All the Hemispheres

(Click to enlarge)

A scaled down version of a poster I put together for the quintessential mother, Mrs Kate Josephson, who celebrates her birthday today. Thank you once again for the roots and the wings that made the last five years abroad so comfortable.

Photograph: Toni Frissell, "Weeki Wachee spring", Florida, 1947.

Poetry: Hafez e Shiraz, "All the Hemispheres", Persia, 14th Century.

Exit the System

by sputnikk

on the streets of Bolzano, Italy

Taken from The Wooster Collective- a site dedicated to ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world. (Thanks, Tilly!)

AI Transition: Two-Years On

"Keep the glass topped up, it's not over just yet
Pull off the social bluff, celebrate your success
Turn the sunlight out, find a place in the shade
If you measure the world by the mark that you make."

- The Metre, Powderfinger

I returned late Sunday night from the AIESEC International 06-08 Transition Weekend. On one level this weekend is the handover of responsibility between management teams, on another it marks two distinct milestones in the journeys of forty-five of the world's most remarkable young people. For the outgoing members it is the end of the most intellectually, physically and emotionally intense year that most of us will ever experience. For the incoming members, it is the dream-like beginning to a journey that they simply cannot fathom.

To stand in the midst of the 06-08 celebrations was to be in a memory that was almost my own. Two years ago, I stood arm-in-arm with my team, AI 04-05, sharing our final bows together. We were overflowing with the happiness of finishing well, the liberation and anticipation over what will come next, the sadness of knowing that we will now be spread across the globe and that these days of infinite possibility will all to quickly become fond memories.

Two years later another group of young people were sharing these experiences, trying to unravel their plans for the future, celebrating together and handing something precious to a new group- something they had carried close to their heart for the longest twelve-months of their life. It was beautiful to watch all this once more- but now from the outside- as an alumni and friend.

Returning to this space brought powerful reminiscence and reflection of the way that has passed since I completed my role as Director of Western Europe and North America. Here I was called to look at myself with younger eyes, to judge the self with these older expectations and listen to a voice that had hidden in memories too close to hear. I could not have understood the challenges and pitfalls that I would encounter, but neither could I have comprehended the understanding and insight that has been gained through times both dark and light. Finally, the knowledge that the way has been furthered and the direction remains true let me return this judgement of my previous self with a knowing smile, a deeper sense of peace and another degree of closure on this important part of my history.

Many thanks to AI 06-08 for this opportunity, and for all those of who have been inside AIESEC, who have lived and wrestled with it's very core, I wish you well upon your way in this beautiful struggle.

The Kármán line

A particularly beautfiful featured picture of the day on wikipedia. Click to experience it in all it's glorious detail.

A Man with a Plan

Over my past five years in leadership development I've read a lot about the importance of building a vision, laying a sound plan, of taking clear and decisive action, of delivering success. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the case-in-point, Mr John Robert Patterson of Sydney, Australia.

A FORMER Telstra worker (Australian telecoms company) stole a tank and used it to demolish six mobile phone towers as he led police on a wild two-hour rampage through western Sydney last night...

His former boss (and owner of the tank), Greg Morris, said the man had a beef with mobile phone towers...

"He used to work for Telstra and told us he was going through a medical claim for his head injury. He said something about the radiation from the towers had caused it," Mr Morris said.

"He actually worked on the tank he stole, doing a lot of wiring and putting the engine in."

"The problem he's got is not with us. It's just that it's the tool he needed to do it."

"So he planned out a map of where the towers were that he wanted to destroy."

At its maximum speed of 52km/h per hour, it continued on through the suburbs of Mount Druitt, Dharruk, Emerton, Glendenning and Plumpton with 10 police vehicles in pursuit.

The joyride ended at 4am when the vehicle stalled as the driver attempted to destroy a seventh mobile phone tower.

His defence lawyer Ivan Bertoia told the court that in a police interview his client" suggested he had the authority to behave in such a manner".

Extracts from news.com.au

He had a clear and relevant vision. He built a plan. He developed the necessary tools. He operated at maximum efficiency. He succeeded in surpassing the goals he set. He said that he had the authority to drive a tank around Sydney and smash down mobile phone towers. Many are called, few are chosen. Tank Commander Patterson- you are the leadership hero of the week.

Eurydice- Sue Hubbard

Strolling a pedestrian underpass between Waterloo and the Thames I chanced upon the most beautifully eloquent language I have read in years. Stenciled upon the walls, so publicly hidden from view, is "Eurydice"by Sue Hubbard.

"I am not afraid as I descend,
step by step, leaving behind the salt wind
blowing up the corrugated river,

the damp city streets, their sodium glare
of rush-hour headlights pitted with pearls of rain;
for my eyes still reflect the half remembered moon.

Already your face recedes beneath the station clock,
a damp smudge among the shadows
mirrored in the train's wet glass,

will you forget me? Steel tracks lead you out
past cranes and crematoria,
boat yards and bike sheds, ruby shards

of roman glass and wolf-bone mummified in mud,
the rows of curtained windows like eyelids
heavy with sleep, to the city's green edge.

Now I stop my ears with wax, hold fast
the memory of the song you once whispered in my ear.
Its echoes tangle like briars in my thick hair.

You turned to look.
Second fly past like birds.
My hands grow cold. I am ice and cloud.

This path unravels.
Deep in hidden rooms filled with dust
and sour night-breath the lost city is sleeping.

Above the hurt sky is weeping,
soaked nightingales have ceased to sing.
Dusk has come early. I am drowning in blue.

I dream of a green garden
where the sun feathers my face
like your once eager kiss.

Soon, soon I will climb
from this blackened earth
into the diffident light."

- Sue Hubbard.