When you sleep, dream, talk and think work for more than 15hrs a day......I bet you will say that it’s not very healthy,
but when you start coordinating Skype meetings in
your head, formulating the way forward, jotting down others opinion,
delegating duties and setting deadlines-all in your dreams bet you will
say this is going a bit too far, too far? How about reading a very nice
article from a certain web page, and for future reference and
internalization, you save the web page on your desktop only to wake up
and realize that it was all a dream?, that your favorite article was
never saved?
Generally meditation is one of my most treasured
hobbies, it comes so easy and naturally to me that I can even do it in
the noisiest of places around, but this is an act that my stay in
Joensuu has perfected and taken to the next level, partly because there
are not so many people to talk to and it’s also a quiet place but also
because it gives me a global view of the world-here I get to interact
with people from different continents, countries, different cultures and
background, and even people from different age groups.
Since most of the time I am alone in our apartment, I
have identified my meditation corner, a dining table bench facing the
window, from this angle I can watch the sun go down over the surrounding
buildings (a phenomena I have come to notice is a bit drastic compared
to the smooth setting of the sun back home) and lately with a bowl of
ice cream I find my 'me' time which is usually not less than 2hrs almost
per day and depending on the days' occurring it can go as long as 4hrs.
During this time, I do not only analyze and evaluate
myself but also my country, my continent, the world, people I have
interacted with and even people whose lives I have read and followed
with interest -people like Dr. Ben Carson (author of gifted hands)-I
think of what influences his life, what makes him so humble despite his
success and popularity, people like Nick Vuvujick (a man with no hands,
no limbs but apparently no limits)-what is behind his zeal
to live life to the fullest, what makes him so happy despite his
situation, people like Phillip Onyancha (a man who finds pleasure in
splitting other peoples throat and drinking their blood) I think of what
forces prompt him to do such inhuman acts, people like Ben Underwood ( a
blind person who could 'see' through echo reflection),I also think of
why people like Amit would resign from high paying job just to pursue
their passion-yes passion, a term I have come to realize carries so much
power-passion.
Away from analyzing peoples’ lives, I also take keen
interest in phenomena’s like incarnation-for example this young boy who
claims he lived before, for instance how would you react to this-you
are changing your boys diapers and out of nowhere he tells you,” you
know dad, life is very interesting, when I was your age, I use to change
your diapers”....... (True story)
These are also the times I think of my input in the whole exchange program, my role in the curriculum development group.
Initially I used to be a bit skeptical about the
whole thing-I mean I'm only a student with no expertise whatsoever in
curriculum development, so How on earth would I be of help? With an
intense desire to fit in and be useful, I suggested that I would handle
interactive coding of a feedback system, a task I relatively liked but
dint do with much passion until John (Mr. Alwala as I'm used to calling
him) knowing my interest(Modern communication-wireless and mobility)
suggested that I handle (with his help) mobility courses that should be
included in a 4 year Bsc IT curriculum and as part of 'HOW TO' task work
on 'how to develop mobile applications'.
So this is where more than 15hrs and midnight
(dream) holding of Skype meeting come from. doing what you love, so much
so that you don't care how many hrs you spend doing it.....thrilled to
produce the best of results that midnight Skype meetings are just but
part of the list, and if you get as disappointed as I'm when you wake up
only to find your favorite article was never saved because it was all a
dream-then you look for 'undo' button to undo waking up to continue
dreaming just to grasp some more tips-but alas, if only it was possible!
For all these, I have John to thank, my group members and all the exchange participants
N/B Did I tell you I know how to cycle?
Yeah, life teachings from Joensuu :)
