Culture Slackers

Often we hear about how there is a nice event, a good conference that might actually leave us something to think about.... Then, we put the information on the back of our heads, keep on with our daily activities... and when we finally have free time we rather go to the cinema to watch (or stream online...) the latest, silliest Hollywood comedy instead of finding something better to do. And then, later we put even further in the back of our brains that we've done this, and we complain about how culture is fading away, people don't know what is good art anymore, etc...

Ok, I get it. You are tired from work, and all you want to do is to have a laugh, not think, so you pick to go watch this comedy... I guess we all have had days like this, but do we have to follow the same pattern always?

I'm talking from experience... I am doing it "wrong". Scratch those quotation marks... it's my blog and I'm allowed to say something is wrong if I want to, especially talking about myself. And I've been very, very wrong. Why?
Well, for starters, ever since I got to Budapest I have been complaining about how in Hungary all movies are dubbed... recently someone has managed to shut up the little ladies Miss Complaints and Miss "I speak before doing research" inside me by showing me a Francophone Film Festival, a film club with movies in Spanish and the latest one, a documentary film festival with loads of screenings in English. Same at my hometown... I was always complaining about how there is nothing cultural to do, and then boom! a friend starts to point out all the festivals, museums expositions, etc. that have been going on for ages and I have turned down for a reason or another.

This only proves how a little online research will show us how there is plenty to do, yes, some of these things cost money... artists and everyone involved in this kind of activities have to eat too, you know? But that's another story. Anyway, if we know where to look there is always a good offer as well as bad, but we are the ones who decide what to do with our time in the end.

I know, some places have more cultural offer than others. A quick search in the Museum's Guide of Budapest tells me that Budapest must have around 79 museums, while Chihuahua, my hometown, as far as I know only has 11... and yet other cities, like Berlin, have over 200. So, yes, the "physical" cultural offer might not be as great where you live... but there is always something going on, always. Either for the public, or something good that someone has shared on the internet and it's waiting for you to discover it, a good book, or even some good conversation with a friend... I'm sure each of us know where to find content to enrich us.

In the end, I would say that the phrase "we are what we eat" is wrong. We are mostly what we see, listen and read.

P.S. I have a confession to make. I happened to watch Ted on the weekend... and this is a self-portrait (doodle) of me right now:

In case you were wondering... no, I didn't like it.