Tuesday, December 30, 2014

creating makes me feel good | I AM A MAKER

As I work on the creative process for writing, photography or videography I feel good.

It's a goodness that includes elements of happiness, satisfaction, peace, wellness and growth. 

As I complete the task I also have a sense of pride, and I am learning not to expect perfection because there is no such thing.

I have come to realize that  making my things is what matters to me. It is what helps me to grow and develop. Sharing my made things helps others grow, develop and experience the world differently.

My day job is in management, managing teams of developers in computer systems application development to be more precise, and my job has its rewards but it cannot compare to the feeling I get when I am engaged in a creative process.

When I first started to paint, acrylic on canvas, I remember thinking I should have some specific purpose, techniques and structure in mind but I was a new artist with no training, skills or talent. I struggled to give myself the freedom do just paint. Eventually I did not think about perfection or audience but rather I let myself go into the work.

It's still not easy. The medium doesn't always do what my mind desires, either because of my lack of skill or the limitations of the media. Still, I am very glad that I continue to try to make time for my art forms. 

I make stuff, because it makes me feel good, and sometimes it makes others feel good too.

I am a maker.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

transparency that evokes

Imagine a meeting room.

A space in a corporate office, a government building, a church or a library.

Think about that meeting room having one wall that faces out into the common area of the building made entirely of glass.

Not just ordinary glass, but one-way glass.

You can only see through it one way and from the other side your view is completely blocked.

There are no blinds or drapes or any way to block the view through the glass. 

In this meeting room, the mirror faces inword, towards the people inside the room.

What does this space evoke, or perhaps provoke, in/from the people inside? 

appearance profiling must end

When I ride the bus, I get on it early, when the bus has lots of open seats. I usually choose a spot next to a window. The bus can fill up to the point of people standing in the aisle and yet the spot next to me is still left open. No, I am not one of those jerks that puts their bag on the seat, or sits in the middle. I would usually be sitting quietly with my ear buds in my ears listening to classical music while reading a book. I am, however, a man with a beard and long dark hair.

One person who did sit next to me one day, and decided to strike up a conversation with me, actually told me that I am a lot friendlier than I look. When I shared this story with a friend he told me "that you do look kinda scary and have a "dark" image, sometimes". Another friend said "it's so ironic that the guy who looks like a drug dealer has never done drugs and wouldn't no where to get them".

My personal appearance, gets me a seat on the bus to myself and people making room for me in a crowd. A perk, right?

I have also noticed that people are shocked to learn that I am a leader in things that I choose to involve myself in, that I have a strong preference for rules, law and order (of the real kind) and that I believe in hard work, balanced decision making and a world without chaos, loud music and parties.  Shocked, because my appearance doesn't line up with concepts of civil order or leadership?

I hate the negative stuff that comes with my choices for appearance but I do get it.

I struggle to trust the white, short haired, clean shaven male driving a sedan. I don't trust him because I suspect that he is likely out to use me, my money, my information or my connections to get him into a higher income bracket with a nicer house and a newer car.  Yes, I am guilty of it too. I do profile peope on appearance too and it really bothers me. It makes me sick how I look at someone driving a luxury car through the parking lot and assume that the reason that they are cutting across the lot to cut in line at the front, instead of going to the back of the line like the rest of us, is because they think that their time is more important than mine. It also frustrates me how I assume things about the wealthy because of how they dress.

If I shaved, cut my hair and dressed up in a suit I would change what some people expected of me, what some people thought of me. I have an issue however with the real fact that today in 2014 that we continue to have many people groups who still don't have that "luxury". The luxury I speak of is the ability to use a false appearance to portray something else, a suit, jewellery, car etc.

Far too many people are profiled by their appearance starting with the fundamental foundation of their appearance, the colour of their skin and the look of their body.  It makes me so angry that with all the trouble we humans have that we continue to make skin colour a factor at all.

You see, I understand when someone is profiled because of their behaviour. After all, our systems within our society are based on a set of rules that is supported by a series of tests leading up to the determination if we are breaking said rules. If you have someone tasked with enforcing those rules, you want them to have tests to find the rule breakers when they would be hiding their actions from your enforcement.  Here is the distinct issue I have, our appearnce has nothing to do with behaviour!

Driving a Ferrari does not make me speeder deserving of a ticket does it? No, the test of the radar gun has not been failed and therefore I have not broken the rule.  If I drive a Ferrari within the speed limit then I am passing the testing and working within the rules. Appearance has nothing to do with it.

Why are the people charged with keeping peace not being educated on the differences between appearance profiling and behaviour profiling?

Why are the people charged with keeping peace not being educated on good decision making based on a set of tests that assist them in assessing behaviour that might establish that a rule is being broken?

Why on earth would someone who is not capable of making good decisions be put in a position of authority?

Finally, I will close this rant of mine with a video clip that addresses part of my feelings on the topic of skin colour, ethnic background, etc. etc.

How we look does not matter, it is how we behave that matters. 

We have no aliens coming from outer space (sometimes I wish we did to unite us) but we must unite all peoples for the good of our species.

We must resolve to fix our societies, systems, laws, rules and tests to be good for the common good of all peoples.

So say we all!