Belly Dancing
By Neil Peterson | February 7, 2010
There are few dance styles practiced today that have so entranced and enthralled the Western mindset quite like the ancient art of belly dancing. Exotic, alluring and seductive, even the name itself brings to mind images of undulating, scantily-clad dancers and the strong, heady aroma of burning incense. But much of what we know about this art form is more carefully-crafted illusion that historical fact. Originating in the Middle East and bursting onto the American cultural landscape in the late 1800’s - the history and true essence of this dance have often been distorted by misconceptions. Today, what is often mistakenly viewed as a dance of seduction originated as a dance of celebration - and it is in this spirit of joy and gathering that many modern belly dancers honor this time-honored art form.
Even the name itself - belly dancing - is a Western moniker for a Middle Eastern practice. The two most popular styles still practiced today are ‘Raqs sharqi’ - translated from the Arabic for ‘oriental dance‘ and ‘Raqs baladi’, or ‘folk dance.’ The true origins of the dance have been lost to history - some credit the nomadic tribes of Northern Africa for the style’s distinctive movements, while others believe it was practiced by women in preparation for childbirth. Others still point to Ancient Babylon as the birthplace of the form. To add further intrigue to this history, as the dance has spread in popularity in countries around the world, each culture has added their own unique gestures, costumes and traditions.
Sadie Belly Dance
Much of what is visually recognizable about the dance today actually owes credit to the Victorian-era artists who popularized the seductive imagery of ‘harem’ dancers. Additionally, this idealized vision was further propagated on vaudeville stages and in Hollywood films, as audiences were enraptured by the lithe, elegant performers dressed in a ‘bedleh’, consisting of a fitted, bra-style top, a bare midriff accented by a decorated hip belt and loosely-fitting skirts or pants made of gauzy material. Often, to further accentuate the distinct rhythms of the dancer, the bedleh is decorated with beads or thin, metal coins that create a muted, jangling sound in time with the movement. In actuality, this costume is not wholly reminiscent of the typically-modest Arab dress, and many Middle Eastern countries enforce strict dress codes to limit attire that is deemed too revealing.
Further cultural distinctions can be found in the props adopted by the dancers. Some artists use zills, finger cymbals that are often used in place of the more traditional rhythmic accompaniment. Others use canes, tambourines, swords - and for the daring, snakes - as part of their performance. Even the choice of footwear can vary from region to region - with some dancers performing the style in high heels, while others choose embroidered sandals or bare feet. Each addition - or lack thereof - is tied to the social and cultural beliefs of the dancer, and reflects the historical tradition of the region’s dance style.
This beautiful, intriguing dance has long captured the interest of the Western world as an exotic, seductive art form that celebrates feminine sexuality. But for Arabic dancers, the style is inextricably tied to their shared cultural heritage - danced in segregated settings out of respect for their religious beliefs and social customs. It is still performed today in much the same manner as it was by their ancestors - at weddings and family gatherings, as a shared physical expression of joy and gratitude.
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Mobilizing Aid for Haiti on the Web
By Neil Peterson | February 3, 2010
It has been three weeks since the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in early January, reducing much of its capitol city of Port-au-Prince to debris and claiming over 170,000 lives. Hitting just 16 miles west of the capitol, the quake destroyed much of the impoverished nation’s infrastructure - leveling entire blocks of commercial and residential buildings - trapping tens of thousands inside, and significantly damaging communication networks, hospitals, and all transport facilities.
Arcade Fire - Haiti
Within hours of the initial quake, relief organizations around the world raced to organize the delivery of essential food and medical supplies - while coordinating a massive multi-platform social media campaign to raise funds for the Haiti relief effort. In the wake of one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, we have learned some intriguing truths of the power - and the shortcomings - of using new technologies to rapidly respond to a community in need.
User-generated Philanthropy
Using simple, widely-available technology, the American Red Cross was able to successfully raise over $21 million - and counting - with a text-messaging campaign that allows cell phone users to text monetary donations directly from their phone using a special numeric code. Rather than using traditional media to proliferate the message, the Red Cross leveraged social media networks - relying on single users to share the necessary information with their personal, online communities.
Technology in a Crisis
Although much of the communications infrastructure was destroyed by the January 12th quake, cell phones still played a significant role in the aftermath. Survivors trapped underneath the rubble used their phones to text or call for help, facilitating the efforts of volunteer search and rescue workers. Dan Woolley, a visiting American filmmaker who was injured during the collapse of a Port-au-Prince hotel, relied on an iPhone first-aid application to treat a head wound and fractured leg while waiting to be rescued. Others used their camera phones to share images of the devastation via Facebook and Twitter - acting as a de facto news network until alternative methods of communication could resume.
A Community for the Future
While social media has proven to be a willing partner in emergency response, can it prove its value in the months - and years - to come? In response to the challenges Haiti will likely face in the rebuilding effort, WIRED magazine has created a Ning network dedicated to finding ‘better answers to the difficult questions.’ The creators of the site are encouraging large-scale collaboration - hoping to attract infrastructure and technology specialists, as well as concerned global citizens. Members are encouraged to publish their thoughts, via blog posts, on Haiti’s future, as well as use the site’s forums and live chat options to share ideas.
For the small, impoverished nation, the earthquake was a disaster of staggering proportions - the results of which will be felt for decades to come. It will take much more than blog posts, or status updates, or tweets to heal the wounds of this catastrophe - but social media has proven itself to be a valuable partner in an overall relief effort. Not in place of, but in partnership with. Perhaps the Haitian motto says it best, ‘L’Union Fait La Force’. Unity Creates Strength.
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Our Commitment to Space Exploration - a Complex Calculation
By Neil Peterson | January 30, 2010
‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.’
- Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969
There are other words, more well-known, that capture the momentous occasion of man’s first step on a planet not our own. However, it is these first words that most represent the culmination of nearly two decades of effort taken by NASA engineers - the remarkable ability to transmit a live radio feed through the vast vacuum of space, the technological advancements that resulted in the successful lunar landing - and the thousands of small, indispensable developments in between. Four decades later, it is still impossible to comprehend the enormous complexity inherent in the task of safely delivering a man to the moon. But while we may not understand it, it is imperative that we continue to support it. There is much more at stake than you think.
Our national interest in space exploration has waned in recent years. In the face of significant social, political and economic crises, many Americans are having a hard time justifying NASA’s requested annual budget of $18 billion. In these times of hardship, questioning the efficacy of our space program is understandable - but the answers to why we’re up there are far more diverse and essential than would appear at first glance. The quest to explore further crosses borders, languages and cultures - it is, at its core, a search for answers to the most fundamental of human questions. Who are we? Why are we here? And esoteric reasoning aside, there are other incentives to continuing our exploration of the greater universe - incentives that include nothing short than the future survival of our species.
Within NASA’s 2010 operating budget is funding for the development of a global climate change research program. Although recent missions - like NASA’s 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission - have relied on unmanned space craft and robotic rovers to explore previously unreachable regions of our universe, there is no replacement for the human mind’s ability to correctly interpret information. Particularly so when the subject is as complex as our global weather systems. The creation of a cutting-edge scientific laboratory at the International Space Station will provide the opportunity for visiting earth scientists to accurately gauge and monitor the extensive effects of pollution, ozone depletion, and changing weather patterns. This in turn, could provide the valuable information necessary to help earth’s populations avoid the potentially cataclysmic effects of global warming.
In addition to scientific opportunities, ongoing exploration may eventually lead to the colonization of other planets. In a recent article defending the U.S. space program, several leading scientists cited this reason as one of the most fundamental aims of the agency. This serves two purposes - the first being the mining of essential minerals that are rapidly approaching their depletion here on Earth. The other is a far more terrifying and sober notion - by creating habitable colonies on other planets within our solar system, we greatly improve our ability to survive as a species, should Earth ever become uninhabitable.
It has been 40 years since Neil Armstrong took those first bold steps into our wider universe - and into history. As an audience of 450 million listeners tuned in, it was a moment not just for America, but for the world - not a national accomplishment, but one shared by all of mankind. And it would be to our great detriment - for us, and the generations to follow - if we resign our dream of exploring the far reaches of space to the history books. It is as relevant today as it ever was.
First Moon Landing 1969
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Javed Abidi - Giving Visibility and Hope to India’s Disabled
By Neil Peterson | January 21, 2010
Power and compassion - these two words can sum up the focus behind Javed Abidi’s mission. As an impassioned advocate for India’s disabled citizens, he has given voice to an ‘invisible minority‘ - one that has been denied to them by both political and social sectors for decades. It is a subject that he understands firsthand, having been confined to a wheelchair since he was 10 years old. Born with severe sclerosis of the spine, doctors informed his parents that their infant son would not likely survive. They named him Javed, meaning immortal, and it is name that will likely prove surprisingly prescient as his dedication to this population will influence - and improve - the lives of millions for generations to come.
As a child, Abidi traveled with his father to the U.S. to receive medical treatment and was inspired by the atmosphere of empathy and respect extended to disabled persons in this country. He began his crusade as an ‘ambassador for disability’ during high school and continued his efforts into college at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. While working towards a degree in journalism, Abidi remained actively involved in the school’s disability programs - a service that would later prove useful in his professional career as an advocate. Following graduation, Abidi would return home - only to find that most newspaper editors were unwilling to employ him as a political reporter due to his disability. Unlike the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that prohibits the discrimination of any job candidate based on mental or physical disability, India’s government had yet to pass any similar legislation - effectively ignoring the needs of more than 60 million of the country’s citizens.
Although he would build a successful career as a freelance political journalist, he was approached in 1993 by Sonia Gandhi to head the disabilities unit of the newly established Rajeev Gandhi Foundation, named for her deceased husband, the former Indian Prime Minister. Having little experience in the development of such an entity, he nonetheless built the department from the ground up to give aide and support to disabled persons through legislative lobbying efforts and partnerships with some of the country’s largest corporations. Believing that a united voice could not be ignored, Abidi traveled throughout the country speaking with various disabled groups and creating programs to teach professional skills to the disabled, the majority of whom had never had the opportunity to attend college.
Abhilasha
His efforts and determination would result in his crucial role in the passing of India’s Disability Act of 1995, giving legal protection and support to the disabled. Prior to the Act, disabled citizens - a population Abidi has referred to as India’s ‘invisible minority’ - had no legal recourse to demand significant, lasting changes from both the public and private sectors. Among other social protections, the Act provides economic incentives for businesses that hire disabled employees, and allows funding for improved accessibility to public buildings and institutions.
Abidi has since established the National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, which has been instrumental in the creation of a country-wide database to unite employers with disabled workers. And he continues his efforts to inspire those with mental or physical disabilities to act as their own advocates in their struggle to gain the rights that most citizens take for granted. The right to work, to travel, to visit a movie theater or a public pool. It is a struggle that is not yet completed, but for the fierce determination of one man, it is one that is well begun.
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Plug-in Hybrids Go for a Spin in 2010
By Neil Peterson | January 18, 2010
Well, they shouldn’t be faulted for their enthusiasm. 2010 is here - slated to be the Year of the Electric Car - and automakers are still working out the glitches before the long-promised, much-hyped vehicles hit the production lines. To be fair, the year is still young - and with the Nissan Leaf expected to appear on showroom floors within months - that promise could still hold true. Electric cars are already purring their way across European and Asian cities - but will American motorists be so quick to adopt a technology that has yet to be proven in a historically stubborn market? Make no mistake - it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. And in the meantime, both large automakers and eco-minded start-ups are introducing improved hybrid technology to bridge the gap.
Fisker Karma PHEV
It’s time to get converted. Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) may not be the plug-and-go solution that consumers are waiting for - but there’s also no waiting necessary. Across the country, small businesses are manufacturing and promoting conversion kits - priced from $5,000 to $35,000 that can turn almost any car into a more fuel-efficient ride. Typical hybrid vehicles draw their power by alternating between a conventional gasoline-powered engine and a more energy-efficient electric motor that is recharged in transit. PHEV’s rely on similar technology - but with an added power cord that will enable drivers to recharge the car’s electric battery through a standard 120-volt outlet.
Seattle recently became one of the first cities to test drive PHEV’s under ‘real-world conditions’ - adding 14 converted Toyota Prius hybrids to the city’s vehicle fleet. The vehicles averaged 57 mpg - a number that has come under fire for being lower than the promised 100 mpg the vehicles have been touted as reaching - but it is still a significant show of efficiency and reliability. Seattle’s test drive also included the use of smart grid charging - using a software program that waits to charge the car when the power grid load is reduced, resulting in a significant savings in overall emissions.
Since the successful launch of Toyota’s Prius hybrid in 2001, consumers have shown themselves willing to take a chance on new technologies - even when it comes to that most American of commodities - the car. So, what exactly is all the fuss about hybrids? Can they possibly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and lower greenhouse gas emissions while still allowing us to enjoy the convenience and reliability that we’ve come to expect from standard vehicles? PHEV proponents say yes. And with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo all in the race to build a luxury model PHEV, a large-scale adoption of the green auto might be that much closer. It may not be the electric vehicle we’ve been promised - but doing even a little good is a lot better than doing nothing.
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California’s Unquenchable Thirst
By Neil Peterson | January 16, 2010
‘Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.’
- Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell
Folk icon Joni Mitchell’s hit 1970 song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ was written in response to the slow encroachment of mankind across the Hawaiian islands - but in modern times, the lyrics could serve as a significant warning for the future. In regions around the globe, we are fast approaching the point at which our natural resources will no longer be able to sufficiently support the population. And as far as we have advanced since our ancestors first stepped foot on this continent, there is no contingency plan for lack. Facing one of the most severe droughts in recent history, California is currently struggling to properly manage our most precious resource - water. And the consequences of an on-going drought extend far beyond arid fields and empty irrigation ditches.
California Water Crisis
The now three-year drought has brought state reservoir levels to record lows, leading Governor Arnold Swartzenegger to declare a state of emergency - urging that Californians drastically reduce their consumption rates or deal with the possibility of mandatory water rationing and stringent conservation methods. As state government slows the tap on the region’s aqueduct system, the businesses and communities that rely on them are slowly fading - but this isn’t just a problem for residents of the Golden State. As one of the ten largest economies in the world, California’s water shortage may turn into everyone’s problem - as it could have disastrous long-term impact on a country still reeling from the effects of recession. Financial analysts are predicting that should the drought continue into the next growing season, the state may be crippled under $2 billion in lost revenue. It will be a loss felt not only in the pockets of corporate agriculture - but on Main Streets across America in the form of rising food prices and significant strain on social resources.
California’s Central Valley is affectionately referred to as the ‘Salad Bowl’, so named for producing nearly half of the fruits and vegetables in the country. As Sacramento politicians argue about the best methods of allocating water resources, they have cut off the supply of available water for the region’s farms. As a result, farmers are resorting to survival methods - allowing acres of land to lay unseeded, reducing the workforce, and relying on costlier, lower-quality well water to sustain their remaining crops. With less production, unemployment has risen to 3-4 times the national average - which, when coupled with reported increases in drug use, alcohol consumption, and domestic violence complaints, means that residents of these small rural communities aren’t just being squeezed by their thirst - they’re choking on it.
As dire as the predictions sound, many experts believe that adopting small changes will have a big impact on the problem. Citizens will need to get smarter about their consumption before the state government enacts mandatory water rationing. Simple steps such as replacing older, high-flow faucets with more efficient models as well as choosing produce that has a smaller ‘water footprint’ could save millions of gallons of water each day. Additionally, many environmentalists are calling for a large-scale embrace of sustainable farming methods and water-conserving irrigation methods - steps that require financial investments from banks that have been wary of extending credit to small businesses. There is no easy fix for California’s water shortage - but there’s absolutely no known replacement for water either. So what’s it going to be?
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Tiffin - Meals for Millions in Mumbai
By Neil Peterson | January 13, 2010
It is a low-tech, high-volume service that has Western business management experts flocking to the crowded, dusty streets of Mumbai. Each weekday, the Tiffin delivery network provides hot, home-cooked meals to a growing population of office workers in India’s financial capital. From the city’s outer suburbs to the bustling downtown core, the small, aluminum boxes are transported, sorted and delivered - to over 200,000 customers, for less than $10 per month. No easy feat - and one made all the more remarkable by the statistics. For every 6 million deliveries, there is - on average - only one misplaced meal. It’s this honed precision that is drawing worldwide attention from business schools, financial media outlets, and curious CEO’s - but there’s more to Tiffin that just great numbers.
The network itself is a long-standing cultural tradition, created in 1880 while the country was still under British rule. Many British residents, commuting into the city, weren’t interested in consuming the local fare, while Indian citizens weren’t able to afford the daily cost of lunchtime dining. So Tiffin, old English for light lunch, was born - providing a welcomed, low-cost service for finicky eaters, or - as is more often the case today - ensuring that those with strict religious dietary beliefs can enjoy a well-prepared meal, worry-free. Each day, a courier would collect prepared meals from the customer’s home for lunchtime delivery at their workplace. It was a unique solution that has now become part of the city’s daily heartbeat - with a customer base that continues to expand between 5 - 10% annually.
Mumbai Lunch on Wheels
The daily delivery - and precision - of the network relies on a small army of mostly-illiterate, uneducated peasants from the country’s Pune region, called dabbawallas. Each morning, the 5,000 dabbawallas are dispatched on their routes via bicycle, visiting each customer’s home to pick up their food-laden tiffin. The tiffins (alternatively, called dabbas) are then transported to the local train station, where they are divided up according to the painted symbols adorning the containers. The color-coded system acts as an indicator of precise destination - to the building - and recipient, and as a marker of where the emptied box will be delivered after lunch. On an average day, each tiffin is re-sorted at various points on the route up to 4 times before delivery - and then again as the box is returned to its original destination later in the afternoon.
The success of the entire enterprise rests squarely on the shoulders of the dabbawallas - and it is a responsibility they approach with utmost seriousness. Each tiffin must be picked up, sorted, transported and delivered according to a highly precise schedule - while contending with inclement weather, bustling city streets, and strict train schedules. With little exception, dabbawallas are chosen if they have a friend or relative who is already in the service to ensure than new hires are trust-worthy and capable of meeting the substantial requirements of the job. Additionally, a new dabbawalla must also contribute a small sum to pay for two bicycles, a transport crate and their uniform and cap.
For over a century, the Tiffin network’s tried and tested low-tech methods have provided hot meals to the office workers of Mumbai with unmatched accuracy. Relying on the abilities and dedication of its couriers, it is a highly-choreographed, immaculately precise system. And with their track record, it’s no wonder that the Western world is finally taking notes.
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Avatar Raises the Bar for Moviemaking Tech
By Neil Peterson | January 12, 2010
Following up Titanic was never going to be an easy task. Director James Cameron’s 1997 ’star-crossed lovers on a doomed ocean liner’ saga shattered existing box office records, netting $1.8 billion worldwide and earning 11 Oscars. He accepted his Best Director award with the memorable ‘I’m the king of the world!’ quote from the film, and against all expectations promptly disappeared from Hollywood. 12 years would pass before he would release another movie - a lifetime in the entertainment business - and it would be a film that required no less than the creation of an entire world.
Cameron has a well-earned industry reputation as a perfectionist. And nowhere is this more apparent that in the years-long production of his recent film, Avatar. To fully realize his vision for this 3-D sci-fi epic, Cameron would go back to the drawing board - adapting, refining and in some cases - inventing, every single aspect of production. From cataloging the flora and fauna of the film’s alien world, Pandora to pushing the limits of performance-capture technology, the finished product is like nothing you’ve ever seen. And it could change moviemaking forever.
Even before production started, Cameron realized that to create the immersive experience he envisioned, he would need 3-D camera technologies that hadn’t yet been invented. In recent years we have seen the return of 3-D films in movie theaters - but none have yet been able to break down the ’screen plane’, the imaginary wall between the viewer and the action. Cameron would enlist Vincent Pace, an acclaimed underwater photographer, and together the two men (in collaboration with Sony) would invent the Fusion 3D camera system, a light, twin-lens, hi-def digital camera. Unlike its precursors, the Fusion system was capable of shooting minutely measured details, and uses the twin lenses to replicate human vision.
With the camera system perfected, Cameron addressed the difficulties in blending performance-capture tech with computer-generated imagery - calling on the creative masterminds at director Peter Jackson’s New-Zealand-based Weta Digital. In an empty aviation hanger in Los Angeles, the actors performed in body suits covered with 80 metallic dots. The cameras would read the actors’ movements and translate them immediately, via specialized image-rendering system, into the lush, dangerous world of Pandora - and giving Cameron the ability to choreograph the camera movements on the fly. Additionally, each actor was fitting with a customized head unit, equipped with a mini hi-def camera to record each subtle facial movement - giving a seamless realism to each of the CG Na’vi characters.
Avatar movie trailer
Avatar’s technical genesis was complete, but as impressive as the visuals may be, Cameron’s virtual world was not yet finished. To obtain the nth degree of realism, the director hired experts of every possible ilk - including botanists, astrophysicists, composers and archaeologists - to address the minutiae of the alien planet. Paul Frommer, a USC linguistics expert, developed the nonexistent Na’vi language and taught it to each of the film’s cast members. During filming, all of these details would be compiled in a 350-page Pandorapedia - documenting all aspects of the fictional planet.
Now in it’s third week of release, Avatar is fast approaching Titanic’s record-setting numbers - and is being touted as nothing short of groundbreaking by critics and moviegoers alike. But for Cameron, this new approach to entertainment has been over three decades in the making - since his first viewing of George Lucas’ 1977 blockbuster, Star Wars. For Cameron, Star Wars represented what was possible in filmmaking, a feat he viewed as a cinematic call to arms. With Avatar, he has raised the bar for the entire industry - and one can only imagine what future blockbusters it will inspire.
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ADHD and the Literary Tradition
By Neil Peterson | January 6, 2010
Writing is both mask and unveiling.
- E.B. White
Any editor will tell you - writers can be a notoriously difficult group. Prone to perfectionism, deep melancholy, and the sense that - given a little extra time - literary genius would be available for the taking. This is, of course, only slightly in jest. However, it is interesting to note that much like the composers featured in a previous post, some of our written tradition’s finest authors have displayed traits not uncommon to people living with ADHD today. For those so diagnosed, it can be both comfort and inspiration - and in some cases, a cautionary tale. It can be proof that it is not the challenges that one faces, but the way in which one overcomes those challenges that tells the true story.
Learning Difficulties Awareness
Note: This selection features two writers who have frequently appeared on lists making the case for historical diagnoses.
Ernest Hemingway
As a celebrated writer and journalist, Ernest Hemingway remains on of the most respected literary icons in the American canon. His crisp, elegant prose has influenced several generations of modern writers, from contemporary F. Scott Fitzgerald to J.D. Salinger. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway was the focus of much public adoration during his life. Much of his fictional work was based on his personal experiences - as an ambulance driver during World War I, his impassioned interest in the outdoors, and his career as a war correspondent during two major wars - the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
Despite his professional achievements, his numerous emotional struggles paint a portrait of a man at odds with his genius. Hemingway had a succession of marriages and divorces, and his career often required continuous upheaval. These struggles, in addition to debilitating depression, mirror symptoms associated with ADHD - specifically an inability to maintain focus and a seemingly chaotic lifestyle. Although he would lose his battle with depression, dying by his own hand in 1961, his exalted place in literary history is certain.
Emily Dickinson
American poet Emily Dickinson never achieved the public celebrity and praise extended to Hemingway - fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. Shying away from the respected forms and styles of the day, her work has been lauded for its unconventional approach to voice and imagery, and for her choice of subject matter. Her preternatural occupation with death and immortality is evident in the majority of her works, and is likely a response to her own struggles with depression - causing her to completely withdraw from social life in the years prior to her death.
Much of the speculation regarding a possible ADHD diagnosis likely stems from this illness (often seen in tandem with today’s ADHD cases), as well as her educational difficulties. Though an enthusiastic reader, Dickinson struggled with scholastic demands, transferring between several schools before abandoning her formal education altogether. However, despite her interrupted studies, Dickinson’s literary output is extraordinary - over 1800 poems reveal the complex, unconventional talent of this pre-modernist poet.
From certain angles, these life stories may seem disheartening - but it is important to note that both of these subjects lived in a time with absolutely no medical knowledge or understanding of ADHD, or associated mental illnesses. In that light, the remaining published works are a testament to their will and talent - a triumph that only those with ADHD can truly grasp.
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Florence Nightingale - An Early Social Entrepreneur
By Neil Peterson | January 4, 2010
In the century since her death, the name of Florence Nightingale has become synonymous with kindness. But while recognizable to all, just who she was - and how influential her life’s work has been in the ensuing decades - is still shrouded in mystery. She is an icon - for healthcare workers, professional women, social entrepreneurs, and those who struggle against the still-existing standards set by society over what is possible and attainable. But the life story of this indomitable woman is a richer, more revealing portrait of how one person’s determination can inspire millions - and leave a positive mark on the world for succeeding generations.
Voice of Florence Nightingale
Nightingale was the second daughter of a wealthy, upper-class British family, named for the Italian city of her birth. Deeply religious, Nightingale credited a divine experience at the age of 16 for inspiring her to pursue a career in nursing - a choice in direct opposition to social mores of the time in which young women were expected to embrace marriage and motherhood. She began her professional nursing studies in 1845, having gained some experience in her work with London’s impoverished communities in the previous year. Nightingale was an impassioned advocate for the city’s poor and played an instrumental role in the reform of England’s Poor Laws - allowing for improvements to medical care and social services.
Her professional career already well-established, it would be her dedication to the wounded British soldiers fighting in the Crimean War that would earn her national recognition. Distressed by the reports of the high fatalities encountered in makeshift field hospitals, Nightingale traveled to Turkey in 1854 with 38 female volunteer nurses, all of whom she hand-selected and trained before the journey. Upon arrival at Scutari, Nightingale was appalled by the conditions, calling it ‘the nearest thing to hell on earth.’ The overwhelmed military doctors struggled with limited medical supplies, poor hygienic conditions, and mass infections of illnesses such as dysentery and typhus - contributing to thousands of unnecessary deaths. As the first team of female nurses ever allowed in a field hospital, Nightingale and her staff offered aid and comfort to the soldiers, who sent word home of their remarkable efforts.
Lo! in that hour of misery
A lady with a lamp I see Pass through the glimmering gloom…
- ‘Santa Filomena’, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It was during the Crimean War that Nightingale would earn her nickname, ‘The Lady with the Lamp‘, for her nightly practice of conducting solitary rounds of the infirmary after the doctors had retired. But it was not the only reminder she would take home after the war had finished. Having witnessed the devastating toll the substandard hygienic conditions had upon the health of the soldiers, Nightingale began to develop her own theories of the impact of poor living conditions on the sick and wounded. She presented her resulting ‘Environmental Theory‘ to the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army, which prompted numerous advancements in sanitation standards and even led to improvements in hospital design.
In the years following the war, Nightingale would establish the Nightingale Training School at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, offering the first official nurses’ training program. In 1859, she published ‘Notes on Nursing’, meant as a primer for entry-level nursing students and now considered a classic text on the subject. Until her death in 1910, she continued her work as an advocate for her profession and is credited today for establishing the modern nursing profession. Indeed, her influence on the generations that followed was so profound, each year International Nurses Day is celebrated on her birthday. It is a fitting tribute to a remarkable pioneer.
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