Dina Yunis
Dina Yunis is part of the ?!X team working with us on our Futures Interview Series and our up-coming book.
Dina is a Lebanese currently living in London and undertaking her MA degree in Environment, Politics, and Globalization at King’s College London. Growing up in Lebanon entailed developing an inevitable intimate knowledge of regional politics as well as an instinct for navigating the highly multifaceted nature of a mosaic culture.
She is a life enthusiast, a humanitarian & photographer. She has a mind for graphics, animation, videos, sci-fi and a heart for old rock music, travel, culture, and people. Dina currently works at the international peace education oriented NGO CISV as part of the Content section of the International Junior Branch Team, helping organizing information packs on current issues as well as regional and international conferences. Dina hopes to one day conquer the world and declare that ice cream should be free.
?!X: What’s the Future You Choose?
DY: I choose a future where people from every corner of the globe can determine their own future. A future that is not determined by the power we hold or the amount of weapons we own. Where children carry pencils and pens rather than guns and pistols. Where religion has no meaning other than faith and governments see past their own greed. I choose a future that would not require others to wish what their own future was like but to have equal opportunities to see it happen.
?!X: What’s a ‘think’ to create this future?
DY: René Descartes once said that “I think therefore I am”. I believe that “thinking” is the ultimate act of humanity. It determines who we are. Without it we are nothing. It is for this reason that countless governments and regimes have attempted over and over again to suppress human thoughts because that is the ultimate threat to authority. If that were not the case then why has it been throughout history that those who have thought outside the box of conformity such as Socrates, Che Guevara, and Gandhi have all ended up being killed?
Through our own thoughts we are able to take control of what determines who we are and who we wish to become. The mind is a powerful tool, if not then why is it that those in power try so hard in controlling the mass’s minds. With human thought comes individuality and I believe that individuality and as long as individuals are capable of thinking and making their own decisions that there is some hope that one day the future I chose may be able to occur.
“At any given moment you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end” – Anonymous
?!X: What’s an ‘act’ to create the future you choose?
DY: Winston Smith from George Orwell’s 1984 or Guy Montag from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 941. Both protagonists, Smith and Montag find themselves working under governments whose main objective is suppressing the human thought and eliminating human individuality. Yet both define the odds and risk their lives simply to be able to retain their ability to think individual and distinctive thoughts. Hopefully we end up having some Winstons and Montags of our own or else we might end up like this.
I love discovering and reading the stories of individuals who have gone against the flow and trying to defy stereotypical standards. JR’s current project, Inside Out, is using art and photography to turn the world literally inside out. To see observe individuals that we encounter everyday in a new light. And what’s amazing is that anyone can do it.
Moreover I think to be able to act you need a spark of inspiration. I get mine from simple observation, from videos on the net, from people, from my surroundings, from friends, from family, from strangers, from art, from reading, from really everything. If you want to be inspired to change then you can be.
?!X: What’s a ‘vote’ to create the future you choose?
DY: Having come from a country where politics are intertwined with religion and where people’s daily lives are dictated by the decisions made by an egocentric few, I understand the need for individuals to be able to choose their own paths and futures. A vote is an act in which one is able to take the reins of their own life and determine the path they we wish to travel on. It is also you implementing that change you want to see. I currently work in an international peace education that brings together individuals from literally all corners of the globe. Yet what I love so much about working in such an organization is not its capacity to bring together individuals on an international level but also on a national level as well. Don’t believe me then just ask these people.
?!X: Future Soundtrack – What song would you take with you into the future?
DY: Don’t Listen To A Word You’ve Heard – Justin Nozuka
?!X: Can you share with us up to 5 weblinks that you find interesting and inspiring?
DY:
- Mosquito Tactics blog and movie – awe inspiring
- Bank of Imagination – need some spark of inspiration simply come here
- So & So – interesting short stories
- Musicovery – plays soundtracks according to your mood
- TEDTalk Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action – you can never go wrong with this one
Follow Dina on Twitter @YunisD
How can we Create the Future you Choose? Take part here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.