Tunisia September 29 - October 4 2009

What still stays with me, even though it's nearly two weeks since we've been back, is an amazing connection I have made with a bunch of inspiring, concerned individuals of varying ages from Tunisia.

Never thought I'd have the opportunity but the British Council made it possible for me to visit this North African country with four others from Scotland. Over five days of 'Interaction', a leadership exchange programme, a dialogue has started that must not be allowed to fade.

So much energy. Passion. Shared beliefs. So many ideas for making a difference.

Watch this space as developments happen.

Where has time gone?

I really don't use this site enough. Guess I'll catch up eventually.

Big Brother Society

Can't believe how time flies! And it's not just about getting older.

Since March, the world has changed irrevocably. Almost as if civilised society is collapsing inwards. The fallout from the Westminster debacle about MPs expenses has not run its course but the media have been diverted to the Iranian streets. Some individuals somewhere must be daring to breathe easier.

There's an aura of 'big brother watching' about this life as it's happening around us; a sort of cross between reality TV and Orwellian socio-pathology. I have such a strong sense of inevitability about the next feeding frenzy -- as the economic downturn bites in, let's watch the national health service jump!

Graciousness

Two weeks in Thailand is not a long time but just enough to reconnect with friends, as well as a nation long admired for its non-colonised history, superb cuisine and genuinely gracious people. While the bonds have been decisively reaffirmed, I couldn't help noticing there is something about this 21st century Thailand that's different from the one I knew in the 1980's, from that of even 18 months ago. And it's not just that places aren't as they were before.

Certainly, Koh Samui has paid the price since the development of its airport in 1986-7. Today's departure facility is tropical luxury, laidback and chilled if reminiscent of an upmarket outdoor mall. In sharp contrast to the almost endless configurations of 24-hour tailors, massage shops, pizza eateries and bars, tightly packed along the exotic lanes we used to call "The Strip" all those years ago. Except Samui's Strip is today the length of Chaweng Beach, the 5Kms of fine, white sand that squeeked under your footsteps. At least in my memory.

With not a glimpse of Gulf of Thailand turquoise peeking out between end-to-end developments, it was the proverbial needle in a haystack finding an escape Soi (lane) through to the beach to recapture paradise lost. Nearby Lamai Beach had already disappointed. Oh the changes that have been made!

Not so, along the island's western shoreline. Still very local, undeveloped, intrinsically Thai. What a joy! Then there's the breathtaking view out to Phang Nga, Ang Thong and Koh Tao from the top of the Four Seasons arrival sala. Food for the soul!

And it's that turquoise-peacock green... how it touches that deep place in me.

Love Life Death The whole Damn thing

Love Life Death Fear Courage Integrity Choices The whole damn thing.

It's such a simple story but it says so much. Dancer in the Dark. Bjork. How could I have missed it before? Cannes Palme d'Or prize. Best Actress Award. 2000. But who cares. I shouldn't be surprised that I was so totally blown away by it. After all the simplest of stories are the most powerful. 

There is so much we have lost in the process of evolving this far. Fundamental values of friendship, loyalty, truth, keeping one's word, even just having values. Principles, standards, boundaries. Knowing when to cross the line. But knowing to accept the consequences of one's choices. Being human. Able to reach out to other humans. Giving, and not expecting in return. 

It might seem anachronistic to some viewers. Or perhaps otherworldly, fairytale unreality. 

I just find its layers of meaning so profound. If you let it touch you, if we let it reach our deepest places, the message might serve to bring us to a different level of existence. 

To Marcello

A pained life. 

Too brief. Too soon.

Lest we forget what you gave us:

Let there be love shared among us,

let there be love in our eyes.

May now your love sweep this nation;

cause us, O Lord, to arise.

Give us a fresh understanding,

brotherly love that is real.

Let there be love shared among us,

let there be love.

(D. Bilborough)

(Kevin Mayhew Ltd, Suffolk IP30 0SZ)

The cynic in me

It's so easy to be cynical or even derogatory about certain British characteristics. Take prudishness. According to a Dutch author, sex in Holland is "a normal daily part of life, like shopping or football. In England, it is a joke or a nudge." (Link to today's Independent newspaper article below.) You know what I mean. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.

Even here in Scotland, where discussions about sex might be more openly raunchy and raucous in hilarity, there is a puritanical streak that lets you know where such talk has its limits. Namely within the bawdy confines of a social drinking. Get onto the subject of sex (education) for the 'younger' generations and the cringe factor takes over. If it's not birds, bees and storks, it's biological functions and 'naming of parts'. That clinical approach was parodied in Monty Python's the Meaning of Life to great effect; for me, it just set my teeth on edge! 

Then the statistics about teenage pregnancies come along and I can't help screaming "What has been the point of the decades of sex-ed classes?" When are we going to learn not to throw money at things without being open and considered about what we're trying to achieve? The irony of that question in these strange economic times only adds fuel to my anger at the futility of ignorance.

I started out wanting to rant about island mentality and the close-minded superiority I can see and feel around me, how inward and insular the thinking can be. 

But I know it's the same within every nation, every people. (After all, the fact that the UK has the highest percentage of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe is "... second only to the United States..." according to the WHO. So what happened to sex-ed there!)

This is where I sink into the cynical mindset. And lose the audacity of hope.

Hello

This is one way to start the year I guess. Taken 6 weeks.  Or 3 weeks from the start of the Year of the Ox. Just go for it, right?

Found myself engrossed in watching Tony Bennett in a tv tribute (BBC, Arena, The Music Never Ends) which had friends and admirers hearing and sharing about his life and music. Couldn't help remembering when I had interviewed him myself, all those years ago for Commercial Radio in Hongkong. The consummate gentleman, positive, gracious and blessed with the most amazing vocal talent.  And yet, something very simple and unpretentious about him. To the point of being slightly unbelievable. 

Watching on Saturday night, the same feeling hovered in the background. 

I smiled broadly because he was smiling broadly. I was thrilled because he was thrilled. To be still singing the same songs, simply because he feels them, believes them, enjoys them, wants to share them.  And of course his wonderful voice. 

At the heart of it all, is that what life comes down to: to live for the sheer joy of it?

Doing no harm, simply valuing all there is?

Certainly makes the complications we create as humans quite laughable.