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Another year, Another dimension

// April 14th, 2005 // 10 Comments » // My Personal Journey

I have survived innumerable opportunities for incident and disease to
survive for yet another year. I count victory over 24 of them so far and
am hoping for a fair few more. Am back in Rotterdam, the pearl of
Europe, after enjoying no small amount of medical treatment in Finland
and a visit to Sweden. I left Cairo feeling a bit dodgy and arrived to
Helsinki in a wheelchair- but nothing 1 liter of saline IV, loads of
penicillin and a few blood tests couldn’t fix. Huge shout outs to the
inventor of air sickness bags, Ketofan and Gatorade- my best friends
during a 72 hour forced fast in which I visited a large percentage of
the bathrooms in Scandanavia.

Today is may be the anniversary of my birth, but less than a footnote to
the history that has unfolded on this date.
43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum. Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar’s
assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the
consul Pansa.
1912 – RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg on its maiden voyage – it finishes
sinking at about 2:20 am the next day.
Black Day – informal celebration day for single people in South Korea
1986 – 2.2 lb (1kg) hailstones fall on the Gopalganj district of
Bangladesh. These are the heaviest hailstones ever recorded.
Clearly, there is strong link between these events and my appearing, not
exactly sure what it is, but the day is still young.

Being 23 kicked ass. Best year of my life. Began in Africa and finished
revolving somewhere round Western Europe. Featured 14 countries,
incredible intelligent characters and rare and wonderful opportunities.
I discovered a lot about myself in the last year, largely through
expressing myself more fully, releasing that which exists inside and too
seldom finds a way out. The Best Job in the World has been tempering and
a test, an opportunity and reward- if I can ever give as much and learn
as much I will have lived a truly happy life. Twenty-three has been a
year that will define much of who I am and where I go in the next five
years. Twenty-four will be scarier, more challenging, more unknown, it
will be another unique step- one that both builds on the past but moves
in a new and unique direction. PEACE.

More diversity, less mucus

// March 7th, 2005 // No Comments » // My Personal Journey

A month long weekendless drought finally broke on friday night as I kicked back in my flat with Albert and Brodie and began a 48 hour chillout and philosophy session. We were still recovering from a recent conference in romania- which lead us to conclude saturday night with the motto “More Diversity, Less Mucus”- truly a banner we can all rally around. Emerging monday morning unshaven, with a far lower heart rate, and profound thoughts dripping from the very walls the weekend seems only a haze of wide ranging discussions and beer.

In the coming months I plan to write out my incomplete philosophy and will post a few musings here for mass digestion. It’s taken a couple of years but I think Im finally at the point where I can write on the “individual and collective journey of humanity” without falling on the floor and heaving in violent laughter. I think the key is to take yourself seriously enough to create, while maintaining the perspective to see humour or at least irony in your own creations.

Closing speech and a new dawn

// March 3rd, 2005 // 7 Comments » // My Personal Journey

This is the last speech I gave in IPM during the PAI election… I was speaking as much for myself and my journey as I was for AIESEC.

“There is a story being told in the world around us. It tells us to fear the foreign and the unknown. It says that only few can survive, and to survive we must fight. It says that some are better than the whole and that we must divide and isolate. It threatens that we are endangered an alone.

In AIESEC I have found another story. I have found a story that speaks to what is common in us. I have found a story that says we can work better together, than alone, that we are more similar than different, that we have a community and future in Humanity.

I believe the future of the world will be shaped by one of these stories – it is up to us to determine which.

The discovery of humanity has been my AIESEC journey. I have found it the hearts and minds of our members, though we seldom see it. I have found it in the vision and the strategy of our organisation though we seldom hear it. I have found it the actions and determination of our leaders, though we seldom speak it.

I say this spirit, our Vision, shall lead our organisation. It shall guide our strategy, will inspire our member base, will bring together diverse perspectives, people and organisations around a common aim.

To this end, I offer you all that I have.
I offer you my mind, which seeks to learn, seeks to teach, seeks to find a better way forward. I offer you my vision, an engaged, relevant and sucessful AIESEC- a true force for global change. And I offer you my heart, which beats with the pulse of humanity, as do each of yours.

AIESEC, be this the dawn, or the sunset, I thank you for helping me discovery what lies within each of us.”

3 hours after closing this speech, I found out that it was to be a sunset. Like all the wonderful things in life, my AIESEC experience felt like it would be forever, until I found out it was nearly over. I have 5 months ahead of me to experience the best job in the world to the fullest. I will travel across the world, learn and teach from some of the brightest young minds, and give what I can. On July 31st 2005 AIESEC and I will move in different directions- but we have changed each other deeply in the last 6 years and neither will ever be the same again.