Expressed without words

Wall-E is Pixar's greatest film yet.


The real beauty of it is the simplicity.

That so much can be expressed in a film where the two main characters say no words except for each other's names is an inspiring reflection on the human race.

Companionship, joy, surprise, dance, laughter, beauty, fear, purpose, love - all these things can be expressed without words. All these things can be shared across humanity, regardless of background, culture, language or preconceptions.

So this is not only a story about love; it is a story about humanity. More specifically, it is about our place on this planet, and what we are doing to ourselves as a society and as a world.


Wall-E is set 700 years into the future. Earth has been abandoned and the entire human race lives aboard a gigantic pleasure-cruising spacecraft. Everything is comfortable, every need is taken care of, every amenity is provided. Everything runs according to the pleasant and monotonous daily routine of "perfection".

But in that routine, life of course loses all meaning. If everything stays the same, and there is no challenge or surprise, then what's the point?

The sad reality is, right now, for many people, that kind of life is what they are striving for. We plug in our iPods, shut ourselves off on our daily commute, play our trivial games on our phones, go through our day’s work, eat our microwave food, watch our on-demand TV, absorb some advertising, then repeat. We spend far too much time on making trivial choices and enjoying completely superficial entertainment, slowly making things more and more comfortable and convenient for the next generation.

That can’t possibly be our purpose on this planet. That can’t possibly bring us real joy, fulfilment and happiness.

In the film, the real joy comes when humanity realises that no matter how difficult it will be, it must return to earth, cultivate the planet, take action, strive to become at one with the ecosystem of our world once more, and to reconstruct a society based on human passion and endeavour.

This is the real important message of the film: Joy doesn’t come from routine or comfort, it comes from seeking new adventure, challenging ourselves, finding a greater purpose, working together to achieve something that at first may seem almost impossible.

Laughter Clubs

Children at Heart

The Laughter Club. What a great concept.

If all those around you are laughing, it is impossible not to laugh. One of the universal human truths across all cultures?

Apparently the human body cannot tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter.

There are around 6000 laughter clubs in 50 different countries, with people just getting together to share in the experience of laughter and embrace the joyous ridiculousness of it all.

I think I have to try this.

Next session in London is Wednesday 20th August, 6.30pm at Lincoln's Inn Playing Fields near Holborn.

Learning to fly

I am in quite a philosophical and reflective mood of late.

This is inspired by:

1. On Saturday, attending a great session called Life After Now run by a great guy called Houston Spencer. It was all about challenging our ideas of what we wanted in life, and how we intend to go about achieving that. A life of passion, if we so choose.

2. Which then led me to buy a beautiful and wonderful book - Jonathon Livingston Seagull: A Story.

The story is about a seagull learning to fly, really learning to fly. But it's really about life. And meaning. It makes you think, a lot. It made me realise a few things that I already knew about what really is important.

I urge you to read the Seagull book. It will probably change your outlook just slightly, in a very good way. It will at least make you smile, in a big way.

Only two years left

Think like this!

The thing is, we still live in a world that's filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity -- we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.

Are these crazy times? You bet they are. But so were the days when we were doing duck-and-cover air-raid drills in school, or going through the scares of Three Mile Island and Love Canal. There will always be crazy times.

So stop thinking about how crazy the times are, and start thinking about what the crazy times demand.

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment -- just one second -- to decide. Why not be great?

...from Seth Godin's Blog

Do schools kill creativity?

This insightful and truly inspiring talk by Sir Ken Robinson captures very well what is wrong with the world's education systems. Essentially, the world over, they are geared towards creating people who will be successful and useful in a (newly) industrialised society. But are we not moving past that model of society? Our education systems need to evolve to prepare young people for a future in which everyone can express their creativity and passion.

Watch this talk. It will make you think.

Dan and AIESEC. The story.

I'm just about to leave Venezuela. But what was my path in getting here?

Well, in my own words compiled from genuine blog posts over the last 2 years...

Feb 18, 2005 - It all began with an internship (in California)

"YES! Drew and I were on an AIESEC conference call last night to discuss the program of events in the Bay Area. [Get Golden in Yosemite was the best]. So we're doing it. It's going to happen in April. And it's going to be awesome. Really awesome. We're going to invite AIESECers from all over the States - this will be a national event."

Sep 23, 2005 - My first Information Session (in Edinburgh)

"So hopefully will get past the screening process and allowed to join in on all the fun! I hope I can play my part in developing the LC and being part of the AIESEC experience."

Nov 25, 2005 - My first ever conference

"Just back from an thoroughly fun AIESEC conference in Belfast.

The vision is that by giving people the opportunity to work abroad, people understand more about different cultures and turn into lovely well-rounded individuals with all the neccessary skills for today's global marketplace.

Yes, it's quite idealistic but I think it is a great concept and you get to meet loads of people, develop professional skills and learn about all sorts of different cultures.

There was also a great deal of dancing (AIESEC has a thing about dancing)"

Feb 12, 2006 - Leadership Development Seminar

"They were a fantastic 4 days. 4 days of intense AIESEC experience. Motivation, emotion, learning, meeting new people and voting in the new national committee.

I am going to raise a traineeship. And change one person's life. And in turn, even in just a small way, the lives of everyone they know and meet. That is what makes AIESEC worth doing. That is why I am doing it and love it.

But I really think I want more than that. All this needs thought. A few days for things to settle in. So we'll leave it at that for now."

Mar 30, 2006 - I wanted more

"Still no idea what I'm doing next year - got lots of international AIESEC positions to take a look at."

Jun 5, 2006 - And I'm on an MC!

"So, what's next? Well, as Declan is constantly keen to put it, "they've shipped me off to a charity". Yes, I'm off to work for AIESEC for a year. After several applications to different countries (many of them possibly a bit last minute) I finally spent a good amount of time on one of them, got some amazing references together and got the job of MCVP External Relations in AIESEC Venezuela.

The job will be excellent - leading an entire country's AIESEC presence within the national team - big national accounts, organising events, managing strategies for marketing, branding, alumni relations, etc. The country looks absolutely stunning. Yes, it's a bit politically and economically unstable (it's ok, I excel at staying out of trouble!) but it will be such an incredible cultural experience, such a difference from here.

It will be challenging, it is a bit scary and I'm still not quite sure what to expect but I am sure it will be a fun and very experience-filled year!

You've sometimes just got to jump into these things, and this is the time for it!"

---

I quite like that line in the last post "it's ok, I excel at staying out of trouble!" - I think I did actually know what to expect in Venezuela :-)

And were the rest of my expectations met?

• big national accounts - Yep!
• organising events - Too many!
• managing strategies for marketing, branding, alumni relations - some
• country looks absolutely stunning - Absolutely. More than words can say!
• politically and economically unstable - Oh yes :-)
• incredible cultural experience - certainly, and very difficult at times
• such a difference from here - In so many ways I'm just a bit scared of going back now
• challenging - Extremely
• scary - Petrifying at times
• fun - Lots of
• experience-filled - More than I EVER could have imagined

So - sad to be leaving amazing people, friends, projects, things-not-done behind...

... but overall extremely happy with the whole experience and very excited about seeing lots of old friends and moving on to the next phase of my life!

Thanks so so much to all the special people who were part of this incredible year!

P.S. Join me in El Leon on Tuesday at 8pm to arrange your next trip to Europe, and mine to Venezuela, and help me say "goodbye for now" to Venezuela!