Le Trendy

When I started this blog, I called it “Le Trendy” because I thought that I will be writing about trends all the time. For some reason, I don’ t, and even the name “ Le Trendy” is not trendy anymore, you will learn why in this post.  Anyway, here’s a post for all the trendy people out there victims of all types of trends, including me!

We, the “trendy”, try to follow trends as much as we can, and sometimes blindly! However, we tend forget that the most important thing is not to know about all the new trends, but to know which ones are already outdated.

Let me tell you about a few:

It’s not cool to say that you’re not on social networks anymore: for instance the people that refuse to have a Facebook Account! Yes they do exist. More than 10 Million users are already migrating to Google+ and they’ re not even on Facebook! Hello … it’s the communication network of the decade!

Not having a smart phone because you don’ t want to be a slave for your phone, e-mail, work, or whatever excuse some people use! I am sorry but it’s the best creation EVER! Inside this small device you have your phone, computer, camera, and GPS just to name a few.

Using e-mail for marketing, staying in touch with your friends, or anything other than working is nowadays just very annoying. With all the social networks it’s very easy to find almost anyone and the response rate is probably much higher (according to my personal experience).

To move a bit away from technology, some behaviors that were cool once upon a time are just seen as bad, one of them is smoking! Today smokers are seen as junkies, even in some countries they are thinking of allowing smoking only with a medical prescription! I think it was in New Zealand! I know it’s a bit of an exaggeration!

Finally, the “Super Model Skinny Anorexic Look” became NC (not cool). I really hope that the anorexia era will end soon! Nowadays super skinny people that don’ t eat or drink anything are seen as pathetic and mentally disturbed! So chill girls J finally you can be normal. You don’ t believe me? Check out last month’s cover of Vogue Italy (June 2011), featuring three curvy models in sexy black lingerie that just look as stunning as any Kate Moss or Jennifer Aniston.

Some fashion trends/statements that FINALLY became outdated are long colorful nails, flashy hair color, big tattoos and excessive piercing! Thank god all this eccentricity is OVERRR. It used to hurt my eyes!  Wait, don’t be mistaken, minimalism is very appreciated but don’ t take it to the extremes, some extra details, colors or mix of textiles, styles, accessories are always welcome.

As well, about fashion, the days of the Burberry checks and the big brands logos are as well long gone! Nowadays it is seen as pretentious and almost pathetic to wear very flagrant brands! Sorry for all the nouveaux riches out there that want to show off their new fortune ;)

A final outdated trend that is disappearing slowly but surely is the use of slang almost “gangster” vocabulary, including cutting words, reverse them or just end a word in another language like English or French (le trendy for instance ;)). Now all of our old language and grammar teachers can rest in peace!

Of course the list of outdated trends can go on forever, and everyday we have new trends coming and others dying or getting revived, but let’s hope that all of the above mentioned outdated trends never come back to life.

So be trendy, and leave all the outdated trends.

And you, what do you think?

Eliana 

Consumerism has been the topic of the decade and how with its spread the earth is suffering and all its prime resources are depleting. Blame it on the industrial revolution, or the irresponsible behavior of the baby boomers and the generations that followed them, whatever! Yes we all over consume, and most of us probably don’t even consider all those unnecessary purchases as overconsumption.

Everybody knows that gluttony leads to the depletion of the earth’s resources, but this subject has been over discussed and abused. Today, I want to talk about the social effect of consumerism. We were born and raised in a consumerist environment., since opening our eyes to this world we were flooded with clothes, toys, and other gadgets. I am not only talking about the rich people, even the poorer families had access to all those “un-necessities” especially after the proliferation of products made in China and all the replicas.

So from a very young age, we were used to having many things, and giving absolutely no value to any since we always took them for granted. All this developed a culture of what I like to call “Fast Pleasures”.  To simplify it even more, we can think about the Zara philosophy, the clothes chain claims “the success of Zara's collections lies in the ability to recognize and assimilate the continuous changes in fashion, constantly designing new models that respond to customer Desires.” What does that mean? That we can totally be capricious and wear a different shirt everyday of the month because Zara can provide it to us with very reasonable prices and the latest designs!

I have nothing against Zara of course; all my respect to Mr. Ortega and his genius, my problem is with our frivolity. Most of the things we own today have no value for us anymore because they are easily replaceable. My granny still has some dresses from her honeymoon in 1955! Why she keeps them? Not only because of the emotional attachment to them, but due to their value; tailor made dresses from the best textiles and the finest cuts of the time.  Those dresses took a lot of work from her side; choosing the textile, color, model, fitting, tailor, etc. As for us, any dress we see, we just buy it, wear it once or twice and then go for the hunt of a new one!

The point that I want to get to is that this kind of behavior is unfortunately creeping into our personal lives and relationships. Nowadays, most of the people are searching for fast pleasures - be it at work, with their partners, and even their circle of people. The turnover of employees in companies is higher than ever, not always because of poor management but because the employees for some reason want a change. The divorce rates are always increasing and marriage rates decreasing because most of the people cannot bear the idea of being stuck with the same person for the rest of their lives. Friends are changed like the Zara shirts because there are no real friends anymore!

My message to you is that we should all try to reflect more about our values and behaviors, because I believe that whatever comes fast, leaves fast. And those fast pleasures we are constantly pursuing disappear before we even get to enjoy them. Maybe it’s time to give more importance not to our belongings but to our surroundings - the people around us and our environment; appreciate more and love more.

And you what do you think?

Eliana   

It is known that history repeats itself and trends always come back. Nowadays even some ways of expression or communication are coming back; I am talking about literature, in specific storytelling, poems, and theater.  I remember my granny telling me about gatherings around story tellers and the poets’ competitions in restaurants and the ambulant actors that performed in the streets.

Once again, this manifesto is reemerging, and this time in a very trendy way! The story tellers are becoming part of the usual scene in many bars in the most happening cities; even poets are performing live again. And many small theaters are hosting interactive plays with the purpose of involving the crowd, and breaking the wall between the stage and the audience.

Of course the big theater never stopped hosting this type of events, but here I am talking about small intimate spaces with young promising artists, like the typical small bands that you find in many bars. For a long time new artists especially in the literature sector were having a hard time to reach their public. Blogging could help some, but, with the quantity of people posting every day, it is very hard to reach the right audience or any readers at all. Thus, to differentiate themselves, those artists are going back to basics; live performances.

I believe that there´s a huge opportunity there. People are more and more interested in this aspect of literature, it´s entertaining and at the same time cultural. Of course I am not suggesting that all the bars should start hosting story tellers and poets or that all our parties should be cultural – God forbids :P But today, places and artists alike have to recreate themselves, and offer something different!

Another advantage of those live performances is that they encourage us to leave our avatars and go back to real life, interact with real people, in the real world. The entertainment and publishing industry have been suffering a lot from the internet phenomenon, they as well should recreate themselves and being closer to the public is the best way!

So be trendy, participate in live literature!

And you, what do you think?

Eliana  

There’s a new trend in the work place, life style magazines, and any conference or workshop you might get invited to; the subject is always about positive thinking and the power of change! Very attractive, don’ t you think?

Lately I have been seriously getting annoyed by those “CLOWNS” that cannot stop talking how they were able to become the happiest persons on earth, and how they could dramatically change their life just because they decided to, and how they could finally make their dreams come true! Again it sounds very inspiring, but is what they are telling realistic, or even applicable in real life?

I thought that I was the only one annoyed by it, until I ran into this video by RSA Animate under the title of Smile or Die by Barbara Ehrenreich. 

In this video she criticizes the philosophy of the power of positive thinking, and she highlights that by only thinking positively your problems wouldn’t be solved, nor your dreams would come true!

Along those lines I want to criticize all those motivation speeches about the power of change and that change is in your hand! Yes of course we have the power to change things, but come on ... don’ t you hate it when a multi-millionaire come to tell you that life is too short and that you should do what you like; for instance, if you hate your job or your boss just leave it and do what you like! Listening to those people you might think: what about all the commitments I have? Or who will pay for the house mortgage, or the school fees of my kids?

Yes, for those people things seem so easy especially when they preach them from high above, when they are worth multi-millions and it doesn’t’ t really matter whether they work or not because they have enough money to attract more money and just survive out if it!

Of course I am not saying that we cannot change our lives, but please let’s be realistic! Things are not that easy! No one likes to sacrifice his passions, but sometimes in life we have to do what we have to do.

Change is good, and very important; it definitely brings evolution in life. But the initiation of change should not be impulsive! Yes, there are some inspiring stories out there, but probably those people got lucky! If you’ re unhappy with the status quo, you should definitely do something about it, but make calculated steps, plan it, and of course some adventure spirit or taking some calculated risk wouldn’t hurt.

Getting back to Barbara’s speech about all this positive thinking philosophy, I am the first person to believe that positive thinking attracts positive things towards you, but hey! Let’s not exaggerate! Positive thinking by itself doesn’t save the world, and it is really great to try to think positively in all circumstances, but this doesn’t mean that no action is needed. If you want to become the CEO of the company, you should definitely believe that you can do it, but maybe as well working hard towards it could help ;)

In the end, a quick message to all those who preach about positive thinking and the power of change, maybe you should teach some action tactics, like how to plan change and how to set realistic goals that are reachable instead of telling people to just follow their dreams! 

And you, what do you think?

Eliana 

Many books have been written about conversations with a Taxi driver; even many movies have been made about taxis, drivers, and the typical taxi riders.

A taxi ride is always interesting! In the end you are sitting in a very small and closed space with a complete stranger! After some experience I have concluded that there are 3 types of taxi drivers: the very quiet dude that you almost feel uncomfortable being in the taxi, then you have the super chatty dude with the loud radio who drives like a maniac and swears at anyone that crosses him (a la Queen Latifa in the Taxi Movie), then you have the third type of drivers, by far my favorite, usually have a very clean car, the radio is on but you barely can hear it, and those drivers don’ t speak unless you start a conversation with them, and they sense the clues whether you’ re really up for a long chat or you’ re just searching for a quick answer, in other words, the wise dudes.

Last week it happened that I had to be in Dublin in the middle of the entire financial crisis; the bankruptcy and bail out issues of Ireland. Of course I knew that Ireland was going bankrupt, and the European countries might bail it out, but nothing more! The typical level of information you get when you only read the news headlines :P But the curious annoying Arab inside me was bored that day, and decided to chit chat the taxi driver that luckily was one of those wise dudes, anyway the drive was at least 30 minutes, so why not make some use out of it :P So of course I started by saying, “Wow! Ireland is facing a very critical situation, huh? What do you think, what will happen?!”

The taxi driver was delighted, and he explained to me the whole situation, exposed the various possible scenarios, and he was almost sure that the European countries would agree on the 85 Billion Euros bail out. Then he went on to talk about the measures that the government will be taking to be able to pay his debt, the tax raises that will be implemented, the time frame that they are studying, etc.

Probably, if I would have attended a special class with the best economy analyst I wouldn’t’ t have understood better what’s happening or have a clearer picture. The funny thing is that the next day, I open the financial times, and of course the first page was dedicated for the bail out of Ireland and the taxi driver’s story was as exact as the article, but only transmitted in a much easier and understandable way!

What is the secret of most taxi drivers? Other than that they get to listen to the news all day long while driving around, these drivers speak the “ people’s language” they don’ t use sophisticated vocabulary nor they complicate the story, they tell things as they are in the simplest way possible! And when they give their personal opinion it is in general the majority’s opinion, because they come from the people and thus they know what the people want.

So between choosing to read a “Casse-Tete” style of article from the financial times and chit chatting a type 3 taxi driver on the way to work, well I would definitely go for the taxi drive ;) the tricky thing is to know which one is type 3! Trust me after some trial and error period, the error rate is substantially lower :P

So be trendy, listen to and use the peoples’ language!

And you, what do you think?

Eliana 

As human beings we are born with 5 senses. They are not mutually exclusive, the 5 of them can function at the same time, however for some reason it seems that they don’ t function fully when we try to use them simultaneously. To simplify it, let’s say that each sense can get a maximum grade of 100 when used at it’s full, however this doesn’t mean that when all the senses are working together they will sum up to 500 or multiply to 10,000. The sum will always be less than 500 as for some reason we don’ t seem to be able to fully use our five senses at the same time. Of course this is my personal theory as I am not a neuroscientist (not even close :P), and I am definitely not trying to solve some neuroscience mystery.

As human beings, we have limitations, we cannot do it all at the same time; and if we do we will definitely be missing on other things. Sometimes it is much better to focus our attention on one thing rather than dividing it between various stuff because the final result would always be worse. For instance, it is not possible to have a successful meeting and answer e-mails at the same time, or fully enjoy a meal while watching TV, or drive properly and talk over the phone. It is very important to know where to focus our attention and when. We all have the “Superhuman” symptom, and we think that we can do it all at the same time, but this is not really possible, and all the technology and gadgets that we have are not making this mission easier; they are pushing us to divide our attention all the time. How many times were you eating, listening to your ipod and answering your e-mails at the same time?

However, the bigger problem is not when you divide your attention between mundane stuff like your music and food, but when you are distracted when around important people or in front of critical situations. A new society sickness and a big attention diverter are smart phones. I leave you with this video that is self-explanatory. Take a minute to watch it, and think about the message.

So be trendy and disconnect to connect. Live the moment, and focus as much as possible on what you’ re doing, pay attention to the people around you, and make the best out of every moment in your life.

And you, what do you think?

Eliana

From the second we are born we are assigned a nationality, name, surname, religion, sect, etc. We are born with all this baggage that is imposed upon us.

The other day, while zipping randomly through the TV with complete boredom, I eventually ran into something that caught my attention! A talk show hosting someone who decided to create his own empire NOWHERISTAN; the place that has no frontiers, no race or religion! The philosophy behind Nowhereistan is that the Nation is ¨a soul, a spiritual principle and a moral conscience¨.  The founder says: ¨it as nation that has no marked frontiers on the map, and history with its glories and failures is the legacy of the whole humanity. He states that the great men of the Renaissance, they were neither French nor Italian nor German for above each of their cultures, there is a human culture. Therefore, we are all to grieve for the Nazis’ shameful history and yet proudly celebrate the glories of the Epoch of Al-Andalus.¨ Read more on : http://www.nowheristan.org/#nointro

Nowhereistan in other words is trying to accomplish a system of world governance. But that´s just a dream I guess. This philosophy is perhaps too good to be true. I don´t want to talk today about Nowheristan as we can write a whole book about their philosophy and the way that they wish to rule the world. What I want to relflect about in this post is the stamps or labels we give to ourselves and to any person we know or we meet.

Throughout the history we have formed many stereotypes. I will take myself as an example; in the USA I am a terrorist, in Europe I am the daughter of war, in the gulf countries I am a prostitute, in Africa I am a thief, in Latin America I am Hummus and Tabbouleh and in the rest of the world I am a rare specie as many people have never heard of this country called Lebanon.   I might be all of those or none! But why is it that we have to carry the package of our ancestors? Why aren´t we born as free human beings and decide for ourselves where to belong and for what? It would be great if a Nowheristani education system could be created, where we can learn about all cultures, religions, sects and choose for ourselves or even choose what we like from each and apply it? Only when this happens we will be able to say that we live in a free world and that we are free citizens of the globe. In the end, aren´t we all the sons of Mother Nature, or god, or whatever you like to call it no matter what is our color, religion, history…?

So be trendy, and belong to NO-WHERE ;)

And you, what do you think? 

Eliana