Japan Tragedy – An Opportunity to Help
March 14th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan on March 11, 2011 were devastating, and looking through just a few pictures of the incidences is heartbreaking. The death toll I don’t want to even think about, and the amount of damage done by this natural disaster is simply painful to look at. I was terribly concerned with the news but was lucky to find out that my friends are all safe in Japan. That being said, there were many others who are not safe, and the aftershock of this tragedy is still affecting many.
To put things in perspective, the initial earthquake was only the beginning of the tragedy, reaching 9.0 on the ritcher scale. The tsunamis, and many earthquakes after that have been as nerve-wracking and devastating. I can not imagine how people can continue going with their lives when at random moments throughout the day earthquakes keep happening. Furthermore, the nuclear plants that were destroyed and hydrogen explosions keep many alarmed.
The situation is terrible, but just by knowing more about it we won’t fix it. It is time for us to take action and try to help those who are in need. The good news is that many organizations have joined the relief efforts and are currently helping the displaced families as well as the restoration of the affected area. We know the future will be brighter, but to restore an area that has been described to look just as Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was released, a lot of effort will have to be put in. If you would like to join in the effort, the simplest way to do so is through a donation. There are a fair amount of ways to give, but here are a few links to organizations you can donate through:
American Red Cross
GlobalGiving
There are many other ways to give, but these are simple and straightforward ways to do so. Please consider making a donation, no matter how small. A few dollars from each one of us would make a big difference. In moments of crisis like this, many have no choice but to rely in others’ generosity, and it is our opportunity to help them.
Collaboration
February 27th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The easiest way for us to achieve our goals and be successful is to collaborate effectively. This phenomena can be observed everywhere we go. College students who study in a group environment usually benefit from the cumulative knowledge of their peers, allowing them to come up with better and more innovative solutions to problems at a faster pace. Furthermore, having the option to leverage other individuals allows us to specialize in a particular field knowing that when needed we can count on people with expertise outside of our field to offer their assistance.
The benefits of cooperation are not limited to knowledge sharing, but more importantly cooperation often gives individuals the boost needed for them to push through difficult times in their journey. People that start a new exercise regime or start learning a new language are more likely to succeed if they have a group that shares and support their goal. Overall, postivite and effective collaboration allows us to build a better world for everyone around us.
Having this in mind, I’ve always wondered how can we leverage people from all around the world to achieve our goals. After all, when you dig deeper into society you realize that there are millions of people willing to help and support others. Tapping into that huge network of people to help us by guiding us or simply encouraging us to achieve our dreams is a very powerful feat.
WeWoWe started from this concept — it is a place for people to encourage each other to continue working towards achieving their goals and dreams. Although it is still in its early stages, WeWoWe’s target is to become a platform for everyone to track their progress towards achieving their goal, and share it with friends and family, or with the entire world. This is something I am very passionate about, and hence will continue to work hard with my friends to make sure that WeWoWe develops into a platform everyone can use easily and leverage to achieve their goals.
Helping others achieve their dreams is something I am passionate about and I hope that with other people’s support and our collective energy, we will be able to use WeWoWe to achieve just that.
Spreading Goodness – The Happiness Network?
May 13th, 2010 § 1 Comment
We live in a society that is obsessed with tragic, upsetting or dramatic news. Gossip, drama of all sorts, these are the things that drive most of the TV networks and sell the most newspapers and magazines. But, when do we get our drop of happiness and goodness? When do we nourish our soul? If we were to focus only on what our current media shows, and what most people decide to spend their days talking about, we would think that the world is a very, very messed up place. That there is little or no happiness in this world, and that those who ARE happy are a very selected few part of some sort of secret society that hands out to them a secret happiness drink every now and then.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamibu/1352354517/
But are the news representative of our world? Why is it that we are bombarded with news of all the things going wrong, and we hear very little of the good things? Why is it that when we hear of something good, it’s portrayed as if it’s the only good thing that happened in the world? What drives us to spend so much time learning why we should, and how we should, be unhappy?
I suggest we shift our attention into something more productive. I propose that we stop talking about the things that make us unhappy, and start being grateful for what we have. We should, as a society, encourage people to think about the things they are happy about, and about solutions for the things that are not perfect.
This is not something you should do for your own good, you should do this for the sake of everyone’s happiness. Any basic research in social networks will tell you that, quite literally, happiness is contagious. Similarly, lack of happiness is also quickly spread. The more we see people around us complain and be unhappy with life, and the more we pay attention to that, the more we end up doing the same ourselves.
The good news in all this is, we all have an option, and we all have a HUGE opportunity to influence others. When you choose to smile and be grateful for what you have, someone near you will be learning a lesson, a much needed one in our world.
Spread goodness throughout the world by offering a smile, by being grateful for the blessings you have. Close your eyes and think about the experiences you have had in your life, and realize that, no matter what happens, you will always hold the key to your own happiness. ”Happiness is an inside job,” I have often heard. This couldn’t be said any better. Once you find comfort in this, and allow yourself to be happy, you will be able to go around and spread this happiness to others. Just by doing this, you will be doing society a good that is worthy of praise.
The impact a single person has in the rest of society is often ignored, but it is quite important. If you choose to be excellent at one thing in life, choose to be excellent in spreading happiness by being happy and expressing this feeling. You will do you, your family, and the rest of us in society happier. You will be contributing your dose of goodness to the world.
I wonder how much much happier we would be as a society if our main TV networks and magazines would be filled with happy news, those of the people who are helping others incessantly and making the world better. News about the things that are going right in this world. Let’s start this, let’s have a happy news network. What do you think?
Don't let others define success for you
April 2nd, 2010 § 3 Comments
One of the biggest mistakes we normally do is to allow others to define what we think of as success. As such, we go through our days blindly trying to obtain the next big thing, the next big thing… but what is the next big thing? Today, we want to get an A in an exam. Tomorrow, we want to get into the best graduate school. After, we want the best job. Then we want the best house. etc. etc.
If we follow the crowd and let others define what success means to us, we will never be happy with our lives. There will always be something else to achieve, but that something will carry no actual meaning to you. As such, when you finally obtain it, you are left empty, just like you started. You may feel a rush of happiness for a few seconds, but it’s all temporary and not substantial.
When we define success for ourselves, we choose what is important to us, and we work towards achieving that. As such, not only the goal is something we are excited and passionate about, but the journey to get there becomes an adventure. We learn to be excited about every day.
As such, I invite you to define success for yourself. Write down in a piece of paper your idea of success. Use 1 or 10 sheets of papers depending on how inspired you feel, but make sure you are writing from the bottom of your heart. Think about what is important. Will it really make you happy to own that car, or do you just want others to be jealous of your nice car? Study your true intentions, your emotions.
Once you have defined your idea of success, commit yourself to doing all the great things you can do to achieve it. Convince yourself that you can achieve great things, and that there is no reason why you should not. Taking these two steps, defining and committing to your goals, will give you a sense of purpose that will translate into daily happiness. It will allow you to always re-evaluate an uncomfortable situation by asking yourself: “Does this fit into my idea of success? Is it contributing to my life journey? If yes, how so and how can I improve this? If no, why am I dealing with it and how can I move on? “
Best of luck with everything, keep it honest to yourself, but keep it positive. Always keep it positive. The best way you can do that? Be grateful for what you have, cause I can assure you that if you have been able to simply read these words, you have plenty of things to be grateful about. Don’t ever stop being grateful for all the things we tend to take for granted.
Omar
Reward Behavior, Not Results
February 3rd, 2010 § 2 Comments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/notsogoodphotography/ / CC BY 2.0
Common reward systems, and society in general, teach us to admire results, not necessarily habits and behavior. Although this works fairly OK sometimes, pushing everyone to give more and more good results, there is a huge problem behind this system — excellent results can hide a story of many bad decisions and behaviors.
Think about a farm manager that asks his employees to deliver him at the end of the month a certain amount of profit. He will reward them only if they reach that goal. The farmers and sales staff decide to just go ahead and reach the goal, and in the process they compromise the quality of the product they are marketing and also the sustainability of the farms. In their eagerness to achieve the goal, the farmers harvest all they can, even when some of the product is still not ripe or ready for selling, and the marketing staff overworks distributers. At the end of the month they reach the target revenue, but do so by compromising the revenue for the months to come and also the quality of life of many employees. Does that sound right? Not to me.
This is why it is important that we realize that result-based rewards have their place and time, but they are only good if they reward positive behavior. A scientist that discovers the cure for a letal disease should be rewarded only if the process by which he/she discovered this cure was not harmful or immoral. This way we are promoting work habits that lead to good results through good methods.
Apply this in your house! Don’t obsess over your child getting straight A’s in school, but rather teach your child to enjoy learning and how to take pride on his work. An A+ at school may hide cheating or questionable persuasion, but taking pride in our finished work is something that will drive your child to work more efficiently and produce better work if well taught.
Always recognize small changes in behavior, because these will be key for long term success.
The art of giving rewards lies on picking the right habit to reward, and then coming up with a system that will allow us to do so. Be creative, learn from other programs, and find a way to do so. This will make us much better influencers when we use rewards. At the end of the day, though, try not to reward excessively since it may make it lose value, but do recognize every improvement one way or another. People need the encouragement of knowing that their progress is being appreciated. 
Tips on Unsolicited Advice
February 1st, 2010 § 3 Comments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advocacy_project/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
I have one really important tip about unsolicited advice, don’t give it. Unless you are in a company setting and are managing someone else, or have some sort of responsibility over someone (parent, tutor, teacher), there is no reason why you should be giving any sort of unsolicited advice.
To offer a man unsolicited advice is to presume that he doesn’t know what to do or that he can’t do it on his own.
- John Gray
How many times have you seen someone brighten up and feel better after they receive advice they didn’t think they needed in the first place? The answer might not be never, but quite closely. Now think about the number of times you have seen someone get upset because of such ‘helpful advice’ they didn’t want to hear. I’m sure the number is far greater.
The reason unsolicited advice is so unpopular is because the person it’s directed to is usually not open to receive it, or they’d be asking for it. In order for your words of wisdom to sink in so someone can learn from them, that person has to be receptive and in the right mood to receive them. Most parents have learned this the hard way, after realizing that their kids won’t listen even after being punished unless they are in a mindset that allows them to. When people are taken aback by your criticism, they are most likely going to be thinking “What the heck is this person talking about? Why are you saying such things? Do you think you are better than me?” among other things.
So, if you have some advice to give, you need to make sure the other person is open to receive it. In order to do this there are a few things you should keep in mind. Before you do so, ask yourself just once again, “why am I so interested in giving this unsolicited advice, and can it be avoided without major problems?”
Tips for Giving Unsolicited Advice [When Absolutely Necessary]
1) If you’re going to criticize, make sure you do so gently, in a way that the other person can save themselves. You don’t want them to be cornered and feel suffocated, let them feel good about themselves.
2) Don’t just jump in and give your opinion, let the other person talk about the topic and fully listen to them. One of the main reasons people don’t listen to someone’s advice is because they don’t feel they have been heard and understood before getting the criticism. If you don’t stop and listen openly & patiently, don’t give advice.
3) Ask questions that put the other person in an agreeable tone, saying “yes yes.” Master influencers know that someone who has been agreeing with you during a conversation, no matter if it’s in topics unrelated to the issue at hand, will find it easier to agree with you when you switch topics to your subject of interest during the conversation.
4) Try to make the person think that the final idea the arrive at is their idea, even if you lead them there. For example, you can ask leading questions to a friend that make him/her realize they need to be more prompt to meetings, such as “I have been arriving 5 minutes to some of my meetings, and I’m planning to do something to fix that, do you have any tips?” to which they may respond “you know, I’ve been arriving 10 minutes late to my appointments, I should do something too!” Eventually you may suggest that you both set alarms or use a daily agenda, but finally allow the other person to have the satisfaction to think that they decided all by themselves to use that agenda.
5) Think about the person and personalize the feedback. The same exact words can have devastating results in one person, but great results when told to another. Make sure you are delivering your message in the way that will make the best impact in this individual. Choose the appropriate time and setting, and method, to deliver your feedback. This is probably the hardest step of all. No matter what you do, don’t give this feedback when you are in an emotional state, keep your head cool.
These simple tips about unsolicited advice may make it better if you really have to give the feedback, but don’t overuse them. The best way to get the most out of a conflict, is to avoid it altogether, so use that as your rule of thumb. If conflict is necessary to fix someone’s habits that are affecting others, then give feedback in a delicate, considering manner that will help the person be willing to change. At the end of the day, no one changes because YOU want them to change, they change because THEY want to change. Give them a reason to want to change, and no reason for them not to want to change.
Making a Difference in Society
January 29th, 2010 § 1 Comment
Do you want to make a great impact in society? Shake things up in a way that everyone can talk about and admire? Sort of like Mother Teresa, or Oprah? (Side note: Why do I keep mentioning Oprah? I need to chill on the Oprah love.) The point is, many of us want to be one of the people who make a great impact in society, you know, someone with lots of INFLUENCE?
I have good news for you. You can be one of the people who make a big impact in society by doing the right things, counseling the right people, or simply being who you are. It requires awareness and good intentions… you need to realize that every little action you take, escalates and affects many more people than you believe. In fact, you are affecting (or influencing) many people daily in a good or bad way just by living your day, even if you don’t notice how big of an effect your behavior has in others.
Little things matter!
I remember a news article I read my freshman year in college, winter 2006, about a female customer at Starbucks’ drive-through who decided to wish happy holidays to the next customer by paying for his/her coffee. It was a simple gesture that escalated into more than 3 hours (reaching over 140 customers) of people making the same gesture for someone else. You can call it the Christmas spirit, but just see it as a manifestation of how much reach a simple, individual action can have. Did you watch the movie “Pay it Forward?” Imagine if that were applied to the real world. (Read image caption)
From the movie "Pay It Forward." A child explains a project that will change the world. Help someone in a small way and instead of getting pay for it, ask the person to 'pay it forward' by helping 3 other people, and asking those 3 to do the same.
Why am I telling you this? The reason I want to communicate this is because for far too long I have been hearing people talking about how much they wished they could make a difference in the world. We all want to be that individual hero that everyone goes to or recognizes. But the truth is, we are ALL influencing hundreds, if not thousands of people by each small action we take.
Think about what you’ve done so far in your day. Each smile you may have given to someone else this morning most likely translated into a few extra smiles, which in turn caused many more. Even if your smile didn’t translate into a thousand smiles, it most likely caused a reaction in someone and lightened their day, or at least made them evaluate how they were going through their days. Small gestures such as these may not be overlooked. We need to think of the power that these little gestures have, and work so that more and more people join in the fun of giving smiles to others.
There is so much potential for improvement in our daily lives by just taking small steps. Make an effort to improve someone else’s life each day, if we all do this, the world will soon become a better place to live in.
“The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which have become permanent”
Marcel Proust
Make your face features pleasant to the world by continuously smiling, and you will be positively impacting society in a far greater way than you can imagine.
Try a little exercise. Count the number of smiles you give and receive in a day. Then try to double the number of smiles you give each week (and make sure they are more than the ones you receive). See how your life changes, and then come back and share your experience.
5 Things I have learned (and admire) from Lady Gaga
January 25th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Has she gone crazy? Oh no, that’s Lady Gaga, one of the fastest rising music artists in the world from this past year. Who is Lady Gaga? What does she do? What is so special about her? Why does she wear such weird outfits?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hermida/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Lady Gaga may at first come across as just another pop artist trying to rise to stardom using the “shock factor.” In reality, though, there is much more to her , and that’s the reason I believe she will continue to be there even after many other artists rise and fall from stardom.
So, what is so special about Lady Gaga?
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1) Passion for what she does
Lady Gaga is one of the hardest working artists you can find in the pop industry right now, particularly among those who are at her level of popularity. Even after her sudden rise as an international pop star, she has kept her head cool and continued doing things her way, not losing the drive and passion she has for her work. She always sings live in her performances while simultaneously dancing somewhat challenging choreographies, which is something you can rarely find among pop stars these days. Most of them can’t do either!
Her willingness to work hard and until perfection for her performances really comes through, and because of it fans are much much happier after seeing her perform. Even when her vocals are not as amazing as they would have been had she danced less or pre-recorded the show, fans will be willing to support her more than any other artist because she truly opens her heart during performances. Fans and non-fans alike respect her more because of her commitment.
2) Continuously challenges herself to improve
Lady Gaga’s rise to stardom came with 4 of her singles rocking the charts, and as such we all knew that going forward it would be difficult for her to top her own performance. A moment I loved was when she was asked if she was afraid that she might lose “it”, that shock factor, and lose her fans. Her answer? She answered that in her opinion Beyonce [Knowles] has been up doing herself every year and has done so well, so she is going to use that as an inspiration to continue topping her own performances.
The level to which that answer was amazing still dazzles me. Here we have a pop star that is not afraid of challenging herself to keep improving her performances, and while doing so honestly appreciated someone else’s talent and performance! With the surge of competition that has really taken over America and most of the world, there is much we can learn from Lady Gaga’s elegant answer. Focus on improving yourself, not on diminishing others or hoping they fall, is a lesson we should all take from this.
3) Not afraid of acknowledging those who deserve it
We are all tired of BS, and particularly when we see so many people standing in front of a podium giving thanks to certain people, but they do so in the least sincere way possible. It’s almost as if someone else talked to them before accepting an award and told them: “Now, remember. If you thank your parents, people will think you are a nice guy and will like you more,” and then the artist goes up and says: “… and, yeah, thanks for my parents. You guys are great,” and then move on.
But Lady Gaga always thanks her fans, and she can’t be stopped from doing it. She thanks them every single time she has an opportunity, and not only when in the spotlight, she also does it through YouTube & Twitter, even recognizing great fan blogs she has come across (such as GagaDaily.) It’s humbling to see her show this kind of connection with her fans.
She is also quite specific about thanking the gay community and she does so honestly. How do we know? Cause she does it over and over. Not only in one award ceremony, but also during her interviews where she adds: “The turning point for me was the gay community.” She also thanked the gay community during her acceptance of the MTV Video Music Awards in a way that may be a bit controversial, “bless God and bless the gays.” Now that’s a good way to go cross-boundaries while being grateful and polite and keeping a speech concise.
4) Consistent, in a very strange way
Hard-working Lady Gaga is always coming out with some new fashion, makeup, or dance performance that is designed to shock us, and it usually does. Or at least lets us wondering, what the hell was she thinking? The great thing, however, is that throughout all these performances, you can always ‘feel’ Lady Gaga’s presence. You can tell that it’s still the same ‘muse’ that is inspiring all of this. This is probably a product of her heavy involvement in the creative process of her work. She even wore clothing true to herself when meeting the Queen of England. (see image)
5) Doesn’t lose her image, but is flexible
Lastly, something I’ve admired about Lady Gaga is how good she is at staying true to her image, but at the same time she is smart enough to be able to associate with a variety of people and not make it awkward. She has risen to stardom because of her crazy style, but is able to pull it all together and be very real during interviews with TV personalities such as Oprah. She is also able to express herself well, and is very genuine.
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Because of these 5 things, and many more I may have looked over for now, Lady Gaga has had a very interesting career and a very fruitful one. She has been able to wow her fans even after releasing a second album radically different from her first one, and I’m confident that she will continue to do so. Hard-working as she is, there is nothing she won’t be able to achieve.
We can all learn from people like her, even if our paths are completely different from hers. Passion for what you do and for improving yourself, gratefulness and sincerity, and staying true to yourself are things that no matter what you pursue will help you succeed.
Take care,
Omar
My "Culture Shock" returning from Japan
September 20th, 2009 § 8 Comments
A month ago, August 21st, I was scheduled to return to Boston. The morning light started peaking through my window as I was finishing getting ready to leave. I stayed up the night before to adjust to the difference in time zone between Japan and Boston (13 hours). Once ready, I walked with my suitcase out of my apartment, closed the door behind me for the last time this summer, and before dropping my keys inside the mailbox, I thought twice about what I was about to do. Leaving those keys inside that mailbox meant I would no longer have a room to sleep in in Japan. I was, after all, leaving this place.
I finally left the keys in there, and attempted to open the door right after. I was locked out, I no longer had an apartment in Japan. I walked to the train station taking a last look at the house of the ‘grandma’ who greeted me every morning as I walked to the station, I walked past the convenience store I had visited almost every day for the past 3 months, and finally I walked past Mister Donuts and Juso Ramen, places I adored by then. I bought my train ticket to go to the Osaka Airport, and with that I was on my way home.
I got to Osaka Airport early, over 2 hours early. I just walked around and thought about what life was going to be like going back to America. I could not really imagine it, it was too difficult to think about having a normal life after having spent such a long time in Japan.
I finally checked-in, and after hearing many times remarks from the airport employees such as “Please wait just a little bit” and then “I’m so sorry for the delay, here is your ticket,” I was finally on my way home. I switched planes in Narita, and then finally landed in Chicago.
Once in Chicago I go through immigration, and I hear the immigration employee say “I need to see your passport.” I smile shyly and give him my passport, and stand still while waiting for him to ask questions or give me back my passport. Next thing I know, he half-throws my passport back at me while saying, “Welcome Home.”
That was when I first felt a culture shock… “why was he so careless with my passport?” Having gotten used to people handling my documents, or whatever it was with much care, I couldn’t help it but feel upset at his rude behavior. I kept walking, starting to feel the sadness of being back at a place where people can be so careless when treating others. I walked, and walked, and I did my best to keep a smile on my face. I go to do a check-in to my new flight, from Chicago to Boston, and first thing that happens when I get there is that I am notified that my flight was canceled.
Another culture shock… what do you mean my flight got canceled? You mean, things here are not organized and the transportation system is not reliable? What do you mean we are not following a schedule down to the minute, and we are not always on time?
Not only that, this was the explanation I got:
“Your flight got canceled, I don’t know why. I’ll put you in a flight at 2pm (original flight was supposed to depart before 11am.)”
“2pm?”
“Yeah… don’t complain other people didn’t get flights.”
And there I was, trying to get used to this service again. Instead of the employee apologizing to me profusely because of the company’s unreliability, I was sharply told to pretty much shut up and not complain. At this point I started wondering how would a Japanese person feel in my position if they were here to visit… I, who had been living here for so long, was now upset and in disbelief after having only spent 3 months in Japan. I felt less welcome in America than I had felt in Japan.
I look down to avoid expressing whatever combination of feelings I was feeling, and I kept going towards the security check. There, standing on the line, someone walks past me and hits me with some luggage and I jump and say, “Sumimasen” which means excuse me in Japanese. I said it by instinct and then felt a bit ashamed when I realized I had just spoken Japanese in Chicago to an American, but my shame quickly dissipated as I turned even more upset when I realize that the person who had just hit me with their luggage had just kept walking, not even looking back to say sorry.
I just stood there trying not to listen to the people around me complaining about things out loud, making faces and radiating their anger towards everyone else. I was, at this point, extremely sad to be back. I felt the urge to just go and buy a return flight to Japan, get on a plane, and not look back. What was I doing back here? Why would I chose to be back in a place in which being happy was so much more difficult?
I kept going with my life as normal, and once in the gate I went to eat lunch at Chilli’s. I order an ‘American lunch’, a burger with fries. I ate half of my meal and got nauseous because of the amounts of grease I had just ingested. There was yet another shock for me… my body, after 3 months eating Japanese food, and lots of it, couldn’t tolerate the massive amounts of greasy food that regular portions in America have.
I go and sit in a corner, waiting for my flight while I see that over 40 people are waiting there hoping to even get assigned to a flight to Boston that day. Their flight had been canceled and they now had no other option but just wait and see…
I finally made it to Boston, called my friends and started cheering up. I was soon going to see my friends, that would make the transition back smoother.
I had dinner with nice friends, and with that finally got happier to be back. Not everyone here is rude, of course, and being among my friends really got me excited about what was to come this year. Senior year in college, job-hunting, all these things I was now looking forward to.
I, at last, made it home, and there, in the comfort of a house with no rude people around, I started embracing being back in America. I got online, announced on Facebook my arrival, and soon after went to bed. My life in Japan soon started to seem more like a long dream that I would think about and talk about, and up until now it just seems like a very surreal experience. I am happy back in America, but not going back to Japan doesn’t seem like an option to me. My days in Osaka, and my visit to Tokyo, are now among the most precious memories I have. I can’t wait to go back and visit again the old friends I was able to see again, and the new friends I was lucky enough to make. I am grateful for all the experiences I had, and I can definitely say that this was the best summer I have had.
Omar
What are we connected to?
August 16th, 2009 § 1 Comment
A bit over a year ago a two friends and I got together to make a short video about an issue we are now facing in society. In an era in which we are ‘connected’ all the time through the internet, celphones, media, etc. it is easier than ever to lose perspective of the beautiful things that surround us. Please watch and enjoy — you can tell we had fun while making this video!
Video description: This film explores the paradox of technology in modern life – that it enables connectivity while fostering isolation.
