Tag: life on-line

On my job interview – a twitterventure

As you may or may not know, last night I had a job interview in another part of the country.  Because I was in a silly mood and wanted something to do while waiting for my flight to be called at the airport I decided to tweet the whole adventure.  In case you missed it on Twitter and Facebook, here it is for your enjoyment, now with added commentary and pictures (for some reason my picture tweets didn’t want to go through – captions with pictures are as I remember the original tweets, but probably not the same at all) and including replies on Twitter and Facebook.

Continue reading “On my job interview – a twitterventure” →

On fixing what ain’t broke

I’m human (for those of you who were wondering), and like most humans, I’m not completely comfortable with change.  We like the familiar.  That’s why we invent traditions and customs – to ensure future generations do things the same way as us so that we don’t have to change.

However, along with a significantly smaller proportion of the world’s population, I also recognise the need for change.  As stated previously, without change we run a big risk of stagnating.  Blindly adhering to tradition is usually more damaging than not adhering to tradition at all.

But, and this is a big but, change for the sake of change is pointless, causes unnecessary stress and just makes life difficult. Continue reading “On fixing what ain’t broke” →

On owning your words

Words are important.  Since ancient times people have realised this.  

In the Judeo-Christian tradition it is believed that God spoke creation into existence.  From the ancient Jewish texts specifically grew Kabbalistic mysticism, which believed that the letters in the Hebrew alphabet had actual power to influence creation.  The most well-known manifestation of this is in the golem-myth.  Golems were creatures crafted from clay and, so the legend goes, brought to life by words inscribed on their foreheads.  And did you know the standard incantation for stage magicians, “Abracadabra“, is derived from the Hebrew words meaning, “I create what I speak”?

In Japan there is the belief called Kotodama which teaches that mystical power dwells in words and names.  And we can find similar beliefs in in the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian religions, as well as the more mystical branches of many modern-day religions.

The idea has also been used in fiction. Continue reading “On owning your words” →

On how smart phones are making us dumb

When I wanted to shock the kids I used to teach, I’d just tell them that I only got my first cell phone after I had left school.  My father didn’t want to struggle to reach me, so when I left for college he gave me his old Nokia.  It had an extended battery.  Thrown with enough force it could bring down a cow. (No, I never tried).  Most of the time the thing lay in my cupboard in the hostel and I only switched it on to phone home (why do I suddenly have an urge to watch E.T.?)

Having a phone ring in class was the most embarrassing thing that could happen and to send a text while having a conversation was the worst faux pas you could commit.  I had one friend who was a self-confessed cell phone addict and we teased her endlessly about it – it was that unusual.

Fast forward a few years and I was working with teenagers who had cell phones at least since they had started high school.  For the first time I experienced what it felt like to try and have a conversation with someone who was having a conversation with someone else at the same time (especially after Mxit came into the picture).  Luckily I was an authority figure, so I could make them put their phones away, but I’m pretty sure they were still typing texts in their pockets while listening to me.

Then came the smart phone. Continue reading “On how smart phones are making us dumb” →

On making a difference

One of the things I enjoy most about blogging is the variety of interesting people with whom you get to interact and even make friends.  And I’ve never even considered the blogosphere to be a place where you could make a significant impact on the rest of the world, unless you have, like, a hundred-million followers.  But there are ways to make a difference and I am lucky to have become part of such a project.

It’s called The Book Notes Project and was started by Emma from A Wordless Blogger.  It’s very simple really.  We leave notes in books, be they in library books, books we donate or sell second-hand, some might even try to slip a note or two into new books in bookshops (that is, if we can get past security 😀 ).

What is on these notes, you ask?  Very good question.  Anything positive, motivational or uplifting we can think about that will make the recipient feel better about him- or herself.  Imagine feeling down in the dumps and picking up a book in the library.  You flip through the pages and a note falls out, saying you’re beautiful.  Won’t that be nice?

That’s what The Book Notes Project is about.  We’re just doing our part to spread some joy and positivity and eradicate all the nastiness out there.

Sound like something you’d like to get involved in?  Then go visit the site using the link above where you will find all the necessary info.

A few of us are also going to contribute to a weekly blog on a variety of uplifting topics.  You can check out today’s post here.

Come get involved and let’s make the world a nicer place to live in for all of us.