Freestyle Walking
August 8th, 2007
Click image above to play video
Freestyle Walking: No longer just a euphemism for your friend falling on their face! Check out this great new video for RJD2’s “Work it Out.” (click image above) While just plain cool, reading the blurb from the YouTube page is simply inspiring:
Bill Shannon who was born with a degenerative hip condition. His legs cannot carry his own weight and so he has lived a life on crutches. He has developed a new way of moving through life on his skateboard and the crutches.
At our current rate of consumption, the human population can similarly not “carry its own weight” and is leaving a massive ecological footprint. In the same way this young man has “developed new ways of moving through life,” I think we should jump on the problems at hand as opportunities to develop something just as creative and unique. Just look at the neat design of those crutches! They look a lot more like fun than a necessity. Solving climate change and a host of other green problems should leave us with the same fly-high kind of feeling. So let’s do this thing in style.
Link to Bill Shannon’s website
Link to video
See Also: Hip Hop 1930s Remix, Roykopp’s Diagram Music Vid, World Changing Book
Popularity: 10% [?]
August 10th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I’m sorry Jessica – that was super lame.
I read the post – and hit your bit of sermon and near-literally shat myself. Your self-righteous preaching detracts from the quality of the man’s triumphs, the rest of your blog post, and the blog in general.
Your rant was neither inspiring nor useful, and I found it in poor taste.
I am severely morally offended that you have the audacity to re-appropriate this man’s physical condition to get preachy about an “ecological footprint” (and I assume the bad pun was intended). I cannot speak for Mr. Shannon, but if you had done such a thing with any conditions that I might have, I would feel belittled and used.
I know the people at Vestal are good people, and it’s a shame for your blog posts to unwittingly tarnish them.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Ryan, I welcome your thoughts and critique, but invite you to reconsider Jessica’s post.
Bill Shannon’s fluid and beautiful movement defies gravity and challenges normal conventions of how we perceive disabilities and disabling conditions. I think that Jessica makes a rather insightful and non-obvious connection when she calls for us to look to Shannon for inspiration when addressing social and environmental challenges.
I find that the Shannon video is quite a good metaphor for how we should approach finding solutions for complex topics ranging anywhere from climate change to poverty or even genocide.
Much like how Shannon was born with a debilitating hip condition, we have inherited a world with countless problems. We could all easily throw up our arms and give up, accepting overpopulation, habitat destruction and civil wars. Fortunately however, many individuals are working to find solutions to these issues.
In doing so, we could approach these problems with standard ways of thinking. Employing this metaphor, using conventional crutches might be equivalent to conventional “command and control” pollution legislation or simple recycling programs.
Instead, Shannon has broken traditional conventions and celebrates movement, creating something elegant and beautiful where previously the norm was a disability. Similarly, Jessica suggests that we look to Shannon for inspiration and find “new ways of moving through life.”
I agree with her and think that we should seek not only to find solutions to our pressing problems, but do so with flair and creativity so that we may shatter traditional conventions and inspire others to do the same.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my comment. I’d like to assert that I posted my comment knowing that the post was posted with the best of intentions, and I meant nothing personal against Jessica (in my effort to be bluntly obvious, I apologize if I sounded rude or demeaning in any way). Additionally, I am in no way offended for Mr. Shannon, or on his behalf in any way – I have no right to feel such, and I make no such presumptions – I was expressing my own personal response to the post.
That said, I agree wholeheartedly with your descriptions of Mr. Shannon’s triumphs, and no doubt that was what the author had originally intended, but was unable to articulate such in a your thoughtful, broad-reaching, and effusive style.
My issue is with the disconnected jump between the video (and context) and the specific problem brought to discussed. Again, I submit that my issue is not with the vision, intentions, or idealism, but with the articulation, and as such, the implementation.
I first watched the video – and found it stunning. I cannot articulate the emotions that Mr. Shannon’s motions evoked better than you have described above. I felt an elation, a kind of joy. An inspiration of the possibilities of the self, of the sometimes overwhelmingly creative force within. Of the power to overcome sometimes apparently insurmountable hurdles. Of the depths of an individual’s tenacity. Of courage, creativity, and expression.
No doubt, at the core, I was inspired as you and Jessica both were.
I suspect that had the cause been presented with such eloquent connections as you have made, linking his actions to the problem described at the end, I would have found the post much more palatable, and inspiring as was intended.
Instead, imagine any social event – triumph or tragedy, that is then used as a platform for political gain. You know the scenario as well as I do – regardless of any viewpoints we may share or disagree on. While on the one hand, we appreciate the individual’s demonstration of caring, at the core, everyone knows the implicit agenda of such a hijacking. It leaves a sour note. This is what the post sounded like to me.
My feedback was given with the above distaste, and no malicious intent. (Again, I apologize profusely if my comment read rudely: I am unable to convey a tone of voice online as effortlessly as yourself, and my articulation of my strong aversion to the undertones of the post may be misunderstood.)
I follow the work your firm does – you guys are a source of inspiration to me. Any time I want to show friends or colleagues an example of a small, enterprising group of people who are in the “business of awesome” – I point to you. One day when I have the occasion to solicit your collective talents, I look forward to working with you all (independent of whether your organization would consider it).
With all that in mind, this post introduces some hesitation for me. Other readers may agree with me, silently, or find me singularly troublesome. I hope – for Vestal’s sake – that most readers disagree with me entirely and find my comments outright misguided. Should I understand that if my business doesn’t follow eco-foot print mitigating practices, your practice would refuse my work? I hope other potential clients may not be as forgiving as long-term fans of your work like myself.
My last piece of unsolicited feedback: I suspect that a design firm like your own would find it wise to be mindful of the message, image, and perception it conveys and encourages. Just something to think about, that’s all. After all, I’m just a random person on the internet – what do I know?
I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Maybe we will actually work together one day. Then again, maybe not.