I came across this story recently, and I think it carries a very important message, and I would like to share it with you all :)
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http://www.quirkynomads.com/mp3/121605.mp3

One morning in December 2005, podcaster (online audio reporter) Sage Tyrtle was surprised to see an old man pushing by Toronto rush hour subway commuters who were labouring up a steep flight of stairs. Moving very quickly, the old man poked fun at everyone, saying: “Move on now, move out of my way. I’m an old man – I’m getting up the stairs faster than you!”
Once seated on the subway, the old man cheerfully chatted about how uptight people from Toronto were, and that “you gotta go to Vancouver where everybody says ‘Hi’. In Vancouver, everyone’s relaxed. In fact I’m going right now to get me a couple of beers to help me wake up”.
The commuters exploded in laughter, said Ms Tyrtle, then everyone listened carefully to what he had to say. He explained that a little alcohol (“medicine”) is good for you, but too much makes you sick. He explained that Elvis Presley died young because his doctor gave him medicine and he overdid it. “Forty years old. I’m 70, you see? Shoulda lived to be 110, Elvis Presley, with all that money. Whap bop alloobop, whop bam boom,” he sang.
Everyone laughed again. The train lurched and Ms Tyrtle started to fall, but very quickly the man behind her caught her – something she’d never experienced in Toronto.
The old man went on to chide the audience about getting his teaching for free, because he was usually very expensive. “You look on TV, you’ll see me. You will know who I am. This is not my real face.” At the College Street stop he said: “I don’t go to college any more – I graduated! I’m a professor now. But I don’t teach, I prophesize. Oh, what is that? I never use that word myself. It’s new to me. That’s a big word, prophesize.”
Getting off the subway, the old man started singing: “Kansas City here I come. They got some pretty ladies, got to get me one,” adding, “I want more than one – I’m not satisfied with one lady. I gotta have more than one. I got an old lady, and a young lady. How do you like that? That’s not bad.” He started to leave the train. “Ok. Bye bye. I’ll miss you!” he chimed. Many said goodbye back. He sang the tune ‘Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think’, and called: “Bye bye, folks! Put an egg in your shoe and beat it!”
Ms Tyrtle ended her podcast by saying that after the doors had closed one woman said: “Well, that put a smile on everyone’s face!” Thinking about the experience herself, she commented: “It felt like that smile had somehow stretched to include the entire city, so that the normally taciturn commuters were suddenly talking to each other, laughing and grinning, for no reason at all.”

The podcast can be heard at www.quirkynomads.com/mp3/121605.mp3. In the last few seconds, the original recording is played of the ‘old man’s voice as he leaves the subway.

What is inspiration? How do you inspire other people? What makes a person motivated? What is the best way to bring out of them their potential? I have been noticing the way that my teachers handle me and my reactions to them. I think that when you have a student or are in a position to help someone forward, it’s about giving them space to express who they are, and their thoughts and passions. You need to show that you are open to where they want to go, without constraining them to what you think they should be following. It is of course a balance… You need to be able to look inside that person to see where they are at, what level of help they want.. It’s very hard to do that, but so many people forget to even think about that, and its frustrating for that person on the receiving end.. the potential for learning becomes substantially limited. Inspiring people also is about showing your own enthusiasm for whatever the subject is, that is also very important. It has to be coupled with allowing that person space to discover for themselves and then supporting them. In this way the creative spark is maintained.. With TIG, we know that we want young people to feel encouraged, and to believe in them and their boundless capabilities… but worries about running everything properly can get in the way of allowing people to feel free in their expression, so we should be careful about that. There needs to be a sense of ownership (by this I mean making an idea your own, as well, even if it was someone elses before) of projects… otherwise people will feel uninspired… or I will anyway. Do others out there work in the same way?
Hmm… there’s a similar relationship with the World Bank and ‘developing’ countries... it goes haywire because there is too much imposing of interests and judgements on others. How to relate to each other in this world, that is the question… Well at least we can turn around and change our relationship with the people around us so we don’t follow the pattern. Things would REALLY change then .. :) :)

I have a huge challenge ahead of me with all this work I have to do at university now. I want to do well, but its so hard to tailor it to what they want from you.. But at the same time I am strangely relaxed (I sometimes get very stressed). It has to be put in to perspective of life in general - life is a beautiful delicate thing... its difficult to explain. These sorts of things really aren’t the most important in life.. you have to make your own mind up about that, instead of what society tells you. I want to do this degree so I can use my knowledge to help with some pressing issues in the world, but I can only do my best. If I am afraid its because I want something else, the feeling of success etc.
I was reading an article about illusion - about wanting to draw attention to oneself once you get in to power, (or before) and then that detracts focus from any good work you are trying to do. And thinking you are more important or greater than other people is an illusion, and seeing it in yourself is the most difficult thing. What do people think about that?

It looks as if TIGUK is on its way to becoming a reality. I hope we can make it absolutely amazing!! A group of us met up recently to decide on what we want to do and how we can move forward. The main ideas involve providing a greater platform for people to have their say in government, helping with local IT clubs, mentorship, using student unions to get to more young people, providing workhops and a TIG café serving as a place for info and networking, IT, huge board games and fair trade chocolate (yay!) which I personally am very excited about, but it might be too ambitious. I don’t want to let myself get too excited because there are niggling worries that it might not work probably from my previous experience a year or so ago when I tried to set it up. I tried really hard in all the ways I could think of to find other people to do it with me (i.e not just helping), putting adverts in publications, attending lots of conferences and so on. But at least I made some good friends and contacts along the way.
Sometimes effort really isn’t enough, everything has to be in the right place for it to work maybe… the right people for the engine to work have to come along. It looks they have now, and if you are reading this I was very glad to meet you all! Thanks especially to Luke for his can-do, hardworking attitude.