the entertainment industry is Twilight: New Moon. Now, I’m not a screaming fan girl, so I’m not exactly for it. However, that being said, it doesn’t mean I’m against the idea of romantic love affairs between teenaged human beings and teenage vampires who are actually 20 years older than they look. I think this guy had it right when he came up with this parody trailer:

Because it really did look this silly to me.

All jokes aside, the entertainment industry has had its fair share of ridiculous. From Kanye West’s interrupting Taylor Swift becoming an internet meme, to Chris Brown beating up Rhianna, and from Perez Hilton getting beaten up to Christian Bale dropping the F-Bomb over 90 times in 4 minutes (or was it the other way around?).

There are also (for the more perverted) racy images of younger female celebrities that attracted much media attention, such as Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus etc. And who could forget the sex tapes? Of course, I won’t be linking them mostly because they either no longer exist, are pay-per-download, or are just plain disgusting, but you can google them if you so desire.
Apart from these obviously attention grabbing stories, there are others, which I haven’t been following mostly because I couldn’t care. However, I will say that 2009 seems to have been the year of the Douche. What do you think? Was this a good year for the entertainment industry? What stories have you been focusing on? Is it really worth it to treating these people like they’re special just because they have the limelight?

Social Motivators: The Year in Review (Part Five)

One of the most bizarre things to happen this year must have been the incident with Balloon Boy. The incident, which became an international online news story, was cited by Wikipedia as follows:

The balloon boy hoax occurred on October 15, 2009, in Fort Collins, Colorado, when the parents of a six-year-old boy, Falcon Heene, falsely claimed that he had floated away in a home-made balloon. The event attracted world-wide attention. At the time, it was reported that Falcon Heene was apparently traveling at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in a homemade helium balloon coloured and shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer-type of UFO. Falcon was nicknamed "Balloon Boy" by some in the media.

This is an example of how desperate some people are for attention. Even funnier than this hoax is that the boy was actually not in the balloon at all, but in an attic. So why do we still call him balloon boy? Oh well. I guess there is such a thing as bad publicity.

Next time dad, you might want to set your child up for publicity in a less creative way. Maybe teach him how to rap horribly, have him win a few awards, and do some stupid thing to turn him into an internet meme. Like Kanye.

In case you don’t know, Baby Jessica can be read about here.

This picture reminds me; I have a movie to watch.

For more information on balloon boy, visit this site.

Christmas Motivation: Things People Will Do

So today, as I was out on my weekly walk (mostly out of habit), I discovered that the critter that had been going through recycling bins and trash cans in my neighbourhood was in fact, not a critter at all. Instead, it was this old woman who perused through peoples’ garbage cans and recycling bins for cans and bottles that she might perhaps take to a recycling depot. 

Okay, so this isn’t the woman, but she looked equally as funny, with her cart and garbage bag full of cans and bottles. It’s interesting how some people’s lives never seem to stop despite the circumstances. It’s important to remember that despite the holidays we can’t stop living life and being productive. Yes, it is important to celebrate and kick back, but the holidays don’t mean we can just stop being responsible for our actions and lives. I don’t mean that we have to do what this woman is doing, but realistically, during the holidays, we should at least have some kind of control so that at the end of it, we can go back to our lives knowing we did our best to make sure that we are in one piece, as well as making sure the rest of the world is too.