reframe

Reworked Issue

// September 28th, 2005 // No Comments » // My Personal Journey

I went for a walk at the sea and decided that my first attempt was unclear and kind of sucked. So I rewrote it. Both links are updated.

Issue One: We experience a world of models, not objective reality

// September 27th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // My Personal Journey

I took to these months of sabbatical in Egypt with a number of objectives. First, to reflect upon and close a five-year chapter of my life. Second, to spend a good teal of time writing and thinking about my understanding of philosophy. Third, to plan the next 5 year chapter. And finally, to do some other wonderfully creative things I would otherwise never get around too.
This is-

ISSUE ONE:
““We experience a world of models, not objective reality”
(1 page .pdf)

This is the first in a series of some extracts from my contemplations that Im happy to share. I’ve tried to keep it simple and uncluttered for the blog format, but it means I couldn’’t include much justification, referencing or further explanation. And for those who aren’’t so philosophically inclined, I did promise this.

Powering Up

// September 26th, 2005 // No Comments » // My Personal Journey

Well over the weekend I finally slipped into high gear of productivity. Last night I was up till 4 am writing and then went to bed only to contemplate models of consciousness for another hour before slipping off to sleep as the first call to prayer raised with the dawn. By the by, my building is opposite a rather small mosque. On fridays the alley is covered with large cloth awnings and the road itself is filled with the “congregation”, or “the faithful”. Im unsure of the name to use, but “muslims” is obviously wrong, as most streets in alex would be filled with muslims- being the vast majority of egyptians.

This week I will post some of my first musings on consciousness and meaning (with an alternative link to “animals who look like there owners” for the less philosophically inclined). I also managed a bit of work on some other projects I had planned for this sabbatical and if I can find suitable hosting I will upload the first edition of net radio show I put together, including my first attempts at a DJ mix. And all this.. absolutely free.. Which is only slightly less than the general cheapness of egypt. I just bought 2 falafel sandwiches, a bag of 5 pita breads and a small bottle of pepsi for 2.75 egyptian pounds. This is less than 40 eurocents. If I was so inclined I could go ride the tram to anywhere in Alex, drink fresh juice, and surf the net for an hour for another 3.25. With my final pound gone to purchase drinking water my singular Euro is thus spent and lifes material need superbly sated.

Ah, one day I will tell this to my children in the form of a story that begins, “when I was your age”, although time and occasional senility will cause me to forget to include the “in Egypt” part.

Some Goodbye

// August 1st, 2005 // 3 Comments » // My Personal Journey

Well, Ive just sent the launch letter for “Learning Networks” strategy Ive been trying to grow all year. In theory Friday was my last day on AIESEC International, but this was an innovation I had been chasing for the last 7 years so what is one more intense day of creation. In a few minutes I will leave one of the most beautiful environments in the world. Today is the last day I will call myself an AIESECer. It is a wonderful thing.

In recent days I’ve some members of the new team ask why there is no secret handover on AIESEC International. Where is the ancient sword or diamond encrusted eagle that is handed from team to team, or guardian to guardian, AI generation to AI generation- in this the very home of youth leadership. They will realise in the coming days and weeks that they stand as the new leaders of the organisation. And they will wonder where it came from, when it happened. Was it a session or a conference? They will try to trace back the exact day when they “became” AIESEC International, when they had the “full responsibility” of the organisation.

Perhaps at the end of their journey here they will realise that it happened many years ago at their journies beginning. Guardianship of our organisation is not placed upon AI or any other shoulders – it is taken by all those who lend their spirit to our vision, who are prepared to act for something higher when the world compels us silient. It can lend itself to any vessel but will be mastered by no one. It cannot be given, it must be born within.

The most marvellous people I have met in my life had such born within them. They could laugh, and cry, and work and struggle and practice all hedonistic excess, but they could not mask the life force that beat within them, and never should they. The honest and full desire to be give, to create, to help, to lead us into a world where things could be different. They are AIESECers.

Today is the last that I shall count myself among them, although forever I shall number as a brother-in-spirit. Different shores that have been calling me for sometime now grow louder. I hear roar of breakers crashing on a unknown shore and finally I must set sail.

Good luck and go well, o’ guardians of the spirit.

peace
Arthur

Final Week

// July 25th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // My Personal Journey

Last priority from my final AI Monday Morning Meeting

“4- Leaving AI is intense, conscious experience”.

Things are rapidly transforming and will never be the same again. It is beautiful here and I will not forget.

Peace to all those in Sharm and Egypt in general, I’ll see you soon.

“Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced the unknown, that terror becomes the known.”- Antoine de Saint-Exupery quotes

Blogging from the Bank

// June 21st, 2005 // 2 Comments » // My Personal Journey

Im sitting in a washington conference room with three World Bank Agencies and 16 of the world�s largest youth organisations. We have convened the Youth Development and Peace Forum- a network working with The Bank on a development and poverty agenda. The focus of this meeting is Non-Formal Education- so it would seem that AIESEC has a fair bit to offer on the topic. However everyone else is working on using NFE where formal education is missing or of poor quality, rather than looking at how NFE can be used to complement education. Again AIESEC seems to be the only org at this level that is focussing on these �top talents� – which gives us a valuable niche. Its also quite short sighted that these agencies don�t see the long-term potential of developing individuals who can make major positive change at a local, national and global level.

The delegates are quite diverse. The differences can be seen in how they act about their attendence here. The Eurocrats and others considering themselves �major players� feel they have the right to be here and are not wasting a moment in lobbying their agenda. It�s incredible to see young people who have molded themselves on political buereaucracy- such a change from the direct, independent thinking and higher outcome focussed mentality more common in @ers. On the other hand we have other global orgs- who are more independent and obviously have less strong relations with the Bank. Most of these reps feel they have a responsibility to be here to contribute but don�t expect much. Then we have the smaller orgs or national reps that seem to be fighting their impact battle in this forum and find a way to bring any topic into their field.

Yet again I am surprise at how different @ is; our people, our cultural space, our discussion and conference environment. In short, we kick ass.

Tomorrow we will be inputting into the World Development Report- the Banks key analysis global development. Signing off- your Bretton-Woods semiskeptic.

Busiest Director in the Samarkand

// June 10th, 2005 // No Comments » // My Personal Journey, Travel

So whats up?

This week be loads hectic. Getting pulled in all seventeen directions and trying to stay on top of the game. And this weekend is not really the weekend- I think Ill be writing a few thousand words for the various reports, guides and input papers that have been hunting me down. So this week was tough but great, for example yesterday I kicked off the day with 4 activities that prove that I have the Best Job in the World.

1- Wrote IS networking system strategy input paper- an outline of a system which could change the way we connect, communicate and build networks to impact the world.
2- Outlined learning flow for IC world issues day- building an innovative platform that will take over 600 @ers and partners through intense learning, cocreation and reflection across 5 parallel themes.
3- Drafted some designs for an add in our AI annual report on Learning Networks.
4- Won New York and Samarkand from Brodie in our World Domination/Darts competition.

Good week, but pales into drivel when reading Thea’s Blog who describes her- “whole day trying to figure out an evacuation plan for the expats!! (who can imagine I would be doing this! I was terrified!!) as well as trying to figure out which embassy is going to take care of me!!! As obviously there are no Maltese Embassies in Ethiopia!!! Nevertheless I have a good contact with the Swedish Embassy, who is meant to take care of me!!!” There be a novel in there somewhere.

Peace, prosperity and may we each find our own place in the Samarkand.

Justice Transition

// May 31st, 2005 // No Comments » // My Personal Journey

Gara is here. Adventures are being had and our Justice Transition has begun once more- handing over Rotterdam and Cairo. Tom and I will have both spent considerable time in Australia, Ireland, The Netherlands and Egypt- and swapped Europe to Africa twice each. As you may guess the words “fundamental” and “justice” are falling thick and fast. Peace

After AIESEC; my next steps into the unknown

// May 25th, 2005 // 8 Comments » // My Personal Journey

Since the international elections in IPM Romania 2005, my search for a path forward after AIESEC has become a practical necessity as the end date to my @ life was stamped JULY 31st 2005. I have had long term plans for the last six years of my life; since an intense period of changing environments, experiences and reflection resulted in my first major discovery moments and the beginning of this path. My plans mapped out the journey I wanted to walk in a number of dimensions, as an attempt at a holistic vision for my life, and ranged from my AIESEC time well into the future. They changed as I learnt more about my individuality and further constructed my worldview. However, the AIESEC period has remained more or less constant as I have walked it- and by chance mentions being “Director on AI in 04-05”. The plans after @ were more dynamic as my long-term career ambition evolved from working in Epidemic Disease in the WHO, to NGO- consulting, to founding a new type of University.

The search for those fabled cross-roads, where Aristotle’s says your passions and the needs of your world meet to mark your vocation, has been a vital part of my journey. This journey has, by more than chance alone, ranged across 36 countries and covered equal expanses of doubt and discovery within myself. For a long while I rested my ambition on the expectations of others- and found happy compromises that seemed to satisfy me, those around me, and the “practical reality” in which we live; economically and socially. However, in the last few months my deeper self has been growing louder in discontent. The whisper of “maybe” in a greater potential raged with equally growing waves of doubt until I have been little room for individual thought, reflection and creation. I wondered if it was the Icarus in me- or whether I was merely sharing the essence of every dreamer; those burning embers of hope which give life meaning and energy and cannot be divorced from the soul without extinguishing it completely. After much aversion I began to realize that the choice has already been made in me, and this was clarified through another reworking of my vision and plans. And thus I decided finally that I would head to Cairo on September 1st 2005 for a period of 4-6 months self-directed learning. In these months I do not plan to enroll in university nor employment, rather I will pursue independent creation, study and reflection. I shall commit most of my time to reading and writing philosophy- in an attempt to express the underlying philosophy and ideological framework that forms my understanding of humanity, consciousness and human development. I hope it will also be a remarkably reflective period of my life as it concludes a large chapter of my story and will involve planting the experiences and relationships that have marked its pages to ensure they survive well into the future.

Cairo is the perfect location for two essential and four additional but wonderfully beneficial reasons. The essential factors is that it is pretty much the only place I can afford to rent an apartment with a decent internet connection yet can still travel back to Europe cheaply. The wonderfully beneficial reasons are 1- Egypt is a country with a wealth of incredible experiences to be had, 2- gaining insights into the Islamic and Arab worlds, as well as a specific induction into a very different cultural space, 3- it will be Ramadan and a great opportunity for a physical and mental fast, 4- I have just had two incredible weeks there and there seems to be really cool people in Cairo and a electric environment. So, a few more months here, followed by a month in Hungary and Romania having victory travels with some AI mates and I will be riding a one-way ticket to Cairo.

And then? I believe the next step for me will be in applying a subset of this broader philosophy into a “practical” field. At the moment this looks like it could be in graduate study writing on learning environments and human development, or working in corporate leadership development; both as stepping stones to positions where curricula and learning spaces can be created- and perhaps even founding university in the long-term. The important conclusion for me is the realization that whatever form I find to express in my career I would essentially be a philosopher. I draw this distinction as I hold paramount the conscious and endless search for deeper understanding, to shape my life around this understanding and to communicate whatever learnings I gain in whichever way can prove more beneficial for my community. At worst after the six months of purely choice based life then this broader philosophical enquiry returns to a lifelong hobby. At best it will grow into a means where I can integrate my life more fully and study, write and speak on the field of my passion, as a student, teacher, writer and lecturer. A choice which doesn’t find an easy fit in my generation and culture; where philosophy is so academic and spirituality is so institutionalized.

I feel a calling in the world I see around me; in the wasteful divisions between our common community, in the lack of long term perspective for our common environment, and in the lack of a meaningful path for individual and collective development. I believe answers lie in renewed philosophies and that in the search for such a solution I can find the greatest contribution and the greatest fulfillment. Thus I seek this understanding with my full commitment even if it only finds benefit for me although my hope is, and shall always be, many times greater. For those seeking to share this path of discovery I hope you will join me in dialogue for at least my Egypt days where learning is paramount and all perspectives welcome.

Peace

Arthur

“I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep, and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I have come to die, discover that I had not lived.”
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Dublin Reflections

// May 11th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // My Personal Journey

Im in Dublin on an AIESEC visit, my first time back since I finished my MCP term and left for South Africa two years ago. As I walk the streets Im bombarded by so many memories- although in my mind it’s never really this sunny- I have a perpetual image of Dublin in the dark and the wet, the Liffey glowing a dull green in fluorescent reflection of towering lampposts. Two years and twenty odd countries have passed; Dublin looks newer and I feel much older.