#this is why i love openly collaborative environments | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

umichenginabroad · 3 months

Text

Stockholm Week 4: From Northern Lights to Polar Plunging

Core Course Week is the official name of this week. I have been waiting for this week because it was my first trip outside of Stockholm. During the core course week, you travel to another city in Sweden or even another country for three days with classmates and course advisers in your core course. It is a packed schedule full of both academic and cultural activities!

My Engineering Sustainable Environment in Scandinavia course traveled to Umeå in the second half of the week from Wednesday night to Saturday. This post is focused on my time in Umeå!

Before the actual trip, we got a sneak peek of what our academic tours would look like. On Monday, we had an academic visit to Norrenergi's district heating plant in Solna. Looking at the reactors and walking around the plant was very different from reading about the process.

The building was full of rooms that surprised me, just like this (this is wastewater collected in the city). Although it was wastewater, it didn’t smell too bad!

2/7 Wed: Night Train to Umeå

On Wednesday, I packed everything in a carry-on and left for the Central Station at 10 pm.

Taking a night train was on my bucket list. BUCKET LIST! I have been and will be saying this many more times but I am not lying. I’m a month into my studying abroad semester and already checking off several activities on my bucket list!

The train station gave off a Hogwarts vibe and the inside of the train made me think that I was a cast member in the Murder on the Orient Express movie. Two/three of us were each given a triple room to stay the night.

POV from my bed

Although we had to wake up at 7 in the morning, we were too excited to sleep. We talked, took a bunch of photos, and played card games before finally going to bed.

I took the victory in the second round of BS ٩( ᐛ )و

I fell asleep soon, looking forward to what will happen tomorrow.

2/8 Thu: Academic Plant Visits

When we woke up to get ready, the water didn’t come out. It was an experience to wash my face and brush my teeth with a water bottle.

The first thing we did after getting off the train was eating breakfast at Umeå University. It was followed by a series of academic sessions on sustainability and food, as well as coffee substitution and sustainability.

It was such an aesthetic building!

Later in the day, we went on another academic visit to Umeå Energi Heating Plant. The most interesting fact I learned was that plants openly communicate and collaborate without competition because they are in different municipalities. Since they do not have to compete in any way, workers genuinely consult each other and happily share insights on ways to improve their facility and process. It naturally made me think about what makes this possible and how this positive environment can be replicated in the U.S.

We were also given a chance to see the waste bunker and incinerator.

Doesn’t this remind you of Toy Story?

After the two-hour trip, we had a group dinner. The good thing was that it was in a boat.

Boat restaurant! It didn't move though

The bad thing was that it took three hours. THREE hours for dinner! But the long wait let us bond over our various conversations. Besides, the long wait was THE reason why we were able to catch this view of the sky.

There were disputes about what this light is, but I am just going to let myself believe that it was the northern lights with a hint of clouds

Our attempt in capturing the "Northern Lights"

We were returning to our hotel when we saw the ice castle with slides. Are we college students if we don’t go sledding at night?

As educated students, we made a single file line to take turns going down the slides

The vicinity was full of our laughter and I absolutely loved it. I made another core memory that day :)

2/9 Fri: - Horse Carriage for Northern Lights

I started the day with a breakfast buffet provided by the hotel. Due to the last-minute cancellation of the academic visit at city hall, we finished our breakfast leisurely and had about two hours to wander around the neighborhood. The frozen lake was our destination.

The combination of warm sunlight and flakey snow brought me so much joy. At that moment, I understood why people need to live next to nature. I never knew all I wanted was just to lie down, buried in snow, feeling the warmth of the sunlight.

Couldn’t be happier

This was a church next to the lake

Group lunch and the last academic visit at the Vakin Waste Water Treatment plant were next up.

I was holding on to my phone for my dear life because all the floors and stairs had holes in them - I also held on to the rails for my dear life

However, the real fun was waiting for us in the evening.

Finally, it was time for the Northern Lights hunt on a horse carriage. I bundled up, layer after layer, to prepare for the freezing weather in the forest (my two thermal socks were not enough to prevent my toes from freezing).

Photo credit to Tia <3 My phone was not good enough to capture the faint light in the pitch-black darkness ;-;

It was still an extraordinary experience even though we didn’t see the northern lights. Fika around the fireplace in the middle of the woods was such a special moment.

The guide couple's dog made it 1000000 times better. She was SO pretty <3

Afterward, we grabbed a full meal at MAX for dinner. Then we all met in one of our hotel rooms and played games before going out to a pub close by. The nightlife gave us the full experience at Umeå.

2/10 Sat: Polar Plunging and Sauna

The last day of the Umeå trip began with a polar plunge and a sauna. The plunge itself wasn’t bad at all; the worst part of the event was walking on ice bare feet.

Cold, cold ice (literally) water

The wooden sauna took two hours to reach 40 degrees Celsius, which was just enough to thaw our numb tuckles (credit to you know who).

After the plunge and sauna, I oddly felt warmth inside my body. Before trying it out myself, I doubted the locals when they said the plunge is good for your body and makes you warm all day. In a sense, it was a true cultural experience because I suddenly understood Swedish culture. Freedom to roam, the concept of Lagom (not too much, not too little: just the right amount), and people being reserved for the most part began to make more sense in my mind.

The sun came out as we walked back to the bus destined for our hotel

The short but memorable trip to Umeå ended with a 6-hour train ride back to Stockholm. Even the train ride back felt shorter than what it was. I think it was because I wanted it to last longer.

The train ride back with a beautiful sunset ended the trip on a perfect note.

2/11 Sun: Cafe Hops

As much as I wish this semester was just a casual life abroad, it is called study abroad for a reason. It was time to do my work!

Like a typical college student, I started my work on Sunday. But I’m a student studying abroad, so I met up with my friends to eat brunch and do homework together at cute cafes.

This blog is the last task for me today. It marks the end of my long week. I hope you had a great week as I did!

I’ll see you again next week with new events :)

Hey då,

Jiwoo Kim

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

#UmichEnginAbroad #IPEStockholm #JiwooKim #IPEWinter24 #Sweden

2 notes · View notes

hazzzzzzman · 5 months

Text

Are gaming communities becoming a toxic environment for certain people?

Introduction

The promise of fellowship shared passion, and collaboration often coexists with a darker underbelly: toxicity, in the vast digital expanse of gaming communities. While these communities provide opportunities for connection and entertainment, they have also become breeding grounds for toxicity, creating hostile environments for certain groups, particularly women, LGBTQ+ people, and marginalized gamers. Gaming has always been perceived to be played by males. According to Ambi et al (2020), They conduct a survey to collect data by surveying the respondents. The study included 476 respondents aged 18 to 37 years old and discovered that the majority of those who identify as gamers are men, white, and generally younger than those who do not. Except for the fact that they were white, the results were deemed significant. The study thus demonstrates that the general demographic and group of people who identify as gamers are young males, which is critical information for the respondents.

Getting toxic? Let's talk about it

Toxicity manifests itself in various ways within gaming communities, ranging from straightforward harassment to outright discrimination and exclusion. Misogyny, sexual harassment, and gender-based discrimination are common experiences for women navigating these spaces. Targeted abuse, derogatory language, and objectification all contribute to an environment in which female gamers feel unwelcome, anxious, and unsafe. This toxic environment discourages many women from freely expressing their love of gaming or participating in discussions, robbing these communities of diverse perspectives and talent.

A survey was conducted on 900 women gamers in the US, Germany, and China on their opinions and perceptions towards their behavior and how females are portrayed in video games. One said "A lot of the time I end up playing as male characters in MMORPGs so people don't realize I'm a girl," one woman explained. "We try to hide what we are so people don't flirt with us, send us stuff, send us messages we really don't want, or pictures." It has been reported that the women surveyed express their satisfaction to developers on how females are depicted but are rather disappointed with how they are treated by other gamers (Sinclair 2021). This implies that female audiences are facing quite a few adversaries to fully immersed in the gaming community due to this circumstance.

Minorities?

Representation matters in this age of moving forward as what society perceives hence why inclusion is very crucial in many aspects of life and gaming is definitely one of them. Despite these drawbacks, the number and variety of players is growing. African Americans, Latinx Americans, and Asian Americans are becoming more active in the gaming community. Similarly, these players of color are more likely to play than their white counterparts (Eng 2020). Representation doesn't mean you have to give up on catering to or shaping your player niche. These still remain and designers need to consider them throughout the process but so is cunning with player accessibility in mind. Representation helps us reach and recognize more and different players in our field. However, this desire did not arise without recognition of the negative aspects previously caused by the lack of expressiveness.

In addition to that, the LGBTQ+ community is not perceived well initially when integrating into the gaming communities. There are many political reasons as well as cultural reasons that this group has not been fully or openly represented. Although there are times when few game companies have been trying to push the representation of these minority groups to gain a wider audience, especially the gamers that are in the LGBTQ+ community

PERSONAL TAKE?

I personally think the minority group that is not feeling too comfortable in life gaming deserves the product that can be marketed towards them. I sense no harm in anyone playing a game as everyone should play the game as intended which is to enjoy and fulfill their time. Gaming should not contain the elements of sexism, racism, and overall hate. Gaming is supposedly available for everyone to enjoy. Thus the example of girl gamers should be a norm and not stir up conflicts as well as political issues.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, the toxicity prevalent in gaming communities, particularly towards women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalized gamers, is a multifaceted problem that must be addressed collaboratively. Gaming communities can transform into spaces that celebrate diversity and provide a welcoming and enjoyable experience for all enthusiasts by cultivating a culture of inclusivity, respect, and accountability. Representation is critical in the fight against toxicity. In their creations, game developers should prioritise diverse and authentic representation of women, and other minority groups. Inclusive storytelling that celebrates diversity while avoiding harmful stereotypes not only empowers underrepresented groups but also fosters empathy and understanding among participants.

References

Amby, A., Caluscusan, D., Dublas, J.H., Medina, M. and Tuballa, G., 2020. Analysis of stereotypes: How non-gamers view gamers. Academia. viewed 26 November 2023, <https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/62301617/Analyss-of-Stereotypes-how-non-gamers-view-gamers20200307-128480-ha50k8-libre.pdf?1583646102=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DANALYSIS_OF_STEREOTYPES_HOW_NON_GAMERS_V.pdf&Expires=1701093819&Signature=B9eDz0AlblG9HzTMVzUOzCd9~Hqr~2c8anxPrrTY-s2A4J0kwWr57qBfYF38f~98ySQ49TdDPuLl8KAmey-VLUJw5ShSBwA-~I5xBz76w7yCiljVr2VW9x9UvxHGIQnz3qNJCaEGkiDJH1f3qhNIcTowqbjxawIqDVNjS5seLGSFnR-wrVN9OMEtvQUgmEXnlQM~-PeDbjxFpIQIkJ-W3fixh9b3c6lMQh42J8sdy3EPE-J0qS2pmDZvpZD143UCBnCelYCcoWtwlkAjYTMoLl~mFW4NSCOmpfkVVuYfRM72dUhELxk0N9Z9QJp4uBMsYQCOP3p~N45qShgT9RRp-g__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA>

Eng, D 2020, Representation in games, Medium, viewed 26 November, <https://medium.com/@davengdesign/representation-in-games-eccc9e59e36b>

Sinclair, b 2021, Survey says 59% of women hide gender to avoid harassment while gaming online, GamesIndustryBiz, viewed 26 November 2023, <https://www.gamesindustry.biz/survey-says-59-percent-of-women-hide-gender-to-avoid-harassment-while-gaming-online>

#mda20009 #week 10 #blog 5

2 notes · View notes

maritaljoy · 7 months

Text

Effective communication: Key to a successful marriage

Effective communication is the bedrock of a thriving marriage. In these marriage tips, we delve into the critical role of open, honest dialogue in building a successful, enduring partnership.

Importance of effective communication in marriage

youtube

Effective communication is the foundation of a strong and healthy marriage. It plays a crucial role in establishing trust, resolving conflicts, and fostering intimacy between partners. When couples communicate openly and honestly, they build a solid relationship based on understanding and mutual respect.

One of the key reasons why effective communication is important in marriage is that it helps couples to express their needs, desires, and concerns. By openly discussing their feelings and thoughts, partners can address any issues or misunderstandings before they escalate. This level of communication promotes transparency and prevents resentments from building up over time.

Another aspect of effective communication is active listening. It involves giving your partner your full attention, understanding their perspective, and responding empathetically. When couples practice active listening, they create a safe space for open and honest conversations. It allows them to validate each other's feelings, reducing the chances of misinterpretations and conflicts.

Effective communication also helps couples to navigate challenging situations and resolve conflicts. When disagreements arise, healthy communication enables partners to express their concerns without resorting to blame or criticism. It encourages collaborative problem-solving and the exploration of mutually beneficial solutions.

Furthermore, effective communication in marriage strengthens the emotional connection between partners. By sharing their thoughts, dreams, and aspirations, couples deepen their bond and develop a sense of intimacy. Regular and meaningful conversations help partners stay connected on an emotional level, promoting a sense of closeness and understanding.

Lastly, effective communication is essential for maintaining a healthy sexual relationship. Openly discussing desires, boundaries, and preferences can enhance sexual satisfaction and intimacy in the marriage. Communication about sexual needs and preferences can help partners explore new experiences and keep the spark alive.

In conclusion, effective communication is vital for a successful and fulfilling marriage. It allows partners to express their needs, resolve conflicts, and strengthen their emotional connection. By prioritizing open and honest communication, couples can build a strong foundation for a lifelong partnership filled with love, understanding, and mutual support.

Tips for improving communication in marriage

youtube

Effective communication is vital for a healthy and successful marriage. It lays the foundation for understanding, trust, and connection between partners. If you're looking for tips to improve communication in your marriage, consider the following:

1. Active Listening

One of the most important aspects of communication is listening actively to your spouse. This means giving your full attention, maintaining eye contact, and showing empathy. Avoid interrupting or formulating responses while your partner is speaking, as it can hinder effective communication.

2. Expressing Feelings

Openly expressing your feelings and emotions is crucial for effective communication in a marriage. Be honest and vulnerable with your partner, sharing both positive and negative emotions. This creates an environment of trust and allows for deeper understanding between both spouses.

3. Avoid Blame and Criticism

In discussions or conflicts, it's essential to refrain from blaming or criticizing your spouse. Instead, focus on expressing your needs and concerns in a non-confrontational manner. Use "I" statements to convey your feelings and avoid making generalizations or pointing fingers.

4. Practice Empathy

Empathy plays a significant role in effective communication. Put yourself in your partner's shoes and try to understand their perspective. This helps create a supportive and validating atmosphere in your marriage, where both partners feel heard and understood.

5. Non-Verbal Communication

Remember that communication extends beyond words. Pay attention to your non-verbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions. Ensure that your non-verbal communication aligns with your verbal communication to convey sincerity and authenticity.

6. Set Aside Quality Time

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's important to set aside dedicated quality time for communication. This could be through regular date nights or even simple activities like taking a walk together. Use this time to reconnect, share your thoughts, and deepen your bond.

7. Seek Professional Help

If communication issues persist or become too challenging to handle on your own, consider seeking the assistance of a couples' therapist. A trained professional can provide guidance, tools, and strategies to help improve communication and resolve conflicts in your marriage.

Remember, improving communication in your marriage requires effort and commitment from both partners. By implementing these tips and consistently practicing effective communication, you can enhance the connection and strengthen your relationship.

Effective listening skills for a strong marriage

youtube

Effective listening skills play a crucial role in building and maintaining a strong and healthy marriage. In a marriage, communication is key, and listening actively to your partner can greatly improve the quality of your relationship. Here are some important tips to enhance your listening skills and strengthen your marriage.

1. Be present and attentive

When your partner is speaking, make a conscious effort to be present and fully engaged in the conversation. Put away distractions such as phones or laptops, maintain eye contact, and show genuine interest in what your spouse is saying. By giving your undivided attention, you signal to your partner that their words matter to you.

2. Practice empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Put yourself in your partner's shoes and try to see things from their perspective. Show understanding and validate their emotions, even if you may not agree with them. This helps create a safe space for open and honest communication.

3. Avoid interrupting

Interrupting your partner while they are speaking can be dismissive and disrespectful. Allow them to express themselves fully before jumping in with your own thoughts or opinions. Take turns speaking and practice active listening by paraphrasing what your partner has said to ensure you understood correctly.

4. Show non-verbal cues

Your body language can convey a lot during a conversation. Show that you are actively listening by nodding, smiling, and using appropriate facial expressions. This helps your partner feel heard and understood, even without saying a word.

5. Avoid judgment and criticism

Listening without judgment is essential for a healthy conversation. Avoid criticizing or jumping to conclusions when your partner shares their thoughts or feelings. Instead, focus on understanding their perspective and finding common ground.

6. Reflect before responding

Take a moment to reflect on what your partner has said before responding. This allows you to gather your thoughts, process the information, and respond in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Avoid reacting impulsively, as it can escalate conflicts and hinder effective communication.

7. Seek clarification

If something your partner says is unclear or confusing, ask for clarification rather than making assumptions. This shows your commitment to understanding their point of view and prevents misunderstandings from festering.

Incorporating these effective listening skills into your marriage can foster trust, understanding, and a stronger emotional connection with your partner. By actively listening, you demonstrate respect and care for your spouse's thoughts and feelings, creating a solid foundation for a lasting and fulfilling marriage.

Resolving conflicts through effective communication

youtube

Effective communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship, especially when it comes to resolving conflicts in a marriage. Open and honest communication can help couples navigate disagreements and find mutually agreeable solutions. Here are some valuable marriage tips for resolving conflicts through effective communication.

1. Listen attentively

When conflicts arise, it's crucial to give your partner your undivided attention. Listen actively, without interrupting or formulating counter-arguments in your mind. Show empathy and try to understand their perspective. By actively listening, you can create an environment where both parties feel heard and valued.

2. Use "I" statements

Avoid blaming or accusing your partner during a conflict. Instead, use "I" statements to express your feelings and concerns. For example, say "I feel hurt when..." or "I am worried about..." This approach helps to avoid escalating the conflict and encourages a more collaborative conversation.

3. Express emotions constructively

Emotions can run high during conflicts, but it's important to express them in a constructive manner. Avoid shouting, name-calling, or using derogatory language. Instead, calmly express your emotions and explain how certain behaviors or actions make you feel. This fosters a safer space for open dialogue.

4. Take breaks when needed

If tensions rise and emotions become overwhelming, it's okay to take a break from the discussion. Agree on a timeframe to reconvene and continue the conversation when both partners have had a chance to calm down and gather their thoughts. Taking breaks can prevent arguments from spiraling out of control.

5. Practice active problem-solving

Approach conflicts as an opportunity to find solutions together, rather than as a battle to be won. Collaborate on brainstorming ideas and alternatives that satisfy both parties. Focus on the issue at hand and work towards a compromise that meets the needs of both individuals.

6. Seek professional help if necessary

Not all conflicts can be resolved without professional guidance. If communication breakdowns persist or conflicts become deeply rooted, seeking the help of a couples therapist or marriage counselor can provide valuable support and tools for effective communication.

7. Foster a culture of appreciation

Regularly express gratitude and appreciation for your partner. Creating a positive and loving atmosphere strengthens the foundation of your marriage and makes it easier to navigate conflicts. Let your partner know that you value and acknowledge their efforts, which promotes a sense of connection and cooperation.

Resolving conflicts through effective communication is an ongoing process that requires patience, understanding, and commitment from both partners. By implementing these marriage tips, you can create a healthy and harmonious relationship built on open communication and mutual respect.

In conclusion, these marriage tips emphasize the pivotal role of effective communication in nurturing a successful marriage. By fostering understanding and connection, this cornerstone ensures love remains resilient and deeply fulfilling.

#marriage tips #marriage #tips #Youtube

0 notes

garellekcounseling1 · 8 months

Text

Navigating Life's Challenges with a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida

Introduction

In today's fast-paced world, where stress and uncertainties are rampant, having a trusted partner to navigate life's challenges can make a significant difference. This is where a licensed mental health counselor comes into play. If you're in Florida and seeking professional guidance to enhance your mental well-being, you're not alone. In this article, we'll delve into the crucial role of licensed mental health counselors in Florida, how they can help you navigate life's challenges, and why seeking their assistance is a step towards a healthier, happier life.

Understanding the Role of a Licensed Mental Health Counselor

What is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor?

A Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) is a trained and certified professional who specializes in providing therapeutic support and guidance to individuals facing various mental health issues. These counselors hold advanced degrees in psychology, counseling, or a related field, and they are licensed by the state of Florida to offer their services.

Scope of Expertise

Licensed mental health counselors are equipped to address a wide range of challenges, including:

1. Anxiety and Stress Management

Navigating through the demands of modern life often leads to feelings of anxiety and stress. LMHCs are skilled in teaching coping strategies and relaxation techniques to manage these emotions effectively.

2. Depression and Mood Disorders

Licensed counselors can help individuals dealing with depression by offering a safe space to express their feelings and develop strategies to improve their mental state.

3. Relationship Issues

Whether it's a romantic relationship, family dynamics, or friendships, LMHCs provide guidance to foster healthier connections and resolve conflicts.

4. Grief and Loss

Coping with the loss of a loved one is challenging. Counselors assist in the grieving process, helping individuals find ways to heal and move forward.

Benefits of Seeking Help from a Licensed Mental Health Counselor

1. Personalized Support

Licensed mental health counselors offer tailored approaches to address your specific needs. They work collaboratively with you to develop strategies that fit your unique situation.

2. Non-Judgmental Environment

Counseling sessions provide a safe and non-judgmental space where you can openly discuss your thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism.

3. Skill Development

Counselors equip you with valuable skills and techniques to manage stress, improve your communication, and enhance your overall well-being.

Seeking Help in Florida

How to Find the Right Counselor for You

Finding the right licensed mental health counselor is essential for your journey towards better mental health. Consider factors such as specialization, approach, and compatibility when making your choice.

The Legal and Ethical Aspects

In Florida, licensed mental health counselors adhere to strict ethical guidelines and professional standards set by the state. This ensures a high level of professionalism and quality care.

The Path to a Brighter Future

Seeking help from a licensed mental health counselor in Florida is an investment in your mental and emotional well-being. With their expertise and guidance, you can navigate life's challenges with resilience and develop the tools to lead a fulfilling life.

FAQs

1. How do I know if I need to see a licensed mental health counselor?

It's a good idea to consult a counselor if you're experiencing persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, or struggling with daily functioning.

2. Is seeking help a sign of weakness?

Not at all. Seeking help is a sign of strength, as it shows your commitment to improving your well-being.

3. How long does counseling take?

The duration of counseling varies based on individual needs and goals. Some people benefit from short-term interventions, while others engage in longer-term therapy.

4. Will my information remain confidential?

Yes, licensed mental health counselors are bound by confidentiality rules, ensuring that your personal information is kept private.

5. How do I take the first step?

You can start by researching licensed mental health counselors in your area and scheduling an initial consultation to discuss your needs and concerns.

#therapy #healthcounselor

0 notes

youthforourplanet · 4 years

Text

Leading the fight for a Sustainable Palawan, Karina May Reyes-Antonio

Karina May Reyes-Antonio is a community organiser, conservationist, lobbyist and the Co-Founder of Centre for Sustainability, Philippines, a non-profit, female-led environmental organisation working on sustainable community development in Palawan, Philippines. She is also a National Geographic Explorer and was recently featured in CNN Philippines as young Filipino leaders making a difference in their communities.

She talks to YFOP about her love for the Palawan Island and the local communities, challenges faced as a female conservationist and solutions for climate change and environment and wildlife conservation.

(Image credit: Jessa Garibay)

How did your love for wildlife and nature start and what motivates you to work for it?

I started out as a community organiser in South America, doing empowerment projects in education and non-violence with impoverished urban communities affected by narco-trafficking. While studying environmental security I realised how disconnected myself and the communities were to our immediate environment despite how vulnerable our location was to environmental disasters, especially landslides! My angle for empowering communities drastically changed, and I pursued development projects encouraging communities to protect the immediate nature and wildlife that surrounds us to overcome impoverishment. Witnessing first-hand the empowerment of the communities I work with as a direct result of the projects we work on together is my ultimate motivation.

How was the Centre for Sustainability, Philippines formed? Can you tell us more about the organisation?

The Philippines is 1 of only 17 megadiverse countries in the world, hosting 80% of the planet’s biodiversity! It used to be 95% covered in rainforest, but now only 3% of this rainforest remains! As young Palawenyos, we grew up swimming in the sea with turtles and exploring the wild forests of our island, but a lot has changed between childhood and adulthood. We see that today Palawan’s natural beauty is under real threat from unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and unsustainable development programs, and our seas and forests are no longer like they were. So we created the Centre for Sustainability PH, Inc. (CS) to better organise our passionate efforts in creating a sustainable future for Palawan, and to have a stronger voice to influence decision-makers and shape development on our island!

The Centre for Sustainability PH is a women-led, youth environmental non-profit based on Palawan island, known as the Last Ecological Frontier of the Philippines. We work to CONSERVE LAND and protect Palawan’s last remaining rainforests through the establishment of national parks, through community organising, scientific research, and political lobbying.

Our biggest win so far has been the legal establishment of Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat now the Philippines’ biggest Critical Habitat, representing 41,350 ha. of virgin forest, or HALF the size of Hong Kong! Cleopatra’s Needle is the highest peak and largest drainage basin of Palawan’s capital city, the ancestral lands of the last 200 members of the disappearing Batak tribe, and home to countless endemic flora and fauna, including the world’s #1 poached animal, the Philippine Pangolin.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The United Nations says that 30% of the Earth needs protection by 2030 (a mere 10 years!) if we’re to ensure clean drinking water and a stable global climate for all. Our mission is to complete protection of Palawan's forests—with only 300,000 ha. remaining (or 7 times Cleopatra’s Needle), it really is a concrete and attainable goal!

How can one be a part of the organisation?

Near and far, anyone can be a part of CS by:

• Following us on social media and liking our posts. Politicians really pay attention to us when they see that the local and international public supports our work! FB @centreforsustainability, IG @centreforsustainabilityPH, Twitter @cspalawan_ph

• Telling family, friends, and colleagues about our work, and encouraging them to follow us on social media too!

• Volunteering in person or online.

• Becoming an intern by joining our International Student Program. • Hosting fundraisers for us.

• Donating money or in kind.

What are some challenges that you and other members face being part of a women-led nonprofit organization?

We are two young women, Jessa Garibay and myself, that are the principal lobbyists and CoDirectors of CS. From day one of the project, we have worked in a male-dominated environment in a country where patriarchy reigns supreme—from fieldwork to board rooms. Our abilities have been questioned every step of the way—from our physical strength in hiking to reach our remote indigenous communities or withstand treacherous and gruelling expedition conditions deep in the jungle, to our capabilities in successfully lobbying and making ourselves heard by older, male decision-makers. On different occasions, I have experienced stakeholders tell me how to dress; request my marital status in the middle of a presentation; advise me that hiking is not an appropriate activity for women; openly make lewd comments to me, and even clearly show disinterest in relating to me as a leader because I am a woman.

What has been your proudest moment while working for CS?

The most obviously proud moment for CS was the legal declaration of Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat. However, on a more personal level, my proudest moments are those involving our communities. For example, Mother Erlinda Delos Angeles, sole female tribal councillor of her indigenous Batak community and mother of 3, stood up to her powerful male co-councillors in a very important community meeting. She looked small and weak, but her words were BIG and STRONG. “The talking has to stop!” she said. “It’s time to act, and it’s time to act NOW.” So we all listened to her, and we have not looked back since!

(Image credit: Duncan Murrell)

What are some measures that we can take to stay in harmony with nature and wildlife?

1. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse everything! Note, I haven’t included “Recycle” because very little of what we send to recycling ever actually gets recycled. Our world does not operate on a circular economy, so recycling is largely a MYTH in most places. Remember, many of us have much more than we really need, so work on consuming less everything!

2. Avoid single-use disposal plastic—always be ready with your own straw, cutlery, food and beverage containers, and carry bags.

3. When you can, choose public transport. When you can, choose a bus or a train to travel, not a plane.

4. Volunteer at your local nature/wildlife organisation.

5. Donate to your local nature/wildlife organisation if you believe in their work.

6. Get outdoors to discover nature and wildlife—the more you learn to appreciate, the more passionate you will be to protect it!

Do you believe that youth have the power to change the environmental scenario on Earth?

I KNOW that our youth have ALL THE POWER to change our environmental scenario on Earth. Because we are already the leaders of TODAY and we are the leaders of the FUTURE. We do not have a choice, we are inheriting this planet for better or for worse, so why not make for better?

What according to you is the role of the governments in wildlife and environmental conservation? Are you satisfied with the efforts of your government? If not, do you have a message for them?

Sustainable wildlife and environmental practices occur on the ground when governments at the top implement policies and most importantly allocate sufficient budgets to facilitate and incentivise conservation at the community level. We have to act fast because as an island nation we will be one of the most vulnerable and worst hit by the climate crisis our planet currently faces. I want to see our government, from the local to the national level, collaborate with and listen more closely to community groups on environmental issues. This ensures that government time and resources are more efficiently employed so that communities and the least-advantaged sectors of society can reap the benefits of pro-environment actions coming from the government.

Lastly, what is your message for budding environment and wildlife conservationists all over the world?

You could not have chosen a more exciting time to be a conservationist—CONGRATULATIONS! While the climate crisis we face is daunting, we are also very privileged to be environmental leaders who will be making (her)story as the frontliners creating solutions! So don’t ever give up, don’t ever be scared to make yourself heard, the world is waiting for you and listening to you!

#youthforourplanet #climate crisis #naturecrisis #phillipines #sustainability

2 notes · View notes

putschki1969 · 5 years

Text

Time for another FAQ

In recent days/weeks I have been asked a lot of questions and many of them boil down to the same thing so I thought it would be a good idea to combine them to make a sort of FAQ. Some of my replies will most likely contain a bit of speculation (which I usually tend to avoid), I will try to keep it to a minimum.

What are your future plans for this blog? Don’t worry, I will pretty much do the same as always. I will continue to spread the Kalafina love. Kalafina is a gift that keeps on giving. We have ten years worth of awesome music, gorgeous pictures and fascinating interviews. There is still a lot to discover for many people who only recently became fans. There’s also so much to re-discover for fans who have been part of the fandom from the get-go. Aside from the usual stuff, I will of course post about Wakana’s and Hikaru’s solo acitivities. I am eager to see what’s in store for them and I will 100% support them along their chosen paths. The same goes for Keiko (obviously!). Finally, if there is certain content you are dying to see on my blog (any particular scans, translations, pictures, etc), I will do my very best to provide it.

Will I change my blog name? No, this is and will always be a blog dedicated to “Everything Kalafina”.

Why do I continue to tag everything as Kalafina? I guess this question mostly refers to Wakana’s and Hikaru’s solo stuff. While their solo activities might be unrelated to Kalafina I will most likely continue to tag those posts as Kalafina. First of all, in my eyes there will always be a connection to Kalafina when it comes to Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru. No matter what they do next, Kalafina took up more than ten years of their life so there is no way I cannot associate Kalafina with them. Also, so far it seems like they are not trying to cut ties with their past. Both Wakana and Hikaru are fully aware of their past and treasure their time as part of Kalafina, they have openly talked about this and neither Wakana nor Hikaru have shied away from performing Kalasongs. So yeah, using the Kalafina tag seems fitting to me. Plus, I think it’s easier for casual fans to find my posts because they are more likely to check out the Kalafina tag.

Thoughts on Wakana’s debut single being released under Victor Entertainment? It’s no surprise actually, Back in 2017 Kalafina were moved from SME Records to SACRA MUSIC - a label specialising in anison music. Of course that wouldn’t be suitable for Wakana’s solo career especially since she is not doing anything anime-related as of right now. I am definitely glad she is not going back to SME Records since they have always been quite restrictive. I think Victor Entertainment was the next best choice. After all, Victor Entertainment (JVC Entertainment/Flying Dog = the anime division of Victor Entertainment) has been releasing Yuki Kajiura’s music for almost 20 years now. There are also lots of other noteworthy artists releasing under them directly (or one of their many record labels) so I think it’s a pretty good label for Wakana. I am kinda hoping she will go on a similar route as KOKIA who has been releasing her music under Victor Entertainment since 2001.

What activities can we expect from Wakana in the future? I doubt she will do much for her solo debut single (but maybe there will be some fan club exclusive events). I think we can expect a tour following the release of her solo album this spring (and I will definitely do my best to attend one of those lives). I also hope she will do something for Christmas this year (a few acoustic lives for example - maybe she will be joined by an orchestra again?). And like I said before, I would really love her to take a similar route as KOKIA. Maybe she can travel to Europe and have a few concerts here? Maybe she can release a cover album? The possibilties are endless.

Thoughts on Wakana’s new blog being restricted to Harmony members? I don't mind actually, I am a member after all and I will continue to be one as long as Wakana remains under Space Craft. Plus, from a business point of view, it’s a smart move so I understand why they are doing it. It’s their way of trying to bribe/draw in/win back members. Most Harmony members probably didn’t intend to renew their membership coming April but taking this and possible other exclusive content into account, they might rethink their decision. Whether this actually works remains to be seen. At any rate, I doubt her blog will permanently be member exclusive but we can probably expect it to stay like that until April at the very least. Some fans fear that this will make it harder to promote Wakana as solo artist but quite frankly I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Wakana’s die-hard supporters among Kalafina fans will buy her releases either way and aside from that Wakana doesn’t really have much of a fanbase yet.

Thoughts on Kalafina’s fan club “Harmony” being turned into Wakana’s fan club? It makes sense. Why waste effort and money to create something new if you already have an existing fan club? It has taken them some time but they have changed quite a bit already (the header doesn’t feature Kalafina anymore, all past videos related to Kalafina or Hikaru are gone, Wakana has her own blog and is no longer posting on Kalafina’s LINE blog etc). There is still a lot to be done though, they should change the name (Harmony just doesn’t fit) and remove the remaining Kalafina parts. Right now the look of the fan club suggests that Wakana is the “only remaining member” of Kalafina and that’s just not how it is. A change of name would maybe help get rid of that misconception.

When is Wakana going to leave Space Craft? Who knows. Judging from what we have seen in the past year it’s obviously not that hard to leave Space Craft. Yes, she might just be waiting for her contract to expire but I really doubt her contract would expire that much later than Keiko’s or Hikaru’s. To sum it up, I believe she chooses to remain under the agency for the time-being, I very much doubt anyone or anything is forcing her to stay...She probably feels safest in a familiar environment and once she has tested out the waters she might move on.

What will happen to Kalafina’s Official LINE blog? Hikaru has chosen the best route possible by starting her own twitter and I think it’s a good idea that Wakana now has her own “blog” as well, that line just had to be drawn and it would have felt weird for her to continue using the Kalafina blog all by herself. Plus, it might have forced them to delete all the Keiko and Hikaru content. As of right now the blog has pretty much lost its purpose and there is no reason to continue it. While I really hope they will not just delete it, I am not ruling out that possibility. At some point they might have no choice but to shut it down...In the past few months I have been preparing for the worst case. Aside from saving all the pictures to my hard-drive I have been working on a printable version of the blog that contains each and every single blog post by Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru (as soon as that’s done I will provide download links of course - still need to work on the formatting but everything is already copy/pasted). A fan on weibo has also compiled static html pages of each blog post so even if anyone decided to delete the LINE blog, we are safe. It would be a real shame to see almost 9 years worth of Kalafina blogging suddenly disappear.

Do you think “Kalafina” should be used to promote Wakana’s single in the media? I can’t believe there are still people out there who think Wakana shouldn’t be allowed to use her “Kalafina fame” to promote her solo career. They are accusing her of riding the wave of success and not being able to stand on her own two feet. I am sorry for my language but that’s utter bullshit. No matter what happens in the future, Kalafina will always be a significant part of her life and that is not something she should hide or be ashamed of, quite the opposite actually, it is something she can be proud of.

Do you think we will hear anything from Keiko soon? We don’t know why she went AWOL but I believe it was her choice and not some sort of work ban or whatever. We also know that she is doing well and for me that’s the only thing that counts. IF Keiko chooses to return to the public eye (which I really hope she does) then I think this spring or early summer would be a good time for her. It will be exactly one year since she disappeared and we all know that April is always the perfect time for a big change or a new start (at least in Japan). Let’s wait and see.

When can we expect any announcements from Hikaru? Hmmm, I don’t know, I have a feeling it might be soon. Aside from posting cute selfies and food pictures Hikaru is often tweeting wordly wisdoms related to making decisions in life so I feel like like there is a lot going on behind the scenes right now. Her new profile pic and header might also be a sign for a big change. The picture looks like it was taken professionally, possibly for some sort of promotion? Maybe it’s just me but Hikaru’s photo reminds me a lot of Sayaka Yamamoto’s pictures promoting her upcoming solo career. I randomly came across her pictures the other day and I can’t help but feel like there is a similar vibe. Hikaru also recently followed Koji Saito on twitter, he is the producer of Animelo Summer Live. While I wouldn’t say it’s out of the ordinary for Hikaru to follow him - after all Kalafina have worked together with him a couple of times in the past - I think it could be a sign of future collaborations. I could definitely see Hikaru taking part in an event like that to push her solo career. Oh well, we will see...

Will Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru ever work with Yuki Kajiura again? It’s certainly possible but I don’t think it will happen any time soon (especially when it comes to Wakana and Hikaru). For the time-being it really seems like they want to focus on fulfilling their individual dreams and Yuki Kajiura obviously wishes for them to do their own thing. Many fans mainly see Kalafina as Yuki Kajiura’s project, a “tool” to bring her music to life and to a certain extent, that’s what they have always been. Yuki Kajiura is aware of that and Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru know it as well. It’s nothing bad per se, YK and the members of Kalafina have profited a lot from this arrangement, they have mutual respect for each other. But it’s about time Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru get a chance to freely express themselves in order to realise their full potential This part of YK’s interview summarises the situation perfectly and it showcases how iimportant it is for everyone to go their separate ways for a while.

――After becoming independent from your agency, you have distanced yourself in your role as Kalafina’s producer. What do you think of your ten years working together? [Kajiura]I feel nothing but gratitude towards them for continuing to sing so well for me up until now. Being stuck as part of the same unit, not being able to express a single wish (regarding songs), not able to do anything except sing the songs they are given with all their strength. Under conditions that are extremely inconvenient for a singer, they have been singing for ten years, not once getting the chance to sing the songs they wanted to sing. “They are so easy to work with…” “They are really amazing...” For ten years straight, they have always taken their work seriously and their singing has become progressively better. I am sure it was difficult for them to sing genres they had never listened to before. On top of that, I have treated the three of them mercilessly with all my demands; I think my demanding nature caused quite the internal struggle for them.

I hope I was able to answer most questions. If you feel like your question didn’t receive a reply, please don’t hesitate to send an ask/a message.

#kalafina #reply #wakana #keiko #hikaru #my blog #long text post #yuki kajiura

22 notes · View notes

g12stem2g5sy2122 · 3 years

Text

“The Good and the Bad: How Social Media Affected Me as a Gen Z Individual”

Every teen’s life has always been influenced by social media, and it appears that everything they do is either on social media or influenced by these platform activities.

When compared to earlier generations, the advancement of high technologies has altered the way Generation Z perceives communication and information. Among the various technological developments, social media was one of the key platforms that influenced Gen Z. According to Tuten and Solomon (2015), “Social media are the online means of communication, conveyance, collaboration, and cultivation among interconnected and interdependent networks of people, communities, and organizations enhanced by technological capabilities.” Indeed, social media has proven Gen Z with a fresh and unique experience, resulting in a different way of understanding, and seeing people.

As a teenager, social media is an excellent platform to use. Social media allows us to stay up to date on the newest trends, news, and information, as well as providing us with social awareness and understanding of our environment. In our present context, when pandemic is all around us, social media allows us to connect with our loved ones who are miles and miles away. “Social media enables me to meet new friends virtually and quickly connect old ones” Alleah Noelle Labininay – a Gen Z stated. Video calls and texting were only a single click away, making it simple and comfortable to use. She also added that “Social media allows us to openly express ourselves and our ideas, and as a result, Gen Z’s are constantly breaking stereotypes in order to freely express themselves proudly.” However, as Sophocles once said that, “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without curse”, Social media has a detrimental influence on Gen Z as well. Social media offers engagement features, Gen Z spends more time in cyberspace and pays less attention to their actual lives. “I picked my phone with one task in mind and an hour later I realized that I spent the whole time scrolling through various social media sites having completely forgotten why I picked up my phone in the first place”, Cher Ellie Javierto – a Gen Z shared her experience. Rich Charles Lipatuan, also a Gen Z, stated that “Social media contents and posts sometimes are too toxic and emotionally draining, which sometimes have a negative effect on my mental health.” As a nutshell, social media affects the confidence of the youth, because the trends on these platforms are those lovely faces and how they discriminate and label someone as ugly simply because they don’t meet the common standards of being “beautiful”.

As a result, excessive social media use may lead to decreased activity, sleep deprivation, poor concentration, social isolation, and internet addiction. Social Media also has an impact on self-esteem. Although Gen Z is a very outspoken generation of individuals, abusive sorts of people cannot be avoided. Social media may contribute to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, and for certain members of Gen Z, it can lead to suicidal and self-harm content. We believe that when utilizing social platforms, we should be careful and aware of what materials or postings are beneficial to us. We should not be dominated by these technologies; rather, we should be the ones in charge of them.

#MILEntry6

1 note · View note

rosie-leonard · 3 years

Text

Good Fxcking Music & Good Fxcking People

Looking for a way to connect and create with other artists during a pandemic? Tori Husain, NYU sophomore and creator of GFM and OTFU, has everything you’ve been searching for and more. Image of Husain, derived from https://goodfxckingmusic.com

From her childhood bedroom with olive-green walls and simple yet intricate works of art hanging tastefully by the window, Tori Husain, NYU sophomore and creator of Good Fucking Music and Open the Fuck Up, sits in her now “office” and excitedly works on coordinating her next big project for GFM. Sitting in front of her laptop sporting a messy bun, sweatshirt, and thin-rimmed rose-gold glasses, Husain rushes through another busy day writing emails, creating content for her platform, and organizing Zoom events and meetings, proving life does not stop just because the world did.

While studying Media Culture and Communications at NYU, Husain noticed a lack of communication and openness within the community. “Me and my friend saw a lot of people were just yelling and canceling each other and not really having conversations,” Husain said. “Even when people tried engaging in conversation, it wasn’t young or approachable or confrontational enough—people just danced around ideas.”

In lieu of her observations, Husain sought to create a platform where people could “Open the Fuck Up,” and talk about things people are afraid to talk about, ranging from white privilege to masturbation.

Prior to NYU, Husain attended Garnet Valley, a predominantly white high school in Glen Mills, Pa. Noting the lack of diversity and means of effective communication, Husain sought to find ways to advocate for racial and social justice by joining clubs and organizations that did just that.

By August of 2019, Husain moved to NYU and was exposed to a new world. “I went to NYU, and all my friends were black, brown, and Hispanic,” Husain said. “Just having friendships and closeness with people that wasn’t even a possibility at Garnet Valley changed my life.”

Husain made a point to emphasize the importance of exposure, as it coincides with a sense of belonging. “Similar to being around people who looked like me was exposure to the LGBTQ community,” Husain said. “Sure, I had gay friends at Garnet Valley, but having structures at the school made for communities, learning about history—it was incredible to see marginalized communities as more dimensional because I would read and talk about it with friends from home, but when an entire class is based on this history and taught by a person who experienced it, and I’m surrounded by people who look like me, I was like, ‘Hooollyyy shit! This changed my life.’”

Husain believes that two different ignorances exist between the suburbs and the city, and such a realization pushed her to try and connect the two worlds. “I’ve lived two realities, and I wanted to build that bridge,” Husain said. “We’re all ignorant; it’s just about having conversations.”

“When I went to New York, I saw this fluidity, sex, and gender, and all the beautiful things I think should be everywhere because I think it’s beautiful, real, and human,” Husain said. “But there was also this sense of unknowing of the other perspective that I lived where they’d be like ‘fuck the people in the suburbs!’ and I’d be like ‘I live in the suburbs, people are cool, they just don’t have the information to put together all the stuff you believe in, or your truth.’”

With the need to spread information and build a community of understanding, Husain and her friends started putting up black and white fliers around New York in February 2020, with the statement, “WHITE PRIVILEGE IS REAL” written in bold letters. Beneath the powerful words was a handle for their Instagram account, @openthefuckup, as well as tear-off tabs reading, in bold print, “AGREED.” This, as phrased on their Instagram account, was the start of a revolution.

After a few days of posting on their Instagram account, @openthefuckup explained to their followers who they were and their intent: experimenting to see how people would react to an abrupt statement and speak openly about white privilege.

Through their Instagram account, OTFU had virtual discussions in comments and DMS to encourage real conversations with opinions from every perspective in which people are not told what to think, but rather encouraged to share their truth.

By March, Husain sought to bring in more people and prove to the community that the organization was legit. By pulling a few strings, Husain managed to host a concert event in Brooklyn, NY, to launch the brand, which went incredibly well and consisted of 160 people, as noted by Husain.

Not a week later, however, all NYU students were sent home, and Husain moved back to Garnet Valley due to the COVID-19 outbreak, putting a halt to her rising platform.

After two weeks, Husain, like many others, was longing for a sense of community. Upon attending a Zoom concert that her friend hosted, Husain had a revelation. “I saw what he did and thought, ‘I wanna do that. It is easy, I don’t have to find a venue or spend money,’” Husain said.

Husain stated that she loves people and, even more, bringing people together, which is why, after attending the Zoom concert, she confidently texted her friend, stating, “Tomorrow. This is what is going to happen. I am going to reach out to all the people I met through the Open the Fuck Up concert and get them together over Zoom to jam out online.”

According to Husain, word spread quickly, and musicians from all over the world came to perform virtually.

“The first concert started at 10:30 p.m. and lasted until 3:30 a.m.,” Husain said. “Then the same thing happened the next time and the time after that. There was so much talent, and the performers were consistently phenomenal, which made me want to start something bigger.”

With the intent to branch off of these casual Zoom concerts, Husain launched “Good Fucking Music” through her Instagram account with a new goal: to get as many artists as possible to have music as a full-time job.

“We brand ourselves on our product being our community,” Husain said. “No one can replicate community.” According to Husain, a community is what all artists were, and still are, in search of during the pandemic.

“I knew a lot of artists just wanted community, because when you’re a creator, the only way you create is through living—seeing—experiencing,” Husain said. “When you live, creativity comes naturally. But when you’re in quarantine, you’re deprived of living. Your creativity is halted, and you become depressed.”

Through GFM, artists can digitally collaborate and connect with people from all over the world, bringing opportunities and creations that would have never happened if it weren’t for the internet and social media.

“The internet brings people together,” Husain said. “It’s incredible to see people performing even when the space isn’t there.”

Recently, major production companies, such as Revolt, owned by P. Diddy, and producers, such as Sean Michael Field, reached out to GFM and are teaming up with artists, offering free studio time and music video giveaways. According to Husain, these opportunities show how much people believe in GFM and the artists within.

“I haven’t made any money off this,” Husain said. “I’m not here to get rich—that’s not why I made it—I want happy people and to give success to people who deserve it. I just genuinely wanna help artists. That’s it.”

In consideration of Husain’s statement, it is important to note GFM’s motto, as stated by Husain, “At our core, we give a fuck about everything.”

Reminiscing on how successful her life has been in only 19 years, Husain said she learned a lot about what is possible. “I intentionally do things because I have a dream goal,” Husain said. “When that happens, I’m shocked. But it’s what I intended to happen. I’ve realized how many dreams and things can come true right now.”

Husain mentioned that she is always conscious of her position in the world and constantly wondering what she can do to help and make a change.

With GFM consuming her life, Husain noted that OTFU is on pause because it was a lot to manage during the pandemic. Husain mentioned that, although OTFU has halted, people are still granted the opportunity to connect and be real with one another in a safe and chill environment through GFM while sharing a love for music.

Flyer from @goodfxckingmusic

GFM also has masterclasses and mentorship programs (Good Fucking Mentorship), where up and coming artists can connect with more experienced ones. Occasionally, competitions are held and reel in around 200-300 people.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, GFM announced a producer competition judged by Jasper Harris, producer, age 19, and Othello Beats in collaboration with BeatStars. Applications are due Friday, Oct. 9, at noon (EST), and the competition is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 16, 8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. EST.

Looking forward, Husain stated that she hopes to have a GFM tour when it is safe to do so. Husain also mentioned that, if NYU does not work out, she is confident GFM music will. “GFM will be my full-time job,” Husain said. “I never want to work for someone else. I want to do whatever I want whenever the fuck I want.”

GFM hosts listening sessions every Friday at 8:30 p.m. EST for anyone who wants to show their music, talk, and make a community, and can be found via their Instagram: @goodfxckingmusic, or website: https://goodfxckingmusic.com

0 notes

certainflowerstudent · 4 years

Text

Benefits of Social Media

Social media continues to grow as more people use and engage to it, although some people still doesn’t see the relevance of it and just sees it as a hindrance or distraction in people’s lives due to noticing its negative effects in our society. So here are five benefits of social media that I can share.

Benefits of Social Media

1. It can help in building relationships.

Social media has a lot of users that you can be friends with since it is a platform that aren’t only used to share data but also to connect people and build relationships among them. With connecting with others, it can help in one’s development of social skills and improvement of oneself depending on the people they met. It can help an individual in developing a voice and building trust with others. Even for me, I made a lot of online friends which helped me grow and learn things about life and even myself, just because it’s in the Internet, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be a connection at all, the users are people as well who have feelings and life experiences, but then it is better for the individual to know the ways of blending in with people online and knowing who are the people who can and can’t be trusted with so they can be safe. There are a lot of people in the Internet who can take advantage of people if they find a weak spot but still there are also a lot of genuine people who are willing to help, do business and make friends.

2. You can share your expertise.

Everyone has their own talents or at least interests that can be turned into good skills if developed, unfortunately, not all people can see that in real life and some people aren’t that comfortable with sharing their interests openly to others and would rather be anonymous while sharing their talents. Social media can help people with that because anyone can be content creators, managers and distributors of any topics or interests that they want to share. While spreading your content, you might find some new peers who have the same interests as you who are also willing to lend a helping hand and to explore new things together, in a way, you can find a community where you belong and be able to help other people to gain knowledge about the topic of your content. I have interests as well and I do find it very helpful whenever I share my thoughts or knowledge in a certain topic and people join me to talk about it or compliment my skills. Of course, I do meet people that have different perspectives but most of them are still respectful which I really appreciate as a user. I also love how they can help me expand my thoughts and knowledge by educating me on the topic when I need it so I can improve. As I continue to do it, I do feel some progress in my work and skills as an individual and it did helped a lot to increase my self-esteem which encouraged me to share what I can do with the people in my environment.

3. You can increase your visibility.

In social media, you have more audience because a lot of people uses it, that’s why it’s really convenient for businesses to grow and be noticed in social media. They can post about what they do and people can share and be aware of it, news spread faster than we think although it also depends on our connection. As an individual, using social media can help you or your talents to be noticed. While you continue to post about your content, the more consistent it is with good quality, the more people will start to notice what you are trying to do. Although to make it more effective, you have to start socializing and work on your connections. You have to follow the people that you like which inspires you in making your content or is in the same field as you so you can get updates of what they usually do and the new trends relating to it. It’s better to be friends with them as well not only for the intention of getting followers or audience but to have a group of support which can encourage and motivate you to continue in what you do. I don’t like socializing a lot but once I did, I found myself going deeper and deeper with what I am exploring, it helps a lot because there are people who can help me with the best interest in mind and I can also help them in case that they’re struggling with something. These people can help you get your name out there, but of course you still need to make sure that your content has value and good quality to make it worthy to be seen, since you worked hard on it, might as well be sure to give it your best.

4. You can enlighten or educate yourself.

There are a lot of information to be found in social media, after all, people uses it as a platform to share their interests, stories and knowledge to other people. With using social media, everyone has a chance to be explorers and learners. The things you can learn could help you develop your skills especially when you interact with others who can help and guide you. It could be a step forward towards becoming independent and building resilience. As individuals, we all have responsibilities, and it’s up to us whether we want to work hard to be good at it or just settle with what we can do. It’s important to remember that we can always improve especially with the evolving world that we live in, it’s up to us to take responsibility and to educate ourselves with what we need to know and do. By doing that, young people could develop key and real world skills, and in my opinion, social media did help me in evaluating situations to be safe, expressing myself, socializing, learning how human behavior works and in exploring my skills and learning more about my interests so I can find out what I’m good at and what I want to do in the future.

5. It can be a way of connecting with people anytime.

It is known that you can connect with people that you have contact to anytime you want, no matter the distance. It can help you interact with others a lot which can help you in becoming a social participant and active citizen. You can talk to people about what you know, have meetings with others and spread awareness together so you can help others. Maybe you can also share something that you’re passionate with so you can practice to be better and make a step forward in achieving your dreams. Connecting with others with good intention can make you a good collaborator and team player. Others can be independent with what they do, but it’s not all the time that they don’t need help, even for me, I know what I have to do but it’s somehow better when I have people that can support and remind me of what I wanted to start. Sometimes it could lead to disagreements and misunderstandings so people need to be patient and to compromise. It might be hard but it’s better to just always think of the greater good and you’ll be able to achieve what you want together and settle it right.

0 notes

dealingwithaces · 6 years

Text

LARP Tricks #017

Destigmatizing Meta-Gaming

Recently we had a guest player from overseas at DR:NJ. And he and I had an interesting discussion about the term "Meta-gaming", and how it had a different connotation in the US and Scandinavia.

For him, "Meta-Gaming" is a good term; it's a word meaning collaborative narrative building and using pre-game socialization and cooperative background building to make a more enjoyable, immersive, and interactive story-building environment.

But for me, in years past, "Meta-Gaming" was synonymous with cheating. But that'd been changing in the past year or two, and this helped crystalize why, for me.

I think we can start to destigmatize the term in the US. A term a lot of people have adopted to distinguish "good' meta-gaming and "bad" meta-gaming has been "Steering". And I really like that. The US LARP culture is very strongly leaning more toward game than narrative, though I think that's changing, so Steering is appropriate. It implies that we're not changing the idea of US LARP (strongly game influenced) but we're putting more out-of-character control on it (Or, prehaps, we're just admitting it and taking the responsibility - but that's a different post).

So how can we steer for good?

(More below the cut)

Talk to people.

No, seriously. Sit down or message people you want to RP with. Set up ideas and plans. You don't have to have a script, but suggesting some sort of specific interaction and what you want out of it before hand can help push interesting interactions. Go to a friend and say "Hey, our chracters have had some unspoken emotional tension. It'd be cool if we actually had a confrontation about it. I'm okay with it coming to blows, but no one getting killed, and maybe our two gremlins will actually figure something out?" "Cool, let's run into each other at the tavern and I'll just broach the subject. Let's do this."

It's simple and fun. Yes, it takes some of the random chance from game, but so do skill calls that let you block things you got hit with or make shot you couldn't. There's some form of meta-gaming in every game. There just -is-. If we accept that, talk with each other about scenes we'd like to run, and take a more collective approach to narrative, I think we'd see a great deal more role play and a lot less sitting and waiting for plot to happen to us.

For example, over a year ago my character witnessed another being murdered. Well, executed. And they were part of the scene, and did nothing for character reasons. Even though they loved the character being killed. Not surprisingly, this did not Sit Well with the now dead character's brother. And that was a quiet but present sticking point between the two for a year.

And then I posted a hype post about the difficulty my character had with understanding their own complex feelings on the event. And the player of said brother contacted me asking why my character (who hides their emotions at most times) suddenly seemed to be Deeply Invested.

We talked and decided having these two actually talk about this openly, force them to cope with their baggage. And it worked well. Both characters saw emotional development and may grow closer together despite being incredibly different type of personalities.

It's steering, but so what? The point is that it gives us and players who interact with us around it a more interesting event. How much more fun would we have had just ignoring this and not forcing our characters to hash this out? That's sarcasm, the answer is none.

Go ahead, steer your role play some to push them into their plot. Ask yourself if it would make the event more enjoyable and avoid disadvantaging anyone, because if so I say go for it! Waiting for plot is no fun, and not everyone can cause plot that people chase. So make your own game withing the game!

#larp #larp tricks #meta-gaming #steering

1 note · View note

eevachu · 7 years

Note

There once was a girl called kate/most think she’s very great/some people are wrong/They’ve been bad for very long/for their standards no person can abate

EDIT: The person who sent this came forward and clarified that this ask was meant to poke fun at anti-Kate trolls, not Kate fans. I misinterpreted it and flew wildly off the rails (as I am oft want to do lol). The person who sent this couldn’t have known the depths to which I have grieved over this issue as of late, so do not fault them for it. They wanted to send me a joke and I took it the wrong way (ah the similarities here to Kate’s comedy).

I appreciate someone trying to make me laugh. I don’t really appreciate further spreading this drama, but people are entitled to their opinions, so they are also entitled to the consequences of those opinions. I will say, however, I don’t really like comedy that punches down (accidentally or not), because I think many of the people, who, wrongfully justified and misinformed about her or not, are doing it out of a genuine desire to help trans people. I think the puritanical environment that spaces like tumblr create for this type of discussion creates a toxic mindset that looks ridiculous compared to a properly moderated formal debate environment.

I’m keeping the full version under the cut, because they are things that should be said and I am so very tired of seeing people drag her name through the mud based on hearsay. You may use the examples I’ve provided to draw your own conclusions on the matter, as I have drawn mine. I’ve included some footnotes and clarifications. Skip down to the bolded paragraph above the video to avoid the majority of my emotional outburst.

Thank you for sending needless and harmful negativity into my inbox, I really wish you had instead put your time towards a positive goal like volunteering at an animal shelter, working to raise awareness over the plight of indigenous people in Canada or even just telling someone their hair looks nice today. (The thank you was sarcastic, in case that wasn’t clear.) Or hey, maybe you could have just said, “I know you love Kate, but here’s some problematic things she’s done you should be aware of.” Not write a patronizing little ditty. Catch more flies with honey than with open condescension and all that?

Since you seem like one of those sick people that get off to seeing people feel bad and subscribe to tumblr’s toxic black and white morality and witch hunt culture, here is what you accomplished with this ask:

You’ve made me upset, and I’m sure that was your goal. Congrats. I am an adult woman of 25 and I am crying now because of how upset this made me. This is nothing special, I am weepy person, so don’t pat yourself on the back. I tend to care too much and feel too freely; but anon, did you want me to cry? Because here you are. I am crying. Trembling a little too. You getting your rocks off to this? Happy to be of service then.

My being upset has triggered my anxiety over the issue of my admiration of Kate as an openly lesbian comedian versus the occasional problematic content of her comedy. I think about it a lot, because I am a critical person. The anxiety is going to affect me for several days. Right now I’m nauseous. I will now sleep poorly because of it. I will get less work done because of it. I will be in a foul mood for a week, which affects the people around me. I may self-medicate with alcohol or take what I like to call “a gravol nap”. I will lose money because of lost productivity. So you’ve lost me money anon, I’m sure you enjoy that. What is it about suffering that gives you your jollies, anon?

I work freelance, and you’ve interrupted my work day, because I cannot let this stew, so I have to take time out of my day to write out my thoughts as a reply you probably won’t see and take other measures for my own well-being. This really isn’t for you anon, this has been stewing in me for months and this is the last straw.

So here under the cut are my full thoughts on Kate Mc /.Kinnon Berth/ old, they will be rambly as, hey look, I’m dissociating a little (how fun):

Did you know from 2007-2010* Kate played a problematic character called Fitzwillia m that portrayed a dmab character that wanted a vagina? I’m sure you did. Anon, have you actually watched the Fitzwillia m skits? Here’s a link to all of them:

vimeo

Watched them? Opinions? I want your real opinions on them, not just what the witch-hunters have told you to think. You’re probably a smart person, you can make up your own mind.

They’re in poor taste certainly, but a lot of comedy is. I think in the grand scheme of life, in the grand scheme of all human suffering and portrayals of queer characters, Fitzwillia m isn’t the worst. Certainly not great and certainly transmisogynistic, but like… watch a lot of TV from this time, this is practically progressive.

Is Kate maybe attached to this character because so many people loved them, approved of this character, and brought this character back for 3 seasons? That sometimes you do bad things because you don’t know they’re bad or that you do, but damn if you don’t need the money? That sometimes you’re ill-informed about something? That to create a character is to send part of yourself out into the world, and you always will love them even when you shouldn’t? That she hasn’t addressed it because to do so would be a PR nightmare for her publicist? That she likely doesn’t know this is even an issue because she’s not on social media? Probably. I’ve made some terrible characters, who did much worse things, who I am lucky to let die on paper stuffed in a folder where no one can see them. She was 22* when she made this character, in a completely different cultural climate than in 2017. Does it make it right that a whole team of people approved this character out into the world? Not to me. However, I don’t have the right to decide anything about the trans-related nature of Fitzwillia m as a cis person, but context is always important to me.When I was looking for a compilation video, I found trans people who genuinely enjoyed this character. I know I love some absolutely problematic gay characters.

Let’s put this into MY context anon, 2010 is when I met my first ever trans person. Ever. I was 18 and in college. I think it took me like… 2 years to figure out what trans actually was in a healthy way that wasn’t tainted by my culturally ingrained transphobia. I didn’t know dick all about social justice or politics or the queer community. I thought I was maybe bisexual. I thought I knew everything. By coincidence, I’m actually going through my blog today and clearing out posts from that time because they’re terrible, because I was terrible. I’ve changed so much from then, I don’t even recognize this person on this very blog. I’m not famous and those words are entirely mine, so I lose nothing by saying I’m wrong for what I said. Kate could lose jobs and colleagues and friends for addressing her past in a similar manner. She worked collaboratively on those works and people will take offence at her backtracking. It’s all very damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Is it right? Probably not, but it’s understandable. She works for Saturday Night Live, a place where they are constantly making things like:

youtube

That was made in 2015 and this is very mild. In 2015, I had a more senior coworker make a joke about how a couple we could see in the building across from us were “swapping their gay AIDs blood.” I think that’s a much worse “joke” than anything on SNL. I didn’t tell HR because I was afraid to lose my job, as shitty as it was. She wasn’t exactly in a position of power when these things were made, and she isn’t really in a place to speak out against them now. She’s just now hitting her stride. If I can’t stand up in my own workplace, I can’t fault her for not standing up in hers.

Did she joke about never seeing a penis in an interview? Yes. Did I make the same type of jokes until someone came along to tell me what was wrong with it in a nice way? YEP.**

Does she even know it’s an issue is another thing. She doesn’t use social media, certainly not tumblr. I learned basically all I know about the queer community from tumblr. I have no idea where I’d be without it; probably still making transphobic gold star lesbian jokes.

Anon, I’ve read her receipts. I always do. I know what I’m doing by supporting her is a bit problematic, but so are most of the things I do in my life. I eat meat from factory farms. I have a pedigree dog. I live on unceded First Nation’s land. I benefit from systematic racism. I don’t know what the hell my mutual funds are actually invested in. I’ve made rape jokes and said r*tarded. I was a schoolyard bully redirecting my anger onto other because of my home life. I’ve ruined people’s lives by things I’ve said. I have been a truly godawful person.

Here’s why I still love Kate, if always cautiously and never uncritically: from 2014-2015, I had a mental breakdown, until 2016 I lived in this sort of haze. I remember wanting to die a lot. I remember staring at the subway tracks and thinking, “what if I just jumped?” Do you know what that’s like anon? To constantly want to die? To be in a dead end job, to feel like you’re absolutely worthless? To have a pet die and just think “I deserve this suffering, I’m a failure”?

And then I saw her as Jillian Holtzmann and just… something changed. Something truly changed in my life. She helped me figure out I was a lesbian. She helped me see that out lesbian women could succeed. She got me through that 2016 election where I lost all hope again.

Did she actually do anything? I mean, not really. But she represented something to me and to watch people tear her down is to watch a part of myself be torn down with her.

Why do I still love Kate, even if only as an idea, not an actual person? Because her saving my life outweighs the blights in her career. Because I give people the benefit of the doubt that they don’t mean harm, because they aren’t aware of the underlying social issues they are dealing with. Because I do not minimize the harmful way that ra// dical fe /.minists are recruiting young lesbians into the T /.ERF community by calling anyone who creates transphobic/transmisogynistic content TE /.RFs. Because I do not idolize, I admire. Because her job is to make people laugh and I truly don’t think she wants to hurt anyone by doing so. Because people are complicated and good intentioned people can do bad things. Because I want to believe she’s a good person under everything.

Because I am willing to forgive other people for things I have done myself if they seem the sort to be open to learning.

If all else is still unforgivable to you anon, I leave you with this: there’s a part in the movie Julie & Julia, where the main character Julie finds out that the Julia Child, this woman she has idolized and who’s cookbook inspired her to change her life, doesn’t like her work. She is devastated. And her husband says that there’s two Julia’s: the real one, and the one in Julie’s head, who she sees as her savior. The Julia Child in her head is the one that really matters.

Let me have the Kate in my head.

In conclusion: anon, I wish you all the best, just very very far away from me.

Notes:

* I was wrong about the original dates that this aired, BGSS aired from 2007-2010, not 2008-2010, which means season 1 was likely shot in 2006 with Kate was 22-23 when she created Fitzwilli am. I was pretty stupid at 22.

** I am actually really angry about being misled by this quote, because I had never watched the full interview, which you can see here:

youtube

The interview was filmed in 2007, 10 years ago when Kate was 23, she’s 33 now. 10 YEARS. I know I don’t want to be compared to 15 year old me, or really even 23 year old me. Like I really don’t want to be out here “making excuses” but you have to think critically about the context of the things she’s said and how blowing them out of proportion is harmful to people who are actively trying to harm the trans community. Sure, she’s buying into the gold-star rhetoric for a laugh (because it’s a funny joke straight people in my life STILL make to me and so that’s what most young lesbians think is what you do), but she immediately says after “I don’t think [penises] are gross, I think they’re fun! Fun to play with.” That’s not a typical transmisogynist lesbian dialogue (they usually say penises are disgusting). Which yes, equates genitals with gender, but like… I remember in this time period of my life I was doing the same thing. Not out of malice, but because I didn’t know any trans/genderqueer/nonbinary people, I didn’t even know trans men were a thing! In the same interview she says she’s more 98.5% lesbian, it’s very clear that she’s not sure about these things.

You can tell this interview is more an open dialogue between friends trying to have an honest conversation about sexuality in a time that information about sexuality and gender was much harder to obtain. 2007 is long before it became standard for people to qualify that genitals didn’t equate gender. And it’s definitely still not comedy’s standard, and I get what it’s like to constantly be bombarded with cissexist rhetoric that sometimes you just give in to make it easy.

So in real conclusion: I personally think, from my standpoint as a cis lesbian of 25, that tumblr needs to forgive and needs to draw their own conclusions by watching these examples, not repeat this cycle of screaming examples at people without linking those examples. Let people draw their own conclusions and be open to being wrong about something. I was wrong about the entire catalyst for this post, and I am so deeply sorry about it, and will be more careful in the future.

And for the love of god tumblr, stop holding people to such high standards when you probably wouldn’t meet those standards yourself if you were in that same person’s position.

#prefer if you didn't reblog #don't @ me i'm done arguing this #i just really needed to get all this off my chest it's been festering #eevasks #anon #discourse #transphobia #transmisogyny #suicide #anxiety #depression #mental breakdown

16 notes · View notes

pnzdieholzpflegemanufaktur · 4 years

Text

How social innovation can lead to technological breakthroughs

The proudest moment of my professional career happened almost a year ago. A female member of our production team came to me and said that they had found a way of improving the industry standard for cleaning processes by the factor of 9 in terms of efficiency and sustainability. I have been in my position for long enough to know, that my colleagues can be very serious at times and - funny - the first question that came to my mind was "why?". A rather stupid question, I know, but I really wanted to know why she did it before I even knew any details. And her answer was as terse an one can imagine: "it's better!". Half a year later we became the only second B Corporation worldwide from the paint industry. We are today - to our knowledge - the only CO2-neutral paint manufacturer in the world when measuring scope 1, 2 and part-3. Hopefully there are others, but we are definitely just a few. I think we are the only ones in the world that provide industrial-use-type of wood coatings with a content of regrowing raw materials of over 95%, striving to make them net-negative. That made me think how we, a team of 42 employees and a mildly gifted boss, actually got there: we and not the multinationals that dominate our industry would be invited for environment research, implement new technologies before the multinationals do and drive climate-friendly manufacturing to a new level. To a point where an employee out of her feeling that the process is bad would work for 6 months with her colleagues to find an environment-friendly alternative, spend hours of her spare time for research and then come back after she had made sure that the thing she invented works just fine. I think, the former might be closely related to the latter. Having thought about it for a while now I now know that this did not happen by mastermin-design nor by a well thought through strategy or excellent managerial decisions. For us it happened because of four factors: The area we are located inThe people we hire (and fire)Having a purpose but not a religionThe dynamics of all three together The area we are located in I know it sounds odd, but there is something to the countryside that I have found very hard to replicate in metropolitan areas. The people that were born and raised here (or moved to Kipfenberg a long time ago) have an attitude around them that makes it totally natural not to waste food, eat small for dinner and always pick up your waste from the street. I have owned a few companies in metropolitan areas like Munich and that type of deeply engrained behavior: stuff you don't have to educate because everybody knows from home. We have always been a company that cared about environment-friendly products and manufacturing, but that goal has to see fit in the people that want to attain it. And the combination of sustainable products and people from a natural reserve park are a perfect match. The people we hire (and fire) Oh terrible all those books... the seven (nine, twelve) habits of industry leaders, how to make your company great (again) and so on. We never believed in this type of counseling books. But one thing was totally true for us. It is 100% about the people that are grouped together in a tight spot, every day. It makes a complete difference if you love to go for work or you have to. Over the years we have developed our "criteria to hire" in written (happy to share if anyone is interested) and followed the basic principle that every employee has a veto for hiring anybody in any position - a power that has not been used by a colleague at least for the last five years. Equally important: the people we fire. We don't fire very often (because we have actually gotten much better in hiring) but we fire for one reason and one reason alone: if somebody cannot stand the idea that we are peers and have to trust each other. I don't mean arguments or discussions, not even the occasional fights over who's job it is to get coffee from the supermarket. I mean situations where someone is led to believe that he is in some way intellectually or morally superior to his or her colleagues. We once found a leading manager treat employees not with respect, badmouthing a refugee from Syria that we had hired, and it took us 5 minutes to part ways. As a close friend of mine used to say: hire slow, fire fast. But hire much more often than you fire. Having a purpose but not a religion There is a lot of literature about companies that find their WHY being more successful than the technocratic, product driven competitors. Simon Sinek has made a living from educating people that purpose really matters. Just I find that there are two things wrong with that. For once, it seems that this type of what one could call purpose-driven marketing thing has spun out of control for too many companies. It has become a marketing-wash instead of a meaningful thing. Not a company that does not claim, it is particularly sustainable and encourages customers to consume more with an even better conscience. I think the environmental problems man is facing on earth are not going away by maintaining our lifestyle of consumption - just reducing sugar and plastics and all will be fine. It doesn't work this way. The second thing that strikes me as wrong with the propose-inflation is that many companies treat their values as a religion. I know more than one company that would not allow their employees to openly use products from competitors. Quick self check for executives: what do you say when an employee brings a competitor's product to work? The dynamics of all three together In my opinion, the dynamics of people and their motives makes all the difference. It is common wisdom that the "vertical" relationship between the company and the employees is governed directly or indirectly by the top management; and the horizontal relationships in a company (i.e. between employees) is governed by the individual skills of the people. I actually think now, that it is quite the other way round. The vertical relationship, that is where purpose comes into play. Do we all believe in the things to be our goal? Do we have common principles that we as a company want to follow? My opinion is that top management should (apart from being organizers of the discussion of such things) stay out of the way. We found our formal purpose and story in a series of workshops with employees from all departments and levels. Some were more capable of formulating their views and visions than others, but one thing was blindingly obvious: all workshops that went without top management participation were the most fruitful and successful of all. We, for example, have defined a clear WHY a couple of years ago (We'd like to make the world more beautiful and better), have a couple of HOW's that we do (regrowing raw materials, a continuous product development, regional sourcing, etc.) and that's how we make our products and conduct research. You could call this our "purpose" but it is far from a religious understanding of the world, it's actually quite pragmatic. This type of purpose is carried by all of our employees and it is carried with much less problems then a huge "we are the best in XY" purpose, because it needs no explanation. Guidelines that are totally clear and self-explaining are much easier to follow. This is the vertical part that determines the relationship of employees with the company. The horizontal relationship of people within the company is where in my opinion top management has the greatest impact of all. I for sure am not the brightest kid in town, I have reasonable financial skills but that is about it. The only thing I was clear about from the beginning of my career was that there are two things that I want from life: people I like around meit should not feel like I'm wasting my time Assuming that most other people feel the same, we devised some very clear rules for ourselves in the management team: We will never hire people that we don't like because they are so good in whatever... culture eats skills for breakfast.There is no such thing as a "direct report" in our organization. Actually nobody is supposed to report anything to anybody. We are not slaves, we have a task and it totally makes sense to propagate information through an organization. Not as report, but as a question, a comment, an idea or a seeking of opinion. Seriously, it's much easier than you might think and it works perfectly.Feed-back is (quite) instantaneous or never. We as managers collect strengths and weaknesses over the year and then - one day in late December - we spit it all out and spoil every meaningful discussion about it by having to talk about a pay raise moments later? Doomed to fail. And me personally on the other hand, I actually don't like being criticized months after something happened I can only faintly remember. How to discuss that in a meaningful way. Impossible! So it's fairly quickly or never. Both ways.No gain - no blame. The hardest part, especially for top managers: nobody claims a victory for himself. When we brag about ourselves, we say how invaluable the help of the colleague was in achieving this and that goal. NEVER EVER would you hear somebody in our company say "I have accomplished...". This is quite an exciting experiment that you should consider doing as an executive: the moment you stop to take credit for yourself, you will stop putting blame on others. And eventually all the others will do it as you do. The result is a super relaxed working environment. Available without expensive consultants and incentives. I don't know the psychological mechanism behind it, but I can assure you that it works. We have been doing this kind of "responsible collaboration" for five years now: we haven't fired more people than normal, our profits are strong. Had it been a strategic masterplan, I'd say it was a success. I'm not saying that our organization model is universally good; it just happens to work for us. But I'd be tempted to say that it is worth a try. And the subversive part is: even if you are not the CEO of the company, you can do it still secretly in your own department or group. It works without talking about it. So we accidentally became environmental innovators by being social innovators. And that in a broader sense could actually work for others as well. About the author: Dr. Marcel Pietsch is a studied economist and philosopher. He runs a family business that deals with sustainability and that was certified as B Corporation in 2019. Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

#innovation #leadership #management #organisation #purpose #social #strategy #sustainability #sustainablemanufacturing #team

0 notes

queermtl · 5 years

Text

An interview with Montréal’s Cuarta Baby

Queer life in Montréal stretches far outside the mapped limits of the Gay Village, and a group of LGBTQ+ creatives are shining a light on queer expression that crosses boundaries, scenes and cultures. Rafaella Alegre (Cuarta Baby) is a nightlife organizer, ballroom house mother, outspoken activist and community builder (including co-founding the Montréal Kiki Ballroom Alliance), whose welcoming events have brought a uniquely Latinx flavour to Montréal. During a busy Pride season, we spoke with her about life in the city, the growing ballroom community and her upcoming Gasolina! An Urban Kiki Ball at La Sala Rossa on August 31, 2019.

1. Can you tell me a little bit about your personal history in Montreal? When did you arrive and what first caught your eye about the city to prompt you to move here from Peru?

I first arrived the day after Christmas in 2013. I had visited Montreal for some weeks in 2011 after being denied a tourist visa to go to NYC, and when I realized people could be openly queer or a woman without getting harassed on the street – or at least, way less than in Lima – I was like, ‘I need to get out of my city.’ Lima is a very hostile environment and even though I love my city and country, I needed to leave for my mental health and general well-being. It was the only city I had ever visited outside Peru at the time.

2. What prompted the creation of your party CRZN? Did you notice a gap in the LGBTQ+ community that needed to be filled in regards to Latinx people in Montreal? What does the name CRZN represent?

Exactly that. I missed the queer parties back home. The intersection of latinidad and queerness is very important to me, which I didn’t realize until I felt the void when I moved out. I found that other Latinx immigrant friends felt the same way, and they wanted a place to be able to perrear (grind) where the gender combination or femininity/masculinity of the participants would not be policed. I found that I hated the music in all the queer parties that I had been in Montréal and since I had nightlife experience from being a DJ for years in Lima, I figured I should do something about that gap.

I really didn’t feel the urgency to solidify those plans until the tragedy that happened at Pulse. There was a need of a space to heal through Latin rhythms and that’s when I felt I had to rise to the occasion and this is when CRZN was born. Corazón means “heart” in Spanish, and I named it that way out of being passionate Latin queers and how we feel happiness or sadness intensely, especially these particular feelings of mourning. In Latin America, we have a history of using dancing and music to cope and heal and that’s something that it has in common with the queer community. I was told by someone one time that they thought the name meant “cruising” which I love as well – it’s a queer space after all, and I like to think it is also the bisexual party of Montréal. There’s something about reggaeton that is so sexual and makes you wanna hook up, so cruising also goes well with the brand and mood of this event.

3. Cuarta Baby is also a cornerstone of the Montreal ballroom community. When did you discover ballroom? What pulls you towards it? What are you hoping to do with your involvement as voguer, walker and commentator?

Thanks for calling me a cornerstone, that’s huge. I still see myself, as my name says, as a “baby” in the ballroom scene, because I am. My involvement started officially at the same time voguing classes started in Montréal, so more or less two and a half years ago. But, even in Peru I dreamt about being a part of it. I watched videos of Leiomy and tried to imitate the movements, but at that time, ballroom was not experiencing this boom of popularity so there was not even a single video on how to do a dip and the information to learn about the culture was very limited. It was only later that I was able to really delve into it completely. I really see Twysted Miyake-Mugler as one of my main mentors in this learning process – which never ends!

I felt very alone with my feelings surrounding femininity in Latin America, where there’s a very specific way of being a woman – feminine, heterosexual, catholic – that probably only other latinas who were raised and lived there can understand. I didn’t fit that archetype in several ways and femininity felt more like a prison. It was only through voguing that I discovered a way of being femme that was liberating and subversive. Voguing really helped me find myself and being comfortable in my own skin and for that I will be forever grateful. That’s why the involvement of Afrolatinx and Latinxs in the beginnings of ballroom culture in NYC makes so much sense to me – it seems like in a way it’s a direct response to how our culture sees gender roles and expression. As a walker and a mother – though I prefer mami because it makes me feel less old! – what I want to do with my own participation is honour that legacy and that’s the main value of my kiki house Benetton.

As a commentator, I want to blend Latin rhythms with original and authentic vogue beats while chanting in Spanish or Spanglish, to breach the gap between the main anglo-scene and the different newish scenes in Latin America such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and hopefully, some day Peru! – something me and my collaborator DJ Minas have baptized as vogueton. It’s kinda like the lovechild between the two most influential songs in music history (in my biased opinion): Gasolina and The Ha! Dance. As a voguer... well, it’s no secret that I’m not a performance girl and Face is my category, so even though I do not compete, I do vogue for fun. It is an almost sacred ritual to me where I explore and relate to my femininity, and it’s the only time where I feel like I understand myself and can show myself through movement. It's so hard to explain our complex reality with words, so I think vogue does through movement what poetry does through words.

4. Where do you see Montreal’s ballroom community going in 2019?

I’m hoping it will get bigger and that queer and trans people of colour want to participate more and more. It does take commitment and years to get better at it, but it’s such an investment in art and talent that it’s worth it! We want to see the walker quality and quantity rise.

5. How has the city changed since your arrival (and specifically since your involvement in both CRZN and voguing)?

Well, the percentage of bisexual men has increased considerably! Just kidding – or am I? I think both myself and the city has changed in different ways. My stellium-in-virgo ass is super obsessed with doing work for the community and stepping forward when there’s no one else doing it. We have a well-established party that doesn’t turn any profit but we’re able to keep it going and curate a unique space and sound where people feel safe. I’ve also been part of founding the Montreal Kiki Ballroom Alliance, which I think even though it has started only very recently, is already starting to do amazing work towards uniting and bettering the kiki functions in the city. So, on my end, I will keep trying to provide the city with events where you can perrear and voguear, be it a party like CRZN or a kiki ball like “Gasolina! An Urban Ball” or the “Labour Weekend Kiki Workshops”.

6. How has life in the LGBTQ+ community in Montréal affected you?

The privileged first world life that a queer can live here has made me really appreciate my opportunity of migration, but at the same time it has made me appreciate my upbringing in the third world because it made me who I am and has given me a grasp on reality outside of the North American bubble. If I could choose, I’d be born where I was born again and again. Sometimes the “gay community” – it’s hard to call it LGBTQ+, because it is very much centered around the G – I don’t know if “affect” is the right word, but it bothers me and makes me want to create my own social circles and surroundings! Ballroom is an entirely different story – it centers (or it should at least) the black transwoman experience and we are all guests there, but it definitely finds a way to include everyone somehow.

7. Who in the city inspires you?

Ballroom-wise, I am always inspired by Brian Amazon Disney and Chivengi. The way they move alone is truly beautiful and a learning experience on its own. My Benetton children – who I recruited for a reason – like Naomi. The way she commands a room is unbelievable! My music soulmate and collaborator Minas, who I organize CRZN and have infinite projects with. I know you asked Montréal, but I it wouldn’t be right in my book to acknowledge who inspires me in Montréal ballroom without mentioning the Toronto scene as well, so Twysted, Tamar, Ceasar and N9ne are huge ballroom inspirations! But, no shade, most of my inspirations for all things art and creativity are in Peru, New York and Puerto Rico.

8. If you were to tell visitors just arriving three things about Montréal that you love, what would they be?

I’d say first of all come during the summer and not to toot my own horn – but totally – I’d come when there’s a CRZN. Also, my bed is one of the best tourist spots out there, just saying.

0 notes

changingthedefinition · 7 years

Photo

2 years ago today katie ended up on life support, in 3 days time the machines keeping her alive would be switched off and it STILL doesn't feel real! When I first met katie, I was on sertraline and therefore completely psychotic. I was on and off 1:1 observations like a yo yo and fed up with the whole world. I had many screaming matches with the doctors and ward manager about the fact they kept putting me on/ wouldn't take me off observations when katie was doing similar things and allowed to get away with it. I even accidentally snapped at katie over it- not because I was annoyed with her, but because the staffs logic made no sense. They told me that the circumstances were different, because I had suicidal intent, to which I screamed back 'but the end result could still be the same'. Katie and I grew close very fast. We spent most days doing jigsaws, painting nails, watching frozen (poor Mike spent most visiting times getting dragged into our frozen ritual) making dens and putting the world to rights. There was a connection and I don't often feel a connection to anyone. Katie had struggled for years and had a lot of built up anger, but only recently had she started receiving any professional input. Of cause, been on a ward, the input was minimum, so I ended up listening to her, challenging her, encouraging her to find new ways to communicate opposed to resorting to ligaturing as a way to get 1:1 chats with staff! The amount of times I could tell she was about to do something so would give staff the nod to go after her was ridiculous. But regardless I loved her! We had some conversations full of hope. She had dreams and hopes and a love for life. She had traveled the world climbing with Mike. She wanted to go back to uni and she wanted more than anything to be a mum, and this was what caused her 'breakdown' for lack of a better word, before admission! Through my questioning, we quickly got to the point where she understood a few things better. She stopped saying she wanted to die and instead realised and started saying she just wanted the pain to stop and to live a better life. She wanted to stop suffering and instead be katie! When I was having horrible days, she would post letters under my door for me, which I still have stuck to my bedroom wall. We would build dens to hide in to few safe. Once I won my tribunal we would go for coffee, go to the climbing centre and even walk to the supermarket which is opposite the cemetery she is now buried in. We laughed and we hugged and we cried and we danced. One weekend my friend was physically poorly so for a couple of days she got my side room and I moved into her bed opposite Katie's bed. Katie was on leave and the staff came to do the Saturday bed changes. They found some ligatures under her pillow and had a conversation which resulted in them just leaving them there. Katie also had epilepsy, yet when she had a seizure they told her she was making it up as they hadn't seen it. But because of this she had both prn lorazepam and diazepam. Katie had a history of using drugs to escape her feelings, and quickly she worked out that she could take both despite diazepam been prescribed for seizures. The staff been the staff and wanting an easy shift just kept giving her both though out the day, every day! By the time she died she was so hooked on benzos that she couldn't even remember her parents visiting her, even though they had moved up from London to be closer. In my opinion, even if the only happening was the use of benzos, the staff were still neglectful to let it carry on so long and get so bad. Then there was the whole situation with the HCA. I probably don't need to say anything else to explain that one. Except as katie was a mental health patient and the HCA was a member of staff, katie was made out to be lying. After the first incident, the ward manager decided that the HCA wasn't allowed to do checks in the female end of the ward, however due to confidentiality, this wasn't shared with the rest of the staff so it was never enforced. As a result things kept happening, until one day katie flipped and smashed up everything in her way. Even then she was made out to be lying. The HCA was never punished because katie was a mental health patient. On the 1st July katie phoned me, she had overdosed, was drunk and was working along a viaduct. She told me not to tell anyone, but I knew what she really meant. I managed to find out more details and after an hour I convinced her to phone the ward to explain. She didn't know I was messaging Mike and bex all along. I wasn't sure if she really would phone the ward so I phoned crisis team- I didn't have the wards number and since crisis team spend half their time on the ward I thought they might just connect me and I didn't want to waste time googling the number.... I phoned and crisis team hung up on me. Luckily situations like this don't panic me and I was ok, but it could have been a different story, they just weren't interested though. So I googled the ward and phoned them up. The staff nurse who answered the phone was one of the more tolerable ones and he thanked me and hung up. Once Mike got to katie, she was taken for treatment of her overdose. In the 3rd she returned to psych and was sent on home leave straight away despite openly voicing her thoughts. Generally katie did much better at home, but on Saturday morning Mike took her back to the ward. He wanted her to be safe and he didn't know how to ensure that. They sat and had a conversation with the nurse and it was agreed katie wouldn't be let off the ward alone and would be on 5 minute checks. 2 hours after returning to the ward, Mike received a phone call to say katie was in ICU on life support and due to the swelling in her brain probably wouldn't wake up! In those two hours a friend was getting admitted. As she entered the ward, katie ran up to her and begged her to get them to help her. She pleaded for her life. And yet, when she was on ICU the locality manager took great satisfaction in saying 'but we had let her of the ward two times before the incident'. I went to see katie the night of the 5th and stayed until 4 am and again on the 6th. I was the one who held it together. Who offered support. Who told nice stories and wiped away her family's tears. Until I left on the 6th. Her life support was to be turned off on the morning of the 7th so it was time to say goodbye. I kissed her forehead and hand and told her everything I had told her many times before. And then I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Katie didn't want to die. She wanted someone to believe her. She wanted help! The HCA was moved to an outpatient post 🤦‍♀️ and at the coroners hearing the ward psychologist who told us all regularly 'the ward isn't a safe environment and therefore you can not have psychology in the ward' told stories of how she had started doing x y and z with katie and how katie attended groups- which in the 4 years I spent on the ward never once saw running! It was concluded that all the care katie had received was sufficient and appropriate and the ward could not have done anything differently. Yes, katie chose to do what she did, but she didn't want to die. She wanted to be heard. She wanted to be helped. She wanted the pain to stop, pain that was only made worse by her time in services. Here I have highlighted a couple of stories which spring to mind, but in reality, there was multiple tales of neglect every single day!! But as happened when cactus come in, the staff stuck together and collaborated their stories. They manipulated the truth and ultimately got away with what in other circumstances would be murder/manslaughter. And by doing so, no only have they hindered them selves, they have put other vulnerable people at risk. Katie's death came a year after I broke my back, where I was sent on leave because they knew I was going to do something and it would be less paperwork if I did it off the ward..... when I broke my back, my parents wanted to complain, instead the MDT put in a safeguarding against my parents and pushed the blame on to them (it was my choice but I was also very unwell at the time and sectioned) they scared my parents out of complaining and as a result in the 12 months that followed another patient broke their back and katie lost her life!!! I can share this because both the first and the independent investigation have been to coroners court. And I can also share because katie deserves so much better. She was a human made to feel like an 'worthless' animal. She didn't have to die, she didn't even want to die, yet she did die. I miss her. But her death gave me drive to fight for the system to change, because Katie's story isn't just Katie's, but one that is happening far too often through out the mental health system in the U.K.! Since 2000 the number of psychiatrist beds in the U.K. has halved, whilst the number of people needing support from mental health services is constantly increasing. Not all, but many professionals still have the attitude that they are better than the patient and abuse their power in a way which causes harm to many. Yet because they are professionals, they are able to uses all the behaviours they tell their patients off for using- they lie, manipulate, emotionally abuse..... it's not ok. If someone had a physical health condition, professionals wouldn't be allowed to get away with this (I know examples from my mums ward where professionals has been reported the the NMC for causing no harm to any one and for things as simple as forgetting to do one blood sugar) so why is it that mental health patients, arguable among the most vulnerable, are allowed to be treated this way?

7 notes · View notes

alexbohs · 7 years

Text

Chosen Family

Chosen family. The family you handpick. The family who understands your every layer - no matter how complicated or nuanced. Chosen family is there because you’ve allowed them to be and they have reciprocated. No arbitrary expectations or judgements. Just lives intersecting to brighten and strengthen one another. That’s what chosen family has always been for me at least. In fact, I have been able to categorize my own growth by my chosen families in various environments.

As a child in Indiana, my chosen family consisted of other adventure-seekers who enjoyed exploring and escaping the confines of our cornfield(s). Whether it be photoshoots in abandoned buildings, campuses, forests or our own bedrooms, they kept my insecurities of the future at bay and the spark of what could be next ignited.

As a teenager / early 20-something in Chicago, my chosen family embraced me wholeheartedly. They taught me that the quirks I felt the need to hide in Hoosierland actually made me stand out amongst the rest and were something to cherish. No topic was finally off limits with these friends. We talked about every facet of one another which sounds silly but it was such a refreshing change of pace for me and is one of the many reasons why my Chicago chosen family will always be special to me for the very selfless way they accepted me and let me into their lives as well.

As a young adult / mid 20-something in LA, my chosen family became so much more diverse across the board. Folks were not only from various pods in Middle America but rather places like the Middle East or across actual bodies of water complete with language barriers and contrasting childhoods. I mention this because I’ve never felt such a familial connection to folks who on paper seem so different. I think that’s what I love most about the melting pot that is LA - learning, listening and loving so many viewpoints. My LA family has been the single most beautiful cluster of individuals and finding them changed my entire perspective of that whackass West Coast - for the better.

As a writer, my chosen family has permeated my noggin for years now both in a series I’ve been concocting (For Now Project) about the unique ways folks come in and out of one another’s lives during very specific chapters, as well as a feature film I keep re-breaking/re-working as I continue to also mature (Nevermore, Bernadette) which contrasts the eclectic chosen family of its leading drag queen against his complicated bloodline.

As an editor (and queer filmmaker), my chosen family has graced me with some truly unforgettable collaborations that have crossed generational barriers even. Conversations with Gay Elders taught me how unified we all are as queer people no matter how much our lives have felt so different from one another. I’ve been able to create friendships and connections with individuals that not only paved the way for me to live as openly as I prefer but have instilled in me the art of patience and looking towards the bigger picture. Who Is Reno Martin is currently teaching me just how expansive, inclusive and vibrant chosen family lines go back (particularly on the East Coast). It’s teaching me how authenticity and utmost trust between good friends has always been there even when history-writers try to paint a different picture.

In short, I foresee this topic and those that make up my many families continuing to creep into my life as I chug along. I for one hope that’s the case.

- Alex

0 notes