Social Media At Its Best: Caine's Arcade

We are becoming increasingly disconnected from ourselves and one another, and one of the culprits for that disconnection ironically is social media.  Social media has the power to connect human beings in remarkable ways, however at its worst, it can become a forum for unrestrained, unfiltered ranting and venting where healthy dialogue and discourse is impossible.  I feel that at its worst, it does not foster or nurture listening, learning, or relationship building.

In the last couple of years, I have fallen in love with public television.  I started watching PBS programming regularly, and I was like, "PBS, where have you been all of my life?"  The quality of the programming filled a void from what I feel is missing from television programming overall, with educational pieces, artistic expression, and delivering the reality of world issues in meaningful ways.  One of these meaningful programs that I came across was "Caine's Arcade."  

This amazing little documentary is about a little boy in East Los Angeles with big dreams of bringing people to his homemade arcade that he set up at his dad's auto part shop.  His first customer, Nirvan Mullick came along and decided to surprise Caine and fulfill his dream by recruiting more customers for his little arcade.  Nirvan used social media to bring a community together to support Caine's arcade, and created the short film about the event, which became viral globally.  People came together in person to support Caine and his dream and that dream continues to this day.  People came together on social media all over the world to witness and be a part of it as well.

Social media at its best can bring communities together, help people to dream, create, engage, and so much more.  I am guilty of engaging in social media in ways that aren't healthy, authentic, or helpful.  I would like to commit to using the power of social media in ways that foster bringing people together, dreaming, creativity, listening and learning.  I'm so glad that one little boy in East LA and his supporters inspired me and I hope this little film does the same for you.  In our world today, especially in this post-election season, we certainly could use more of the same spirit as Caine's arcade.

Watch, enjoy, be inspired, and share.

Peace,

Sharon

Mini Pilgrimage: The San Francisco Bay Area

I just got back from vacationing up the east coast recently, so it seems strange to write about a vacation that happened over a year ago in the bay area.  As I said in my latest comeback post, a lot has happened and I have plenty of content and photos from that gap of time to post about!  

Even though some of my family has lived in the bay area for several years now, I didn't get around to exploring the city of San Francisco until last April after my niece's baby dedication.  

I love exploring cities, and have had the opportunity to wander around American cities the past few years.  With a limited budget, I haven't traveled overseas in the last several years, so I've made the most of travelling throughout the U.S.  Let me tell you, there is so much to see and experience.  It all started with a short trip to Seattle, Washington in 2012.  I decided to check out a travel guide book, just so I could learn more about what the travel experts say about where I should go within the city for the best sights, and of course, food.  

I've noticed that travel guide books sometimes provide recommended self-guided walking tours, where you follow directions throughout a neighborhood and learn about the history of the sights you're seeing throughout the tour as you read and walk.  I fell in love with this type of walking, and I have called it "pilgrimage walking."

Pilgrimage walking is so much more than just sight seeing.  This kind of walking allows you to be fully immersed into the history of a community or neighborhood while experiencing your own story and journey in the midst of it.  There is something powerful about the visceral, embodied experience of walking, listening, learning, absorbing, and interacting with stories of physical places, and how it affects your own story.  

One of the self-guided walking tours I decided to do was in Chinatown where I learned about the rich history of Chinese immigrants and the development of their community in the city.  I was so caught up in pilgrimage walking in that story and community that I didn't even bother to take pictures, I just wanted to stay as present as possible with what I was learning, and how it affected me.  

But I have plenty of photos of the beauty of San Francisco, with my usual favorites from urban street art as well.  Cities are full of life and beauty.  I often lose that or forget that since I've lived in South LA for so long.  But taking time to wander and learn and absorb and interact in a community is a reminder that there is depth and so much more than meets the eye, and more importantly, how it becomes a part of you when you're intentional and paying attention while walking in it.  

Peace,

Sharon

Back With A Vengeance

Long time, no blog!  I can hardly believe how much time has gone by, and how I haven't posted ANYTHING in over a year!  And these are the reasons why (mainly, but there really has been so much going on):  

I went to Hawaii to see if I should move there and live there last summer for two weeks.

I became a spiritual director!

I lost my 17 year old cat, Phoebe.  She died in January.

I celebrated my grandfather's 100th birthday, and shortly after this he passed away in May.

And I became a certified yoga instructor.

A very full past year to say the least.  

So much to share over the last year with all of these things, and some of it with photos even.  Back soon!

Peace,

Sharon