Reflections and Transitions
I woke up with the intention of not having a bad day regardless of what happens then I begun to reflect on the not so distant past. The pass two months have been really hectic, challenging but definitely a lot of fun. I was graced with the opportunity to work on a few thoughtful, challenging and creative projects for which I have profound interest and passion.
The first was a collaborative web development project for a news company. I met a cool or “not so cool” web designer and other casual meets since for the first time in a long time I worked in an office-like setting (nothing close to an office) and a girl who I haven’t called. I managed to catch up, online via IM, with an old friend from early secondary school days, another who is a sort of artist. A great personal benefit was the walk to and from this location especially at nights; the morning sun was great too. This time was ideal for thinking - walking and thinking is like yoga to me and it increases cognitive alertness. When tired and can’t sleep I often leave the house, go for a walk around the neighborhood or to the Seawall. Overall being out of the house was refreshing.
The second was a UNICEF project for Carifesta’s Youth Village in the National Park. I was brought on by my friend who was hired as a consultant. This was by far the first project that required a lot of visual creativity and absolutely no coding/web development whatsoever which made it interesting because I wasn’t expecting or ready to contribute/develop ideas and concepts that would be taken seriously by artists especially. During this project I got to collect lots of notes and data for my communication experiment/research: txt msg vs. voice/phone. For me txt msg is the best medium and I came to realize that people are not aware that more can be communicated this way for example stating your location, current action and what’s next on your to-do list. This project was completed a few days into Carifesta and I’m very proud of my friend, his ability and performance except certain aspects of his communication skills. For me I’m just glad that I was busy; got to meet some great folks; decreased my reclusiveness and channeled my anxiety in rewarding directions.
In addition to all this and the other personal stuff I definitely enjoyed the time spent with friends having beer, guinness, donuts, home made sandwiches, lots of Jamaican food and great conversations especially with a friend (she’s great + she blogs) whom I hadn’t hung out with for the year and Carifesta. I got the chance to see a lot of the art during exhibition preparations from artists such as Ivor Thom, Winslow Craig and others. Didn’t get to see much paintings though. The opening ceremony wasn’t that great but I’m thankful for the effort of the organizers and participants - the rain changed people’s mood too. The grand market was very nice even though I attended one night. I managed to see two plays: River Bottom and Love Games which are from Jamaica. One so called super/mega concert featuring Akon which was the “lamest” thing ever. All the other events were experienced on television. Instead of attending the Closing ceremony, which I was anticipating to be better than the opening, I opted for a movie at home with two friends then beers, food and conversation with one I hadn’t seen for a couple of weeks.
I hope to continue enjoying the coming weeks and months with less personal and emotional difficulties so lets see what happens.
