PopTech is the coolest thing you have never heard of. Or at least, it was the coolest that I had never heard of until, somehow, I received a scholarship from the Bush Foundation, allowing me to attend and find out for myself what it was all about. I was not disappointed.

I will not attempt to summarize this experience, because the amazing Jennifer Gilhoi has done so in a way that is comprehensive yet artfully succinct. This summary can be found here.

The Poptech Community extends an unforgettable welcome. Everyone sits down for shared meals and is encouraged to connect with new people. That environment provides a place for everyone to feel appreciated and able to contribute.. And maybe that is why I was able to share a piece that I had written on stage. Thank you again to everyone who made this event possible.

Made to Move

The connectivity of the transistor shifted

Us from roads to networks and, as such, we were gifted

With the technology that allowed us to look back

At the world we inhabited, and the impact

That we had and are having as a part of just existing

But if our priorities shift and we insist on resisting

We can make a better world than we ever had before

But we can’t do it if we leave our identities at the door.

We take are whole selves and address this emergency

If we conserve what we have with intention and urgency

And share what we’ve got to rebuild what’s broken

Our dreams can exist, even after we’ve awoken.

Sometimes it feels like the apocalypse awaits

But if we long for the sea, we can change our fates

And we don’t have to bet the farm, in fact, far from it

Just imagine a better future and make the present become it.

All that we consume and the field where it’s created

Can be rejuvenated into something long-awaited

After ancient sunlight no longer shackles us to the past

And our social movements have shifted the power, at last

We can keep creating, all the while looking back

At the people and communities that got us on track

And, like that, we’re blasting past the world that was

And, it seems, that’s exactly what the fuck Pop tech does.

Because we were made to move

Instead of just standing still

We’ve got the thrill of chasing a better world until.

It’s within our reach

And we each have a hand to lend 

And in the end, we can prove

We weren’t meant to watch our dreams pass by

We were made to move.

And the people that we learned from instead of about

Are providing the perspective that we can’t live without

We need a groundswell telling us to dismiss hostility

Purely transforming the world of possibility.

But still, we, more than anything need to say

We hear what you’re telling us and help is on its way

And I won’t downplay our desire to uplift

And all we’re gonna gotta do is shift.

Because we were made to move

Instead of just standing still

We’ve got the thrill of chasing a better world until.

It’s within our reach

And we each have a hand to lend 

And in the end, we can prove

We weren’t meant to watch our dreams pass by

We were made to move.

The future of movement exists in our imagination

We have multiple modes to get us to our destination.

What do we want to say about what we are creating?

If we listen and collaborate we can focus on relating.

Our stories are the most important thing we manufacture.

Because narratives tell truths that the facts can’t capture.

Allowing us to shift past our present and prove

We weren’t meant to exist in stillness,

We were made to move.

Because we were made to move

Instead of just standing still

We’ve got the thrill of chasing a better world until.

It’s within our reach

And we each have a hand to lend 

And in the end, we can prove

We weren’t meant to watch our dreams pass by

We were made to move.