Carla Butler, Shiny Koala: Five things I would change about Jersey
Having just finished exhibiting in a photographic exhibition at The Harbour Gallery Jersey, in which she showed images of Jersey edited in a vintage style to reflect Jersey’s rich past, Carla has spent some time reflecting on Jersey’s future and the ways in which she would change it.
Running her own creative design agency, Shiny Koala, Carla spends her days creating logos and branding, producing promotional marketing artwork and campaigns, drawing digital illustrations, building websites and photographing products, landscapes and people. In addition to this, Carla also assists local Jersey charity Art in the Frame Foundation with all of their marketing and fundraising efforts to support The Harbour Gallery Jersey in St Aubin.
With her background in French and Italian, and having travelled extensively, Carla considers herself ‘worldly-minded’ and believes Jersey could flourish if only it would position itself as more of a global player. Here are the five ways in which Carla thinks the island could be improved.
1) Appreciate the Arts
With today’s STEM orientated curriculum in schools, downgrading and no longer focusing on the Arts, it is becoming increasingly impossible for students to reach their full potential. Students are missing out on the freedom to be creative, experience culture and civilisation, all because these so-called fringe subjects are perceived as no longer being important to the progression of humanity.
The Arts, and indeed the act of creating, is one of the greatest opportunities for self-expression, forming a solid foundation for sharing ideas and concepts amongst peers, collaborating and sparking the imagination to produce society’s next ‘big ideas’.
Many of the people in today’s society, playing a pivotal role in shaping our next generations, neglect to see or even acknowledge the therapeutic benefits of the Arts, whether that be painting a picture, acting in a play, playing in a band or sculpting something from natural materials. The Arts provide a means to helping with emotions and conflicts, both internal and external, and when part of a larger cultural movement, can help shape nations and ideas across centuries. The ability to switch off, be creative, express yourself perhaps through a non-verbal means is one of the greatest gifts that humanity has and it is a gift we are neglecting. Everyone from small children to great-grandparents should be making time to be creative, allowing their minds some breathing room to disconnect, process, convey feelings and articulate ideas that ordinarily they are unable to do.
Modern society completely overlooks the importance of the Arts, seeing them as insignificant and trivial when in fact, they form the basis of society and culture. The significance of the Arts, in all forms, can mean so incredibly much both on the individual level and on society as a whole.
2) Realise the role of our Government
It is all too easy to sit back and allow our elected Government to control how our island is run, without a thought as to why they are there in the first place. With generations of lethargy and uninterest in politics, comes a disconnection between the public and the government that is there to serve them and their interests. We need to develop a meaningful and transparent connection with our government, one which cultivates interaction and consultation over decisions which affect everyone living on this little rock.
Too often I just see government decisions being reported, already too late to consult on them and so come the complainers, in the press, on social media, in person. “Why weren’t we told sooner?” Well, a transparent and interactive government works both ways. It needs the interested population to question it, make it be held accountable for its actions and decisions, effect change from the top down. Without this, it has no reason to bother consulting us in the first place, doing what it believes is in our ‘best interests’!
All our government seems to do is dwell in the past, harping back to the “good old days of Jersey”, seemingly having a strong aversion to change and progress in a modern world. It is massively bureaucratic with no accountability so WE need to change, show them that we DO care about how our island functions, whether it be treating employees fairly for the work they do, modernising our healthcare system for the future, diversifying our economy or ensuring our next generations grow up well rounded and mentally stable enough to cope with the future that lays ahead. This is OUR island, WE need to stand up for it!
3) Not everyone is wired the same!
Society does a great job at celebrating and rewarding “normal”, those that conform to perceived notions of what’s right and what’s meant to be. But the fact is, we are not all wired the same! Human brains are remarkable things, capable of so much, and in fact so much more than we can currently comprehend, however there has to be so much more understanding, compassion and kindness towards those with differently wired or “neurodiverse” brains. They are not “abnormal”, they are simply variations of the human brain, perceiving the world around them from a different perspective. In fact, it is this different perspective that drives forward humanity and its progress, numerous technological advances and inventions are made from being able to see life from a different point of view.
We have to be mindful of others, their reactions, their perceptions and not make immediate judgements based on first impressions, without knowing the situation. The child you see screaming in the aisles of Waitrose whilst you look on disapprovingly, they might be autistic and their world has just come crumbling down as the shop has run out of the brand of cereal they eat every morning, at the same time, out of the same bowl, with the same spoon, the routine that helps them makes sense of the chaotic world they live in, the “normal” world.
Having worked with autistic kids and having a partner and friends who have neurodiverse brains, I have learned how very different perceptions can be when viewing the same situation, it is our own internal biases that can prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. It is only through understanding each other’s views and biases, that we can reach an understanding on common ground.
A great example of this is a number drawn on the ground, one person viewing from the top would say it’s a ‘9’, another viewing from the bottom would say it’s a ‘6’ for sure, but it is only when you look at the situation from an external viewpoint that you can see that both are right and both are wrong at the same time. Life is subjective, we only ever get to see it from our own individual points of view however that does not stop us from understanding and appreciating it from multiple viewpoints, being compassionate towards others and appreciating their different perspectives.
4) Understand cannabis
Cannabis, in its natural, unaltered, unmodified state does wonders for humans and their bodies which are literally made to work with cannabis and have done for many thousands of years. Awareness of cannabis and its benefits for medicinal purposes should be increased throughout all of society and then legalised for medicinal use, in line with a rapidly growing number of countries throughout the world.
It has been shown that when legalised for both medicinal and recreational use, crime rates go down, employment increases and the money raised from the taxes on cannabis being sold legally are a great boom for the agricultural and tourism industries in the area. Were Jersey to adopt this policy then we could create a year-round destination for holiday makers, bringing in tourists from not only the UK but Europe and beyond, and reinvigorate an economy which is becoming all too reliant on the finance industry.
There is a wave of change sweeping the globe on this matter and it would be lovely for Jersey to be ahead of the curve, rather than end up in its usual place of last adopter on global matters.
5) Recognise the role of technology
With our technological evolution being rapid and ever changing, it is very easy to fall into a trap where we become enslaved to our technological advancements. The modern world sees us integrating with technology a lot more and although we need to accept that that is the way the world and humanity is heading, we do not need to rely on it or be enslaved by it. We are so much more than mindless drones attached to our screens, accepting what we are told and shown, we are humanity, born to question life and everything within it!
Social media, although useful as a tool, is all too often misinterpreted as reality, the authentic truth, rather than the filtered and edited version of the reality it really is. By only viewing a narrow slice of reality, where positivity and happiness rules, it affects our perception of the world, one where we will never achieve the perfection we see sprawled across Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat.
Right now, we are seeing a turning point in the information age and beginning to see how it can be harmful to be bombarded by the perfect and stylised imagery of online influencers, tricking people into believing that the ‘perfect life’ exists and therefore creating negativity towards their own lives. Our mental health, affected, sends us into a downward spiral of disappointment, discontent and feelings of lower self-worth and value as we cannot achieve perfection, our efforts seemingly coming up short as we fail to achieve the thousands of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ we see others achieving.
Whilst it is lovely to have ideals and goals, we must all remember it is never as simple or easy as it looks. Everyone is too used to only showing the best version of themselves, or what they could be, online instead of showing the ‘real’ version. Our human brains crave positive reinforcement, social acceptance from our peers and the ever accessible new content that the social media platforms supposedly provide but by treating these slithers of reality as the entire truth, we fail to look beyond the edges of our screened cages.
Younger generations see no distinction between their ‘online’ and ‘offline’ lives, they are fully integrated and see no separation. For them, the idea of unplugging and disconnecting does not exist unlike for those who have lived both analogue and digital lives. With a future that is only going to become more reliant on and integrated with technology, we need to not be fearful of it or shun it, instead evolving culturally and intellectually to match it or else fall behind.
We need more education for the older generations to understand the new technologies as they emerge, and we need more education for the younger generations so that they can understand the world that exists outside of the virtual space. As with all things in life, we need to find the correct balance! With how connected we have all become, it seems far too easy for false information to be abused and spread rapidly, filling people and communities with fear and causing divides where they should not be. We need to use the internet and technology, as a way of bringing us closer with more harmonious understanding however that can only be done by people being truthful and honest and being the ‘real’ them.
