Pelada

It's a term that means 'naked' in Portuguese. It's also the title of a new documentary abiout a young man and a young woman, who traveled the world, connecting with people at the most basic level, playing street soccer with them.  It's wonderful.

This kind of thing is not new. It's just another appealing variation on a theme.  Spencer Tunnick goes around the world orchestrating naked people in small groups and gigantic crowds into photographic art.  Matt Harding travels to nation after nation,  engaging locals in his joyful little dance.  New York Theater group, Improv Everywhere, launches a silly 'No Pants on the Subway ' stunt in New York City; a few years later, it's an annual event with tens of thousands sharing the fun in 28 countries around the world.

We are able to celebrate our common humanity in  ways that were never possible until recently.  An 'occupy' movement begins with people rallying in the streets of Tunisia. It spreads across the Middle East, toppling long entrenched dictators in Egypt and Libya.  In Summer, 2011, it breaks out in the US, in the form of the 'Occupy' movement,  and spreads in a matter of weeks to cities around the world.

The Chinese have a saying, 'May you live in interesting times.'  Well, I have to believe our time qualifies. If interesting is code for consequential, our times are unprecidented.... Too many people, too few resources;  an egregiously corrupt economic system that is taking us over a cliff;  politics that are rotten to the core. Our times are marked by destructive forces that are at work in every direction one turns.

Thank the stars, or whatever etherial fores that are at work in our lives, that a countering force is emerging against the ugly, entrenched sociopathy that is pushing our societies toward ruin.

Pelada is more than a game. It is a reflection; a beautiful, bursting reflection of one simple way we are connecting globally.  It gives me hope.

Here is a link to Pelada.  Take a moment... Guaranteed to elevate your spirits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVfzhINwH0w&feature=player_embedded#!