Haiku 2
28 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship Tags: hunger, poetry, social entrepreneurship
So many cherries here
Though so many go hungry
There must be bridges
Knowing
27 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Culture, Social Entrepreneurship Tags: epistemology, keats, negative capability, philosophy, poetry
In class today, we discussed how culture affects ones ability to “know.” We discussed a lot of epistemology, which made my brain go, “YAYYYY!” I hadn’t talked about anything philosophy related since my undergraduate years and it’s always such a treat.
My favorite idea rejects the necessity of epistemology and the need to rationalize the irrational and the artist’s ability to exist within mysteries without having to reach for the answers to the pressing questions. The beauty comes from observing complexities, not in the attempting to solve them.
My classmates noticed me nerding out, I’m sure. Yes, my friends. I can get down with some serious English Romantic philosophies if you let me. You probably shouldn’t lead me down that path. I might never return.
And now I’m just exhausted. Much luck to you and yours, my dears.
Shoes
20 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Favorite Things, Social Entrepreneurship Tags: handmade, osborn, shoes, social enterprise
Aren’t they lovely?
A Divinely Gifted Storyteller
08 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Culture, Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship
Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in literature
“Literature and propaganda are totally incompatible. I think literature can use politics, but that politics shouldn’t use literature because if it does, it destroys literature.
Mario Vargas Llosa won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in literature yesterday. I was listening to his comments on the radio in my car as I was on my way to pick up some new shoes to go with the fancy business suit I planned to wear to my first Pepperdine event. His thoughts on literature resonated with me because of what I hope to do on my path towards social entrepreneurship.
The artists that I most admire use politics in their artwork. They interpret the world through their own lens and create reflections of that interpretation. I hope to be able to empower these artists to create through a lens that is focused on important issues that need solving. I think the production company, Participant Media, does just what I want to do. Regardless of how you feel about the issues at hand, I think more people know about environmentalism now because of a movie they produced called An Inconvenient Truth, and people everywhere are talking about Waiting for Superman, a documentary that raises questions about the public school system.
I wonder what the line is between propaganda and issue-focused filmmaking or literature that is deeply entrenched in politics. If a film is an activist film, the goal is to raise awareness about an issue and inspire people to work to change the issue. Wouldn’t that be propaganda?
I wonder if it’s a line that artists are able to walk. I believe Participant’s films walk that line. I suppose if a movie were negative propaganda, any criticism of the ideas presented would be silenced by a governing body. I think that’s what defines propaganda, which is not what I want to participate in.
If anything, the aforementioned films inspire debate and conversation without preventing opposition. That is definitely something I want to promote, create and empower others to do.
Listen to the whole story on All Things Considered by clicking this link.
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