I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
On Saturday, I took a spin through Blagden Alley in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood to see all of the new murals taking shape there. I was fortunate to come upon one of the artists at work. His focus and attention to detail weren’t the least bit diminished by the heat of the day, the size of the canvas he was painting, nor the fact that he was painting in an alley that looks a little worse for wear. The act of creating art was all that mattered to him and that inspires me.
“There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” – Madeline Albright
I went to two sessions at SXSW yesterday that offered lessons from whining. One session was predicated on bias against women in comedy. The moderator of that session did a lot of whining while her panelists offered more empowering messages. The second session was a conversation with Felicia Day on her web series The Guild, which centers around gaming. She offered a message of authenticity as a way to quit whining and get something done.
As women, it’s an easy out to blame the boys club for our road blocks, and some times it’s true. They get in the way. The boys club is like a bad penny that we can’t get rid of. The hopeful message is that new media outlets give us a way to have a voice and by-pass the establishment. An authentic, articulate message is a powerful potion. And no one can take that away anymore.
Have an idea for a book? Write it and self-publish, blog, or collaborate with existing online resources. Have an idea for a show you’d like to produce? Put it together and get it out online. Same goes for music, comedy, art, business, and a myriad of other fields. The tools to create now belong to the people, not the elite, and certainly not to the boys club establishment. They missed the boat, big time, and in whining all we’re doing is delaying our own development by lamenting the upcoming demise of an establishment that deserves to crumble.
Get over it and create. The only roadblock to our own personal fulfillment is us.
Christa Avampato 