Radical Transparency

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December 21, 2008

Not Just an Audio Art

Just watched the Little Plastic Castle video with Axel, the man that introduced me to Ani DiFranco.
 
One of the things that I just realized tonight that I love about that song is that Ani sings a serious, poignant social message, and she has fun with it. If you listen on an album, Ani might sound angry. And, yeah, I dont think there's any question that anger is involved. But if you watch her face as she plays, you see that the music is about so much more than pain and frustration; it's about the silliness and the sound and the realization that things need to change.
 
Once again...
 
If we can't do it with a smile on our face, if we can't do it with love in our heart, then children we ain't got no right to do it at all.

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Filed under  //   anger   ani difranco   axel   some kind of different  

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November 2, 2008

The Opportunity

I sent this note to my cousin the other day.  Because he's undecided.  Because he's 22.  Because he's creative.  Because he's fundamentally kind and generous and thoughtful.  And because I love him and want him to share my excitement...

I don't like the idea of voting for an old man.  Not unless his eyes sparkle with youthful ideas. 

I want to vote for love and generosity and curiosity and open mindedness.  The stuff of the young and inspired.

Battlescars aren't wisdom unless they teach change.  Attachment to the status quo is despair.  Yearning for a happier yesterday is helplessness.  Conservatism is admitting that we can't be any better than what we are now or what we were then.

And, even if that is true - if there are limits, and we've hit them - I say we bite, smash, and hammer away at them anyway.  Because it's more fun to hope than to hoard and hide and isolate.


Because if we can't do with a smile on our face, if we can't do it with love in our heart, then, children, we ain't got no right to do it at all. 

We're supposed to be some kind of different.

And I think there's a chance that Barack Obama is some kind of different. 

The More Perfect Union speech was beautiful.  The tire gauges were, silly as they sounded, quite possibly the most reasonable energy policy idea the US government has had in long time.  The man is cool under pressure.  He's thoughtful and knowledgeable.  He's curious.  His wife is a superstar: absolutely rightfully unsatisfied with this country and working to make it better.

Warren Buffet and Colin Powell and Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen and Eric Schmidt and James Fallows and Oprah all believe in him.  Smart people.  Reasonable people.  Innovative people.


So we'll see.

If Obama's not different, if he's nothing but an actor, bummer.  But we'll move on.  We'll save the world despite the US government.  We'll clean up its mess.  Tirelessly.  We'll make it irrelevant.  We'll do all its work for it.  With philanthropy.  With sustainable business.  With literature.  With poetry.  With simple acts of kindness and love.

And without fear.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't vote.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't hope.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't take this opportunity to support the candidate that inspires musical genius.

Peace.  Love.

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Filed under  //   barack obama   christopher   conservatism   governments   philanthropy   politics   some kind of different   sustainable business   voting  

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September 12, 2008

Some Kind of Different

I think it's good when people step away for a moment from the intensity of their work and life and stop taking themselves so seriously. 

BusinessWeek's Election Blog just posted this.  About a softball game. And a metaphor.

If we're going to save the world and remain sane while we do it, we're going to have to be able to keep laughing.

Thinking about this and writing those last few sentences convinced me to search back into my email to find one of my favorite rock and roll quotes.

I found it, and I think the little bit of context from my email is kind of fun too, so I'm posting both.  It's fun to think back to more than a year ago when we were first considering the possibility of pursuing The Carrot Project (or whatever we were calling it back then), and, as always, it's hugely inspiring to read that quote.

"I'm working on these interfaces and adding text where text is due, and since I don't actually KNOW anything about what I'm writing, I'm just kind of being silly, and being silly has sent this totally excellent quote running through my head.  It's from Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young:
 
But you know we've gotta do it.  We gotta keep on keepin on.  Cause if we don't do it, nobody else is gonna.  But you know if we can't do it with a smile on our face, you know if we can't do it with love in our hearts, then children we ain't got no right to do it at all.  Cause that just means we ain't learned nothing yet.  And we're supposed to be some kind of different..."

With a smile on our face.  With love in our hearts.

It's not always easy, but it has to be the way to go.

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Filed under  //   carrot project   laughter   metaphors   putting things in perspective   quotes   some kind of different  

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