December 1, 2010
All of our daily interactions occur on a foundation of
power. The dynamic of this power is often habitual and a result of the way that
power has been used in our surroundings from birth. Very rarely is anyone asked to reflect on the way that they
are using the power that they have or the way others are using it. Often we feel
the effects of how this power is used. Hurt by friends who may cross
boundaries in their jokes, frustration with a person of authority for using
their power to control, worn down by systems built to make us feel powerless.
How can we redefine these moments? What power do we have to change these
interactions, challenge these systems, alter the world around us?
Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Power
November 4, 2010
For those of you who saw the link I posted to 750 words, I have now written a little more than 2,250 words in the last three days. www.750words.com is a website that challenges members to write 750 words each day. A coworker told me about it and I had to try. There is something that I really like about this process. The first day it was hard to get to the last word. I don't think that I had the capacity to really understand how many words 750 was because I had never written with that as the g...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Personal Experience
October 18, 2010
Things that we do cause others pain. Sometimes this is done on purpose, other times we are unaware. The fact that people are often not honest with each other only adds to the amount of pain given and received. I read, "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead today, in the story the main character Miranda's mother tells her that people wear veils as a way to stay happy. This veil allows them to see only a part of what actually exists in reality, but that sometimes the wind blows this veil and they...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Responsibility
October 15, 2010
I had a realization after teaching yesterday. My students cast me in their video and I was the first one to be filmed. They had joked about this the week before, but I thought one of them would eventually want to take the part. This week however, when it came to assigning roles, they said that I should be character one. We are making a promotion video for the Who Are You? Youth Media Festival. In the video character one asks, "Who are you?" to different young people and they respond with thei...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Responsibility
September 21, 2010
A headline I saw on the Baltimore Sun website this week read, "Utah schools bans 'I Heart Boobies' Bracelets". As I scrolled down the Sun's homepage, almost directly under this headline was a photo captioned, "Raven's Eye Candy 2010." The image is of three Ravens cheerleaders, wearing halter tops that frame their cleavage and the center point of the photo is one woman's breasts. I went from reading about the banning of boobie bracelets to an image of a woman's breasts and I could not ignore t... Continue reading...
Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Current Events
September 19, 2010
New schedule has not afforded me the time to write as often as I would like. Still trying to get used to the new life that I have begun. I have started a new job and moved into a new home. These experiences have brought many new people into my life and have altered, deepened and made more meaningful relationships with others. It is good, fall seems to be the perfect time to begin new things, to renew oneself and reinvent one's life. I'm not one to make new year's resolutions, but if I was I t...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Personal Experience
September 8, 2010
Is it possible to be impeccable with one's word while joking? This question occurred to me recently and even if it does have an answer, it seems quite complex. Working with youth, I often see the results of jokes that hurt. Even young people that are friends use mean jokes as a means of communication, but I often wonder what kind of relationships this way of relating to each other really create. A good friend and I called each other bitches in middle school and made constant jokes at each oth...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Communication
September 5, 2010
Yesterday I repainted the walls at Load of Fun, after I touch up a couple of spots today and return a couple more of the pieces to the artists What's Your War? in physical form will be complete. Today I also finish writing about the artists.
Christina Ralls' piece is a call to action. A statement against fear and the negative effects it has on our lives and relationships. "Fear stops us. It prevents us from communicating
with each other. It scares us into being stagnant and not taking
action.... Continue reading...
Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Personal Experience
August 28, 2010
For those of you who did not have the opportunity to view What's Your War? deinstallation began yesterday so unfortunately, you will not be able to. There are plans to put the show online and I will do this as soon as possible, but until then you will have to be satisfied with my continued review of all of the fantastic artists in the show.
I will start with Christine Stiver, whose flipbook The Blind Mole Rat was a huge hit. People seemed surprised to see a flipbook, but were tickled at the s...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Personal Experience
August 26, 2010
Last week was my final week of summer camp. I had a really great group of students, they were enthusiastic, engaged, and energetic. I had started to get a little burned out from the amount of camps that I had been contracted to teach this summer, but this group made me really excited again about what we were doing together. The camp ran smoothly, students got to know each other and as a group, in the classroom, they worked together really well. We didn't hit a bump until recess the second to ...
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Posted by Sarah McCann. Posted In : Personal Experience
