Daring to dare

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"I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare." - Maya Angelou

A notebook about how we work, learn, love and live.

75 years ago this coming Sunday, on 10 December 1948, the newly established United Nations formally adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It provides a clear North Star orientation toward freedom and equality – protecting the rights of every individual, everywhere.

The document was drawn in response to the "barbarous acts" of genocide executed by Hitler's Nazi Germany against the Jewish people throughout Europe during the Second World War, acts that the drafters said had "outraged the conscience of mankind”.

There are thirty short and simple articles, and it is worth reading them again. There is one assertion that underlies the entire document: that every human being has the same inalienable rights.

Three quarters of a century later, we still need to dare to dare that these rights can be realized and respected for all. It remains a huge challenge, but at least we've got a compass.

Happy Friday.

Civics
A common human rights standard for everyone, everywhere

In its foundation charter the United Nations affirmed faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person, and a commitment to promote better standards of life.

Then member states went further to capture the human rights provisions in a single document. It took three years to do so, and in December 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard for all peoples and all nations.

This was first and remains the only occasion on which the community of Nations made a comprehensive summary of human rights and fundamental freedoms. At the time of adoption it was recognized as the first step in an evolutionary process. While we clearly have a long way to go, the document remains a superbly clear and explicit statement of goals and standards.

Video: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Summary and Overview: What is The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Why Was It Created?

Related Article: Science is a human right − and its future is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Learning, Futures Thinking
“For some, to access hope they must harvest it from the future rather than the present.”

The Stanford d.school calls themselves "a place, a community, and a mindset". Image via d.school.

Getting Smart calls themselves solution designers. "We help," they say, "leaders, schools and systems ideate, design and implement innovations for equity."

While they wrote this article for educators, it is relevant to any organization seeking to better understand how to navigate a future that is very different from the past. The authors cite a workshop with the Stanford d.school. In it they worked through a variety of exercises that followed a new framework of five approaches for encountering uncertainty like a futurist. They are: Worldbuilding, Trace Change Over Time, Seek Visions of Coexistence, Seeing in Multiples, and Empathy for the Future.

As the d.school says, "the future isn’t up to someone else. It’s up to us. All of us."

Article: The Time For Futures Is Now

How We Work
Gen. X is done working for corporations. Other generations are following.

Kit Campoy by Kit Campoy

"This beautiful, delicate earth is being destroyed by greedy humans who run powerful corporations, and I’m done being a part of it.

"I made my career in retail — fast fashion. The fast fashion items people buy, wear twice, and then throw in landfills.

"Although I loved building and leading teams, consumerism is pretty gross to watch close up every day. I’d watch people buy stuff they didn’t need every hour of every day. After two decades of that, I no longer want many material things.

"I want my time. I want my health. I want to spend time with my family and friends and won’t trade that for a paycheck anymore.

"It’s not worth it.

"Gen. X is walking away, Millennials are fed up, and Gen. Z is already getting hip to the fact that the forty-hour work week no longer works." - Kit Campoy

Article: Goodbye Corporate. Good Luck. See You Never.

Culture, Community
"Gas stations are monuments to the ever-changing nature of this country — the compromises and negotiations, identities, and snacks. They are our little churches of commerce and community."

Photo by Kate Medley

Kate Medley is a photojournalist living in Durham, North Carolina. Her new book, Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South, explores the complexities of the independent gas stations throughout the American South. The project took her 10 years and covers 11 states.

"In the book’s introduction, Medley writes, 'Our politics may be polarized, our economics stratified, our neighborhoods segregated, and our rhetoric strained, but still nearly everyone regularly passes through these same commercial spaces. We fill up the tank. We relieve our bladders. We grab a cold one on the way home from work. We take advantage of Friday night’s ‘prime rib special.’ We may rub elbows as we pass the ketchup. In an increasingly atomized world of mediated interactions, we have fewer and fewer communal spaces that unite us.'"

"...Far from the monolithic spaces of corporate capitalism, gas stations are as complex as the country itself. The National Association of Convenience Stores reports that there are 147,000 gas stations in the US. Of those, 127,888 are convenience stores that also sell gas. And 60 percent are owned and run by an individual family. In rural areas where it’s hard to get to a grocery store, gas stations become both restaurant and supermarket. In a country of vast spaces stitched together by streams of concrete, gas stations are indispensable places of culture, communion, and creativity." - Lyz Lenz

Article: What a Gas Station Really Means

Advertising
"Creativity has the power to change the way we see each other, and the world. Sometimes, seeing things through a new lens can make all the difference."

When this year's holiday spots are rounded up I would not be surprised to see this one by Apple rise to the top of the list of the best. It is a seamless blend of live action film and stop motion animation. The animation was created by Swedish director and filmmaker Anna Mantzaris, working with TBWA\Media Arts Lab, and produced by Passion Pictures. The film aspect was produced by Hungry Man and director Lucia Aniello. Amazingly the stop-motion was shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max and edited on MacBook Air.

The story is a modern scrooge tale set to George Harrison's Isn't It a Pity. It is gorgeous. Perhaps most remarkable is how effectively the ad makes you feel warm and fuzzy about a company with known ethical issues like environmental reporting; toxic pollution; arms & military supply; workers' rights; supply chain management; irresponsible marketing; and anti-social finance.

Video: Fuzzy Feelings | Apple Holiday Film

Article: Fuzzy Feelings: Apple's Stop Motion Festive Spot Offers a Whole Lot of Heart

Personal Development
"Be really tender." Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson on navigating your life with agency

Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson 2010.
Creative Commons

“I’m just going to mention these three rules that Lou and I had… The first one is don’t be afraid of anyone. Imagine your life if you’re not afraid of anyone. Two, get a really good BS detector and learn how to use it. Who’s faking it and who is not? Three, be really tender. And with those three, you’re set.” - Laurie Anderson

Book: "Art Is the Highest Form of Hope ," and Other Quotes by Artists

Circular Economy
Tackling plastic waste with a digital platform, reusable packaging and a home refill service

A Norwegian company has developed one way to reduce the amount of single-use plastics in our waste stream. På(fyll) lets you order everyday cleaning and personal care products, then the company delivers those products directly to your home in containers that can be used over and over again. When you need a refill they pick up the containers, clean them, refill, and deliver again.

Designed by Swedish design firm Form Us With Love, designwanted reports that "the primary challenge revolved around crafting a robust and adaptable container capable of accommodating products from various brands, including liquids of varying viscosities, in a manner that was convenient to use, store, and pour.

"The design process found inspiration in existing solutions such as jerrycans, stackable objects resembling bricks, and user-friendly design principles akin to book spines. The container’s design was thoughtfully tailored to meet the requirements of users, transportation companies, and the company responsible for the cleaning and refilling of the containers."

Article: På(fyll) is a Circular Service Designed to Offer Refillable Containers

One-liners

Article: ‘Feminist website Jezebel will be relaunched by Paste Magazine less than a month after shutting down.

Article: Researchers have discovered that a part of the brain associated with working memory and multisensory integration may also play an important role in how the brain processes social cues.

Article: Italy bans lab grown meat to protect local industry

Article: 10 years of study shows overpaid CEOs underperform.

Article: Policing is not the answer to shoplifting, feeding people is

Article: More than half of generative AI adopters use unapproved tools at work

Playlist

Video: Aja Monet: Tiny Desk Concert

"Djembe. Drums. Piano and bass. A sweeping groove beckoned, welcoming us into the world of surrealist blues poet, Aja Monet. Transformed into a lush garden, the Tiny Desk bloomed with the stanzas, sounds and legacy of jazz poetry.

"Monet’s poems cast unflinching eyes towards love, justice, accountability and the joy and healing of daughters and sons of the Black diaspora. At times, her words — gentle gut punches to the soul and psyche — had those in attendance whooping in agreement or silently weeping. These lyrical jokes, jabs and caresses were accentuated by her accompanists, a band made up of Tiny Desk veterans (Nate Smith and Logan Richardson) and jazz legends, including pianist and composer Brian Jackson, a long-time collaborator of renowned jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron." - Nikki Birch

Website: aja monet surrealist blues poet

Weekly Mixtape
Soul. Jazz. Poetry. Soul Jazz.

Playlist: why my love?

Image of the Week

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1978, by Otavio Roth. This is one of 30 woodcuts that illustrate each of the thirty articles in the document.

"A multimedia artist, Roth realized at a young age that human rights were the synthesis of humanity's noblest aspirations. Political engagement and the interest in providing people with space for expression and dialogue inspired the conception of participatory art installations in the early 1980s.

"Roth believed that culture should be geared toward everyone and be emanated from everyone's expression. This vision, present in all his work, can be perceived here by his commitment to expand access to the Declaration, transforming the articles’ content into graphic works that invite a plural audience to read them." - Instituto Vladimir Herzog

Article: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Otávio Roth

What's Love & Work?
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