You searched for all - Page 5 of 10 - INSPIREFLIX

Double Life

This story is about a person who lives two lives simultaneously in and out of home. He has people who he feels comfortable being himself around with, but also feels uncomfortable being himself around certain others. He identifies himself as a gay man, but is not full out of the closet. His parents are homophobic and yet he hasn’t told them the big truth. He wants to, but is afraid of the outcome. The protagonist pretends to be someone he’s not around his family, but is himself when around his friends. He’s been secretly dating a guy for over 2 years and is happy with him, but the fact that the relationship is kept as a secret from his family gradually eats him up day by day. Eventually, he comes out to his parents, and the result is not how he wanted to turn out. Sadly, the parents and their son haven’t been in contact with one another for years, but the protagonist has a steady life outside of family in terms of work, finance and relationships.

Double Life Read More »

Meet meat

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

Today there is a different level of consciousness when it comes to food consumption and our food chain. Even though we are more removed from seeing how meat and animal products are produced, there is a greater movement towards veganism and more plant-based diets. Throughout history, and in some areas today, how people produce animals and animal products for consumption has and is treated with much more care and ethics. I believe that the more we tried to produce animals and animal products for consumption to cater to such a mass audience and at a low cost, is when many people started to see the negative circumstances and detrimental results of doing this. By this I mean the inhumane conditions which animals are confined to, the outcome of having such a high number of animals alive for consumption impacting the environment and the health impacts of consuming as much meat and animal products as many of us do today. I understand that many people argue that we have consumed animals for centuries, protest about their need for specific nutrients and protein or say “it is just the food chain and the way things are done”; which I generally think is a lazy argument. As I mentioned, there have been recent changes in the production of meat and animal products increasing the amount of antibiotics and harmful additives pumped into meat and animal products and changes to the way animals are held and treated at mass producing farms. So, it is not the way things have always been done. I think as humans many of us have a fractured relationship with animals, which is why some of these contradicting behaviours and opinions occur. In certain instances some people will go to the ends of the earth to defend meat eating and in other instances when there are animals in our care the same people will show extreme affection and love towards them; sometimes even going the extra mile and show better care to the animals than they would to humans. I watched an episode of a TV show on SBS called ‘Insight’ which explored the topic of meat and animal product consumption. There was a chef on the episode who was part of the discussion. He mainly discussed that from his perspective, in the Western world, there is so much waste when it comes to food. He continued to argue that if anything we should focus on being more conscious of this waste and be educated and encouraged to make use of the whole animal. What I generally take away from the meat vs no meat debate is to be more conscious and change the way we consume and grow animals and animal products, and work towards consuming more of the animal and savouring it. How I generally consume meat and animal products is by choosing providers which source from organic and genuine free-range farmers. I believe that by reverting to previous forms of meat and animal product production, there will be reduced environmental degradation, enhanced ethics in the way we treat animals and improved health. I believe in veganism and I also believe in significantly reducing the amount of meat and animal product consumption.

Meet meat Read More »

Invasion Day

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

I know a lot of people have strong opinions on Australia Day, what it means, if we should continue to have a national holiday, and some aren’t too concerned as long as a public holiday remains. I definitely hold the view that Aboriginal culture and history should be respected, in particular when thinking about our national holiday. My mind goes in circles when thinking and writing about Australia Day and its history. I know that some people don’t delve too much into the thinking about Australia Day’s date and the significance of it. For some people it’s just nice to have the day off and relax. I know I did some classic Aussie things on Australia Day this year 2022. I went to Bunnings and had a sausage sizzle BBQ. It wasn’t so much to celebrate but it was more the fact that I had a day off and my sister and I wanted to do some gardening. Then two seconds later we smelt the BBQ and it just happened to be Australia Day whilst we were doing all of that. I saw a documentary where an interviewer was asking people on Australia Day why they celebrate it and informed some that the day is actually when the country was invaded; the beginning of the loss of Aboriginal land, rights, freedoms, culture, language and history. Sometimes people were quite surprised by this information and just hadn’t been informed, or thought much about Australia Day and Aboriginal people in conjunction. Other responses were disturbing where they would ignore and dismiss what the interviewer just said as if he were lying. I understand that sometimes it can be difficult to deconstruct thinking, beliefs and values which people have had for a long time or since birth, but the alternative of turning a blind eye to injustice and genocide is devasting. I did a little research to understand what exactly people are celebrating. Many celebrate Australia broadly with no reference to its colonisation history. Others celebrate the welcoming of new citizens, whilst some celebrate having a day off to day drink and stick Australian flag merchandise all over the place. I don’t think that many people are saying not to celebrate Australia or Australian culture. A lot of the controversy appears to be around the specific date of Australia Day. Many countries have national holidays which aren’t in union with colonisation periods. I believe we can still be patriots and proud of Australia whilst making a significant effort to achieving reconciliation. Perhaps a place to continue reconciliation efforts would be with changing the date? I read a beautiful poem in an article on ‘Creative Spirits’ website, under ‘Australia Day – Invasion Day’, by Sandra Gaal Hayman: I am not black I am not white I am not wrong I am not right I am now here Not been before My ancestors Are here no more I am not black I am not white I am not wrong I am not right Their spirit lives in every way Always will unto this day They are so proud and love their land Traditional custodians will stand I am not black I am not white I am not wrong I am not right We have so much to offer all Generations past still call This great land of ours abounds Where harmony and peace are found I am not black I am not white I am not wrong I am not right Proud and true is who we are Some from here and some from far Help each other the best we can That makes us ALL Australian. Source: Jens Korff, 2021. Australia Day – Invasion Day. [online] Creative Spirits. Available at: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-day-invasion-day [Accessed 30 January 2022].

Invasion Day Read More »

The Grind

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

Personally, when I think of the word ‘lazy’ I think of mess, disorganisation, tiredness and boredom. I recently read this article in Smith Journal about laziness and how laziness is something which should be valued. I agree with this. I am agreeing with the argument made that the constant need or feeling the need to be productive actually isn’t as important as it’s made out to be. We live in a period where there’s this glamourisation of ‘the daily grind’ and ‘the hustle’, where overworking is often viewed as the way to success and happiness. I would like to acknowledge that there is a slow shift to appreciating our mental health, slowing down, mindfulness and investing in relationships more. I do however still see the ever-present overworking riddled in so many spaces, and I don’t just mean at the office. Even as I’m writing this I am trying to hurry so I can get on with completing some standard life admin tasks. I’m not talking about when we have important deadlines where there are serious consequences to not completing something and when things need to be completed in order to meet needs and get fed. What I am more referring to is the culture as a whole of valuing “productivity” over self-care. It really can be a challenge when people as individuals try to balance everything. It is good to want to pursue a career and do well in that career, and because the workforce is so competitive the expectation of how people have to work is by hustling and working themselves into the ground. What often gets sacrificed is personal wellness and the maintenance of our general sanity. Too often I hear about people needing to complete a Bachelor’s degree, whilst working part-time or casually in some café or store, volunteering and completing and internship at some point. This is pretty normal and sometimes considered the average amount of work. I remember struggling to stay afloat during my uni days and I was very privileged in terms of living at home and not needing to work full-time, on top of uni in order to stay alive. How much harder many people have to work if they do live out of home, are carers for other people or have children, or any other consuming responsibilities, is pretty unimaginable. What is the value of this? Is it really a greater output? There is this guilt which lives inside a lot of people if they choose to do “nothing” on the weekend, perhaps watch some tv or alike. Many times I’ve heard people feeling pressure to give an exciting answer when asked what they have planned for their weekend, when lots want to enjoy their weekends genuinely relaxing. However the perception of doing “nothing” is concerning, not just from outsiders but also the self-perception of not doing enough. In reality many people have to work 9:00am-5:00pm Monday to Friday each week at a minimum so is it really so bad if on our weekends we actually slow down? Most of the time plenty of us have to get organised like meal planning, cleaning our homes, washing our clothes, cooking and/or exercising. Only after this, if we even manage to get these tasks done, do we have a chance to do nothing; often the pressure can kick in for us to do something. So it’s back to the good old grind.

The Grind Read More »

Welcome to Stepford!

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

The film ‘The Stepford Wives’ examines a number of important issues in terms of gender equality and women’s liberation. I remember hearing the term ‘Stepford wife’ prior to seeing the film, prompting me to watch it. I was interested in how women’s rights were explored by designing women as robots subservient to their husbands. Whilst the film explores the idea and practise of forced submission to a power figure within marriages and as a community, it’s a model which I’ve noticed filtered throughout society in other ways. The film also explores the concept of diversity, how the idea of someone being different, relative to the group norm, is condemned. In the film condemnation is expressed through a pseudo welcoming, to then encourage force moulding of the outsider wife into a robot. This concept of diversity, along with The Stepford Wives, remains extremely relevant today in many settings. Rarely is there a genuine appreciation and respect for people’s differences. There is so much emphasis in the social conversation of diversity about ethnic, religious, class, gender, sexuality, age and disability diversity and having this physically represented within spaces. This is not to say that this diversity is not important, it absolutely is and I even find that diversity amongst these groups is not effectively executed. What I am more referring to is genuine diversity amongst people where inclusion of certain groups or people is uncomfortable, or requires creative change to include them. For example, when modifications need to be made to effectively include people so that they can apply themselves and reach their full potential; whilst successfully contributing to a group’s goals. I recently read a post on LinkedIn about an experience of a young lady who was trying to gain employment but continued to face barriers of employers who were unwilling to accommodate someone in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, unwillingness to make positive changes for people is riddled in many spaces. The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on issues where inclusion of certain people is more uncommon. For example, people suffering with mental illness and managing mental health, and people who have more unique and introverted personality types. What became clear was that society and workplaces are often structured and catered to accommodate more extroverted personalities. Much of the mental health care which was provided from employers during the pandemic was to ensure that people were managing ok with lockdowns and the lack of social mobility. Whilst it is a positive thing to see improved access to mental health care services, mental illness is rampant outside of a global pandemic. I often hear how mental illness and mental health care is more accepted today however, in instances where modifications need to be made to someone’s schedule, environment or way of living, it can sometimes be more unaccepted or perceived as an inconvenience. Similarly, the pandemic saw plenty of people working from home which was quite energising for many introverts out there. This sort of flexibility is something which should be respected a lot more. The genuine appreciation for diversity is also the creation of environments and spaces which allow people to reach their full potential. In turn ultimately benefiting the organisation or group which someone is part of. Modifications for people can be so simple and overall contribute to wellbeing. For many people having the ability to work from home can allow them to properly focus on objectives and work to their maximum potential, as they are separate from social politics and distractions. This sort of setting should be better understood as productive and not as disinterest in the organisation, group or people. An enhanced understanding about personality types and what they need is essential for sustainable relationships. If working from home meant that a person was able to maintain their personal wellness and uphold the best work performance for themselves, then this should be valued and permitted. The wellbeing and sustainability of people is critical in achieving goals, maintaining healthy relationships and generating positive output. Overall, the Stepford model of forced moulding for everyone to be the same is outdated and unproductive. Modifications is a key element of success and should be highly regarded as a tool for organisational and personal success.

Welcome to Stepford! Read More »

Thank You For Your Comment

INSPIREFLIX FUND

Thank You For Your Comment Please help our charity do more! Please Donate Let’s build a publicly funded global broadcaster! We believe that independent unbiased documentary production can only be possible if it is founded by donors from the general public and not a few large stakeholders. This is why INSPIREFLIX does not take on large investment but subsidises its budget from licensing it’s content, small public donations from the general public, and small, carefully selected sponsorships. Tax-deductible Donation! Help one of our active campaigns! We fund our films from taxt-deductible donations. You can choose which ever campaign is close to your heart. Please consider choosing one of the ongoing monthly donation options if you can. Thank you!!! View Active Campaigns Help Us Build The World’s First Publicly Funded Global Broadcaster ! Our Growth Plan Below is our simplified financial plan to fund the growth of INSPIREFLIX. This is how the source of our revenue will change over time. STAGE 1 Our first goal is to be able to fund the production of at least one new film from 10 international locations every month, before the next stage. $ 20,000 00 required monthly budget 10 filming locations 40% from public donations 35% from philanthropic donations 15% from sponsorships 10% from licensing & other fees Current STAGE 2 In order to unlock STAGE 3, we need to be able to fund the production of at least one new film from 50 international locations every month. $ 100,000 00 required monthly budget 50 filming locations 30% from public donations 25% from philanthropic donations 25% from sponsorships 20% from licensing & other fees STAGE 3 During STAGE 3, our goal is to grow the monthly film release locations to 100 from around the world. $ 200,000 00 required monthly budget 100 filming locations 15% from public donations 15% from philanthropic donations 35% from sponsorships 35% from licensing & other fees STAGE 4 In order to fulfill the first major milestone of our long-term mission, we need to be able to fund at least one new film from 200 international locations every month. $ 400,000 00 required monthly budget 200 filming locations 5% from public donations 5% from philanthropic donations 40% from sponsorships 50% from licensing & other fees

Thank You For Your Comment Read More »

Build the social entrepreneurship movement

Patience Zero

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

I’d like to acknowledge that I am by no means a therapist nor have I had any training in psychology. I believe that personal experience is extremely valid which is why I share my opinions and experiences on certain matters. I am hardly patient zero for any mental health struggles or the first person to find therapy a long and at times tedious process. I would have liked for my experience to be the exception but after hearing other people’s experiences repeated with similar themes to mine, I now recognise that it’s quite common for people to get fed up and find therapy ineffective. A recurring theme is the lack of willingness to find creative solutions to mental health care. There appears to be a model in which a number of therapists use to try and work with someone, to help them along the way in their mental health care journey and recovery. I recognise that this model can be of value in terms of a starting point to evaluate where someone is at in their journey but it is not always useful when people aren’t making progress or aren’t responding positively to therapies. The concept of patients just needing to be patient during a therapy process can become a bit insulting especially when many have been through so much emotionally, tried many types of therapy/therapists and are often at a breaking point. The idea of just remaining patient isn’t necessarily practical and often there is more urgency in some of these circumstances to make changes. “You just need to be patient” is a statement I never want to hear in therapy again; as if it’s the first time I’ve ever been told that or as if I’ve never even thought of that. When a patient is crying out and voicing their concerns as to how the model, skills and plan isn’t working, to then be dismissed and have it insinuated that those people just aren’t trying hard enough is appalling. I have been repeatedly ignored and dismissed when discussing my concerns with some therapists previously. There was an instance where I had to ask about eight times in a therapy session what a plan was to manage my struggles, and the psychiatrist ignored me every time. If a therapist is unsure as to how to manage a patient then that is one issue but there are things which can be done to mitigate the not knowing. In this instance a patient could have been handed over to a colleague who may have had expertise in a certain area or may be able to connect better with that patient based on certain personality traits. There are many types of therapy, skills and tactics which can be used to manage mental health and the fact that so few have been put forward by some therapists is worrying. The goal really should be on the patient and their recovery. However, too often I experience and hear other experiences as that of being people held and lured in a cycle of therapy. I’ve had a couple of instances with therapists where they would accuse me of blowing up the therapeutic relationship when I started to address my concerns of a lack of a plan, skills being developed, skills not being effective, lack of progress and lack of results long-term. In these situations the therapist wasn’t working with me adequately and they just didn’t understand me. The only therapist who has worked well for me and who has been able to help me was someone who really understood me and took the time to genuinely get to know me. They didn’t just make assumptions like the others did and took the information and interactions between us for what they were. When this specific psychologist wasn’t sure of what to do next they communicated with colleagues, did research on new therapies for complex post-traumatic stress disorder and tried to revisit therapies tried previously. There wasn’t a single time where they gave up on me and continued thinking of alternative treatments even when they wouldn’t be administered by themself. It wasn’t about business but about basic human decency and morality, where the patient and their wellbeing came first.

Patience Zero Read More »

A Humanist Approach to Change

Leave a Comment / Articles / Nitasha Akerman

I’ve always thought that a platform for storytelling could be a powerful tool. Many cultures have a strong appreciation and tradition of storytelling. When I was fourteen, I knew then that I wanted to be involved in writing and using different forms of expression to share and develop ideas. Initially I thought I would have to write fiction in order to effectively evoke ideas and emotions. I believed that fiction was the way to go as I did not see myself as having a unique perspective or experience. This idea that a person’s experience or perspective has to be somewhat unheard of in order to have value is not something I agree with. I found myself questioning ‘what does it mean to be unique?’. I kept trying to find out if I was unique but that was the wrong question. I realised that examining the world and going through certain challenges which I didn’t know how to manage was reason enough to write and share. I found that people genuinely appreciated this sharing and would respond with “I’ve never thought about it like that”. Fast-forward to now and I couldn’t think further from my fourteen-year-old self. I started to slowly write down anything that interested me, from cringeworthy attempts at screenplays to titles of band names. All of this contributed to ongoing critical assessments of the world and people, to then formulate into written reflections. I believe that many of us who feel isolated, small or that our experiences are sometimes insignificant can gain a lot from sharing and storytelling. I wanted to be a part of this sharing and collaboration, which is when I teamed up with Inspireflix. I will continue to post content here about Inspireflix’s campaigns, documentaries and on social issues. As a humanist myself I definitely appreciate the value of people, their capabilities and contributions. At times what I write can be interpreted as pessimistic of people and the world, however I am an idealist and I know that humans are capable of incredible things and positive change. I want these blog posts to encourage thinking, unlearning, and ultimately contribute to shifting the way people interact with each other. I believe within the world that a sense of community is important and by maintaining this structure we can incite more storytellers to come out and share their experiences. Talking about each other’s hardships and triumphs is something which can give each of us hope. I believe that from this people can better understand how to manage challenging times without falling into a downward spiral. Sharing also has such an impact to de-stigmatise many topics and concerns which some of us may not have heard of, or have no idea how to deal with. I recognise that not everyone has the appropriate or desired support structures around them and by creating a positive space for sharing and change, I hope that Inspireflix and the content it produces can provide some solace, support and inspire change for the better.

A Humanist Approach to Change Read More »

Designing a pathway to reduced crime

48 Comments / Amy Lockwood

When it comes to true rehabilitation, statistics say that prison is, at best, 50% effective.
Imagine a world where prisons acted as education hubs in which inmates could learn the skills they need to find meaningful employment after their release.
This small but determined team is striving for just that – working side by side with those from a range of diverse and often disadvantaged backgrounds who have been incarcerated for a variety of reasons, to help give them another chance at life.
Their mission is to tap into the hidden potential of those who want to change for the better, make a real difference to these forgotten members of society and, in turn, make the community safer.

Designing a pathway to reduced crime Read More »

Search Results for: all