Stories, Reflections & Journeys
It’s hard to believe another year is almost over!
And what a year it’s been – full of the usual ups and downs of this amazing journey we call life.
A Merry Christmas to you, and may 2011 be a year of health, happiness and peace for all.
Here is a cute video from YouTube to wish you all the joy and fun of this festive season.
Recently I came across several presentations by Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Director of the Gapminder Foundation.
His analyses of global trends are based firmly on statistical data … and he demonstrates that, contrary to popular myth, the world is NOT going to hell in a handbasket! :)
Rosling says he is neither an optimist nor a pessimist – he’s a “very, very serious possible-ist.”
I really like that!
Watch the video below, visit the Gapminder website – or see links to more of his presentations in the recent December issue of our Starlink newsletter.
Yesterday morning I was in the train, on my way to a meeting in the city. Behind me a man was making a mobile phone call. His voice was loud, and I’m sure many if not most people in the carriage could hear all he had to say.
The conversation was about the fact he had recently taken up a senior position in the organisation where he worked, and he was calling the woman at the other end of the phone call to sound her out about joining their team. I guess it was what you might call a ‘head-hunting’ call.
During the conversation, the woman’s name, the name of the organisation, and the name of the department in which he worked were all mentioned. So imagine my surprise when, towards the end of the phone call, he was assuring her of the confidentiality of the situation and that he was making ‘discreet enquiries’!
The conversation certainly did not fit within my definition of ‘discreet’!
In reflecting on the experience, I was also reminded me of a professional colleague who produced several Facebook updates in which he had aired an angry and at times rather crude tirade against his ex-wife. Or of several folk who have posted Facebook updates about their drunk or debauched activities the night before.
And let’s not forget the red-faced embarrassment of those who thought their ‘discreet’ messages would be safe, but found their thoughts aired to the world at large through the ‘cablegate’ of Wikileaks. :)
In this digital age, boundaries between private and public life have often shifted, blurred or disappeared.
And ‘discretion’ has apparently been re-defined! :)