Get a Dose of Hope and Vision

Image by _william via Flickr

Tonight I came across three things I want to pass along for that touch of inspiration that we all need to brighten our days. danah boyd in her blog post mentioned the Symposium for the Future http://wp.nmc.org/future/ taking place October 27 - 29. danah and two others have been asked to write think pieces to provoke discussion leading up to the conference. One of the two others is Gardner Campbell. His piece, The Stars Our Destination, is a joy to read. He talks about the drawings and plans that Leonardo da Vinci made for planes and other inventions. In reality, those plans would not have worked (engineering details incorrect) and yet those plans inspired others down through the years until the plane was built. As Gardner (2009) says,

"If one thinks of Leonardo’s vision as a kind of song, a music that challenges us to shed our mannered attention to the grinding and broken processes of our wonderless calculations, it is a music that may well shake us out of our grim and measured comfort zones."

Gardner encourages us to value and treasure the wonders of the age that we live in: "I type these words and send them to you in a blog-shaped bottle upon a sea of articulate connections that depends on daily miracles born of technological innovation."(2009)

Gardner encourages all of us to do our part, whether large or small. "We may be forced in the circumstances of our various lives to work on smaller scales, but even a modest contribution may change the world if one is inspired by the vision of that possibility."

In another blog post, Angela Maiers shared a video that I found very inspiring. This video encourages me to notice and enjoy the small moments that make up each day.
It's not just about the end of the song and the last crashing chord. It's about savouring each moment as precious and valuable.


Watching that video caused me to remember a song that always cheers me, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. I found this YouTube video for your viewing pleasure.


Tonight it's probably not you who needs a dose of hope and vision. It's actually me. For six weeks I wrote this blog within the straight jacket of needing to fulfill the requirements for a graduate level class I was taking. I thought it would be so wonderful to throw off the straight jacket that confined and directed my blogging efforts. Now that the class is over, I am floundering around, wondering which direction to take next. I want to continue writing my blog. I know that I have had visitors from other continents and countries outside of my own. Maybe they were visiting because they wanted to learn how to use Twitter or how to do podcasts. Now that I have abandoned (if I have) those topics, maybe those visitors will abandon me. I do love to encourage others and I love to teach. Maybe I should keep doing that. I also love this whole social

Image by Binks via Flickr

media thing--using Twitter and blogs for professional development. However, as far as I can find out, only three people from Saskatchewan were involved (one as a real life attendee and two of us as virtual attendees)in the #opened09 conference in Vancouver. How do I stir up some interest in social media? Where do I begin to get others to jump on the bandwagon with me?

I guess, that as Gardner Campbell says, I need to start small and work on a modest scale. I need to make my plans for the airplane and have some vision just like Leonardo da Vinci. Someday the plane will fly and reach the stars. However, until then I need to appreciate and enjoy the wonderful world in which I live.

And so I cast the blogging bottle out upon the waves. Will anybody pick it up and read the messages stuffed inside?

Reference:

Campbell, G. (2009). The Stars Our Destination. At the Symposium for the Future website. http://wp.nmc.org/future/ideas/gardner-campbell/