Savvy Women

It’s an exciting time to be living in Egypt. Everyone seems to be newly energized after the recent revolution against the government. There is a palpable feeling of optimism as the old ways of thinking and doing things are being displaced by new ideas and citizen action.

This revolution has also been scary, as all revolutions are. That’s because Egyptians, like all people everywhere, fear change and the uncertainty that comes as a byproduct. Change, as Elizabeth Lesser reminds us in the video I’m blogging today, is terrifying because humans naturally seem to want to cling to the status quo. Take a look at what she has to say.

Yes. Yes. After watching Lesser talk, I know, in a very deep way, that she has hit upon a profound truth; she has put her finger on the most basic human dilemma: That we are drawn toward newness, but we simultaneously dread having to let go of the old.

Lesser is right to call this push-pull that goes on inside us a “war.” She’s also absolutely correct to argue that we all need to declare a truce in this conflict and learn to live with (and even embrace) the inevitable.

By the way, if you like Lesser and what she has to say, you might want to check out the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, the organization that she cofounded.

I apologize for my absence these past few weeks. During the Egyptian revolution it was simply impossible for me to blog for Savvy.

I am finally beginning to decompress from the whole experience. I saw and heard many frightening things during the uprising. Still, having said that, I am so happy I decided to remain in Egypt rather than being evacuated. I wanted to see, firsthand, history being made. I wanted to bear witness to the heroic efforts made by the citizens of Egypt as they waged a collective battle against a very repressive government.

Women were at the forefront of the struggle. I have decided to blog about two women who have been outspoken during this historic period. One of the women is young and Muslim and has gained great notoriety in the past couple of years as a tenacious activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. The other is older (notice that I didn’t say “old”) and a freethinker. She has earned a huge reputation, during her eighty years of life, as a medical doctor, author, and outspoken feminist/humanist. Both put their lives on the line when the chips were down.

In the clip that follows, Asmaa Mahfouz, a twenty-something Egyptian who has received a lot of press recently, including this piece about her in The New York Times, tells the story, to a couple of interviewers, of how she played a pivotal early role in the revolt.

Clip two is one of many available on Dr. Nawal El Saadawi. (For more information on this remarkable octogenarian, I recommend that you read this and/or watch this clip in which she talks about politics, feminism, democracy, and related topics.) In the short video included here, which was filmed as she was sitting on Tahrir Square during the uprising, she discusses the specific dirty tricks that were used by the Mubarak regime against the protestors.

Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned recently is that revolutions remind us that we are all connected through our universal struggle for dignity and self-determination. This sense of sharing a bond with others, in a common mission, comes through loud and clear in the words spoken by these heroic women.

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Post-script: After writing this, I went to the university library and checked out Dr. El Saadawi’s memoir, Walking through Fire. Though I am only a few pages into it, I can see it’s going to be a wonderful story brilliantly told.

This week I’m completing the second half of my two-part series on homes, home ownership, interior decorating, and all manner of related subjects.

The video I’ve included is a real treat. It’s a TED talk by Huntsville, Texas, home builder Dan Phillips, founder of Phoenix Commotion, a twelve-year-old company that builds affordable, one-of-a-kind houses from “trash” and other recycled material. But don’t let the term trash fool you. The houses are beautiful—at least to my eyes—and soulful in the extreme.

As you’ll soon find out, you get a lot of bang for your buck with this clip. It includes some lovely photos of some truly unique homes. It’s informative, thought-provoking, philosophical, and incredibly funny—the sort of thing that can be enjoyed by all sorts of viewers on a whole bunch of different levels. Expect to be surprised and entertained.

The first time I watched this video I was floored. I guess I had certain expectations that were a product of some narrow-minded thinking. I knew Phillips was a “home builder,” so I figured he’d come off as a typical hammerhead. Then I played the video and was shocked.

Phillips is a living example of what he was trying to get across in his talk. We hear “home” or “house” and we have certain expectation of these concepts based upon our past experiences. It’s his goal as an artist—certainly he is one—to challenge those preconceptions and to offer alternative interpretations of what those terms can mean. His life’s work is to teach us to go beyond the limitations that labels impose on our minds.

I certainly learned a few important lessons watching this video. One of them was not to be afraid to live boldly and authentically and experimentally. Another was that I constantly have to guard against the sort of thinking that limits possibilities.

Of course I also learned that Dan Phillips makes some of the most interesting and attractive homes I’ve ever seen.