The Great Mountain Strikes!

This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here!

Friday’s Formula Ford morning qualifying practice brought this weekend’s first crash with Shae Davies and Garry Jacobson colliding at the top of Mount Panorama. 

Davie’s car stalled and spun at McPhillamy park; left in the middle of the track Jacobson then sideswiped the Spectrum in spectacular fashion. 

Anton De Pasquale, Jacobson’s team mate avoided the incident and was slightly shaken up. 

“I saw the yellow flag just before I turned left at McPhillamy Park,” De Pasquale told Speecafe.com.

“Garry was ahead of me. He went left. I went right, and I only just missed him. It was a pretty scary moment.”

Davies was cleared of serious injury however Jacobson was airlifted out of the scene with suspected broken bones. 

Mount Panorama is sure to provide an exciting but hopefully safe weekend…

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com Journalist [Images via Speedcafe.com]

The Lady With The Crash Helmet

On a recent trip back from the States, I realised I had uncovered one of the best conversation starters on an aeroplane or in an airport. Carry a hard hat on top of your hand luggage.

Trust me, it works a treat!  Especially if you are a Muslim chick…

I didn’t quite fit the above stereotype…perhaps fortunately?

I think about 4 people asked me straight out: “So why are you carrying a crash helmet on to this plane?  What do you think is gonna happen?”.

It took all my self control not to crack an awful joke every single time; I am not sure if they would have appreciated my dark sense of humour in this particular situation.

A few others were just curious: “What’s a girl like you doing with steel caps and a hard hat?”

“Oh well, I work on the field…”

Quite a number of interesting conversations followed, and to be honest, one can sometimes forget how interesting the people on the plane can be!

I ended up meeting all sorts of people; some who work in the motorsport industry, some guy who works as a professional tree climbing equipment supplier (and got there in the most random fashion…) and another guy who used to work on oil rigs in the same area, in the 1980’s!

That was kinda a cool one.  He had a few stories, a couple of permanently crooked fingers and a life story which he prefaced with: “All we wore were steel caps and shorts…”

Ah, OH&S has moved on a bit since then.

It was a nice reminder in general though, that instead of walking around airports with headphones in my poor abused eardrums and a “don’t talk to me” look on my face as I struggle through jetlag while carrying too many pieces of hand luggage as per usual…I should take more notice of the people around me on a more regular basis.

You never know who might be sitting next to you…and the stories they might have.

***

Something occurred to me today.

Faces I sometimes forget, names I often do if I don’t write them down or spell them out.

Stories however… they sustain me.

Stories are the colour to the tapestry of life; the details are the richness of the pigment, the texture, the intricacies to something bigger than ourselves.

Stories are what make people people, and everyone has their own story that is worth listening to. 

Isn’t is a basic human desire to have our story be heard?  Perhaps not by everyone, but at least someone.  Perhaps…you.

The Weekly Grapevine…

You know what it is! Every week, I link a few of the random quotes and articles that I have come across on the net that week… enjoy!

Since I recently started my working life, I have decided to take some time to sort out my Facebook persona…which is a little difficult but worth doing.  Check out this link for a good head start: How to lock down your Facebook Account for MAX PRIVACY AND SECURITY

On a totally different note, I love it when I see examples of beauty such as the example of Balpreet Kaur, who totally schooled a user on Reddit and possibly changed the hearts and minds of many others.  This quote is quite profound…

By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can.

Religious beliefs aside, the way she put this reflects my thoughts on the matter.  Making that a reality is not always easy; it requires strong faith and belief in the personal choice as we are naturally influenced by society around us.  However, constantly reminding ourselves how temporary our physical being is in the grand scheme of things we can strive to remain humble and focus on ensuring our actions reflect the legacy we want to leave. 

Love this site, wish I had thought of it while I was in Sudan! EverydayAfricaTumblr…

What does this mean for the world of motorsport?

Please America, don’t vote this fella in?

If I were Iran, if I were Iran -- a crazed fanatic, I'd say let's get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we'll just say, "Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we're going to let off a dirty bomb." I mean this is where we have -- where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we really don't have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.  Mitt Romney, May 17, 2012

…and I thought Sudanese hospitals were bad.  If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America—just behind accidents and ahead of Alzheimer's.

Interesting. Sometimes being top job, President, Prime Minister, whatever…is partly also about whether your body can handle it!

Interesting.  Those in control; military leaders, politicians, CEOs, are less stressed than their lower working counter parts…

Foreign Policy News: Interestingly, not only is the South China Sea a disputed state of affairs, so is the East China Sea, with interesting anti-Japanese protests springing up in China recently.  Sneaky Sneaky…

China reacted quickly to what it saw as Japan's reaffirmation of its sovereignty claim with a variety of measures, which state media called "combination punches."These ranged from Politburo members strongly denouncing Japan to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao vowing to "never yield an inch" to threats of economic retaliation to announcements of joint combat drills by China's navy, air force and strategic missile corps, including landing exercises in the Yellow Sea and the Gobi Desert.

But a quieter move may have more serious repercussions in the end. On Sept. 10, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced baselines to formally demarcate its territorial waters in the area. In Beijing's eyes, this move legally places the disputed islands under Chinese administration in a direct challenge to Japan's administration of the islands over the last four decades.

Ahh, someone has put my feelings into precise words. Where has this man been?!

"When I first heard about the [July 7] bombings, I thought: ‘Please God, [let the bombers] be some bloody foreigners’," he said. "The reality which slowly unfolded was as bad as it could possibly be — three of the bombers were British men of Pakistani origin. I had absolutely nothing else in common with them, but I still felt a guilty connection.

"I think, as with 9/11, we get sucked into a no-win situation due to tribalism. Even though we have nothing in common with these people — in terms of values, culture, beliefs, intellect, profession — we find ourselves being identified with them because of one or two specific characteristics, and then we are expected to express our apologies for what they did (and thus confirm the tribal commonality) or be condemned for not expressing enough outrage.

"I won’t be defined by my DNA or by anyone else’s preconceptions." – Imran Ahmad

Final quote for the afternoon…

So if you want to keep the blood flowing through as many parts of your brain as possible, you need to read for fun, read for information, listen to music, look closely at art ... only by embracing a wide range of intellectual challenges can we help our minds to be all they should, and can, be. Alan Jacobs, The Atlantic

The Perception of Heroism

Sometimes I wonder what the fine line is between celebrating heroism and punishing or shaming similar behaviour in certain situations.

For example, if a lady running late at night for exercise was abducted, commentary may run along the lines of personal safety and the opinion of “well, she shouldn’t have been running out that late anyway”.

However if say, the same lady aspired to be an athlete and ran at night “so she could train as often as she could, or when others weren’t” people may instead see that as inspirational.

What is the difference?

Another example may be the heroics of civilians in dangerous situations – a non fire fighter running into a burning house to save a child: if he comes out safely with the child, he is often lauded as a hero, whereas if he is injured or puts others in danger, again the commentary will be quite different.

Perhaps our current society’s emphasis on personal and individual heroism is at fault – it makes people believe they need to be the ones who make the difference, the individual who inspires or is the hero, regardless of how that may affect the people around them or the risks that they take in the interim.

Isn’t it almost selfish? To want to be the “hero"?

…or is it simply human nature?  Simply a way of finding meaning for our lives?

On another scale, when does fighting for a cause, such as overthrowing a government (think Arab Spring) go from “crazy” and “putting yourself in undue danger” (because of the likelihood of capture and torture) to becoming “heroic” and acceptable…and “worth it”?

Is it different because it is a cause?

Or is heroism just in the eyes of the society of the day, or the society that matters to you?

REVIEW: ‘Professor Sid Watkins: Life at the Limit’

I recently posted this on Richard’s F1, check out the original post here.

Professor Sid Watkins, 1996, Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One. Macmillan, UK. ISBN: 0-333-65774-8

For someone who has grown up watching Fomula One in the last decade or so, it is easy to forget how dangerous a sport it is…and how fatal it used to be.

The recent and extraordinarily sad passing of the books author, ‘The Prof’, is made even more acute while reading this eloquent text as his personality, wit and straight attitude shine through, saddening readers by reminding us such a great character no longer watches over the paddock.

Life at the Limit was written after the death of Professor Watkin’s friend and inspiration to many, Ayrton Senna in 1994.  Chapter one details that fateful weekend…

“Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on”. Those were the last words he said to me – Page 8, The Professor and Ayrton’s Last conversation

The book takes you through the recent history of Formula One through the unique lenses of a man of medicine, a man who didn’t miss much. Although slightly outdated now (the majority of the book focuses on the seventies, eighties, and very early nineties), the Professor does a wonderful job of taking the readers through the development of safety within the Formula One scene, and it is interesting having major races and individuals referred to not by their typical characteristics such as wins, but by the crashes involved and the injuries sustained!

***

There are two things that particularly strike me about this book and meant that it was more than just your average lazy Sunday afternoon paperback (and no, the answer is not that was a hardback…).

Firstly, learning about the history of safety within Formula One and the truly calamitous accidents that occurred with frightening regularity was quite sobering.  In today’s day and age, accidents in the top level GPs are more often than not a spectacle rather than a true cause for concern, and so it is easy to forget that only 20 years ago, any accident could be deadly – as it often was.

The Professor details his exploits in trying to convert die hard racers and obstinate racing officials to his cause, and often the situations he found himself in were quite amusing!  Told in his amusing, dry English manner I found myself laughing aloud a number of times…and also feeling his pain as he was faced time and time again with the prospect of pulling another close friend or colleague out of a crushed cockpit.  It could never have been easy, and although he is the cynical neurosurgeon you could feel the emotion behind some of the pages. 

The second thing I really enjoyed was the personal aspect of the book; Watkins knew everyone there was to know in Formula One and was quite close to many of them.  The stories of the race drivers and officials in the early years were a nice touch, humanising them for someone who just knew their statistics.  They served to remind that these, were just men (really talented men mind you) doing a dangerous job that they loved, in an environment that was often unforgiving.  There are so many names that they occasionally blurred together, but I definitely feel like I had taken an enjoyable trip down F1 memory lane…

***

All in all, Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One is an great read for someone who is looking to learn a little about the history of safety in the sport, or any fan who is looking to learn a little more about the great Professor and the personalities of his time.  Stories about Bernie that you’d never hear about, the antics of Nelson Piquet, the trials of organising helicopters for transport or the practical jokes everyone seemed to play on each other…it’s all here, and all worth checking out.

I would say 4 out of 5 flags.  

Enjoy…and if you have had a read, let me know what you think!

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com (Awesomeness-Accredited) Journalist [Images via Formula1SportNews, SCMP and Yassmin Abdel-Magied]

What’s on the net…

A little collection of a few things that caught my eye… Between the Flags: A great little Tropfest video that shows the humanity beyond the mob mentality, a throwback to 2005 and the Cronulla riots…

I honestly wish I had thought of this when I was in first year…I always wanted to do a massive practical joke but couldn’t think of anything exciting enough! Kudos to these cats.

I work in a male dominated field for sure…But I have never considered what it would be like to work as another one: a taxi driver? "What's a girl doing here?" from Narratively on Vimeo.

An interesting essay On the Joy of Giving

"For a lot of us, what really defines us in the world is having so much money. We're exceptionally wealthy compared to the average," he says in the precise, logical voice of the studious, overgrown schoolboy he resembles. "Once you get used to the idea, I think you realise, wow, this is a really nice position to be in, to be able to help people."

He suggests giving away 10% of your income might, like vegetarianism, one day become a social norm. And he suggests philosophers should pay more attention: "Quite a few people think obviously it's good to donate to charity, so we're not going to talk about it. I think that's a mistake, because you can go further and say, do we have an obligation to do it? Is it not merely something that's nice, but something we really have to do? And I think the answer is yes."

An oldie but a goldie…a little cynical perhaps, but a fair bit of truth there:

Gas is the next big thing in energy, and a few interesting articles in the Australian on this issue caught my eye.  It is quite a contentious area, especially here in Queensland where many of the gas wells are on prime farmland.  However, in today’s society, money talks, and when push comes to shove, will people be willing to reduce their energy consumption or be willing to pay more for their electricity?  In my typical fashion I am not one to side either way just yet, but more play the devil’s advocate…

Randomly, the first massive internet hoax…from the Museum of Hoaxes, an interesting and trivia filled way to spend an afternoon *cough*

This is a useful little infographic… How to make the most of Google!

QandA is a great show but sometimes without the level of sophistication and depth in the discussion that the issues require:

If the producers of Q&A were serious about their adventures in democracy, they should seek to include such experts in all of their discussions. This would make the show more productive and could bring it into its fuller potential as a place of critical, enjoyable, and serious political debate for Australia.

Until then, it will just be the contrived gabfest we tweet at each week.

I do love this blog:

The touchiness of Muslims about assaults on the Prophet Muhammad is in part rooted in centuries of Western colonialism and neo-colonialism during which their religion was routinely denounced as barbaric by the people ruling and lording it over them. That is, defending the Prophet and defending the post-colonial nation are for the most part indistinguishable, and being touchy over slights to national identity (and yes, Muslimness is a kind of national identity in today’s world) is hardly confined to Muslims.

In India, dozens of Christians have sometimes been killed by rioting Hindus angry over allegations of missionary work. Killing people because you think they tried to convert members of your religion to another religion? Isn’t it because such a conversion is an insult to your gods?

In Myanmar, angry Buddhists have attacked the hapless Muslim minority, sometimes alleging they were avenging an instance of the rape of a Buddhist girl (i.e. these are like lynchings in the Jim Crow South).

Or then there have been Sri Lanka Buddhist attacks on Tamil Christians. In fact, Sri Lanka Buddhists have erected a nasty police state and shown a propensity for violence against the Tamil minority, some elements of which have had revolutionary or separatist aspirations (not everybody in the group deserves to be punished for that).

And, militant Israeli Jews have set fire to Muslim mosques in Palestine and recently tried to “lynch” three Palestinians in Jerusalem. If Maher thinks only Muslims are thin-skinned, he should try publicly criticizing Israeli policy in America and see what happens to him.

Since Iraq didn’t have ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and wasn’t connected to 9/11, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that 300 million Americans brutally attacked and militarily occupied that country for 8 1/2 years, resulting in the deaths of perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the wounding of millions, and the displacement of millions more, mainly because Iraq’s leader had talked dirty about America. Now that is touchy.

To wrap it up…France in the year 2000… from the early 1900’s. Super interesting!

Have a great day!

Linksies, Quotesies and Other Bits of E’s.

 

‎My recommended read of the week: Waleed Aly on the weekend riots.

"It feels good. It feels powerful. This is why people yell pointlessly or punch walls when frustrated. It's not instrumental. It doesn't achieve anything directly. But it is catharsis. Outrage and aggression is an intoxicating prospect for the powerless."

How far would you go to protect your kids from bullying? I think I would be pretty hardcore…but not sure if I would want my kid to go under the knife.

We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It’s easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven’t even met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you’ll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there’s still one more tier to all this; there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of these loveable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they’re often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really, want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else.  Chuck Klosterman

This was a few days ago but sounds like a great idea!  Giving out money to strangers can be quite a novel way to spend the day!

As we continually replace real life with ever shorter digital updates, what happens to the memories we build for ourselves and the people we serve? More and more, we don't remember what actually happened to us, but what we've encountered digitally. 

Seth Godin

I sometimes wonder how the minds of men like this work. It just makes me think of Flowers of Algernon to be honest >>> The Guy Who Solved Some Legendary Maths Problem

I don’t know what the right answer is, in terms of changing the sport to attract youngsters, but I do know that it is necessary to do something because despite what some people say the sport IS broken and does need fixing, even if it may not appear to be the case. The length of the races is always going to be a problem for the diehards because “it has always been like that”. Just like cricket was always five-day matches and white flannels until Kerry Packer came along and shook the tree a little.

Any sport needs to be open to new ideas, particularly one that sells itself on the idea of being fast-moving, cutting edge and innovative. One area where there is clearly a need for change is the sport’s involvement with the Internet.

Joe Saward on Change in Formula 1

I do secretly have an issue with retail therapy ;) The post asked some interesting questions about whether our possessions are actually broken promises?

My enthusiasm to acquire this new thing made me think: what are our possessions, really, but a bunch of promises? That dress promises to make us look stylish; that smartphone promises to keep us tech-savvy and connected; that cookbook promises to make us a culinary whiz; that moisturizer promises to take years off our face; that heirloom china promises to help us remember our grandmother.

Life is in all the gray...

So Why?

A comment after I had written this piece did raise a point that I had forgotten to address, and a question that many non-Muslims are probably wondering: Why is there such a response in the first place?

For many living in authoritarian countries, the publication of a piece such as “The Innocence of Muslims” is seen more as a reflection of what the entire government and community believes in that country rather than the words, actions and beliefs of a single individual. Furthermore, it is easier for extreme and radical leaders to twist the actions of an individual and say that it represents “The West”, and usually that also means “America”.

For example, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah (the leader of Hezb Allah) publically stated:

“The ones who should be held accountable and boycotted are those who support and protect the producers, namely the U.S. administration,” Source

Whatever you think of the man and his policies, this is a clear illustration of the leadership using the actions of an individual as representative of the “enemy”.  This is how you will get people like Haji Samar Gul:

…an 80-year-old protester at the Kabul demonstration who said: "We shouted death to America, death to supporters of America, death to slaves of America."

If you’re source of guidance comes from your local leader and he says to you “check out this insulting video, it was made in America, this is what they think of us and how they treat our religion”…well, you can imagine you’d be feeling pretty put out and pretty keen to start shouting.

It still doesn’t excuse violence though, especially not in Australia. This is just symptomatic of a whole other kettle of fish to do with extremism, the leadership within the communities internationally, and the education levels of those on the street. A little more thought required on this issue…

(Thanks for bringing up this point Emile!)

The Innocence of Who?

Update: This post explains a little more of the “Why”… where as the below are more personal thoughts on the matter.

---

Where to begin…

I am sure by now, you have heard about a 13 min film trailer named The Innocence of Muslims that has caused riots, death and violence throughout the world, peaceful Down Under included.

I had been trying to avoid the clip for peace of mind, but finally relented and looked up the video this morning.

Golly.  I couldn’t watch more than 5 minutes.  Yes, it is offensive, but thousands of Muslims are rioting around the world over such a poorly made production?  Have we sunk so low?

Ah, this is clearly not an issue to be belittled.  The film does insult the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessing be Upon Him*) and his followers (and by extension Arabs and Muslims), depicting them as barbarian, savages and really quite Neanderthal…and because we Muslims see the Prophet (PBuH) as the greatest and purest example of a man who ever lived, I can understand why Muslims are insulted by it.

However…

Just because one is insulted does not give one the right to needlessly riot, act violent and kill innocent people.

(and guys, seriously? Getting insulted by a budget film that’s on youtube?  /sigh.  We should have slightly thicker skins).

There are two elements to my frustration here:

1. All the rioting does is further prove and support claims that Muslims are barbaric and backwards.  Yes, we can be insulted, however that does not give us permission to run riot. It makes us seem truly uneducated and ignorant, and makes me embarrassed (Allah Yastur) to call myself a member of the Muslim Ummah**.  How shameful is that?!There are Christian and Jewish based satires on the internet galore, but I don’t remember the last time I saw hordes of angry Jewish or Christian people on the streets.  Why must the Muslim community be the uncivilised one?
2. The second thing is that this shows that Muslims around the world are willing to rise up in anger over a video made by an ignorant and hateful individual, but are not willing to show the same passion and anger towards issues that actually matter and that affect the lives of their fellow Muslims and humans.  Things like:

• The death of hundreds of innocents in Syria and the truly abhorrent acts of the Shabiha (see this and this);
• The millions of asylum seekers around the world that are displaced with no where to go and no place to call home;
• The exploitation of women and children around the world and the disgraceful way in which many are treated in our own Muslim countries;
• The barbaric corruption and torture that occurs again, throughout Muslim nations around the world…

My mother told me as a child to ignore rude people, to brush off insults and to “be the bigger person”.  Those are essentially Islam’s teachings as well – there are many examples of the Prophet (PbuH) being insulted and denigrated, only to have him treat the perpetrators with kindness and mercy.  That is the example that we Muslims are to emulate.  That is what Islam (which comes from the word Salam, meaning PEACE!) is all about.    We are told in the Qura’an:

“Obey not the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and disregard their hurtful talk.” (33:48)

Disregard their hurtful talk!

Did someone miss that line?

If we truly wanted to make our Prophet (PBuH) proud, we would not shame ourselves and our religion in this way.

***

I have to make one thing very clear, so as there is no confusion among Muslims as to what I mean.

Speaking out against the violence is not the same as agreeing with the insult.  Just because I disagree with the violent protests does not mean I have decided to “serve the interests of the West”. 

No.

The world isn’t black and white, and issues are rarely a case of if you are not with us, then you are against us. 

Yes, the video was insulting to the Prophet (PBuH).

But no, this does not give us an excuse to act like uneducated cult-like individuals and wreck havoc.  Why are we, like a weak tempered town buffoon, so quick to anger?

It should instead be a time for us, as Muslims, to live the example of the Prophet (PBuH), to show kindness and understanding in the face of anger and to truly practice the teachings of our peaceful way of life.

"The sad thing is . . . it's a deceptive film, designed to provoke Muslims, which it has unfortunately done. For us to fall into the trap unfortunately shows that we have a long way to go in terms of practising what the prophet taught."  Silma Ihram, The Sydney Morning Herald

---

* Whenever Muslims say the name of the Prophet (PBuH), as a sign of respect we say “Peace and Blessings be upon Him” afterwards, which is why you will see (PBuH) after every mention.  Sometimes (SAW) is used, and that is simply the Arabic version

** Ummah is just the Arabic word for “community” or “group of people”, and when we refer to the Muslim people we refer to the “Muslim Ummah”.

Suitcase Memories

“This is such a cold town,” I said to my mother, in between blowing my nose. But it took me a while to learn their reaction wasn’t a sign of disrespect or indifference, not the way I took it anyway. New Yorkers are unshockable, it’s true, but they also know that no one gets private space, and the best they can do is to leave you alone and at least pretend you have privacy, even if the crowded sidewalk affords you none. When I see someone in tears on the sidewalk, my instinct is not to rush over and help them—what would I do, anyway?—it is to offer them the dignity of not staring.”

Here is everything I learnt in New York

For years growing up, all I remember saying I wanted to do was travel.  I had this image in my mind of backpacking through hostels in Europe, traipsing about in the Amazon and long, dusty road trips into the sunset…but knew that would never really happen, because that wasn’t part of the “plan” – I had school, university, a career to get onto…

Sometimes when you get what you have been working towards for a long time, you don’t realise you are there until it is over.  Sometimes you realise half way through…and if you are lucky enough to do that, never forget to stop and enjoy it.

I realised in a conversation a little while ago that my dream of travelling frequently and often had been granted, Alhamdulilah.  The penny hadn’t fully dropped yet, but taking a step back and appreciating the larger picture was what I was missing.  It was happening; perhaps not in the way I had imagined, but in a way that was equally enriching, exciting and intriguing.

What have I learned? Ach, I ask this of others but don’t ask myself this question enough.  What I do know, right now, lying on a bed in a room that alternates between freezing and boiling (because hotels don’t like open windows?!) is that at the end of the day, you rely on yourself and whatever (or whoever) you believe in. 

You have to decide what is important to you and base all your decisions around that – if you have your priorities straight and truly believe in them, then decisions are easy.  Just join the dots.

Loneliness is a frame of mind… but it is always nice to have someone to come home and tell stories to, even if it is a fish or an uninterested sibling.

Pack light (easier said than done) because you will definitely go shopping (or maybe that’s just me?).

You are no where near as important or significant as you think you are. There are billions of people in this world, and travelling, in whatever capacity, opens your eyes to what is out there…if you are willing to let it.

That doesn’t mean that your life, my life or anyone’s life isn’t important in itself per se, but the world doesn’t revolve around us…and that is okay.

YOUR world revolves around you, but your world isn’t everyone else’s world.

What a penny to drop! That is honestly, more like a pound… but once I realised that, I began to appreciate how exciting life really is.

How every person you meet is an insight into a totally different way of thinking, a totally different life perspective, a totally different paradigm…and totally different world.

How is that not exciting?  It simply…*is*.  It means every single person you or I ever have the fortune to meet has their own story… and you have been given the gift of interaction, so why not find out what their story is?

After all, some of the most profound lessons I have learnt are from random interactions with people I only met once… and never seen again.  A chance interaction with another world.

***

I won’t ever be able to experience everything there is to experience in the world.  However travelling a little myself, and travelling a little through the eyes and minds of others…well, that is a start for now. 

Job Advertisement: Researcher for South Sudan

 

An interesting job that was forwarded to me for the Human Rights Watch…I encourage you to apply!  Find out more:

FULL-TIME JOB VACANCY RESEARCHER ON SUDAN/SOUTH SUDAN Africa Division (Juba or Nairobi preferred) Application Deadline: September 12, 2012

Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) is seeking a Researcher to monitor the human rights situation in Sudan and South Sudan.  This position will report to a Senior Researcher in the Africa Division.

Back in the days when men were men?

Ah, LOTR…Totally Irrelevant Photo =)

I was told by my work that I am only allowed to write about my personal life, not about work per se.  I am not totally sure what that means, but I am hoping they are just referring to “talking about the actual things we are doing” and not “talking about anything remotely to do with work/having a job/how I feel”.  It is a strange feeling, being beholden to a company or organisation which you depend on for money…I know that is really what “working” is all about, but I had never really taken it that seriously before (for all my sense of responsibility, having someone tell me what I can and can’t do has never been a strong point, just ask my parents =P).

Suffice it to say I work for a large oil services company and so my job is based on the oil and gas rigs, truly male dominated territory.

What is interesting about this though, is how different working in a male dominated field is from studying in one.  I had never even given the issue much thought at all, considering since from about grade 10 I had taken traditionally male subjects and studied mechanical engineering (with less than 10 girls in a class of a couple of hundred).  I honestly thought it wouldn’t even be an issue, I would be ‘all over it’.

Perhaps that was my naivety.

What is the difference? When studying, you grew up with your mates, saw them as colleagues, friends, community, family.  Gender seemed not to be an issue, because the guys saw you as just another student or friend.

Out here in the oil and gas fields, those rules don’t apply anymore.

I won’t say that it is an absolute either way – some people will treat women with kids gloves and try to do anything for them, while others will disregard us and think that we shouldn’t be on the rigs or simply incapable of doing the job as well as a man (not even jokingly…they actually think we can’t do a job because of our chromosomes)…but the fact is that our gender matters, and is a defining part of how we are seen and dealt with.

For someone who has spent the last seven or eight years trying to not make that an issue, that is galling indeed.

An interesting experience though nonetheless, and one that I am embracing.

…and hey, as the fellas say as they chew and spit their dip, “Welcome to the Oil Fields!”