Note on Notes and Status Updates

I was sitting in a café with a dear friend asking her advice on a community education project I am working on.  We’re imagining the question, “What does it mean to be a citizen in the 21st century?” and we’re thinking of how to implement informal “schools” to develop poor people’s critical thinking and leadership skills.  (I speak of citizen with a small “c” as in an engaged community member not related to national borders.)

During the conversation she asks me how long since I’ve been back from Kabul.  I nonchalantly say, “about 10 weeks” and then in a split second I realize it’s only been 10 weeks!  I stop short, my head snaps around and I say, “Girrrl, I can’t believe it.”  She, of course, breaks out laughing as she just watched me think about what I said, change my mind, and surprise myself with my own thought!

Am I in my caterpillar stage?

Until this point, I had been feeling sort of bad, lonely, even lazy. I was feeling like I must not be doing anything useful because I haven’t written a witty Facebook comment or updated my blog.  I was afraid of becoming obsolete!

The moment in the café helped me understand that I’m not a loser, I’m just not very good on quick chatty updates and brief synopses of my life.  I need time.  I need to relate to the listener (or reader).

I can’t write a tweet, but I can write a note.  I love notes.  Notes are wonderful ways of situating yourself in relation to something or someone else. A note is really about the writer and it allows you to get to know someone better. Even when people write more academic or professional notes, it’s a response that has been processed through someone’s mind at a specific moment in time.  And notes can change.  I can write a note about a note.  It’s like the old fashioned version of a status update!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet and keeping up with friends through email and such (hello, this is an e-note!). but I hate the way social media has been monetized and turned into a competition.  We feel the need to have more “followers”; the things we share get graded by the number of “likes” or “retweets”.

Is this experience re-tweet-able? … Probably not but I can tell you about it.

I want to share things with folks and stay in touch – hey, I’m writing this now – but not because I’m in a competition, because I want to share what’s on my mind and what’s exciting me.  So now that I have a little more of your attention, here is my most twitter-esque update which succinctly expresses those deeply meaningful ideas rolling around in my head for the last 10 weeks:

• I’ve been creating an exchange program between Afghan and Pakistani arts-for-change practitioners.
• I’ve been creating a curriculum for an online school which teaches critical thinking and anti-oppression methods for teachers in Iran.
• I’ve been preparing for my research in India this fall.
• I’ve been thinking about how to use an arts and culture framework for critical analysis of our society and community engagement.
• I’ve been helping a friend get an Institute for Oral Traditions started in Afghanistan.
• How to see my close friends and family more.

I write this note to stay connected to you.  I’d love to receive a note on this note.  Let me know where your head has been in the last 10 weeks.

Love, K

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