Life Now
"Community-sourced photographs with purpose"
Table of Contents
Developing a topic:
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention."
Not having something that is necessary is a problem. Problems often make good topics. Let's look at necessities.
- Some things are necessary for all living things. Examples:
- Food
- Air
- Water
- Shelter from danger, including structures and clothing
- Sleep
- Some things are necessary for what Thomas Jefferson called "civilization." Examples:
- Reading
- Writing
- Arithmetic
- Some things are necessary for individuals. Examples:
- Calm Fulfillment
- Energy
- Strength
- To move away from fear and increase comfort and security.
- Sensory awareness
- Hearing - the ability for the brain to take in information by ear
- Touching - the ability for the brain to take in information by feel
- Smelling - the ability for the brain to take in information through the nose
- Tasting - the ability for the brain to take in information by mouth
- Seeing - the ability for the brain to take in information visually, through the eyes
- Vision, in the sense of dreaming and planning:
- Dreaming - about what seems unattainable
- Planning - for what seems possible, with:
- Realistic understanding of current situations
- Stated purpose (Example: "Survive past 26 and not stay in the poverty to which I was born.")
- Clearly defined goals - stated one goal at a time. (Example: "Be the first in my family to graduate from college.")
- Action-oriented tasks with pertinent details and timetables showing a sequence from current situation to stated goal. Example:
- Ask my advisor (whoever/wherever that person may be: parent, teacher, clergy, etc.)
- Follow-up on what my advisor tells me
- Go to local library
- Get list of colleges from local library
- Ask the librarian about the colleges
- Ask the librarian about applying for colleges
- While I am there having a conversation with a librarian, I might ask him or her what it is like being a librarian. (I never thought about being a librarian, but I might like to do that.)
- Follow-up on what the librarian tells me
- Contact a college
- Ask someone "How do I become a student, at your college?"
- Ask the person I am transferred to "How do I become a student, at your college?"
- Follow-up on what that person says.
- Review any material that college may send me in the U.S. mail or by email or otherwise.
- Repeat.
- Repeat.
- Repeat (until I have at least 3 schools that seem interesting to me.)
- Contact each of those colleges that interest me. Ask questions such as:
- "How do I find out more about becoming a student at your college?"
- "What arrangements can I make to visit your college:
- If I live in ____ part of town, my parent(s) cannot afford to help me, and I do not have a car?
- I looked at the map on my phone and it looks like there is a bus stop at __________, is that near you?
- I don't know how much my parent(s) would want me traveling on a bus by myself, could you connect me with a student or graduate who lives in my area, so I can find out more about your college without leaving home or school?
- When I find a college that is comfortable for me, I will ask someone I have talked with before at that college about my interest in _______.
- I will explain that the only camera I can afford is the one in my phone.
- My friends and teachers say I take good pictures.
- I have even posted some on Life Now. I can let them know how they can look at my photographs with purpose.
- "I would like to know how to become a better photographer. If I come to your school, is that something I can learn?"
- Follow-up question if they say yes and talk about a particularly good teacher: "Could you please connect me with Professor ____________, the teacher you were just talking about?"
- Most likely I will have to leave a message. When I finally get a call back from someone like the Secretary of the Director of the teacher's Department, I will explain my interest in photography.
- When I finally get to talk to a teacher, who might teach me if I become a student there, I will explain, again, my interest in photography and finally get a sense of whether I think I will be able to learn something from them.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat.
This could be anything that interests me, such as knitting, world history and politics, helping people, taking care of pets, etc. etc. etc. Just to take an example, let's say I am interested in photography. I could write down on paper action-steps like the following:
Of course, I might like the first school I talk with, and they might like me, and someone at my school or their college will help me with the forms, and I will pass their tests and meet their requirements, and I will get a student loan with repayments capped at 10% of my future income because I want to "give back" and will be using my degree in service to the public, and I will save myself a lot of time by not having to complete all the action-steps I have listed above!
[For information about repaying students loans out of future income, see footnote.]
Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs
From 1943 to 1954 Abraham Maslow publicly developed a theory that recognized and prioritized human needs. As his theory expanded, grew deeper, and became more complex, he found publishers and left markers (in the form of books, articles, notes, etc.) so we can now see the public side of his creative processes. Often this theory is presented as a graphic:
This is one view of what people need to survive at the physiological level and thrive at higher levels. [See footnote, then BBB]
There could be other needs.
In fact, as Abraham Maslow continued to work and publish into the '70s, he added more layers to the pyramid.
The Life Now Process
Each registered member of the Life Now community may have an album and that album may contain smaller albums. It is expected that one album will be for personal use and other albums will focus on various themes.
- Theme: A theme is the recognition of a problem or, for LifeNow members with long-range vision: the potential to become a problem. Let's use an example: "water as part of the human experience"
- Everyone: Water is necessary for all living things
- Drinking water (aka: potable water)
- Problem - No Drinking Water. Level of Necessity - Urgent.
- Problem - No easily accessible drinking water. Level of Necessity - High.
- Problem - Processes for providing drinking water. Level of Necessity - High if the processes break down.
- Lawn water: While all water must be in a form that is not unduly harmful to people, not all water has to be drinkable. some can be used for other purposes, such as watering lawns and producing products.
- Individuals: Water is necessary to me because it improves my life
- Water calms me - Maybe I'll create an album that demonstrates the benefit of "calm" and displays calming waters, like beautiful sunsets over the Gulf, quiet streams, roaring waterfalls and decorative fountains.
A problem is something that creates such necessity that it may stimulate creativity.
Once a member establishes an album with a theme, creates a message, and uploads photographs focused on that theme to explain the message, they may propose to the community that the theme be adopted communitywide so any registered member of the Life Now community may contribute to that theme.
This website is a work in progress in space donated by the 24/7 Caregiving Products Company, LLC for demonstration purposes and membership in the Life Now community is in beta. No guarantees, no warranties.
Step back from your daily life and make a photograph that says something about what you are experiencing; a photograph you would be proud to show someone you respect.
Stepping back from a problem can sometimes give us a more objective perspective. Individually we may gain new insight and when we bring our photographs together we will create a montage that may reveal new perspectives.
Now that this Gallery is reality, it may be used to record and present views centered on almost any issue.
For example, "Steven," the first registered member of the Life Now community, hopes to build an album focused on Alzheimers and aging in place.
Aspirationally, the dream is that this website will be the catalyst for better pics that achieve the goal of photography with a purpose.
Footnotes
- Cap on Student Loan Repayment
- U. S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid (Cache)
- White House (Cache)
- The Atlantic (Cache)
- Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs:
- Wikipedia (Cache)
- Simply Psychology (Cache)
- BBC (Cache)
- As used to analyze literature: Kennedy's Blog, 22 January 2014 (Cache)
- As utilized by nursing professionals: NCLEX-RN (Cache)
Disclaimer(s)
1. Life Now grew out of ideas spawned by discussions surrounding the Pennies for Community Progress idea. Mr. Mohammed, the founder and energy behind the Quality of Life Center (also known as "The Q") shared his energy with the community and facilitated the organization of these conversations.
Mr. Mohammed started focusing on action because, to paraphrase what he realized from these discussions, "Enough is enough. We've had enough!"
It is time, he said, for us to go out into the greater community and raise interest in this process which has come to be known by its movement name: "Pennies for Community Progress" (P4CP).
2. This website is not official programming of P4CP but an unofficial website responding to the request of Mr. Mohammed to make the greater community aware of P4CP. Spawned by ideas from the Pennies for Community Progress movement, this website presence extends the P4CP forum to the worldwide community.
This is an independent project by an independent journalist, me, Steven Blumrosen, a bio-person with natural and constitutional rights to free speech and the vote.
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Website founded November 26, 2015 to give thanks for the blessings of liberty and the responsibility that comes with freedom.