Once you blow open a mind, there's so much that mind can absorb

I happened upon a panel discussion of students from MIIS' spring break trips yesterday evening.  (MIIS = Monterey Institute of International Studies) A couple of students had visited Washington DC, others Taiwan and China, another to the UN in New York and another to Cuba.  The facilitator asked them questions about their experiences, things they had learned, "ah-ha" moments and advice they had for students.  It was very inspiring to listen to what these students from modest Monterey had witnessed, experienced and lived.  

A woman sitting near me in the audience raised her hand and added to what the student who had visited Cuba had commented about perspective (he had said that visiting Cuba blew his mind).  This woman, who turned out to be Professor Jan Knippers Black, said, "Once you blow open a mind, there's so much that mind can absorb."  That stuck with me.  We go through life with our pre-conceived notions, we all do whether we want to admit it or not.  In doing so, we inhibit ourselves from seeing things differently.  Something may not necessarily be right or wrong but we can learn from it, we can adopt in our lives small changes simply from observing how other people live and behave.

Conflicts are started because we assume that those people are doing things the wrong way, they are vehemently anti-"our way" and therefore we must change them or isolate ourselves from them, etc.  How much of life do we miss out on that way?  Imagine if we withheld judgement and looked at other people, cultures, political systems, you name it, as simply different and something from which we can learn.  This is where our mind can absorb things at face value, rather than be muddied by a pall of judgement and preconception.  So next time you watch the news or see something that is different to you, try to assess it with an open mind.  There will be things that even after open-mindedly assessing, you will be opposed to (FGM or slavery, for example), that is alright, but there will be many things that if inspected from another angle, can teach you something (i.e. governments investing in human capital).  

"Growing your own food is like printing your own money"

For those of you who are not familiar with TED, you ought to be.  The notion is "ideas worth spreading."  People come together for TED talks and give a short blurb about just that, an idea worth spreading.  It can be anything from coping with an ill partner to an innovative business design.  There are conferences and all the TED talks are available online.  I recently attended an independently organized TEDx event, TEDx Monterey - it was so inspiring.  A fantastic reminder that there are people in our community doing super cool things, you just have to be willing to hear about it.   

At TEDx Monterey, they played this TED talk about gardening.  You know, growing your own food.  Have a look and see what you think.  Maybe you'll plant a garden?  Even if it's just a container garden - plants in old milk jugs or cleaned out paint buckets.  Plants are a form of life and life wants to live.  Give it the bare minimum to survive and it will thrive... 

"To love another person is to know God in the face"

I just saw Les Miserables, the movie, based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel.  Many of you may not have read the book, too bad Monsieur Hugo was paid by the word as the novel is a good 1000 pages, but well worth it!  The book was made into a musical and came out today (25 December 2012) on the big screen.  I saw the movie at Lighthouse Cinemas, in Pacific Grove, a quaint theatre nestled in the downtown of our sleepy town.

It was fantastic!  It really follows the passion that life can possess and the endurance of the human spirit - both for good and for bad.

If you don't know the story, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is enslaved (his punishment for stealing) and then released but violates his parole -  he assumes a new identity and starts a new life as an honest man, but he is not free as he is hunted from that point on by Javert (Russell Crowe), the unwavering face of the law who has made it his personal vendetta to seek justice.  Now we also have Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a mysterious factory worker who we discover from the other jealous co-workers, has a child, Cosette, whose father left and is being taken care of by an inn-keeper and his wife, although it is unbeknownst to Fantine that her Cosette is not treated very well.  After it is revealed that Fontine has a child, illegitimately, she is kicked out of her job and forced into prostitution to provide money to the inn-keepers for Cosette.  She falls ill and is discovered by Valjean who takes her to a hospital and promises to raise her child.  All the while, Javert has discovered Valjean's true identity and is determined to see justice served.  Doesn't happen.  Valjean finds the innkeepers (TheThenardiers), who feign the role of caring parents and pays them to take the child and Valjean and young Cosette escape into hiding.    

Much later, we see the grown Cosette, indeed under the (great) care of Valjean but living in secrecy as they are still hiding from Javert.  We are now in the midst of the French Revolution and the young revolutionaries are out in full force, including Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) who sees the grown Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) in town one day and falls in love immediately.  Now in between the revolution, we also have a love story, a hopeless love and a secret (as Valjean's true identity is unknown to Cosette).

I will leave it at that because I really don't like spoiling the end of stories.

The music from the musical is fantastic and it was very well done in the movie. Who knew Russell Crowe could sing?  Anne Hathaway, who lost 25 lbs. for her role as Fantine does an excellent job looking miserable, half dead and defeated.  We, the audience, as we often do, find ourselves sympathizing with the underdog - having hope for true love, for true justice, not just the legal type, and believing in the goodness of humanity.

Movie - "The Sessions"

Oh. My. Lordy.  How refreshing!

I saw the movie "The Sessions" today.  It was fantastic.  It was provocative, romantic, real, sad, funny, raw, human and humane. It is based on the autobiographical writings by Mark O'Brien, a poet/writer who was not-quite-paralyzed from the neck down due to a bout of childhood polio.  He lives mostly in an iron lung and always on a gurney.  At 38, he sets out to lose his virginity and after consulting with his priest, decides to see a sex-therapist.  It challenges the conventional stigma surrounding the disabled and allows you to truly empathize with the guy.  The movie did a great job of bringing the characters to life - the relationships were real and you could genuinely relate, no phony business.

I think the actors were fantastic, John Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien and Helen Hunt is Cheryl Cohen-Green, the sex-therapist.   You really had a sense of empathy - both happy and sad, for Mark.  I will leave it at that, you ought to see the movie for yourself to truly experience it.  

Friends in DC

So, I am attending a conference in Washington DC at the US Institute for Peace.  

It's quite amazing the number of people who are willing to get together in the name of peace.  You don't hear so much about this on the news - violence sells.  Sensationalism rules in media, unfortunately. 

I have met people from all over the world at this conference who care about the well being of the world. How refreshing! We have active duty military officers (from both the U.S. and Canada), a member from an NGO in Pakistan, a Diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo, people from the State Department and the National Democratic Institute, a Spanish UN Program Officer currently stationed in Ethiopia, among other people in other arenas who simply care about peace and the importance of proactive and sustainable relationships between nations. 

Beyond what I am learning, I am humbled by the ability of human beings to forge relationships despite cultural, language, any barriers!  I have made a friend.  She is a gorgeous woman from Congo.  She is about 6 feet tall, without her heels that she wears daily.  Furthermore, she wears these gorgeous dresses of bright colors, exquisite patterns, shoulder ruffles and textile belts of matching color and pattern, around her waist.  When she walks in the room she commands attention.  And then you say “Bonjour, you look beautiful today!” and she erupts “Baaa!” Throwing her head back in embarrassed laughter as she softly touches your arm.

English is her third language as the official language of Congo is French, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends!  It doesn’t mean I can’t tell her she is beautiful every day and smile at her embarrassed laugh.  I hope somebody similarly embarrasses you today.  

Washington Monument, view from the US Institute for Peace building

Sea of Change

Yesterday a friend and I attended the TEDx conference "Sea of Change." For those of you unfamiliar with TED, it stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Their catchphrase is "Ideas worth spreading," and you would be proud to know that they started out hosting their conferences at Asilomar Conference Grounds in 1984!

Basically what it is is experts or experienced people in a specific field, coming together to talk about that field/subject matter. For example, yesterday was Sea of Change, there were all sorts of people who had a personal or professional relationship with the Ocean. We heard from marine biologists, ecologists, students, environmentalists, naturalists, business owners, a fisherman, and even a woman who swam the Catalina Island Channel, English Channel, Bering Strait, the Cook Strait in New Zealand, Straits of Magellan in Chile and the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, among others. Oh, I would also like to mention that she swam the English Channel and broke both the women's and men's records at the age of 15!

It was so inspirational and beautiful. The fact that people get together to talk about what they do, what they are passionate about and what they see for the future. It is brilliant. If you ever get the chance to attend one of these events, do it! Or! You can even host a TEDx conference. Check out their website for more information and/or to watch a number of talks from previous events.

Keep thinking...keep spreading your ideas people, this is wonderful, this is what brings out innovation in our world. This is how we move forward, effectively and positively as a society and as a culture.