ubuntu

Ubuntu is the African way of saying "I am because we are." This is a sort of philosophical idea that says we don't exist unless others exist to validate our existence and vice versa. Basically, our concept of who we are, how we identify ourselves, is meaningless without others existing. It applies more to a concept of community - a worldwide community. We don't exist, at least not to our fullest extent, without acknowledging that we all exist. Further, we suffer personally when others suffer. Our happiness is directly affected by the happiness of others in this world. There are people who deny the validity of this philosophical claim. To me, it's kind of like the tree in the woods. If it falls, and no one is around to see it fall, does that mean it really fell? How are we even to know for sure what happened to that tree? That tree's falling only carries meaning if we are there to witness it and apply meaning.

Such is the situation in Africa, in my opinion. We are all human beings on this planet, and we can chose to acknowledge the issues and challenges that the continent faces, or we can ignore it. We can turn away from the proverbial tree in the forest and pretend like it never fell. The truth is - the tree fell and you're just ignoring it. Africa, in some ways, has fallen. I'm not going to get into how it's fallen, or who caused it to happen...that's much too complicated for a blog so light-hearted as this. But I watched this documentary last night and it changed my life.

Admittedly, I'm a Madonna fanatic. This film, though produced by Madonna and featuring Madonna, has nothing to do with Madonna, other than her efforts to use her celebrity for good by drawing attention to a people in need. Hulu, the company that turns your brain to mush, has decided to reverse its brain-mushing policy to expand your brain by showing the documentary for free on their website.

If there's nothing else that this silly old blog inspires you to do, I hope it inspires you to take 2 hours of your precious time (I know, Facebook is super addicting. Twitter is like ultra-heroine). But, if there's nothing else you do, and if it's the last entry you read, that's okay with me as long as you watch this incredibly important and beautiful film. You can't deny its power.

Talk shit about Madonna all you want. Yes, her arms could be qualified as scary. If you're a sexist and don't think that women have the right to take care of their bodies the way that men do. Yes, she dates a 22 year old and that might seem weird. But only if you're a sexist or ageist and don't think she has the right to date who she wants. As Madonna said on Twitter last night when someone asked her "I've been trying to ask you questions forever - why do you respond to the weird people and not the normal people?" Madonna replied "I don't distinguish between normal and weird. Stop feeling sorry for yourself." The woman does what she wants, and lives her life in total and utter freedom - something we could all take a cue from. Sometimes, it's a vain effort. Other times, it's to expand your consciousness and share something important and valuable. This is one of those efforts.

I exist because you do. We are all connected. Remember those words. They're words to live by.