We can't find beauty with our eyes closed...

A story that tickled me today...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

It's All Good Man!

Can you believe I lived in my apartment for eight months without realising I had a roof terrace??? And what a roof terrace! The views are some of the best in Sydney. Unbelievable. I've been enjoying it with friends since.

So January's done already. The weather has been great, the festival a real boost to the social life and I'm back swimming again. All good? Well... no. Something has definitely been missing. Frankly, I haven't had enough work to do...

My mood is often determined by how happy I am at work. And it might sound strange, but it's taken me years to realise that.
Beautiful water and sands down at Jervis Bay.

I always felt that working for the Civil Service was a bit of a compromise. The work wasn't appreciated and it wasn't especially rewarding, and the working environment was never exciting, but the payoff - I thought - was a less stressful, less demanding working life. It wasn't until I left that I realised I'm happiest when work is demanding. An undemanding job isn't a payoff, it's a lead weight. I can only feel happy when I'm working hard and adding some value.

It's that Scottish Protestant guilt that I just can't shake off. Hahaha!

Left - James enjoyed his lunch on the rooftop!

So it's with some relief that I find my workload ramping up in the last week. And I'm excited about working for Opportunity International in 2009. I'm excited because this could be the most challenging year for this organisation yet. None of us would wish for the difficulties that the credit crunch have imposed on us. We would all prefer to have more donations, more money to pay for the projects we have in the field, and more money to pay for our team in Australia, which we've unfortunately had to pare down in the last month or so.

But given the circumstances we find ourselves in, we're determined as a team to do the best we can. I've said this before, but I've never felt as encouraged by my colleagues and by the atmosphere at work as I do at Opportunity.

Since I've written this, I've had a great week. I've done some walking in the beautiful bush around Sydney. My shoulder feels almost fully recovered so I've entered the harbour swim competition on 1st March. I've caught up with friends and I have a weekend of beach, barbeque and the Australian Open with a few tinnies to look forward to.

It really is all good!

With Australia Day passing, I feel the need to comment on the rivalry between Australia and the UK, and back one of these very different horses. Hope to put this into a new update real soon...

Wow!!!!

2009

When I was at school I was a keen student, and a well-behaved one (boring! I hear you shout, and yeah, guilty as charged). My only vice was a tendency to daydream. For example, I remember on many an occasion thinking about the year 2000 and what it would be like to be around at the end of the millennium. This was quite an exotic thought, not least because I would be 25 by that time, an age that seemed impossibly grown-up, and therefore eons away.

The millennium duly came round without the notable passing of eons, and now, by heck, 2009 is here and I still don’t feel that I’ve aged notably, well not mentally at least.

This thought struck me when I was waiting on the bells at Jackie’s party in Edinburgh. And I guess I had a more thoughtful (and less drunken) new year than usual. In fact, the whole holiday season was much less about partying – and much less about ‘me’ – compared to the last couple of years, and that was a really positive thing.

I just got back from three weeks in the UK. This was a time to catch-up with friends and my family and to take a break from work and feel refreshed for the year ahead.

It was a really enjoyable three weeks, the highlight of which was spending time with my nephew and niece, Rowan and Colette, and with Kirsty, Gordon and my mum and dad. I love life in Sydney, but it’s hard being so far from family. And though I’m excited to be back in Sydney, it was upsetting to leave Scotland.

Christmas Day was very memorable, and it reminded me that Christmas is really about the kids. Rowan’s radio-controlled helicopters, flying saucers and insects caused mayhem, while Colette played happily with Peppa Pig DVDs, books and miniature dolls. Brilliant! (And as soon as my internet connection starts behaving itself, I’ll upload a few photos).

Otherwise, my memories of the trip will be of doing plenty of travelling, spending quality time with friends (too often in the pub, which has given me a beer belly to work off in January!), and how inhospitable the UK is in winter. The cold was just as disturbing as I’d feared and what’s with nightfall at 4pm? Some days it was so dull and gloomy that we never switched the lights off!

And so now I’m back in Sydney. January in Sydney is a fantastic time at least. The festival starts today, the 10th, and I’m booked up to see some great acts, including Mr Scruff and Cinematic Orchestra. Otherwise, the main focus will be work. Hope to hit the ground running with some interesting projects in January. More news soon.

dollar a week

In Australia, $120 buys you a designer t-shirt. In Laos, it can help you train as a carpenter, allowing you to provide for your family. In Australia, $21 gets you a ticket to the movies and a tub of popcorn. In Sudan, it can put a mosquito net around your bed to protect you from malaria – a disease that is likely to kill you. In Australia, $1 is spare change. But in Uganda, it can change your life.

Just wanted to stick on a link to another great poverty relief website. I think this site does a fantastic job in expressing one of the most stunning facts about poverty - solving poverty isn't about making big sacrifices, if each of us gave just a small amount, we could end poverty, now.

Rebekah Nolan is a colleague of mine at Opportunity International and I’m so impressed with the work she’d done writing this site.

And a site written by young people for young people is a great idea - just a shame it makes me feel like an old-timer. (Thanks Rebekah!)

Click on the link below to find out how a dollar a week can make a difference.

Counting Down

I leave for the UK in just 5 days. This will be the first annual leave I've taken all year. That I've survived this long without a holiday must be a reflection of how much I enjoy the job. However, I'm definitely hitting the wall now.

Like an under-prepared marathon runner hitting the 24 mile mark, I'm now struggling towards the finishing line with wobbly legs and a nodding head.

And in the holiday spirit, I spent all weekend in 'Maximum Socialite' mode on the premise that i am going to miss out on the xmas party calendar in Sydney. Ping-pong at 5am, an ex-girlfriend of (a very young) Russell Crowe, a half-hawaiian Bjork lookalike and a French molecular biologist may all have been part of the weekend. Or perhaps it was all just a weird dream.

In any event, I'm once again packing bags, catching up with washing and dreading the jetlag.

And what's this about 16cms of snow...???