Responsibility to yourself means that you don’t fall for shallow and easy solutions—predigested books and ideas, marrying early as an escape from real decisions, getting pregnant as an evasion of already existing problems. It means you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short…and this, in turn, means resisting the forces in society which say that women should be nice, play safe, have low professional expectations, drown in love and forget work, live through others, and stay in the places assigned to us. It means we insist on a life of meaningful work, insist that work be as meaning as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be ‘different’.
– Adrienne Rich (via msandrogynous) Via The Selam
So sad that I was out of town for “DC Loves Dilla” event :/ Listened to this track on my way to work today, and I’ve been whistling it all day long. Love it!
In the age of digital downloads, B-FLY ENTERTAINMENT brings liner-notes back – LIVE!
Experience live music, theatre and spoken word in this multimedia, one night event!
Featuring The Corner Store Jazz Trio, Paige Hernandez, Baye Harrell, Akua Allrich
and other special guests
Presented as part of INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival
March 1, 2012 at 8pm
$20 general admission
$15 students/seniors
Ages 10 and up
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street NE Washington, DC 20002
www.intersectionsdc.org
Certainty is overrated. Be bold anyway.
I have a story to share.
About 2 years ago I met a girl in New York City, who would later become almost like a sister to me. She was in town from L.A to take part in a leadership development program called Starting Bloc. We hit it off immediately, and she shared with me her excitement about the workshops she was attending, and the awesome people she was meeting during the program. It was a few days long, and each day she would go and participate and come back inspired and full of stories. She convinced me that I absolutely had to take part in this program when I got a chance.
Speed this up a few months, and I did some reading about the program and blogged about it. The stories were indeed quite inspirational, and the concept of bringing people from all walks of life together in one room to build and network and exchange ideas of social entrepreneurship was phenomenal. I was convinced that I had to sign up. So, I did.
Fast forward to Spring 2012, and I was on a plane to Los Angeles to take part in SBLA’12. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure what would be expected of me. But I did know one thing, and that was that I would be with people just like me. People that shared the same passions for social change, and people that wanted to meet me and share their ideas.
The program lasted 5 days. Each day was jam packed with workshops, lectures, group sessions, a surplus of ideas, and an awesome atmosphere of positivity and wanting to help one another achieve goals and milestones. Seriously, it was tremendous. I stepped out of my comfort zone several times to pitch ideas, share my story, talk about my passions. It was exhilarating. All the positive reinforcement, all the validation, all the ” Semhal, that’s such a great idea!” comments, just kept building on one another. Anything that can make you question your foundation, and challenge you to explore those secret passions you have about helping others in some way shape or form…is pretty damn remarkable. There were amazing speakers, great exercises and learning experiences. At times we all felt vulnerable; at times we felt super confident. We challenged ourselves to reach out to others, and express our passions. I was a day into the program before I realized that I would most likely be quitting my job when I got back to D.C. Like, what was the point in toiling away doing something I never really envisioned for myself anyway? Instead, I could be fusing together my passions for the arts, music, digital world, and the other areas that my skill sets touched upon to create something that would solidify my role as a social innovator. Whoa, why didn’t I think of this before? It doesn’t have to be just one or the other. In fact, it would be more beneficial and sustainable if you developed skills and acquired world knowledge so that you could be more resourceful and helpful in bringing about different types of change. I could fuel my passions and still pay the bills, and be fulfilled. Yea, man…this was my catalyst.
Honestly, I don’t think i’ve ever used the word “sustainable” as much as I did this past weekend. But that was it, these ideas…these concepts, they were all sustainable. We were all dreamers, and we were all passionate. I heard stories from fellow candidates about projects that were already in play, money that was being raised and charities that were being funded. I also heard from individuals that didn’t know how to actualize their dreams, and they just came with concepts. It was beautiful. I think I was a mix of these two types of candidates. I had a lot of questions coming into the program, but I was lucky enough to leave the Institute with a wealth of information, tips, advice, offers to help and offers to build together. By the time I left, I had a ton of new friends, ideas and plans. I have a remixed mission now. And I have a new circle of friends that will help keep me accountable and on track. It’s so exciting to look to the future and realize that there is SO much waiting for me. My fellow Starting Bloc Fellows understand this feeling of acceptance, and motivation…and we’re all now just trying hard to get over this post- Institute hangover after such a great time spent together. One of my favorite speakers during the program, referred to us as “imaginal cells”. We would make up a body of change. Don’t you love that? This applies to all of us. Whether it’s social change or a for-profit venture, these few days were about realizing your passions, your strengths and gaining direction in life in general.
Re-vamped, re-energized….and re-started, I’m super excited about getting Project Passions up and running.
My favorite quote from the 5 days spent with the Starting Bloc fam, “Shake some sh*t up”. Lets go!
- S
(Annenberg Community Beach House, Santa Monica. This was the venue for the program, and utterly beautiful!)
(One of my fav photographs that was hanging in the hallway at the venue. I saw this the first day, and it was a positive reminder each day I walked past it)
The End!
One of my favorite illustrators, Stina Persson, has the best collection of watercolor prints. Here’s a personal fav :)
