bita's blog

The 20^th Celebration of Iranian Cinema kicked off this weekend in Los Angeles, featuring a collection of established and emerging talents from Iran. The goal of this greatly received show-case is, and has been, to present a diverse portrait of Iran's variety of cultural communities, leading customs and expressions as well as ethnic minorities' way of living.  

When we talk about freedom, the definition is merely a state of being between mind, body and spirit. This highly praised concept is the space we create between all three dimensions of our lives in order to experience absolute freedom, if we ever do. Where we live on this planet can make a difference in practicing our physical and intellectual freedom and how far we go to reach that state of being, is something personal and yet highly dependent on our country of residence.For a Moment Freedom

From California Women's Conference to The Glass House to Omid-e-Mehr

Women empowerment is a must.

October 29, 2009

By Bita Shafipour

“The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish” says James Allen, a twentieth century English philosopher, in his first book “ As A Man Thinketh”. And ‘they’ are the artists, those who bring the beauty before our eyes and ears.

As medical doctors are in charge of the physical health of a society, architects and engineers take care of the infrastructure of a city, and farmers prepare our food, artists maintain the wellbeing of the soul of a society. They transform the energy of life into the matter and bring it to our homes, cars, parks, and streets; they dream the unknown, and manifest it in music, painting, writing, sculpting, photography and all the art forms.

Artists define what’s being a human, what humans are capable of. They recreate the nature and the life force. They are at the center of the universe, the most connected with the heart of a society, its people, and its connection to the unknown. They can translate the mystery, and they are always one step ahead of the rest. They are dreamers, and only dreams can come true. Let them dream, lofty dreams, and let them cherish a beautiful vision, so it may be.

“Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which shall one day see and know.”  James Allen

By Bita Shafipour

12/19/08