May the Force be with you, beautiful humans! Especially those who powered CERN, headbanged at Wacken, wrote on Wikipedia, and built the International Space Station.
If you’re wondering how on earth all of those things mentioned above go together, I’ll explain. In today’s Liane’s Morning Talks in the Mirror, I want to talk about our shared headbanging in the name of advancing the human race.
There is something about preserving and talking about our own cultural heritage. And, there is something about putting all our knowledge, cultural power and shared kindness to building incredible things together.
In my opinion, we can’t move ahead without each other. In order to make this world a better place for all the humans inhabiting this unique planet, we have to work together.
Today, I want to share my feelings about 3 huge, globally collaborative endeavors that played a role in my personal growth, and in the growth of our world as a whole. I’ll also throw in a few other ideas at the end, so we can debate them together later on.
Let’s give thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to post this on the website and for you to read it on your phone: the CERN overlords
CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research “is the birthplace of one of the world’s best-known inventions: the World Wide Web”. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee, British scientist, in 1989 (also the year I was born!). Initially, the Web at CERN was designed as a way for all the science workers around the world to communicate and share information. It brings tears to my eyes how the cool humans at CERN decided to be super inclusive and listen to people’s voices without realizing that’s what they were doing. I mean, maybe they did, I’m not sure. Please share with me if you were there and know.
CERN “works to help uncover what the universe is made of and how it works.” Over 110 nationalities work and contribute to CERN research, and every year, people from around the world get involved with CERN projects to further our scientific research and understanding. So many things that we know today, and that help us better comprehend the universe we live in are because of the work, discovery, and research that a bunch of people did together. None of it would have been possible without joint collaboration, and the input of humans who care.
Politically complex projects are a thing, just look up: International Space Station
The International Space Station is probably one of the most politically and scientifically complex projects ever undertaken. More than 3600 researchers from over 100 countries were able to conduct over 2800 experiments to date because of the ISS. The collaboration of different people, from different places on the earth, with different paths in life has benefited our global society technologically, economically, scientifically and educationally like nothing else.
There are usually between 6 and 14 humans on the ISS at a time, and they stay up there in space for up to 6 months. They are culturally and ethnically different people, but they work tightly together for all of us. About 258 humans from 20 countries have been to the ISS. And I hope one day I get to go there as well (please don’t ruin my dreams with facts!).
Wacken is love. Wacken is kindness. Wacken is life. My people!
Wacken is the largest metal festival in the world. It usually gathers around 85 thousand people from all over the globe. I don’t know if you know this about the rock crowd, so I’ll share it with you: metalheads are some of the most welcoming, inclusive humans you’ll meet in your life. And Wacken is a good example of that. Accessibility and inclusion are at its basis: rock is for everyone.
Wacken has a campground dedicated to people with disabilities that is set up with all the necessary equipment and accessibility features one might need. It offers companions through a partnership with organizations led by people with disabilities. And it has a deaf interpreter who translates the lyrics of the songs being played for deaf and hard of hearing metal lovers.
Very often in our lives, we forget to live. We strive to work and survive, and that’s ok. Wacken is one of those places, with one of those crowds that reminds us to live our lives: enjoying this life we have, living it to the fullest is for everyone. Equity matters, inclusion matters, and we rarely can do things right if we don’t listen to each other. Or to metal! Because metal makes everything better. If you don’t believe me – see you next summer in Germany!
And then there’s Wikipedia.
My feelings for Wikipedia have changed over the years, going up and down. One thing I can’t deny though is the powerful community it created across borders and continents. By creating this community, they provided the world with easy access to information and knowledge. There are articles on Wikipedia in over 270 languages and going up. I don’t want to debate the “accuracy” of articles on the free online encyclopedia, that’s not what matters the most. I think having this imperfect, inclusive space where people can share and learn is what’s important. We use our voice, we share what we know, and we learn from others. The power of the humans on earth!
Now about my soulmate: Amplifying Voices
I find that we, as people, often get things wrong. Like this soulmate story. What’s the deal with humans only? Why can’t we have a dragon as a soulmate? Or a good friend? Or an idea?
We can. I can. Amplifying Voices (AV) is an Amara initiative, and it’s my soulmate. I can talk so much about AV, so I’ll keep it short.
Amplifying Voices is headbanging in unison under the song of winds of change while looking up into a future where voices are heard, humans work together, and we build a beautiful universe for all of us. It’s basically a Federation of communities where people make the decision to join forces and help each other.
That was some trekkie metaphysics there, I’m aware. I can’t help it, I’m a fan. But please do join us, and see here more info on our Amplifying Voices initiative. We’re growing, and soon I know we’ll be spacewalking into a world where inclusion and belonging are the guidelines of the galaxy. We did CERN, we did ISS, we did Wikipedia, and we did Wacken. And we can do more.
Great!!