Ti’s got a great blog carnival going on. The relevant entry is here.

That said, the youth initiatives she mentioned can be anything, as long as it’s related to youths and it’s not the personal blog entries kind. I mean the kind that goes “I bought these pair of earrings to show off how pretty I am.” (Sorry girls/guys/inbetweens). We’re talking about causes you’re passionate about, things you do, or things you know. Among the people I can think off the bat who regularly fit into this category be Pelfy, Yvonne, Nick, Phil, Uncle Sam… yes, even Silencers and the infamous DMJewelle as well. What do they all have in common? They’ve all been involved in Youth Initiatives (I would include Emilie too, but I forgot her blog add, sorry dear!). Of course, it goes without saying that Ti’s also one of the first people that come to mind.

What do these people have in common besides the fact that they’re young?

They all blog unashamedly about their passions. Pelfy loves turtles and doing charity. Yvonne is insistent on not being a charity, but rather raising her funds on her own without relying solely on donations. Nick blogs about various things the Oral Stage does (which is closed till next year btw), while Phil blogs about the entertainment industry, with a particular emphasis on young stars. Uncle Sam (when he remembers, which doesn’t happen often, hence the name Uncle) posts about his adventures handling a church Youth group. Silencers? Day to day life, random youthful observations, and one of my favourites, Anime! The same goes for DMJ too, though DMJ normally does movie reviews on the link I passed you. She’s sarcastic, witty and often VERY insightful. Of course, her wit is best experienced live.

She’s part of a community that I joined less than two years ago. One thing I’ve noticed about the community is that its users can be categorised into two categories; the people who are very sarcastic, witty and skeptical, and the ones who aren’t. The ones who are skeptical I notice, tend to be those who’ve been working for some time and can’t really afford to spend time in day dreams, but maybe that’s just my generalisation. People often equate youths with enthusiasm, with resilience, with this unshakable faith in either themselves, or something bigger than them (aka hope). These youths are nothing like that.

But not to digress, and the above is another topic for another day…

Youth initiatives may not be restricted activist activities. Activist, for me at least, means causes that are worth supporting no matter the age, and are generally dedicated to passions and causes that have this very heavy air about them. The consequences of such activities, in my opinion, is that society is generally changed, whether for better or worse, it depends. Basically, these are activities that may have political repercussions. Gender issues, disabilities, alternative education, all these for me are considered heavy issues, and to tell the truth, they are.

But heavy issues shouldn’t be what defines youth initiatives. A lot of elders and youths need to look beyond the heavy issues and check out other activities created and run by youths, like GACC and ComicFiesta. Yes, I realise that these two are anime conventions, but here’s something to think about, they’re created by youths, initiated by youths who have a dream and run by youths. The same could be said of most activities being organised by youths today. Some choose to deride these activities because they don’t bring any obvious benefits, but should we dismiss them just because the benefits are not visible?

There’s more to life than just creating a society and world for the better. Sometimes you have to stop and look back at what’s there, physically. Look into the sky and see the blueness of it. Take a moment and stand under an old flowering tree, and watch the flowers fall around you (yes, you can get these experiences in Malaysia, just that old trees that have not been cut down are hard to find). Sit in the LRT and talk to the people around you. Start a project with your friends with a completely useless aim, maybe like putting a cosplay photoshoot somewhere in KLCC. Stop and help that old person across the street.