My friends Alexa Russell Matthews and Nicole Joshua recently ran a workshop titled, "The 'Colour' Elephant in the Room" which you can read some of a participant's experience of over here. What stood out to me though was this list of what was referred to as the 'Ten Commandments' which was the basis of a commitment to engage well with each other. For those of us seeking to be positively involved in conversation and action in the [...]
When i was looking for an image to reflect the idea of becoming an Ally i found this poster and really liked it. Because the question that i am wrestling with at the moment is just that: How to Be a Better Ally, specifically when it comes to matters of Race. And possibly one of the biggest pieces of this puzzle is that the answer should not have to come from people of colour. [...]
In a moment of brave-ity two night's ago i decided to ask the South African internet a question. I was reading a book that pointed back to the idea of South Africa being renamed Azania and i didn't think that was the worst idea. After all 'South Africa' is just a direction, right. What do you think? Who would be okay with a name change and why? i also posted an article by Xolela Mangcu [...]
Let's face it, most of us are going to be late occasionally. But it's when you make it a consistent habit that it becomes annoying and it is another character trait that can really affect a friendship. Especially if you do it enough that you become known as 'that guy/that girl'. [And it might be important to throw in a cultural disclaimer here cos this is definitely a very western time-focused mindset to have and [...]
Continuing to share some of Aaron's story of his journey with and away from testicular cancer which you can find in full over here, i decided to grab three sections from three longer posts to share some of the insights he gained along the way as well as some of the challenges he faced and encouragements he received along the way. There is something for us all to learn here: = = = = = [...]
Sometimes as i am typing a comment on Facebook i pause for a moment to think of all the people going, "Oh man, there he goes again." i imagine for a lot of people i am THAT GUY. i found out years ago at church that there was a certain lady, who, anytime i opened my mouth at a meeting, switched off immediately because she knew i was going to rant about a certain thing. [...]
No, that's not a mistake. This is a follow up post to the 'All's Well That Starts Well' post from Friday, where i spoke about a secret comedy show preview that was happening sometime [Friday night] and gave a bit of a taste of what it was about. So basically this beard: And this completely lack of a sense of hairstyle [at the moment - i'm in limbo]: Gathered together with three other guys names Graeme, [...]
Hm, this is a bit of a difficult one as i think i only know one person who does this. And it's me! But maybe you know someone else. And i think i'm getting better although it does take a lot of work. Did you ever know someone who interrupted you when you were speaking purely because they were so excited about what they had to say [as opposed to intentionally wanting to interrupt or [...]
i won't lie - i'm pretty excited... Sometime soon in the quite foreseeable future, this beard and i [and 3 other blokes actually who i didn't have mutual pics with yet] are embarking on a new Comedy journey. It is a show called 'All's Well That Ends Well' and if you didn't get an invite to our secret preview Is-This-Really-As-Funny-As-We-Hope-And-Think-It-Is happening later sometime at some venue, then all i can say to you is: LOOK, [...]
So far we've looked at the Early Responder and the Planner Aheader as two types of friends that should really look at upping their game, and this third habit is right up there. Did you ever know someone who spoke about themself. Like always. Like non-stop. Incessantly? i knew someone like that and it quickly became quite tiring. You spend an hour with your friend and realise that you've only said five sentences? That the person spoke [...]