Wine and Design

How many times have you heard someone say “Oh, I just sat working last night with a glass of wine in hand”.   Not that many times right?  Or maybe indeed?  For me, this is not the norm.  Something about fuelling your delving mind with alcohol while trying to solve some complex problem or more emphatically, trying to come up with a research design doesn’t make sense to me.  Some say it allows the creative juices to get flowing, the nerves to calm and your mind to focus on the work at hand.  Doesn’t alcohol, well, make you drunk?!

Anyway, so I’ve decided to give this “working with a glass of wine in hand” a try.  Let me paint the before picture.  Working a 10 hour day is quite the norm when you are a consultant.  As my consulting-house director puts it, consultants are always one step ahead of the pack.  That’s what we do and to be honest, that’s why the rates are so high.  We will never be a standard 8 to 5 job.  So, having said that, the before picture starts with me having finished a 10 hour working day with a smidge of a coffee/cup-a-soup break in between.  I’ve recently also started juicing and as some of you might know, this takes up a little bit of time to actually get all your fruits and veggies sorted, cleaned and then put through the juicing machine.  And of course the cleaning up after is not always that quick especially when you have to deal with demonic spinach acting out scenes from The Exorcist (but more on that another time).   

At last I get to sit down with juice in hand, ready to get going with the research design.  Troll troll….that was the way I thought my phone rang (and what I thought of the person calling) just when I was about to settle into the design.  A dear friend, who needed to vent.  Bless his soul.  I couldn't say no to a friend in need.

Lo and behold, 30 minutes later, juice all done, phonecall ended.  I get into the research design.  But it’s draaaaggggiiiinnnnnggggg.  And I can’t focus.  And I’m stressing because I can’t focus.  And and and.  I decide to crack open a bottle of great red wine I recently got from a friend. 

Well, it sure does get the creative juices flowing – here I am writing up a blog entry all about it! Procrastinating?  Maybe.  Getting my mind off surfing the internet?  For sure.  Refocusing myself onto my research design?  Possibly…I am calmer indeed.

Here’s to not waking up tomorrow morning with the word QWERTY engraved on my cheek.

Till next time

X

How to write a Literature Review

Literature Reviews, Research Proposals, Philosophies and method.  Do these words excite you?  Do they make you want to reach for Google and delve into the mystic depths of understanding them?  Do they?

When one is faced with the task of writing pages and pages of words reflecting your understanding and input into these concepts as mentioned above, one is rather left questioning the reason for needing to do so in the first place.  Why use a philosophy?  Why use method?  Why answer a question that can be answered by practical experience and knowledge through researching academic writing instead?
Because others have walked this path before and you are merely re-iterating their findings?
Because that’s how greatness is achieved, by researching others findings and realizing that there is so much more to the topic than what is out there currently?
Is this possible?

How do you start to troll through decades of research that has evolved over the years?  How, in an ever-changing landscape such as technology with such a diverse offering regarding proprietary software, open-source software, full-on ERP solutions, CRM solutions etc. etc. etc. do you find research that covers what you are looking for.  These terms are only used broadly and whole-heartedly now.  How could philosophy written decades ago possibly come close to explaining the complexities of modern day technology/business problems?

This is the crux of the matter.  This is the predicament I find myself in.  Not only does one need to troll through decades of research that could possibly no longer be applied to modern times, but one also has to satisfy the exact needs of A specific mentor.  Yes, a capital ‘A’.  Because your entire honours degree and grading depends on A mentor.  Not many, one.  And he’s or her specific view on the world and your topic may I add.  Even though – they are academics.  Possibly not partaking in today’s practical environment, yet having to dictate to us (working individuals), that anything and everything we yearn to overcome and understand in the modern-day workplace could be explained with a philosophy, theory or some other form of boxing the world leads us toward.

Now my dear readers, this lengthy lengthy haberdashery and kicking against the norms of society comes at a very bad time.  Yes, I am kicking and thrashing all the way through writing a literature review.  We could say it’s the quality of lectures given that has failed to make any student in the class realize the benefit of the exercise, or perhaps the student that does not want to grasp the harsh realities of obtaining a honours degree.  At this point, does it matter?  Unfortunately yes. 

So here I am writing an extensive blog entry on why the world is just so kak for the full-time/over-time consultant, part-time honours student and hoping to find some direction in here somewhere.

Here’s to getting going and getting there soon!

Ciao for now

X

Free

Maybe it’s the summer air, the city buzz, an infectious smile.  Maybe it’s the 21^st December and its’ prophecy regarding the enlightenment of human consciousness.  Whatever it is…I am feeling it and embracing it.

Yes, the summer holiday must have a great deal to do with it – after a year of hard, head-in-the-sand-like-an-ostrich studying (and passing), many things seemed to fall into place.  Starting a new job, moving into a new home, starting new hobbies – change was and is, it seems, the operative word of the day!

I got this beautiful message from a friend today – all about multidimensional vibrational cleanse.  And I couldn’t help but think that all things that have happened has brought me to a place where on so many levels I can no longer hold onto anything.  There has been so much change that life as I’ve known it has completely dissolved and been morphed into…..anything I want to make it.

It is a deep lesson, a liberating feeling, and the energy flow that goes along with it is powerful.

My New Year’s wish for you all is a heart which breaks out of any cages that it may have been caught up in – that you flow into and through this year with grace and that love may surround and fill you.

XXX

Summer Rain

The past few weeks and even months have been filled with so much change.  All aspects of my life have been impacted, changed, gifted, blessed and enlightened by so many things.  Life, Love, Family, Work – 2012 has been one crazy whirlwind journey.

I find myself, on my last day of work – on Christmas eve, working from home – and it just so happens that after days of sunshine bliss in Cape Town, the weather has cooled down with a bit of summer rain outside.  The perfect day to be working from home in the middle of December.  This gives me time to reflect on all things past and also switch down a gear after a blissful weekend.

Oh – and congrats to everyone reading this…we survived the End of the World ;) Friday we were celebrating like it’s our last day on earth.  Saturday we were celebrating for surviving the last day on earth ;)  And Sunday – well Sunday we were just grateful we had survived all the celebrations.  J

Summer in Cape Town has arrived.  The streets are flowing, beaches packed, nightlife throbbing – what a blessing to be a living life right now.

I wish you all a blessed festive season and abundant joy in the New Year.  Make happiness your home and open up your hearts.

Till next year…

XXX

August Rush

Changing jobs into a different industry while still being able to draw from your past experience is delightful yet at the same time absolutely petrifying.   I cannot begin to describe the feelings of inappropriateness that goes along with it.  But also…I cannot deny the vast amount of learning and growth that happens as well. 

Someone introduced me to a thought last week that changed my outlook on my experience completely…the question posed was “What are you doing to feel uncomfortable?”  My first response….what sane person would actually strive to be uncomfortable?  Who wants to have that jittery sense of the unknown lurking around every corner?  What madness is this?

When I thought about this a bit more, I realized what it was all about.  You see, the human mind is an intricate thing.  In order for it to grow, it needs to be stimulated.  We see it from a young age, giving kids things to play with...their young minds figure things out so quickly, unafraid to try something new.  Yet, as we get older, we become afraid, scared to take chances, to try new things, to be bold.  Our minds slow, we become comfortable with our surroundings, life is chilled, bru. 

I’ve been there, thinking to myself why should I have this constant rush of life around me, why should life be lived on your toes, why can’t I just be comfortable.

 

Because my dear friends, learning cannot occur without reflection.  Reflection cannot take place if you never put yourself in a situation where your experiences can be called upon to save the day.  Without these stimuli, the mind shrivels, without action, it is merely words.  People are so much more capable than what they give themselves credit for.  The only way to figure this out is to get out there, make a change and jump.

I don’t think anybody has ever been comfortable jumping off a bridge to do a bungee-dive, but I don’t think I have ever seen someone come off one without a smile on their face.

Till next time
X

Stomping in the rain

Blog entries seem to go hand in hand with procrastinating on writing papers, doing assignments and studying for exams.  Yes…I have another 6000 word essay due on Monday and here I am...practising my writing skills on a blog entry.
 
The month is just past its half-way mark and I’ve achieved, realized and battled through so many things over the last 19 days.  Firstly, I have successfully quit smoking for a whole year this month.  Yay!!  But I’ve also been battling with the flu for exactly 19 days as well, all while starting a brand new job, with a crazy 2 week ramp up after which I need to take over and run a large 100 vendor project for a very well-known retail company in South Africa.    And just for good measure…I’ve been hit down countless times during this quest with vertigo and migraines.  For those who don’t know, vertigo is a sensation that everything around you is spinning or moving, which in my case is caused by a problem in the inner ear.  So it was fairly distracting (to say the least) to be interacting in deep conversation regarding Intellectual Property and suddenly finding myself leaning heavily to the side trying to stop the room and people from spinning around me.  I can only imagine what is must have looked like to the person I was speaking to!

Nonetheless and besides the tribulations, I think my brain has doubled in size within the last two weeks.  A new industry, a new way of thinking, a new set of business problems to solve…I’m in my element!! 

With a hefty path in front of me…with more assignments, presentations and even further ramping up, all I can say is…bring it!!  I’m looking forward to rewarding myself J

Pandora's Box

Wow!  July has almost come and gone.  My last month at my current employer is very quickly coming to an end.  The nerves have settled and I’m feeling much more relaxed than my last post.  During the weekend that past though, there was a fleeting moment of vulnerability in which all the uncertainties of venturing into a new world flooded my peripheral vision nearly clouding my judgement and rendering me a messy ball of doubt.  Operative words in that sentence being “Fleeting” and “Nearly”.  I had part of my network with me and I thanked the Lord for me being so in luck.

I also completed my second week of block studies at UCT…what a mind opener!  Who thought debating for and against method-ism or whether evidence exists to prove that methodology contributes to project success could be so fun yet utterly nerve wrecking at the same time.  Here I thought it was all about waterfalls and agility….pffft.

So as things are starting to round off – man, what energy has gone into getting my life back to a manageable affair, I’m left with a heart that jumps at the thought of my new adventure awaiting me, a heart that weeps for the quick coffee breakouts in a “chat room” with my girls, a heart that is strong and ready for all things new and confounded, but most of all, I’m left with a mind that has gained wisdom and knowledge, stepping forward unlocking itself even further.

What a great feeling!!  I wish it for you all!

XXX