As power in America has been transferred from one president to the next, we’re told all the while that the American Dream will continue to be passed along as well. I for one am ready to call bullshit on that entire idea.
To the high school students who will soon be adults, I’m sorry. I have no idea why college is so expensive, why we don’t have universal health care, why we don’t want you to vote, or why we have so many school shootings.
We don’t need an old dream, we need a new reality.
The iPhone I have is a 6 something. It’s older than what’s available and because of that I guess it’s been slowed down by Apple. And actually, I’m more than okay with this. Over the winter, with some success, some failure, I’ve tried to cut back on my iPhone usage. The slowness has helped me because the user experience is mildly slower than it used to be. I was thinking the other day of what life was like before constantly being connected, which began for me in 2010. Before then, no smart phone needed, I got along just fine.
After work I could just sit on the porch with a book or magazine and just focus. In between chapters or articles, I’d just stare off into the sky. Then I’d return to reading. There was no checking in on things to see if I’d missed something. No scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Because there was no busying myself with what’s happening in the world, I did miss stuff. Didn’t hear about the latest this or that. And what may sound completely shocking, life didn’t end.
Instead, life went on. There was the intentional doing of nothing. Because why do you have to be doing something all the time any way? This coming from a person who is very concerned with being productive. But if you think about it, is scrolling and scrolling and scrolling really productive? Maybe if you’re a journalist. If you’re like me, probably not.
The other night I found myself sitting alone in my office. In the dark, just listening to music. Mind wandering this way and that. I suppose I was just killing time. But it felt quite liberating. Just sitting, thinking, my eyes not tracking any feed whatsoever. Anxiety low, breathing steady, outlook optimistic.
We’d all benefit from more of this. Your feeds will be there in the morning.
There is a shocking difference in how fours years feels from decade to decade. In high school, then college, with my first job, now this job. The older you get, time goes by faster. It just does.
The annual event for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to show support for reproductive health care and education is called MOXIE. As a long time supporter of Planned Parenthood, given our current political climate, I wanted to do a little more than simply donate money. Working with Tessa Wedburg, I designed two new posters to be auctioned off.
Both designs ask us all to Hear, Share, Listen, Believe. I’ll post the designs here after the event. If you’re interested in showing your support, check out MOXIE or simply donate online.
Inspired by Word/Play: Prints, Photographs, and Paintings by Ed Ruscha, the Joslyn Art Museum is hosting an event with myself, Peter Fankhauser of the Omaha Creative Institute, and Omaha photographer Laurie Victor Kay. We will each speak for ten minutes about a work in the exhibition that “lights our fire,” shedding light on how art inspires, engages, and impacts our own work.
something.
anything.
that’s all you can do.
and that’s fine.
When consuming media, any and all forms, from social to television to print to radio and podcast, we need to approach that task as if we were an important member of an engaged, informed citizenry. Because we need to be. We are citizens, not consumers. We need to bring our knowledge, critical thinking, and thoughtfulness to the media ecosystem so we can make sense of our past and present in the hopes we’re able to set a trajectory for the future that is firmly based in reality.
