Be More Than Others....

Risk; 
more than others think is 
                       Safe.
Care; 
more than others think is 
                       Wise.
Dream; 
more than others think is 
                        Practical.
Expect; 
more than others think is 
                        Possible.

'ANON'

Ithaca

When you start on your journey to Ithaca,

then pray that the road is long

full of adventure, full of knowledge.

Do not fear the Lestrygonians

and the Cyclopes and the angry Poseidon.

You will never meet such as these on your path,

if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine

emotion touches your body and your spirit.

You will never meet the Lestrygonians,

the Cyclopes and the fierce Poseidon,

if you do not carry them within your soul,

if your soul does not raise them up before you.

Then pray that the road is long.

That the summer mornings are many,

that you will enter ports seen for the first time

with pleasure, with such joy!

Stop at Phoenician markets,

and purchase fine merchandise,

mother of pearl and corals, amber and ebony,

and pleasurable perfumes of all kinds.

Visit hosts of Egyptian cities,

to learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind.

To arrive is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for long years

and even to anchor at the isle when you are old,

rich with all that you have gained on the way,

not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.

Without her you would never have taken the road,

but she has nothing more to give.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you.

With the great wisdom you have gained, with so much

experience,

you must surely have understood by then what Ithacas

            mean.

                                                C.P. Cavafy

(Ithaca was the home of Odysseus, whose journey is described in Homer’s Odyssey.  Cavafy’s poem is one of the great comments on the value of going versus the getting there, the journey of living versus the ultimate destination.)

Successful People

Conrad Hilton circa 1922

'Successful people keep moving'

Ben Dunlap talks about a passionate life | Video on TED.com

Ben Dunlap talks about a passionate life | Video on TED.com

Leadership: According to Peter Williams

Peter Williams is recognized as one of Australia's leading thinkers in the area of innovation, technology commercialization and all things online.

Last night I heard him speaking at the RMIT Prize Giving Ceremony here in Melbourne.  He talked about leadership and according to Peter these are his three points when looking at a leader:

She/He will  -

   1.    Give you something to believe in

   2.    Be someone to believe in

   3.    Be someone who believes in you

He then went on to tell the graduates that they need to be keen to keep giving back to their profession and stated boldly to:-

 "Keep Putting In and Giving Back and you will have a good life.

The Power of Memories

This morning I was walking under the Flinders street Rail Station Tunnel on my way into the City.  It is usually crowded with thousands of people going hither and yon on their way to work, to meet people, to make life changing decisions and sometimes just because it is the shortest route for them to get to the other side of the station.   I am not a fan of the tunnel and often use an alternative route above ground where I can actually see the Yarra River and the sky.  However this morning I was using it and because I was a little bit later there were not too many people but there was a banjo player with his banjo case collecting a few coins for picking out a few notes.  I admire greatly people who are brave enough to put their talents on public display like this but there are times when their skills on the instrument are not matched by their bravery.  This morning I walked past and was content to simply look at it as a part of the colourful life of Melbourne’s city centre.

It’s a long tunnel and he was positioned in about the middle and I was about to climb the stairs when the notes seemed to strike a chord with me and I recognised the melody as the folk song that was used in Riverdance, that was made famous by Michael Flately and his Irish dance troupe a few years ago.  All of a sudden I was flooded with memories of playing in the K&N Brass Band and playing this as one of our major pieces in our concerts.  It was a difficult piece to play with strange time signature and set in unfamiliar keys, but it was just so exciting to play and I just loved playing it and being part of such a great group of musicians.  I then thought of the time that we went to see the floor show in Birmingham where it was onstage in glorious colour and I was again thrilled with the colour and enthusiasm of the whole show but just loved it more when the theme from Riverdance evolved using the traditional Irish instruments; very exciting.  Living in the UK it was easy to visit family in Amsterdam and being a market person frequented quite a few.  If we were there on a Saturday morning we always went to do some shopping at the local market in Jordaan.  We did it few times and we saw a group called 'Uzory' on a regular basis.  They were a group of muso’s from Eastern Europe who regularly did concerts in European Capital Cities and in between professional gigs did the markets as buskers.  The first time I saw them was in winter and they were all rugged up with heavy coats and hoods with just a few fingers bared to play their instruments; another time it was the middle of summer and so they were dressed in very summary clothes.  They played traditional music on traditional instruments but it was so exciting and on more than one occasion I lost the family who had moved on to do the shopping. One time I could hear them as we approached and they were playing the theme from Riverdance and as soon as I recognised it I just had to get over and listen close up.  It was amazing and although they did not recognise it as Riverdance, I gave them 10 Euro’s to repeat it and I just loved it all over again.

It all happened for me in a heartbeat and so I just had to go back and drop a few coins on the banjo bag of the guy who was picking his way through the melody; note by struggling note.  


The SBS TV channel has a by-line that says ‘Six Billion Stories and counting ....’  This is one of mine and I am looking for the next one.

Thinking

I have been thinking recently about what it means to have a big picture view of anything. It is accepted wisdom that you need to know where you are going so that 
a) you can have directions in how to get there and 
b) to know when you get there; 
        ...and this takes us to the old Ithica narrative as to whether the journey or the destination is the ultimate goal.

As a fundraiser I am constantly challenged by the need of one part or an organisation to raise funds, because that is what we are on about and the need to have an answer as to what the funds are to be used for. I sat with someone recently who refered again and again to what she called the 'Light on the Hill'.  I like the imagary of the goal as being that is where we are going and when we get there all the world will be well and we will know that we have achieved.  It is interesting to note that the Person that I was talking to was a board member of an organisation that completely folded a few months later.

However having said that, it is almost an end in itself, and there is no more need to 'do' anything. I am much more comfortable with the idea of a chain of responsibilty where we are all building on to what others have put in place and in our turn passing the fire on to others who will follow.

By all means lets look for that 'Light on the Hill' but let us also keep our eyes firmly on the task that is at hand, the things that we have to do every day so that we will eventually get to that light on the hill.