The Vibes People Play

Dear Everyone,

I had a fairly eventful month or two and results have been staggering. Emotionally that is. I do believe a breakthrough has been made and in it a very wise understanding of where i stand in it. I smile as i type this, because it is yet another chapter in my life that brought me closer to a deeper understanding of myself and what i'm capable of.

Its not all roses though...

Discovering also has a lot mending, rewinding, new painful or pleasure filled discovery that doesn't make it a (let's just say) walk in the park.

But nevertheless such journeys are what sterner stuff is made of. And sterner stuff is what we all need. My penchant for the dark. What can i say? Hey.

So it is from one of these discoveries that i emerged early this morning to find that my pleasured self emanated a distinct hue and atmosphere that unsettled my fine colleagues around me.

The vibes were clearly signalled and because of its deep nature silence was the chosen tool.

The vibes were of awe, jealousy, remoteness, stares, resentment, of being intimiated, of smarting...

What followed were acts of self-preservation. Desperate acts of preservation. :)

There were reassuring calls being made to better halfs, chit-chats of the insulting kind...smirks that were so insecure...I had to laugh. It felt good to awe-ed at blatantly. Obviously living a little around here takes some guts, and making a little takes some adventure.

Hmmmmm....so, what do you call a drunken sailor earl-i in the morning?



Ooooh...i could get used to this.

Time Flies when the Path Twists Unexpectedly

Don't you hate it when that happens?

I never really had the privilege like the few I term 'blessed' to know where exactly I was headed until a few months (almost a year, but not quite) ago. It takes a lot of gut (and I mean a lot) if you aren't from the genre of the former 'blessed' category to actually acknowledge it and make a run for the unexpected, new and unfamiliar with a vague notion that the only thing that's driving you there is passion.

It's a tricky word this passion. It's fuelled by so many other aspects from your core. Impulse, worry, energy, intensity, love, hate, danger...

My passion latently snuggled under tonnes of insecurity blankets, jostling to get out. I do believe it has made its way past all of them. Cause I honestly am rearing to go.

My elation knew no bounds when my passion ran out into the clear and soaked in long missed sunshine and I suddenly had a clearer vision of where I needed to go...Passion had run along ahead of me and was pointing excitedly to the path, I had walked alongside for quite awhile.

So now, I'm on this path. Now, the things passion isn't prepared for and doesn't see coming are the curve balls that time throws at you. Whoo! Boy, do they hurt! However, I must admit that it's easily internalised simply because you now know you're on your way to something. It's scary, don't get me wrong. There are lot of fears you must face. Your passion has no fear. Your spatial skills and sense of reality do. It's a potent blend of elation, excitement, fright and disbelief (that you're actually doing this, that you've come this far AND that you're ACTUALLY going to DO this!).

I've been thrown 3 curve balls as of the 8th of January 2007. One is extremely interesting. The others are...well...let's just say manageable. You have a problem when the curve ball is interesting, because the natural urge to duck and slam it out of the way is quashed almost immediately. You're now standing and looking at this situation with a amusing, quizzical expression on your face. You don't know where this going, but you still want to find out anyway. You know?

But passion has it's ways of drawing you back...to remind where you are headed - and that it wasn't easy to have found it in the first place. A wise man once said that, "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy'. I humbly accept that.

Right now I'm taking tentative steps forward, I've got this problem of backward glancing (I'm working on this as we speak and I have to say I've made progress), which I hope to channel into a more efficient trait. Going down memory lane is one thing. Spaz-ing out at the moment I'm supposed to be grabbing every opportunity is another.

:) Oh fear not! Honestly, I'm fine. Passion and I talk about it, we balance it and figure out where I need to cut the fat, and sometimes, it sits down munches on something and says it'll wait. But not too long, y'know?

Passion passes...like time it waits for no one. It's your business to keep up. Anything or anyone that can't...well...I gotta run!

Better Work Trends, Creativity and Dangrous Borderlines - Part II

What is a better work trend? Is it something that idly hammocks in our mind, swinging from one pole to the other trying to work its way into our outer recesses, infuse itself into speech and reasoning power. Does better work trends translate into comfort zones, rec rooms and uni-sex toilets? I don't know really. For in a socially led world like hours 'better work trends' could mean a million things to a few people.

I say few, because they're the ones who essentially make the rules, write out the charter and Bcc it the entire organisation.

We've been reading in recent news, white papers and conglomerate spiel that flexible working is on the upswing. Several top global companies are pushing technology to deliver more than just e-mail, conference calls and video sat links. I'd personally like to say Hallejuiah.

The term itself is so endearing, no? Flexible - makes so much more room for air, time, constructive input/output, feedback. I say this because time management in burgeoning cities not only include timesheets, but traffic, personal lives, rest, per sqm of work space used in an office and other such wonderful elements that could make or break a balance sheet in a financial year.

So how many of you actually put in enough work to pay off the desk space you use? Rent is calculated you know. Oh, and how many of you earn it back or are paid enough for churning out more than a bang for the buck? Ironically the latter question you ask yourself, awaits an answer from someone else and the former question you spit out into the atmosphere has your name on it.

heh.heh.

So, would you be comfrotable with a flexible working option? Would you be able to effectively deliver sitting from the convinience of your home? Are you up to working remotely? Strong debates do tend to crop up (i mean taking sides is an inborn trait of ours and then of course the new millenia coughed up a third which is 'non-committal' - a wonderful gift).

I for one am FOR flexible working. I like the idea of managing my own time, i like the idea of delivering real time and managing my laundry together. I like the option of mobile interfacing than working with a lot of people who 'just need to get out home'. I like that it sieves out the chaff. It does. Any way you look at it, the possibilities of flexible working are immense.

And for the naysayers, I think it should be a choice. In Dubai, traffic is a cuss word. The moment everyone gets back from their vacations, emergency trips and other such offloading the city's roads groan as people with 2 - 3 cars per home vomit themselves unto the streets. What would be a half hour drive to work becomes a two hour nightmare, that saps you off all the good energy you could use at work.

By the time you get to work, some smug auntie is already trying to eat into what's left your sanity because she lives 5 minutes away and thinks she's smarter than you. Good morning sunshine!

;( - I can't WAIT to get started.

With no respectable public transport system anywhere near the horizon (talks of 2008 continue to do the rounds, with the money they have, it could happen...) the roads are choked.

Flexible working is an answer. But of course mentality is evasive. Everyone has this chip on their shoulder, they just don't see productive work happening when remotely done. Why? Because you're at home, or somewhere...remote. One could possibly NOT do any work right? WRONG.

Freelancers are by default remote workers. They're engaging in projects that take them time, effort and a lot of brainwork. Offices don't use up space, they charge a fee. And ta-da we're happy. A lot of consultants work remotely. Senior management most often than not work remotely. They're all about the strategy, see?

So who are the schmucks who need to come into work to make it look like a functioning organisation? You and me. We're the schmucks. We're the ones who have to bang out inane reports, useless statistics and feedback, make the unwanted telephone calls - basically things that go into the inane report that tells the client we deserve the fee we're charging. Right!

And we wait, and pray for the day we move up a notch, to a more 'stragtegic' posting, where things like flexibility, productivity, efficiency and ROI begins to take shape and suddenly make sense!

If anyone who's 'senior' happens to pass by this page - could you do me favour? Could you re-think for me? Flexible working could mean 3 day office job 3 day remote. It could mean one day away but contactable and 5 days fifty - fifty.

It could mean happier and more productive compared to pressurised, stumped, blinded, 'hands-tied-behind-ones-back', under-handed, snap-dragon(-ny). It could mean cost effective, time saving, better office management, lesser stress. Flexible.

Think about it.

2007

Dear Everyone,

It's the start to the new year. I have to say that i had a more exciting start to 2007 than the past few. I invited a few freinds over to my little apartment and everyone fresh with wounds from work, life and love wept, danced and drank to forget the little that was left of 2006.

As i watched everyone from my favrouite spot in the house, the right-most single seater couch that sits closest to the television, I was happy that everyone had suddenly removed themselves of many a mask and were just who they were. Safe to say, that many a revelation was made.

Through it all, there was a silent acceptance of what had been laid open for everyone to see. And we danced. We all danced, to music, to sounds, to the beats in our head. We talked, we spilled, we mulled over wine and conversation.

People went for walks, others went to sleep, and the few who were left groggigly groping for what was left of the year slipped in and out of the old.

One of my friends asked me at a saner moment, to describe what 2006 had meant to me. Everyone wants to know what 06 meant to everyone. But the catch was that i say it in a single sentence that would only contain a comma and full stop.

I thought about it for a second and lot of what i had been through in the past year flashed before me and i have to admit that i was quite okay with what i saw. No real-deep regrets and the beauty is that you wouldn't change anything. Not one thing.

So i said, "2006, introduced me."

Happy New Year everyone. I love you very much.