Progress and women´s magazines

I gave a talk today at the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences to an auditorium filled with media students. The subject of the entire day was the responsibility of lifestyle media for what they present.

My talk (unfortunately in Finnish) is below. I focused on how a progressive lifestyle journalist should position himself or herself. I claim, that it is very easy to get stuck to the old rant on how journalists should be independent and not promote any specific idea. I claimed that the justification for being progressive for instance on sustainability can be found from the Ethical Code of Conduct for Journalists where it states that journalists have a responsibility to tell people what is happening in the world. And as climate change is the big issue of our time, you do your job poorly if you don´t build ethical and environmental norms into your work. Already journalists have made a commitment for human rights, this is the other big ethical test.

In the presentation I suggested that when dealing with sustainability, lifestyle media should build on what they do best: enthusiasm and encouragement for action. They should promote excellent and ethical choices with the same enthusiasm they promote a new eyeliner. Making things appealing works far better than the message about giving something up.

The third main point I raised was on how change in lifestyles happens. This I would claim is the ultimate test for women´s magazines. Most lifestyle media still deals with change by showing one person one morning transforming their life completely. This is understandable cos it´s easy to build a story around it. But if you actually look into research on how change happens, people who do big transformations always relate to other people. By showing this link and giving the readers tips on how to win support and get people along, lifestyle media could be one of the most powerful instigators of action for the better.

Edistyksellisyys ja naistenlehdet

View more presentations from Demos Helsinki.

How Are You Doing?

Serviced & Virtual Offices - Bishopsgate, Meeting Room
Originally uploaded by ExecutiveOffices

As part of a project we are doing at Demos Helsinki, I have spent time reviewing and reading various future reports on the competencies and skills the Finnish society and Finnish companies need. One of the big issues seems to be the need for better people skills. Companies and experts see that customers are more and more demanding year by year. Simultaneously companies need to make sure that the best people really want to work for them. This means that understanding people is broken into better HR, better customer understanding and better self understanding.

One of the ways to support better self understanding are the annual evaluation talks that managers are required to give to the staff. I have taken part in two of them in the last two weeks. In one of them I was the one interviewing, in the other I was being interviewed.

These talks usually get quite a bad rap. Most of my friends are able to tell horrid stories of a boss who really does not listen or continuously interrupts the staff member. I have also taken part in a talk where the boss starts the discussion by saying:"Well, we have two hours reserved for this but I don´t think we need all of that." In another case the boss had left most of my critical comments on her performance out of the report. Experiences like these or not letting the employee talk send a clear signal of inequality.

I do understand that experiences like these make a lot of people frustrated. However, I would encourage both the boss and the employee to take this experience seriously. This builds from the amazing two positive experiences this week.

At Demos Helsinki we do not have a clear hierarchy, which means that we have divided the responsibility to give the evaluation talks amongst the staff. This means everyone gives and everyone gets a talk. Especially in an organisational culture like ours a structured question list really helped making the discussion useful for both parties. When you are asked to evaluate your own competencies and get feedback on them and your performance, you are also given a chance to recognise how you could develop yourself. Somewhat formal questions on your development ideas for the organisation are actually somewhat challenging.

At least I noticed that my own view on my work and my colleague´s view differed quite a lot. I was quite surprised by the things mentioned as my strengths and as areas that need improvement. Discussing them through and searching examples that prove the point makes one realise how others see you. The talk made me like my place of work more. When a person you value tells you what you are good at is incredibly empowering - and useful. I left both of the talks smiling, feeling like I learned something.

The views in the reports I have gone through paint a picture of a working life where the need to develop and renew oneself is continuous and never-ending. If this estimate is correct, the need to know oneself becomes crucial. But we too often think that all this needs to be done alone.

Pursuit of Happiness

Richard Layard
Originally uploaded by Andy Miah

This blog has been rather quiet - or to be more honest - dead for some time now. My apologies for that. One of my New Year´s resolutions is the following: one post and one post only per week.

The new focus: things making us happier. That takes me back to the name of this blog. My favourite word in the Dutch language, kiplekker, basically means chicken licking good.

I finally made my way through economist Richard Layard´s (pic) classic Happiness: Lessons from a New Science (2005). Layard´s basic argument is that the obstacles we once had for using people´s feelings as a measure of societal success are more or less removed. Brain research today gives us enough evidence to measure happiness and well being. This provides us with an opportunity to move further from economic growth and behaviorism that have driven politics for ages now.

Layard stresses one of the things that we work with a lot at Demos Helsinki: that even if all the material things are well, we are more affluent than we have ever been, that does not result to happiness. In a way we as societies are failing the ultimate test: are we building societies where people do well? Every day greater numbers of people feel like they lack a sense of self, skills to deal with their feelings and a sense of relevance in relation to others. Layard puts special emphasis on issues such as helping the poor of the world, reducing unemployment, treating mental illnesses, finding new measuring criteria next to economic growth and supporting family life as ways to happier societies.

So the blog goal is now set for 2010: once a week a post over a phenomenon, project, advertisement, person, website, sports club that is enough reason to get excited about. There´s one more criteria.

The things covered need to answer YES to the following:
Does it create happiness?
and NO to the following:
Does it harm others?
And finally YES to the following (question taken from Charlie from Make Nubs):
Is it fresh?

More to follow.

Are You Being Served?

waiter
Originally uploaded by ariadust

The encounters with America´s service culture from the last couple of days that do not stop baffling me.

1. Gas Station
As we pull out of the car wash at Shell, a Mexican man steps in front of the car. He takes his cloths and swipes the car windows clean. He does not speak a word of English. As he finishes, the driver opens the door and hands him a couple of bucks.
"Is this guy working for Shell", I ask from the back seat.
"No, no."
"So are you obliged to pay him, like can you drive just by?"
"You can but that would be rude."
"So Shell is fine with him being there?"
"I guess, he might be like a friend of the owner or just someone needing to make a living."

2. Taxi
"You know the flat rate, yes? 45 dollars to the airport, 5 dollars for tolls", the driver explains as we head towards JFK. "And of course the tips", he says with a grin. "Tips are important."
The man turns up to be Ukrainian and to put it mildly, social. He tells us about vodka drinking, holidays at the Krim, complains about New York drivers - whilst constantly jumping the line and causing near-death experiences for us all in the back seat. He just does not stop talking.
This turns up to be the worst taxi ride during our couple of days in New York. We take a deep breath as he unloads our bags.
We tip him 10 dollars. "You have to", I am told.

3. Clothing shop
A young man walks over to me as I go through the pile of pique shirts.
"Hi, how are you? Let me know if you need help in finding your size. If you wanna try on those shirts on your hand now, I can just go and set up the changing room for you. My name is Mark."
As he heads off to set things up, another salesperson walks up to me and starts:"Let me know if I can help you in any way, we have more sizes in the back."
"Thanks. Your colleague was actually helping me already."
I end up buying one of the shirts and head to the register. The chirpy sales girl calls me to her.
"Hi, how are you? Having a good day?"
"Yes, thanks, you."
"Great, great. Did you find everything OK? Was someone helping you today?"
"Uhm...Yes, I think his name was Mark."
She glances down to the staff list next to the register and puts in the code. "Great, thanks. Here´s your bag and have a good one!"
At the door a lively woman greets us farewell. "You guys have a great day now."
I am being told outside that Mark just got a commission point for my shirt.

4. Restaurant
A young African-American woman greets us and checks that our reservation is OK. "Welcome. My colleague will show you to your table. Have a good evening."
The white young man dressed in a skinny suit walks us over to our table and seats us - and leaves. Another man dressed in a light blue pique shirt comes over. "How are you all doing? Good. My name is Miguel and I will be your waiter tonight. Here are the menus. Would you want something to drink to start with?"
"Just ice water, thanks."
As Miguel sets off, another Latino man walks over and silently fills our water glasses. As he sets off, another Latino man comes with the forks and knives. In the course of a dinner two other Latino men pass by to fill glasses and clean finished plates. Midway through the dinner a white woman in her thirties dressed in a Hillary-like pantsuit stops by to check that everything is OK. The skinny white man walks around with a notepad, looks at our table and makes some notes as my dish is delayed.
I taste my dish. The duck meat is lukewarm. I feel embarrassed to bring up the subject to the restaurant staff but my American dinner companions encourage me. "You´re paying for it." The previous evening one of them asked to change the ordered dish as she was not fond of the taste. The waiters did this enthusiastically, without charging extra.
They holler Miguel over.
"Everything OK here?"
I go red and feel uncomfortable but cannot escape anymore.
"Well, uhm...sorry to bring this up but my dish feels kind of lukewarm, like it is not straight from the over hot."
"Oh, I am terribly sorry. Let me just take it back to the kitchen."
"Sorry to bring this up."
In the end of our dinner the restaurant fills up and the Latino men - including Miguel - run around like crazy. It takes ages for Miguel to bring our invoice. During all this time the woman and the man at the door look incredibly bored with nothing to do - right next to our table. The young man notices the delay and writes something on his notebook.
We leave a 15% tip.

Connecting The Dots

~ The American Dream
Originally uploaded by Mackeson

Last weekend I met my great aunt for the first time. There is a reason why: she left Finland in 1957 first to the United Kingdom and then continued to the United States. She was telling me how it is still difficult to connect the dots between the Finland then and Finland now. She left a country of muddy roads and arrived to one of Nokia, to put it bluntly.

I was struck by the Finland she was telling me about. She told about a school that did not accept her due to her religion. She left a country traumatised by war and where she was told several times that she did not belong. She left the country and her family for a better life, with no knowledge of English and no relations waiting in the other end.

The reasons for migration have not really changed in 50 years. But it seems to surprise some people here in the receiving nations that millions decide to leave all they have for a chance of a better life. People risk everything they love for some undefined dreams. For a promise with no money-back guarantee. It seems to surprise people even when the story can be found from each family.

It is surprising and - honestly - disappointing how we here, in a country that has transformed from a departure country to a receiving country, have continuing difficulties to comprehend that the people wanting to move to Finland share largely the reasons of those relatives of ours who left for Sweden, Germany, UK or the US. Paradoxically the other group - the ones who left - are portrayed as heroes when the the others - the ones arriving - are characterised as social bums. It is not only my great aunt who has difficulties connecting dots. Making this historical link might help understanding the transformation we are in as nations.

Something else has also stood the test of time: desire. Most people are not striving for something bizarre and condescending like tolerance and understanding. They are seeking for voting rights, good future for their children, a home, a job and some friends. Not tolerance but bread and freedom.

Oops, I think I just defined the American Dream.

It´s Live!

screenshot of Argumentti.com
Originally uploaded by amsterboy

Finally, after months of work, my company´s website is live. Thanks a lot to Sasha Huber and Kryptoniitti for the brilliant work in putting it together.

The idea for the site was to give a clear idea of my professional experience and what I wish to do in the future. It was a conscious move to make it bilingual as I want to keep on doing work both in and outside Finland and in Finnish as well as English.

Demos Helsinki

Demos UK, Demos Helsinki´s sister/brother/associate in London, just turned 16 and celebrated this with a new video on their focus on power and with a new website.

One Less Device in the World

italk
Originally uploaded by amsterboy

I had a big interview to do today and was about to buy a new voice recorder. Kind of came to the conclusion that the old C-cassette machine was in need of pimping up. After seeing the prices of the Olympus machines, I decided to check whether Apple would have microphones to be used in iPhone or iPod. The nice guy in the store recommended that instead of buying a microphone and a recorder, I should just download the free iTalk software from App Store.

Tested it today and it works perfectly. Sound quality is good, it does not use a lot of battery and the files are easily transported to iTunes for further use. And what is most important, I did not need to buy more gadgets as Apple and its friends had solved the issue for me - free of charge.Thank you, Mr Jobs.

We Need A Project

photo
Originally uploaded by amsterboy

I saw this fridge magnet on a notice board at the University of Arts and Design today. It was apparently a response to a request to join a project. It made me think of some meetings and seminars that I have attended where a new project seems to be the goal of the work, not actually solving a problem in the organisation.

Quick translation:
"Coupling phrases ´higher education institution´ and ´design project´ causes such a bad disgust in me already that huh-huh (editorial note: Finnish expression for exhaustion). On one hand it may up to the fact that I am myself in such a shitty school but still it makes me doubt. It feels that all the time one designs the design of design but nothing concrete or useful is never achieved. But maybe I am in a shitty school and that one is a really nice project. That´s all from me. - Paavo"

However, looking at the issue from the positive side, it is a sign of healthy self-criticism that this quote is as a reminder in the coffee room.

Argumentti.com - concepts and arguments

One - not that serious - explanation to what I do for work. This time in the form of a video. More details shortly at www.argumentti.com. Thanks for the video tip, Paul.

Nordic

Dagens Nyheter
Originally uploaded by Henrik

I sat the last two days in a seminar by the Nordic Culture Fund on diversity and Nordic cultural work. On the last day we ended up in a heated debate in our workshop on whether being Nordic is an identity and how does that come together with goals of inclusion and integration.

I said first in the discussion that I would see the Nordic countries rather as a natural area of collaboration rather as an identity with historic routes. The ethnic-cultural-historical argument for the Nordic countries easily stands in the way of true equality and integration. The links are obvious to those Europeans who claim that we share the same values and a history.

I realised towards the end of the seminar that my idea of the Nordic region was something special and I feel parts of it can be explained through the Finnish language. I realise that I have grown up with an idea of the Nordic region as something where peace and justice prevail. This is something I picked up from school, not that much which country oppressed which Nordic country at which time and who really had the vikings.

I was brought up with the idea that the Nordic identity and aspiration can be explained through actions of people like Anna Lindh, Olof Palme, Martti Ahtisaari or Hans Blix. That Finland was on its way to being Nordic. That Nordic means also peculiar people who do not fit to all conventions and who dare to touch our sensitivities like Tove Jansson, Lars von Trier or Ingmar Bergman. That Nobel Peace Prize illustrates Nordic actions by Nordic and non-Nordic people. That being Nordic means believing in the human being, having a clear sense of ethics, trusting your neighbours (passport-free border-crossing for ages) and working for the benefit of mankind. That here in the North we give from our own when we have enough. That Nordic is something we need to work for - hard. And more often than we would like to admit, we we fall short in living up to those noble ideals. That Nordic is not a state of being, it is a responsibility for action. And that of course we should not claim to own this package of ideals but that the combination of them makes our life up in these circumstances worthwhile.

I wonder if this articulation of the Nordic identity could also function as a tool for integration and inclusion. It may sound slightly naive but it gives me a sense of direction and a reason for optimism. In term of integration we wound need recognise those beautiful ideas, make concrete the individual and societal work needed to make our way towards them and be honest about the shortcomings in terms of greed, protectionism and selfishness. Of this we have a tremendous amount of examples from the last 20 years.

That we would consciously shift our focus to what we can become at our best and to our personal responsibility rather than obsessing over a shared past. The Nordic Dream seen here would be very different from the European or American one.

Spreading Meanings, Not Viruses

Don't Flu Yourself
Originally uploaded by daviddaneman

Last weeks have been quite exciting in terms of finding a new way of working. Going from an office job to freelancing has meant learning a new sense of pace. All the things I do currently are assignments where my work is measured on the originality of the ideas I produce, not based on the hours I spend at the office. It has also meant that I need to learn a new way of implementing reading and browsing as an essential part of my weekly routine. They count in the end much more than coordination meetings. It is fun - I give you that -, but it is also work.

I have developed a completely new way of using the Web. At the hectic office I used the Internet mostly like fast food, like media snacks (munched easily with increasing frequency and maximum speed – like chips – a description from Miller in Wired) between emails and phone calls. Now I take daily an hour or two to go through a dozen or so blogs, mark interesting stuff on Delicious and develop a more systematic way of finding content. Finding content that matters takes time and diligence.

The best thing I have discovered is Henry Jenkins´ blog. MIT´s Media Professor Jenkins focuses on what people are doing with media rather than on what the media is doing to people. His approach is critical but enthusiastic and he does not shy away from using very current examples for making his case.

His 8-part essay If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead is something I would recommend for everyone working with brands and media culture. Jenkins sees consumers as empowered and intelligent species using media for their own purposes and goes beyond the discussion on virals. He talks about the spreadability of media – that citizens spread and reform content rather than passively carry a virus. That spreading media is an essential part of reputation management online. Just think of your own Facebook usage – what you link and post tells your “friends” a lot about who you are.

A statement by Jenkins that is highly useful for instance for my work with StrangerFestival: loss of producers´ control over meaning is a precondition for circulation. Spreadable media memes have to available for remixing before transferring so that people can use them for their own purposes to recreate meaning. As John Fiske puts it: this is where mass culture turns into popular culture. From a producer´s point of view creating media content that “sticks” on people would be wonderful but today´s successful content is one that spreads, shapes and puzzles. Which is actually quite liberating and empowering if you really think about it.

Boiling It Together

Soup Ingredients
Originally uploaded by Anne Helmond

So, month 1 done as an entrepeneur. Some reflections are in order:
1. It feels so liberating to be in charge of your own schedule and work load. Everyne should at times try to define to oneself and others what you can do. It is good for your (professional) self esteem.
2. There is bureaucracy involved but you manage if you just get yourself into it. Good accountant helps. Taxation is not rocket science. Pricing is something I guess one learns only by doing.
3. Coming up with ideas and concepts is the best job ever. You also need people skills to make this work. But this kind of work is made for someone with a slight attention deficit because you have to stay alert and keep numerous balls in the air simultaneously.

So here is my Going Up and Going Down list from the first month:

GOING UP
- Lähivakuutus and Fennia: extremely good service doing exactly what an insurance company should do: take the worry away. Understanding that the salesperson should be the one knowing their product catalogue, not the customer.
- Cafes: I find writing in a cafe often more productive than at home. The buzz and soundbites from random discussions are inspiring.
- Verottaja: The Finnish tax authority has one of the clearest website around and superb customer service on the phone. Governmental excellence if you ask me. One of those things where regionalisation of phone service works - the ladies answering the phone outside the capital region are so relaxed and kind of motherly. "Don´t you worry, dear, it is all going to work out."
- Home food: Making pulla, macaroni casserole, meatloaf, meat balls with brown sauce and baking your own pizza is a splendid exercise after a long day in front of the computer.
- K-Market Kamppi: Sometimes size matters. When you have a big space in the centre, you can provide your customers with affordable organic products, fresh fruit and vegetables, great selection of beer and helpful meat&fish desk. Placing this market on top of the bus station and a metro stop is a wise choice.
- Demos Helsinki: cooking up a number of projects with them. People having this fresh and inspiring view on climate change and citizenship are hard to find.
- Blogs: Only now when I have more time for content, I realise really how great blogs there are out there. Some witty, some informative. Looking constantly for more but my current ones are there on the left hand side.
- Public transport: In Amsterdam I barely used public transport. But I must say that Helsinki has a punctual, well-planned and relatively affordable public transport system. HKL is the best argument against buying a car. And it is so much easier to read a book on a tram than on the bike.

GOING DOWN

- Nordea and OP-Pohjola: The beautiful idea of providing bank and insurance services from the same counter leads to the people at the counter not knowing the basics of the products they are selling and asking the customer to identify the products from their product catalogue. And hey, giving a pile of terms and conditions is not customer service - I could have printed them myself.
- Sonera: changing from Elisa to Sonera (for the iPhone) did not start too well. They for some bizarre reason "forgot" to process my application for two weeks and then I need to wait for my new phone for 3 weeks. What is the logic in individuals getting their phone directly in the store and business customers having to wait for weeks?

So all and all, we are strongly on the plus side. Next month should land a few big projects so we are all set to make this work.

Not On Automatic

Gear Shift Knob
Originally uploaded by Еmre

Yesterday I read a big piece from the Finnish financial magazine Optio on the concept of downshifting, a notion of slowing down apparently raising interest and popularity amongst professionals in their 20s and 30s. Less work and more life kind of sums up the idea.

I am looking at things slightly differently. Starting my own business and working for myself does not automatically mean that I would start working less, more likely is the opposite. As regular working hours are gone, it is easy to extend the working day from both ends. But at least now, after a humble experience of three days, being in control of my own schedule feels quite empowering.

I meet a lot of people who tend to act like their life would be on automatic gear and constantly accelerating. Ending a regular job and taking the entrepeneurial risks on my shoulders means for me that I go back to the traditional gear shift. I drive my own vehicle and I am therefore responsible for its road safety and maintenance. I started this yesterday with a visit to the insurance company.

Even when I will be most likely working more and longer days, on times like these it feels good to be closer to the ones you love and being able to plan personal matters into the middle of my day and not only after 17h00. Having a one-day-old nephew and having 3-year-old nephew with the need of daycare every now and then, it feels good that I can put my work-vehicle on gear 1 (or even lower) at times and take time for going to the park.

Finland Lived From The Forest

Old-growth forest logging in Kainuu, eastern Finland
Originally uploaded by Greenpeace Finland

As I was cycling today to the office, my phone beeped:"Check www.hs.fi when you get in to work...ugly day for finnish paper!" I sort of knew what was happening. During the last years the only news related to Finland´s pre-Nokia core business have been closures and strikes. But today´s news was in its own league: both Stora Enso and UPM are closing down several units leaving over 2.000 people unemployed.

But the tragedy does not end here. When an IT-company fires people in the capital region, the employees have still a big sea for job-hunting. But when an industry such as paper and carton closes down a unit, they by and large close down a town. In towns like Kainuu, Valkeakoski and Imatra more or less the whole community is linked to the unit. What starts with the factory workers, will be soon knocking on the doors of shop keepers, sub contractors and truck drivers. Social workers have a busy time ahead.

The most grotesque side of things is how capitalism works in these situations. The stocks bounce up in record-breaking numbers and the analysts congratulate the management for their boldness. For the paper worker with a big mortgage in Imatra it must be like kicking the one already down.

Efficient Holidays

Work!
Originally uploaded by it'sManu

I wonder if there is a school where they teach how to be on holiday. As my last week of summer holidays starts, I realise that I suck in taking a break. I find it extremely difficult to stay away from work emails or from scheduling. It easily leads to a situation where you create anxiety for the days passing by without allowing yourself to let go. I confess opening it several times over the last month and then ending up answering emails which might as well waited.

I mean it has been a fantastic holiday. We have done a lot and been to zillion places. But i remember a situation from the hotel pool in Las Vegas where I was told that my behaviour gives reason to believe that I have AD/HD. I am bored within 20 minutes at a pool. I find myself carrying a book, the iPod and a pile of magazines with me to kill the time. And before long, I had to get up, walk around the pool, check the cabana shop, buy the newspaper and dive into the world of global politics. I was told that this gives reason for concern. Only the overpriced Internet connection kept me away from updating the Facebook status. How sad.

I do understand now why a lot of people decide to spend their holidays in places without proper Internet connections and where using your mobile phone is ridiculously expensive. It is a useful but painful exercise to detach and admit that the world keeps on spinning and things don´t immediately fall into pieces when you are away for a bit.

Strangers Are Here

StrangerFestival Buildup Day1
Originally uploaded by amsterboy

1,5 years of work and here we are. StrangerFestival started today. All these people we have been communicating with by email and phone for ages are here with many young people who are scared, overwhelmed, excited and curious. We visited the location today and the entire team went silent: this is why we have worked so hard - to create an event that is beautiful, meaningful and fun.

Today my telephone has been ringing with questions on DVD formats, bus tickets, hotel and hostels and what have you. I have shaken many hands and had many 2-3-minute discussions. The great thing is that even if people are critical, they are grateful and enthusiastic and they appreciate the effort we make to make this a joint success.

It's a bit confusing the entire feeling- it is so much at the same time that it takes a moment to suck it in. I just came home for an hour to relax, change and get ready for the evening. Fun, fun, fun!

Final Countdown

It is nearly here. The travels have been organised, the participants have been informed about the workshops they take part in, the posters are across the city and the voting for the AudienceAward approaches its closure. Next Thursday 19.00 doors open at the Gashouder.

Here quite an entertaining and smart video from Rotterdam competing for the AmsterdamAward, the prize for Best Dutch video.

Tale of Two Worlds

StrangerFestival poster at Hugo de Grootplein
Originally uploaded by amsterboy

"Sir, we have two alternatives for you."

1. Exhausting, budgets, deadlines, Excel, "do we have this money or not", "this registration of hundreds of people really takes a lot of time". "I thought you were doing this", "shouldn´t we leave the office, it is like eight in the evening".

2. "I saw them, I saw them, I saw them on my way to work! The posters are everywhere! Can we just leave the office and go and take pictures of all StrangerFestival posters in Amsterdam!?", "I love these AudienceAward final videos! I can watch some of these like gazillion times.", "Yes, the Congolese video makers are coming!", "This MC performance will be sooooo cool!"

"So, are you ready to lock your options?"
"Yes, I think I will go for two."
"No hesitation there? Would you like to call someone or ask the audience?"
"No, let´s go for two."

And We Would All Be Safe

Insomnia III
Originally uploaded by Maria takes pictures.

Yesterday I lectured in Geneva to a group of designers on the ways ‘we’ and ‘them’ are produced in youth cultures. One of my key themes in the presentation was the sense of insecurity felt by a large number of teenagers. There is not one single reason to point out: the sense of instability and anxiety results from the Internet, secularism, social inequality, lack of attention and confusion on parenthood just to name a few. The Internet is giving a voice for millions of freedom fighters but also acting as an efficient tool to terrorists, pedophiles and bullies. Therefore it does not come as surprise that one can witness an escapist sentiment in many youth cultures, which can be interpreted as a reaction to the world that the baby-boomers are offering. We’re destroying our planet, the public sphere and killing people on our borders. A growing number of teenagers are asking: what is the point really?

Of course the sense of instability and anxiety is not a privilege of teenagers. Kate Kellaway writes in this weekend’s The Observer how insomnia is becoming an epidemic of our era. The numbers are shocking: 27 % of Brits have at least three nights of bad sleep per week, 63 % suffer at least one. One in four Brits are finding it difficult to sleep well. The Western world seems to be turning into a community of unhappy, scared and wealthy zombies.

The Observer had asked a number of insomniacs to tell about their difficulties with sleep. As an insomniac myself, the stories are frighteningly familiar. During the last three and a half years I can’t remember a week when I had slept well seven nights in a row so reading the article felt like they had installed Big Brother cameras into my bedroom. As any insomniac knows, lack of sleep is not 100 % bad. Journalist Tim Adams describes the unusual moment of clarity emerging often in the middle of the night when sitting in a quiet house with your laptop and schoolgirl Elsa Vulliamy talks about the fear of the bed. It is black AND white, good AND horrible. “I’d just want it to be morning again” – a quote from Vulliamy – is something right from my mind earlier this week but I also can remember from my freelancer days the addiction to working in the middle of the night - which had as its flipside the grumpy zombie moments around three-four in the afternoon. And someone who always sleeps well cannot understand how much like a Superman an insomniac feels after nine hours of continuous sleep.

After my presentation yesterday we ended up talking about the responsibility of adults – teachers and parents specifically - when it comes to teenagers sharing intimate stuff online. We have entered a world where more and more parents are finding it difficult to perform some of the key roles of being a parent: protecting the child, passing knowledge onward and at times making the decision for the child. The helpless feeling is something we all insomniacs recognize – you feel very abandoned and helpless, lying in your own bed eyes wide open and thinking about the rest of the world resting in peace.