Highlight Moment from my life #36 – Sayings

“I wish I had the balls to do that, I thought, as I enviously watched the juggler.” [Brett Andy]

SAYINGS

My favourite saying guy in the world is a guy called Jack Handey… if you don’t know who he is, then you probably have not hung out with me long enough.

i Stepped Up [and i liked it] – part ii – The Presentation/Presentatie/Présentation

In the previous post i spoke about the process of crafting this presentation, titled ‘Lost in Translation’ that i did last night for the Outliers ‘Step Up’ evening, and here is the talk itself:

INTRO

Anyone who knows me well, knows that my default talk setting is long [51 minute wedding speech anyone?] and so short is a challenge. But i practised my talk and timed it twice on the day and both times came in at around 9 minutes, which gave me a whole minute to play with. Schweet.

[Side Note: While my wife, tbV, knew the overall vibe of what my talk was about and how it was going to go, i decided to keep this intro part secret from her so that she would have a surprise, and possibly some extra stress for a moment]

i Stepped Up [and i liked it] – part i – The Premise

My friend Heidi asked me a few weeks ago if i would be one of the presenters at an event that her organisation ‘Outliers’ was putting on called Step Up. The idea was 9 presenters each given the space for a 10 minute talk using 10 powerpoint slides with a broad theme of Education.

Not having too much – in the official sense – to do with Education since i got my Primary School Teacher’s diploma at a no-longer-existing Teacher’s Training College [about 100 years ago] i felt a little out of my depth. Seeing a name like Craig Stewart [someone i really respect and admire in the field of social justice, who helps lead the Warehouse] on the speaker’s bill made it a little more so.

Rugby World Cup 2015: Some thoughts from the Fish

Those who know me know i’m not the biggest fan of rugby. i will watch if the Springboks are playing and get a little more excited when it is the World Cup. Throw me into a Superbru game [although a round late so desperately just trying to catch up] and it comes a little more alive and meaningful.

And after a couple of rounds of games, with the quarters for the most part locked up, here are some thoughts i have had or reflections from what i have seen so far.

Learning Xhosa: Your move.

In August, i invited you all to Come and Xhosa with Me.

After two weeks i shared a post called Xhosa and Effect, highlighting some of the things i was thinking about as we were busy with the course.

Sitting with people: Intro

One thing tbV and i have in common is we both love people-watching. [Who doesn’t!]

Sitting in a coffee shop or a bench at a popular tourist attraction or in a restaurant and just watching the people around us. Trying to imagine stories, attitudes, experiences, fun things about the person from the little bit that we see.

But there is something even better.

Later this morning my friend Nicky Lloyd and i will be heading out once again to the train station to buy a return ticket to town. We will then nervously stalk an individual who is sitting by themselves and once we build up the courage, will ask if we can sit with them and chat to them a little bit about the state of South Africa and particularly their hopes and fears and present experiences.

Last week we were chatting about it at a little sandwich restaurant during our half-time break and i casually mentioned the phrase “sitting with people” and Nicky later honed in on that and we realised it was a really strong statement. So that is what i am going to be calling the blog segment of this project.

SITTING WITH PEOPLE

You see, i am a bloggerist and my friend Nicky is a photographer and this whole adventure was her idea. She has a presentation due at the end of the year and she decided she would like to interview [and hopefully capture the pictures of] a variety of people travelling on the train to provide a glimpse of the differences in background, story and attitude of a slice of South Africa as it heads to and from work and more.

# What is the thing you like most about South Africa?

# What is one thing you wish you could change?

# Do you think South Africa is in a better off or worse off state than it was in 1994/5 years ago?

# What do you think needs to happen for change to come that affects more of the majority of people in SA?

# Do you believe there is hope for South Africa?

# What is something you do that you think makes life here better for someone else?

Those are the base questions we have, but, depending on the conversation they change and adapt as we see fit. At the end of the conversation, if it feels appropriate, Nicky will explain the photographic element of the project and ask permission for a photograph. About 2 in 5 people say yes.

We have only been out three times, but it has been an incredible experience so far. The initial connection moment is always nervous and weird and a little awkward [cos who talks to people on trains] but every single time we have started talking it has been such eye-opening and inspiring stuff. The conversations are all completely different and mindsets and stereotypes are being thrown out the window, person by person.

Thinking about this whole #IAmStellenbosch debacle where the focus has once again been put on individuals and a collective cry of LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! i would recommend this process to South Africans in general. Let in not be about you for a moment. Stop. Take time to listen to someone else’s story who is different from you. And just listen for the story’s sake. Not for how it connect with or informs your story and not so you can find a fun fact or an interesting tie in to insert into their story. But just create spaces where you can really hear someone else’s story, their background, their history, their present day experiences. And as you walk away, sit with that. Let that person’s fears and delights sit in your mind and your heart. Let you be about them for a few minutes, or the rest of the day.

i am going to be sharing some of the stories of the people we got to meet and interact with over the next couple of weeks – this will just be a glimpse through the window into someone’s life and hopefully inspiration for you to create the same opportunities – it doesn’t have to be on a train. Making some time to connect with a stranger and ask them if they mind having a conversation with you and sharing some of their story. That might be what changes this country.

Let’s Sit With People together… 

All’s Well That Ends Well Starts Well

No, that’s not a mistake. This is a follow up post to the ‘All’s Well That Starts Well’ post from Friday, where i spoke about a secret comedy show preview that was happening sometime [Friday night] and gave a bit of a taste of what it was about.

So basically this beard:

And this completely lack of a sense of hairstyle [at the moment – i’m in limbo]:

Gathered together with three other guys names Graeme, Andrew and JP and put on a Quiz Show called ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ for a group of our friends and loved ones in the hope that we could gauge the kind of response it would get, see what areas needed to be strengthened or tossed out or added to and whether or not the general consensus was whether people would actually pay money to watch this as a real live proper theatre show sometime [At least until DSTV commissions us].

And it was great.

It could have been better and will be better. Things like exploding [read ‘kicked over’] lamps before the show and exploding [read ‘slightly backed into not by me’] street electricals after the show won’t happen in a real theatrical space. Also not being in a real theatrical space also is extremely unlikely not to happen in a real theatrical space.

And it was our first time and so we were just getting a feel and giving a taste of what it would look like.

While any comedian [except maybe the ones who don’t have to beg their friends to come watch their shows] will probably always say, “There could have been more laughs”, there were still a crazy whole lot of laughs and consensus at the after party at my place was that people enjoyed it a lot, there is something there, it was a lot funnier than i thought it would be and “Nice hummus” although at least one of those points was possibly not about the show.

So we will meet and discuss and hopefully get some feedback and hopefully tighten some things and be more careful around lamps and driving home afterwards, but ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ started well in my opinion and i am pretty sure we will be back for more…

Don’t not keep watching this space.