Its never as easy as it looks!!!

I have wanted to learn how to sew for over 20 years and since I tagged '09 as Action Year, I decided to do it. How hard can it be? As it turns out, its headache-inducing hard - and its only day 2 of the Basic Sewing Skills short course at the London College of Fashion.

It seems that I have become so accustomed to the 'big picture' - which characterises the strategic view of all things business, my core strength - that I have become unaccustomed to taking and implementing SIMPLE instructions. Its so frustrating not knowing what the final project will be that I want to yell at the instructor but I fear she will throw me out of the class.

But I get what is going on in a way one sees things clearly as an observer. The course is tagged BASIC because we are building a foundation. If one learns the basic skills right (or best practice as S-Lee, my instructor, calls it) with a little bit of imagination, fantastic things can be created.

I must say though that my respect for people who sew for a living - not the fashion designers, but the guys who slave over sewing machines in factories and sweat shops - is greatly renewed.

My sincere prayer is that this will eventually follow the same process as learning to drive. The first few lessons are high stress, but once you get the hang of it, you really don't have to engage ALL your senses in getting from A to B.

Lessons from 2 Kings

Much has been said about the sad passing of 'King of Pop',
and I would like to share two points that stood out to me,
and also share a verse from the Bible written by 'King of
Wisdom Jr'.

1. Do your best work everyday. Give everything into it. You
are spending your life - not just empty time in a vacuum -
so it matters. Don't be content with yesterday's success.
Strive to improve in some way everyday. It eventually pays
dividend!

2. Take time to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Take a
break. Get a health check - what you don't know CAN kill
you. Get excercise (i'm really trying but its easier said
than done!) because it's good for your body and mind. You
don't have to join the gym - walk when you can. Use the
stairs instead of the lift. Spend quality time with your
family and those you love. Love replenishes our souls in a
way nothing else can!

In the words of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2, 13 and
22 -

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to
die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted; 13And also that every man should eat and drink,
and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of
God. 22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better,
than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that
is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall
be after him?

The day the Earth didn't stand still

Save the incident recorded in the Bible of Joshua and the Time Freeze, there really appears to be no incident, great or cataclysmic, that can stop time.

I am writing in the wake of the announcement of MJ's passing (which i dare say has touched people in every part of the world) and it's baffling to me that only 2 days on, the conversation is waning. Amazon has all but sold out of everything MJ they carry and I got a text message to pay N100 to have 'Heal the World' downloaded as my ringback tone. Not one dime/penny/kobo will ever make it to his estate, of course but that is the nature of the Capitalism beast...but I digress.

In a world where millions of children do not live past their first breath, where war and inhumanity is becoming more and more sophisticated (who on earth invented the phrase 'Collateral Damage' to euphemise the death of innocents!!!), and famine exists in the midst of plenty, the passing of one (great or small) diminishes in significance.

Yet to people who knew and loved the one, it is, like Quincy Jones said - a piece of your soul goes with them. Yet, even for these near and dear, time mellows the pain but does not stand still.

Ecclesiastes 3 (KJV) rings so true...

¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

⁹What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

¹⁰I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

¹¹He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

²⁰All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

²²Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I have never been one of those people who instinctively KNOW what they want to do with their lives, and i think it has always been like that. Looking back to my secondary school days, i'm sure i had as many answers as the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" was asked of me. It was clear that i did not have a future in science though after i broke a few test-tubes during volatile experiments :)

Fast forward 20+ years, and I now know, within a semi-flud parameter, what i want to do as my vocation, and how i want to spend my time.

Has it all been a waste of time? Heck no! I can confidently say i am a richer person through my life's experiences - stuff money cannot buy. Now, more than ever before, i am ready to live my own life!