LETS STAND TOGETHER
WRITING | BY RACHEL BLACKBURN
WABI-SABI THE MOVEMENT | is my creation and today, August 3, 2015 marks two important events in my life. One, being my late Grandmas birthday, a woman with fierce strength who carried me on her wings for much of her life and two, being my childhood best friends birthday. August 3 has always been a special day and today, I am sending WABI-SABI out into the world, to grow, develop and take flight.
WABI-SABI is a Japanese word, loosely translated into FINDING BEAUTY IN IMPERFECTION. The world we live in is full of imperfections, some are personal, some are trivial and some are evils waging within cities and towns we have no control over. Nothing is perfect (as much as we are led to believe) and this movement is about grabbing those imperfections by the throat, looking them in the eye and saying- here I am, here I stand- with or without you. There are individuals around the globe, that in spite of these imperfections, are able to shine brightly and beautifully from within and yet there are many that still need things to change so they too, can shine. This is WABI-SABI, finding beauty in imperfection. I specifically chose a word that cannot explicitly be translated into English, this movement isn’t about the English word or the western world- this is a GLOBAL MOVEMENT. We are a global village. This movement, and this website, is designed to create a platform where people, not just women, can be INFORMED, INSPIRED AND EDUCATED. This is about women’s rights (or lack thereof) and the vast differences between the way we live in comparison to millions of others. Have you ever thought, that while you might have missed the bus and you’re now running late for work, there is a young Syrian girl fleeing rebel forces who just got her period- as though things weren’t already hard enough? But yes, they’re women, biologically just like us. There are things we need to start talking about.
I’m not asking you for a dollar a day, or for you to stop eating for 48 hours. I’m not asking you to stop buying your iced lattes, or to stop getting your nails done. We live in a privileged society, we are lucky. Many of us work hard and we, of course will continue to live our lives the way we want. So quit with your excuses about this potentially imposing on your life in some way, it won’t. What I am asking, is that you make the commitment to read. Click on the link. Open the article. I am asking you TO LEARN. TO BE EDUCATED. TO CARE. I want you to talk about it. I want you to think about it and if you feel compelled, I want you to write about it. At some point along the way, things that were once unacceptable, started becoming acceptable. THAT NEEDS TO STOP. It is not ok that 39,000 children a day will become a bride. It is not ok that 125 million girls and women alive today have been genitally mutilated. It is not ok that since the 1980s 60 million women in India are missing. It is not ok that in 2009, 14 million children became orphans due to AIDS in Africa.
We are so saturated with information that it has become normal to scroll past it and not care. We have a culture where if we close the window, shut the app, turn off the phone- it disappears. But it doesn’t for so many people and we must stop thinking it does. The moment I truly decided I wanted to do something was when I realised, that if the world continued the way it is and my generation didn't do something to change this- then this is a world I wouldn’t want to be part of. It isn’t a world I would want to raise my children in. At the simplest level, we teach our children in school to help the child who dropped her books, to hold the door open when someone has their hands full, to share their food if someone has none- we teach them to care. When as adults did we stop? When did it become a matter of birthplace that determined the worth of someones life?
I believe people around the world need a common ground that can make a movement and create change through awareness and education. WABI-SABI IS A PLATFORM. I’m not suggesting that tomorrow something drastic is going to change for these women, but what will change, is now you know. We know that through education and awareness change can happen. There will come a time when there is an opportunity for change and opportunity for action. If you’re educated and you understand the severity of these issues then that will be a moment you can stand up and say “hey! I believe in that! I want to support that!” THE SPLASH IN THE OCEAN MAKES FOR BIG WAVES.
#WABISABITHEMOVEMENT
No comments:
Post a Comment