the sling diaries, vol. iv: everything shines | education

"let us pick up our books and our pens. they are our most powerful weapons. one child, one teacher. one book, and one pen can change the world." -malala yousafzai

"education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -nelson mandela

this is my fourth entry for sakura bloom's the sling diaries. thanks to my gal, julie, i'm lucky enough to be wearing her essential linen sling in blackberry/plum, which has since been discontinued. you can follow along with the other diarists here. my previous diary entries can be found here, here, and here. and thank you, karolin a, for taking such beautiful photos for us.

i watched an interview with malala yousafzai on the daily show with jon stewart a few months back and quite frankly, it blew my mind. previously, as does the majority of our country, i viewed education as a tool to get where one needs or wants to be. it was a means to go further than your fellow (wo)man, to be better than your competition. essentially, the more educated one became, the greater the greatness one could- and, therefore, would- achieve. education was a tool but rarely utilized for the greater good of a people. 

i watched that courageous young woman discuss her horrifying ordeal and speak of the pacifists and extremists whom deny education to millions (women mostly) simply because what comes along with education directly undermines the levels of fear and power they exert over their people. up until that moment, i never once correlated global impact with an access to education. it's the simplest thing, though, isn't it? the more readily available the access to education a person has, the more knowledge they are able to obtain. the more knowledge they obtain, the more eager they may be to teach. the more they teach and share what they know, the greater the change and impact people can make where it's needed. 

marlo, we are so incredibly lucky to be able to explore our innate curiosities. we are lucky to have the resources and capabilities to delve deeper into whatever it may be that we are passionate about. i beg of you, mo, let curiosity win. never censor it. you deserve to have answers or, at the very least, the chance to find the answers for yourself. every single person deserves that, yet, not everyone is so lucky. people have literally given their lives in order to learn more about life and the world in which we live; we owe them more than we can ever comprehend for what they've taught us in their sacrifice. 

never stop asking questions, marlo. you were born curious. you were born to explore and to experience growth. yet, throughout your life, so many people will try to convince you otherwise by trying to hush you or by telling you that it's pointless to care about such unimportant things. however, those things are important if you believe that they are. more than likely, they are important to a lot of people, it's just that not many people will continue to do what they're told they shouldn't. if you so feel the need, question people unapologetically. never be afraid to second guess the opinions of others if they don't sit well with your soul. your curiosity and your intuition will lead you to the answers you are seeking only if you allow your own voice to be louder than another persons' negative doubt or lack of empathy. 

these traits will all lead you to knowledge, marlo. along with a deep-rooted desire to share and teach- and not preach- knowledge is something that the world needs a great deal more of. it's the only way that we will evolve and become better humans. not smarter, but more decent. it's the only way the world will be better than it was before you got here. 

we have a lot of work to do, babe.