And The Oscar Goes To! ;)

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, joy, peace, and blessing. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

The truth is that last week was the 84th Oscar Academy awards, I decided to watch these awards because I thought that this is also a type of learning, to get to know the stars, names, what they had to say and, what can I say: they did not disappoint. It was lovely to see women in their beautiful gowns, as well as the blue ribbons that symbolized the necessity to raise awareness of the importance of civil rights. I thought it was also quite cute to see Keith Urban, and Nicole Kidman who walked upon the red carper together, but then Urban gave the spot light to his wife. This is a beautiful moment of a couple shining the trust, and the equality they have found in each other. They are secure enough to in their relationship to understand when it is important to hold each other, and when to let go for the purposes of growth. 

Connection To Learning:
This thought connects very nicely to that of an idea and growth. We cannot "hold" a student so tightly that they feel a suffocation, it is about finding the correct amount of balance, so that there is a holding of an idea, and there is also room for growth.

It was also interesting to hear the good words of the winners, their words travelled the globe, and in an instant there was a reaction, including my own. Did anyone not cry when Viola Davis gave her speech? I did. Her speech was moving, gripping, because it touched the heart, any creative thinker who steps into the bounds of the unknown, and the unseen realms will understand the depth of her words. Artists truly understand  the demands, pressures, struggles, all to paint the image that was visualized in the imagination. Because essentially this is what is being done. Everything that is created art, films, writing, stories, or even an academic paper, we all are working from a vision that was conceived by the mind. The vision is the thing that we desire tangible. Her award was significant because she is an actress, and producer of color (black woman) who was nominated for three awards, and was able to win one. 

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the award for the best foreign language film. He did not come to the accept this award in person as an act to protest the refugee ban. However, there was an acceptance statement made by him. 

These words were necessary. They show that the achievements of immigrants, and refugees is worldwide, and that the film industry embraces diversity.

With respect to the live tweets that were sent out by the host Jimmy Kimmel to President Donald Trump, I thought it was great to find some humour into our new President's use of twitter. It was good to laugh. Can you imagine what would have happened if there was an immediate response? Although I am not defending anyone here, I can say that Donald Trump's use of twitter exemplifies human difference, even at the level of a president. However, we can question if this is an appropriate behaviour for a president. 

Connection to Learning:
Twitter can be a great source of feed forward (a term that is used instead of feedback). This term is forward thinking, it allows someone to embrace a critical thought for the purposes of growth. However, when tweets become mean, angry, and hateful, this is bullying. We can also think about this in a different way as well. Instead of saying bullying,  thoughts can be related to our innate tendency of aggression. This can be pushing a boundary for the purposes of pushing thoughts, ideas and creativity to another level. But if the intention is harm, then indeed it is bullying. This is why as educators we must be attentive, and realize that education should never be an indoctrination, it is about a cultivation, allowing the mind to grow in the direction that it chooses.

On a positive note I was absolutely delighted to see Mashershalah Ali win an award for the best supporting actor for the movie "Moonlight". This was absolutely significant because he is a Muslim who is pushing boundaries through his acting role. It shows that Muslims can push boundaries for the purposes of inclusion. When individuals hear the word "Muslim" it is often associated with terrorism, and Islamaphobia. But his recognition breaks this stereotype, and prejudice. Not all "muslims" are terrorists. In fact - for anyone who knows, will understand that Islam is not a religion of war, it is of peace. His award spoke volumes to the world, and the fact that there was a slight mix - up at the end was actually of benefit for good advertising for this movie. 

This award was significant, yet just as Simone Manuel the Olympic swimmer who won Gold at the Rio 2016 said:

I also await the day when we will be able to see past color, creed, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, (dis)abilities, to view each other as equal human beings. Yet, at the same time embrace differences as something beautiful that defines our individuality and uniqueness. It was also great to see Micheal J. Fox pull up in the DeLorean time machine. "Back To The Future" films bring back great memories 

​We must respect imagination,
we must respect creativity.
It is the divine source that
allows us to re - create.
​

Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to all the actors / actresses / all that who supported the success of the Academy Awards, thank you for using your voices for the voiceless, as artists, thinkers, innovators the creative gift must be used for the benefit of society. And to all human beings, who have heard and felt prejudice, and who have felt what face to face hate feels like. You belong, you are important, you are loved.

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on March 3rd, 2017.
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