Talking Point: Millennials, Authenticity and 'Coolness'

In the recent past, talks, podcasts and blogs on millennials and how people can understand and relate with us have emerged. People are trying to define and redefine us, spill bytes upon bytes of advice on how to deal with us, generate talks on what we are and what we are not, and are ineptly consumed in the pursuit of elaborating what we want and what we want not... and whatnot.

Actually, it is like everyone is diverting their attention towards us and how to accommodate us; it is a great gesture, and one worthy of appreciation and admiration.

Note: We define a millennial as someone who was born somewhere between the year 1980 and 2000; authenticity as "a state of being real and genuine, not copied or false" (Merriam Webster Dictionary) and coolness as "a state of adapting to a specific culture in order to be ONE with it".Also, I am of the school of thought that there are two types of millennials; the rational type and the irrational type. This post will mainly favor the views held by rational millennials.

So in the spirit of trying to "reach out to us", understand us or be "acceptable" in our midst, people seem to be in support of this notion that they need to speak like us, think like us, wear clothes like us or chill with us (as a form of present-time "coolness".) That is a good effort but it is not true, not entirely. We desire authenticity more than that hypocritical charade of becoming like us.

I'll explain.

We are different, that's a fact. Millennials are different. That's why it's becoming harder to understand us as the days go by. We are edgy too: always looking forward to the next big/best thing and seeming unsettled, disconnected and discontented. We are obsessed with all kinds of "useless" trends too: fashion trends, music and entertainment trends, gadget trends, internet and social media trends, gossip trends... which all seem stupid to the rest of the people around us. Our phones or trendy gadgets are almost always stuck onto our faces and we are mostly oblivious of what is happening around us because very few things that interest the general public (and especially people older than us) interest us. Yes, we are all that. We are different, but we are not stupid. 

Let me say it again: millennials may be many things but they are not stupid.

Let me go on and help us understand us better by drawing a few contrasts here and there; 

Note: Here are a few general characteristics of millennials:1. We always seem to shift between knowing what we want, who we are and "searching/finding ourselves".2. We have a keen eye and desire for change and are very open to change. Lack of change disturbs us like a plague. Also, we love being at the center of change.3. We always seem to redefine everything across all cultures we exist in, thus painting ourselves as cultural reprobates.

Millennials may seem to hate rules and the law - which may be true in some cases - but we mostly just hate being limited to one way of doing things. Most millennials are charismatics and are greatly driven by vision and "the next big thing" mentality that helps them live extraordinary but very volatile lives. We love being fired up and authentic, so that not many of us will blindly follow a visionless person unless God has really worked on our impatience. We can listen to an elderly person as long they are making sense and are speaking to our greatest needs (both individual and societal needs.) The more spiritual of our kind seem to have a very different and refined definition of what a Christian and spirituality REALLY look like in this generation... Therefore, the faster non-millennials realize this, the better they may influence us towards positive living. 

While looking closely at authenticity, our worldview and how the people around us behave, maybe it is a high time we told the world why it's a big deal to us that someone should seek to be real and authentic than to be "cool" when dealing with us.

Here are a few examples of how millennials think authentic living (living a real, Godly and intentional/purposeful life) differs from "coolness" (trying to fit in and please us). These views represent a major part of the millennial's worldview;

1. Being authentic means speaking the truth to us no matter how unpredictable the outcome may be.

The truth will save us. So just give it to us. Blunt, honest, truth. That's being genuine, and genuine is great. You earn more respect by telling us where that money goes than pretending we don't need to know or that "we are just kids" and we don't deserve to know. You earn more respect from us by explaining why things are the way they are than just dropping us rules and regulations to follow. Also, "coolness" sometimes dilutes truth. We'd prefer if truth is handed down to us just as it is. That'll make us think deeply about it.

2. Being "cool" without content is like a great car that has a spoilt engine: beautiful but utterly useless. 

Have something useful to say to us, if not, shut up. Why? Because we have trained our ears so well that they can sniff unpreparedness and lack of content from miles away. (Sieving through chunks and chunks of information on social media on a daily basis has perfected this in us.) If you have nothing important to say, switch back to point number one: don't force your emptiness on us. Just confess it: "Guys, I'm bilaz what to say today, please bear with me." We do understand, and we'll respect you for that.

3. Live what you preach - that's definition of an authentic life. 

Authenticity, unlike "coolness" lives only but one life wherever it surfaces. I know so many people who are complaining that it is harder to find people of my age group in church, but I am here to say that the reason may be that they are so fed up with Christians who say one thing in church and among fellow Christians and yet do another thing elsewhere: hypocrites and double-minded people. God hates such people. We hate them too, and with lots of passion. If you're not living what you preach, you lost us long time ago. If you want to help us, be yourself, be real, be vulnerable, be like Jesus: live what you preach.

5. Authenticity to us means not putting us all in one bucket. 

Not all millennials are the same. We think differently, we do things for different reasons and we process situations differently. That's what humanity is all about: independence in the use of all our senses and emotions. Authentic people make an effort to understand us as individuals but not as "a group of aimless lads". The less you generalize, the better.

Now, let me show us a very perfect example of the kind of authenticity we desire: Jesus. 

There is no better example in the whole of the universe of a man who maintained being perfectly authentic and yet avoiding to be "cool" like the rest of the people in His time. 

See below how Jesus effectively lived an authentic life (and may millennials and non-millennials alike learn from Him in humble admiration);

1. Jesus had authentic love.
He loved openly and truthfully. He loved like He lived. He loved with grace but also with truth. How He kept that balance between grace and truth is what Christian discipleship is all about. It is the mystery upon which Christian living is founded.

2. Jesus had an authentic emotional life.
He didn't pretend around. He cried when He had to (like at Lazarus' funeral) and when He was angry at the Pharisees, He never pretended to be okay. The one thing that is central with authenticity is this: there is no authenticity minus vulnerability.

3. Jesus had an authentic personal and social life.
What He said on the pulpit while talking to people is what He lived in His private life. No compromise of principles, no change in His state of thinking. Even the Bible says He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8.)

4. Jesus had authentic relationships.
He had friends whom He cared about. He cared for them deeply. How do we know this? He told them. He showed them. They felt it. They knew it.

5. Jesus had an authentic ministry and calling.
Everyone, including His family, disciples and the whole of Israel and its surrounding territories, knew what He had come to do: to set people free, and nothing could block Him from meeting that vision and goal. Every part of His mission on earth was directed towards that vision; which means Jesus was a visionary whose main vision was to see mankind redeemed. Period.

6. Jesus practiced authentic discipleship. 

He not only criticized the common trends in His generation's religiosity, but He took a step and showed those around Him what He really wanted by LIVING IT. He mentored people (and still mentors us today) to be like Him.

See? Jesus, our Lord, and all His life spoke one message: I am authentic. Now, that's the kind of authenticity we want to see in everyone else. 

Here is my parting question: 
Is your life as Christian or a leader or as a common "mwananchi" authentic? And if not, what are you doing about it?

Bonface Morris. 

Talking Point: My Reaction to High School Unrest and Students Burning Down Schools in Kenya

Image of Itierio Boys High School dormitories after students burnt them down over missing out on a EURO 2016 match. Source: Daily Nation.

So High School students have gone on a rampage all over Kenya burning down schools like they were piles of dustbin paper, and everyone is answering back with so much the same fire: "You students are stupid! You are childish! You are evil! You should be jailed and denied food!!" etc etc. And I'm just sitting here wondering, "Haiya! What, exactly, are we doing!?"

As a youth leader, I am amazed at how little we know of how young people today really think and operate (which is the age bracket where High School students belong anyway.)

Everyone seems to be shouting at these High School students, condemning them and giving them "lots of advice" and threats for burning down their schools. That is good (according to us), but it is irrelevant to them. It won't help a thing. This is because they don't care to listen to our advice: it is ours and they are just not into taking our advice. They won't listen. No, not for the time being.

"So, what should be done?", you ask.

Okay, what I share below is not a conclusive solution, it is not even a solution but an eye-opener, and it is also a good place to begin when trying to find the solution to this problem. It is some sort of backdoor solution for anyone who would care to read.

I'd recommend this as a start: on friendly terms, just grab the hand/s of one or two outspoken young people from an affected school, and genuinely (without making them feel that you want to "advise them" because at this stage, they just hate advice!) ask them exactly what went wrong. Be specific by asking them what they think is wrong with their school, their parents, their fellow students and with the school administration. Insist that you want them to be open about everything and that their answers will not be used against them when push comes to shove.

Be sure that you'll pick out a few things. Some will be relevant while others will be useless. Then tell them that you'll think about it and call them to discussion some time later.

Note: You cannot solve student issues without involving students. That's like solving Christian persecution without involving Christians; and especially the affected ones. So involve students (especially the ones ranting the most) when trying to solve issues surrounding and involving them.

But keep this in mind;

1. Because you listened and seemed to care, they may choose a different way of retaliation the next time they think of doing it. But be sure that they'll still do it somehow. That's how evil works. Be ready for it because the only language this generation seems to understand is: "I want it now! If you are not going to give it to me RIGHT NOW, I am going to kill someone or kill myself!! So give it to me RIGHT NOW" Get that very clear from me.

2. Students are burning down schools because that is what our generation does to solve matters: we are not good at resolving matters through dialogue but via streets. We've taught them street language and that's exactly what they're reciprocating. They're simply giving back to society what it has taught them.

3. Students are tired of being commanded around. They want to be listened to and they want to be heard; if you are not going to give it to them, you'll pay for your "ignorance". So if you're not going to give them a chance to talk and be heard, they make you "pay for it" through arson, violence or bad behavior. (Sometimes girls get pregnant or run away from home "just to 'punish'" their strict parents. It is madness, right? Unthinkable, yes? Yes, but that is how this generation works.)

4. Students are tired of being treated as kids. Yes, they are kids. But they'll revolt anytime someone tries to call them kids or treats them in a manner implying that they are kids. They want to be involved in decision-making. They want to be part of the deal without being sidelined in any way. I know parents and teachers would strongly disagree with this but that is what it is with this generation. I've seen it all the time: the moment I start treating 12-year-olds as I would treat my age-mates is the moment they start listening to me. Yeah, I have tried it out and it has worked. Just as it is with what we are seeing in our political arena, if parents and teachers won't embrace dialogue with students - no matter how childish they think it is - it is very likely that schools will keep burning. Mark my words.

5. Young people are inclined to think as a team. Always. And these teams don't die as fast as people may think. Those who know the truth of this point misuse this strength in youth by inciting them to engage in violence. However, having said that, some people still think that because students are young, they are not able to articulate an idea as a team and die for it. They are wrong. All revolutions have depended on youthful people to survive. History proves this to be very true.

Okay, as you consider this point, you may be falsely inspired to say, "So if we grab and punish their violent leaders we'll have solved the problem!!??" No, you won't. You can't kill a movement by detaining its leaders. In fact, that's how you fuel it. (That is why it has been hard to kill Christianity by the way. Christianity thrives on the blood of martyrs - Jesus being the first martyr.) It is because the moment you catch the responsible catalyst, another catalyst will be born to counter what you did to the former. And the movement will become stronger, more determined and more violent than the previous one. (Come on people, we should at least school ourselves a bit more on revolutions and how they work. Revolutions only die when you kill the idea or dogma running them, not the people behind them.)
So, get the idea that inspires them first, then you'll kill the movement and the acts thereof. 

At this stage, you may need to ask the students a very direct question: "WHY, REALLY, ARE YOU BURNING YOUR SCHOOL!!??" and use their answers to understand how and why they behave this way. This will then be the template upon which you lay the foundation for your solution-finding.

6. Don't get into the conversation to tell them what is wrong (come on, they've burnt schools and they already know that they've done it) and why it is wrong (why burning their schools is wrong.) They already know those facts, and they don't care. Let me say it again: this generation knows all the bad things. We have been really good at pointing them out, anyway (the bad things). What they don't know is WHY they are wrong and why their opinions are irrelevant as far as such bad things are concerned.

Here is a perfect example: young saved people know that sex before marriage is not good. They KNOW that it is sin. God forbids it but they're still having it anyway. Why? It's not a big deal to them. They don't care about your opinion or God's opinion, they only care about their own. That's our generation, man.

Our biggest challenge therefore is not to tell them what is wrong but why their opinion is not relevant for the time being and why our opinion matters i.e. why burning a school because of a lapse in entertainment (or whatever petty reason there is) is wrong and why it is also wrong to think that burning it will solve a thing. See?

7. Evil is taking course and it has it's teeth engraved in relativism.
Note: Relativism is the belief that different things are true, right, etc., for different people or at different times i.e. probably most High School students in Kenya feel that burning their schools is right so long as their prospected end result is achieved.
These High School students' actions are just a proof of the fallen evil world we live in today. Evil has taught the minds in this generation that violence is sweeter when done as a team.
Anyways, they are not the only ones. We all do it. We skip church to "punish" the pastor or our church leaders. We refuse to pay chama dues to "punish" a certain member of the chama. We do shoddy work to "punish" out bosses. Married people and guys in relationships do funny things to each other in order to "punish" their partners. We are all evil. Very evil. And we all seem to love evil.

When students burn schools, they are just expressing their evil nature and the reality of an evil world - a fallen world for which Christ died. Part of the solution may be to guide these kids in a manner that they'll embrace good Christian values which have no arson or violence in them.

*******
You now realize that at the center of everything I am saying above is dialogue and genuinely seeking to understand the problem before trying to solve it. Parents and teachers need to understand that right from 2010, things changed. Completely. The kind of pupils and students we now have suffer the highest level of moral degradation. They operate only by one law: this is my life, take it or leave it; whatever you think of me, I don't really care!

It is from that aspect of relativism that we have had phrases like: "my dress, my choice", "my life, my opinions", "my this, my that". No one wants to listen to advise anymore.

That's the world we live in today.
What are you doing to change it as far as young people are concerned?

PS: 
Here is the mystery about this generation: we want to be heard more than we are willing to listen to anyone.


Bonface Morris. 

2016 Youth Day Sermon (and Photos)

So last Sunday was a Youth Day at our church. Youth Day is an annual event that happens on every second Sunday of June in the Kenya Assemblies of God denomination.

Guys had fun, and were given a chance (as elsewhere in the Kenya Assemblies of God fraternity across the country) to lead the service and serve the LORD (and actually the church) in unique ways.

Part of the Youth team at K.A.G. Kakamega with Mrs. Bishop Alulu and some kids

I want to take this moment to appreciate the efforts and commitment made by my leadership team (the two Celestines - yeah that sounds weird, but also cool - Patrick and Mrs. Bridget) and our youth (both the ones that were present and the rest that weren't able to attend the occasion due to various understandable reasons.) This was my best Youth Day ever since I took up on leadership. I'm proud to be their leader. 

Here is the sermon I preached in the second service;

Them of the day: Do Something

Dressing code: Black/fuchsia 

Sermon title: Do Something

Key verses:

1.    Titus 2:7-8 (NLT) “And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of   every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. ”

2.    Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

• Today’s world is full of life coaches, teachers and opinionated people who teach us good things about life and how it should be done. We applaud and appreciate what they do.

• But looking deeper, no matter how much we learn or are taught, it is not enough to keep telling people to do things if we are not showing them;

a)    What is being done

b)    Who is doing it

c)    Where it should be done

d)    When it should be done

e)    Why is should be done and,

f)     Who else is doing it that it has benefited.

Unless we sieve whatever areas of growth we desire/intent to improve upon by use of the above points, we are likely to come out on the other side without reasonable change. The steps above help us do something about everything that needs attention in our lives.

Example:

There is a story told of three fishermen and the hole in their boat. These three agreed that they had a problem affecting all of them that might cost them their source of income: the hole in the boat. But instead of planning on a practical way on how to fix the hole, they kept saying this:

“Someone should do something about this hole someday.”

This went on for days and weeks… and later, the boat couldn’t float on water anymore because the hole had grown bigger and their weight and the weight of fish they were catching was greater. That is when they realized that they should have done something the very moment they discovered a hole in their boat. They also realized that no matter how much they prayed, God wasn’t going to do/fix the things (i.e. the hole in the boat) they were supposed to do/fix because He had already given them the wisdom, the strength and the will to do so. There are things God fixes, and holes in boats aren’t some of them: not that He cannot, but because He should not.

The mistake the three fishermen made was;

1. They didn’t specify who was doing what task in trying to fix the hole in their boat.
2. They didn’t delegate the actual tasks involved in fixing the hole (i.e. cutting wood, getting other material etc.)
3. They didn’t specify the day the task was to be done.

In order not to be caught unawares like the three fishermen in the story above, here are steps towards doing something early enough:

1. Stop pitying yourself for not doing something about everything that is wrong. It doesn't help.
2. Recognize the something that you can do and pray that you will start doing it: God has promised to give us strength to do ALL good.
3. Have friends that frequently pester you to do something about everything that needs attention in your life. Hebrews 10:24 (ESV) "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works."

4. Stop complaining about things not being done yet you are doing nothing to help it.
5. Stop getting worried that you may not make it because it will not be you who does the work, but the God in you. Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV) 12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

6. Christ promises to be with those who are doing something. Matthew 28:20 (NIV) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

7. Doing something about your spiritual life and growth means doing something about the most important part of your life.
8. Set goals. All goals need actionable plans. Without setting goals, we are likely to do nothing or to do so little and still feel accomplished. An example of setting a goal would be; what are you doing differently today from since you began doing it a while ago? Yes, you've been doing something, but is it adding value to people's lives or God's Kingdom?

Examples of people who did something.

1. John 2:12-19 (NIV) shows us Jesus doing something about temple con artists selling things at its courts. He didn't just sit there praying, He did something by chasing them out.  
2. David in 1 Samuel 17 stopped by an army that was afraid to do anything about a pagan who was insulting God (Goliath). He took a step by offering himself to fight the giant yet he had never fought nor had he ever been known to be a soldier.

Conclusion

The challenge to us therefore is: will we be like Jesus and David (people who stood up, believed in God and in themselves and made a difference by doing something) or will we remain like King Saul and the Israelites in David’s day who trembled every time Goliath came out?

The choice is ours, so let’s choose well.

  

Part of the Youth team at K.A.G. Kakamega (2)

Bonface Morris.

Of Conferences and Behavioral Puddings

I have been there for four days already, no, five; and as expected, I was excited from the moment I realized that I was going to be there for a while. Excitement (I am told) is the catalyst of liking "new experiences". So I was excited mainly because, well, it is normal to be excited; and subwayly because it is abnormal not to. Feigning disgust where the soul should be mesmerized has never helped No?

I went there (maybe) for more than just one reason - so I think. And obviously (to me), I now think that I should stop thinking and instead confess that there should be more than one reason as to why people go to such places: the main known reason and the main unknown reason. The latter is never entirely known (as we love pretending to brand it) but is discovered in the course of existence. The former seems to be the determining factor but it can't survive without the latter. One who exists only for the former enjoys new things in a rather conventional way, but we should not glory only in it because then, we will be killing our mortality...

*I think I've gone out of place there. I think it's some sort of script thunk...*

Maybe I went there for a change of environment because, well, things there were different. Maybe I went for a-kind-of general change. Maybe. Sometimes I don't know things, you know. I don't have to. I don't feel that I have to. 

I may have gone there for excitement or to satisfy it (the excitement). Or both. Or to meet new people. New people? Maybe. I "meet" "new people" everyday anyway: in real life, on  Facebook, on Twitter... I have a bunch of them to deal with on a daily basis. What I am poor at is meeting them. Yeah, meeting them. It may be because I screw them up in my mind before saying, "Hi!?" or that I sometimes just need my uninterrupted "me space" so much so that I push them away before I even approach them. 

So as I "meet new people", I have come to realize that (probably) I enjoy hacking into their minds as an opening to having an experience with them. I am a mind mole of some kind who prefers to know someone on my own before knowing them through receiving information from them. I think I'm very good at that - and I just feel that it is part of what I was there for - in that, I later reward myself for a job well done whenever my predictions are proven to be true after engagement. I do that. I don't care if you shoot me for that or something... ;) I do it anyway.

Side note: In the near future, I should concentrate more on reducing my mind-screwing tendencies *Dear Lord, help me*.

So now I know you think you know why I had gone there but you know what? (I know I should not use that in writing, but well, I author the rules here) I went there for so many things: most of which I have no idea about. Excuse me!? Last time I checked on wisdom, it was written that you can't know all things, right? Yeah, you now get me.

I was at a youth conference organized by my church under the Youth Department. It happens annually. It was in Meru this time round. Young people from all over Kenya come to such places to almost do what I come to do, but weirdly so, in a rather peculiar way.

I love conferences. They are an epitome of a mobile, radical and active society. A complete society. I love complete societies. I love the spiralling of diversity into one great vision and course. I hate sameness. Sameness is boring and predictable. I hate predictability; unless it is about the blessings of God or the rapture.

It is here you meet an illusion of disjointed temperaments. I love this because existing in such spheres is like a game to me. Some kind of mind game. This is where I use the array of opportunities relayed to me to put my mind to work by studying people: by endlessly talking about them in my mind. There were different kinds of young people. There were those you'll keep on asking yourself in a rather sarcastic tone, "Heeey! Is that a youth?" and those you'll keep doubting if they make sense - even to themselves.

My mind has somehow perfected the ability to collect data on people's personalities basing on first impressions. First impressions may not be the true story about people and their personalities, but they are a good pointer towards what to expect from such people.

These data are stored somewhere in a "brain database" that is frequently updated to merge with paradigm shifts in behavioral trends. I may not be accurate all the time, but this helps me get to know people even without talking to them. People are therefore put in categories which determine how I will (or may) work myself around them.

Here are some of them as the maxim for this post and leaning mostly on the guys I "met" at the conference (Studies courtesy of Morris et al ;)):

1. The "Hallelujah!" team

Most of them sit at the front in most conference sessions. They are qualified in shouting the loudest at almost everything that is said. They are the preacher's best partner, and the worship leader's best charmers. It is not necessarily because they are keen and adherent to what is being said, but because they are good at "fooling" the preacher and the worship leader that they are the best listeners. They heckle and jeer their best and maintain a "sober" mood throughout the event. Most of the time they are just attention seekers hidden in the skin of mindful young people. They are the main reason as to why I prefer being a backbencher in most conferences. I wish we had medals for them...

2. The fashionistas

OMG! I used to be one of them. #TrueStory. Remember those days when I used to wear ties to and in conferences? What about those days when I was almost carrying suits to conventions? Remember when I used to prefer a formal dressing code to a casual one, and when I used to care too much just because I had forgotten my iron box at home? Remember when I used to change into evening wear from wanting to have a "decent evening look"? Yeah, that proves that I have ever been a victim of fashion and style in conferences - until I became old. It is then that I thought that swag was all about the grooming. Just like them, I cared too much about what I wore, how I wore it, when I wore it and why... I now care less. Yeah, you can hang me already, but I care less.

3. The melodramatic kings and queens

Just like the first group, these are attention seekers too. The added weirdness is that they are cheap and stupid. They desperately seek to stand out as comedians - fake comedians. They sit on or take "your" chair in your absence. If you queue for food or any other goodies, they'll make themselves the indomitable first place holders. Of course they expect you to react to their actions so that drama may unfold. And drama does unfold - if you too are into drama. 

4. The Saints

There are moments you wish you were like them, you know: the waking up early to attend morning devotions, the sitting in the front pew as "good disciples", the discipline with which they carry themselves, the angst in their eyes, gestures and movements... But those moments of endless adoration suddenly fade away once you spot out some few things about them;

a) They are too good. Yeah, that kinda gets into my nerves. Being good is great, but it pushes us away. It makes us run away from you wondering at what you may be hiding underneath...

b) They have no social life. Hold on. That means that you have to breath, eat and drink Scripture with them lest you be tagged the unspiritual one.

c) There's no 'being real' in their world. They are mortals that hail their lives in immortal codes. They refute close engagement with the opposite sex. To them, God has to initiate and do all things. They are absurd. Really absurd.

They appear radical by getting involved in almost every important session that comes along, but, well, I am radical too...;)

I avoid them. I normally think that they belong to another world altogether, a world I'm not worthy to fit in.

5. The "Me" team

I belong here. The problem is: I can't describe myself quite well. But there are few things people like me do in conferences: we mind our own business, we sit at the center or at the back of the hall, we are mostly social and antisocial at the same time, we get involved in the available activities but with limited commitment, we positively (and negatively) judge and criticize almost everything that happens or that we come across, we miss meals (a hand clap please) because we either prefer eating 'out' or we disappear to go out to have fun only to come back and find out that everything that matters has already happened... Foodies may belong here too. We are the weird type. Mostly, we do nothing. Our interests are diverse. We fit in all societies. And that's why we love conferences: new environments, new experiences and new people.

Does that make us carnal? I don't think so. I think it makes us normal. *Huko ni kujitetea.*

So as I write this post (I'm in a bus heading back home by the way) I am wondering if you belong to one of the groups above or if you have your own. It actually doesn't matter. What matters is if you are able to enjoy the conferences, conventions or seminars you attend, because either way, you should always come out changed and with lots of new friends...!

Keep the effort buzzing.

Cheers!!!


Bonface Morris.