I find living in a city kind of drab and dreary. The hustle and bustle of living really got to me as I wished I could just marvel at the wild side of nature when I whizz past them on my way to work.
Finally, the weekend arrived and I loved wandering especially going for a short nature hike as I luxuriate in the beauty of nature. I realized that I whizzed past life at a frenetic pace wishing time can come to a standstill. Today, I am blessed to actually see a creature so tiny I almost missed it at a nature site.
I actually thought its red bulging eyes and beautiful wings brought much comfort to my weary soul. A refreshing change of scenery can do wonders as I think the simplicity of life is sometimes the solution to life’s anxiety. What an awesome day I had at Lower Pierce today!
To a large extent I believe there is kindness in the community. Somehow, with Covid-19 being one of the biggest mental health challenges, I felt that there is a greater awareness of displaying kindness in the workplace and to vulnerable communities like the migrant workers.
Students in primary school are also able to think about kindness like helping their friend understand concepts they don’t understand or lending a stationery to a friend and standing up to the bully etc.
Sometimes as adults, we go through life forgetting that being a flourishing human being one needs to give and receive kindness. Hopefully, the community and #mentalhealth situation will gradually improve and lives will be transformed with one small act of kindness growing into a big thing making a difference to the community.
In the earlier part of my young adult years, I often felt sad and often read books on depression. Ironically, I often felt depressed when I was a student in the top university. I had good friends in varsity when associated me with depression. I knew I was still struggling a lot emotionally due to a lot of questions on my purpose and meaning in life from my teenage years.
From my early twenties, I start to read many books on depression in the psychological sense. I struggled a lot till my mid twenties with being happy as I did not want to pursue the typical success route by being an MOE teacher or doctor and so forth. My mental health was not in the healthy range, and I felt that my natural inclination was towards the humanities. I thought a lot about the deeper stuff hence my natural major was in Philosophy.
Fast forward to my mid-thirties, I think I have been through a period where my career questions have been answered and my mental health is well managed with a lot of rest and following my heart. I decided to have faith in my decision not to live out other people’s version of success. But to live out something that is uniquely my own.
I felt that even if doing a course in Virtual Events and Production is so different from what I am used to, I would go through this path again when I would cross path with unconventional people. Novel experiences definitely got me intrigued and happy. Being friends with people whom I have not associate with like successful company’s directors will be something memorable.
Lastly, I would like to share my very happy photo taken on the last module of my six-month training programme to prove how enjoyable life was when I was able to be living out my unconventional love for seeking new and novel experiences.
I am glad that I can safely say I am happy for conquering life’s mystery of pursuing a new course of study and recalibrate my state of happiness.
Planning an event is like being in a position like Cinderella where the initially planning and framework is unglamorous and there are many hidden sides to things. The set up includes knowing how to connect floor plans with the real-life conference room and ensuring that the place is safe with no LED screens at risk for falling for example.
The details that needed to be looked into is like Cinderella sweeping the attic. For example, knowing how the schematics work. This is where one needs a strong understanding of how audio input works and how the cables have to connect with each other to ensure that there is sufficient planning before the actual show run. Fundamentals of events include having to communicate with other team members to coordinate the logistics to ensure that an event is planned coherently on the cue sheet is not easy.
When events run smoothly, it is like watching Cinderella enter and leave the ballroom at 12 midnight. A good event that delights the audience is like having the prince find Cinderella by matching the right glass slippers. It takes a lot of strategy and acumen to know how to cater to the right target audience segment be it finding Michelin star chef or special keynote speakers delighting the audience.
Ensuring that the everything goes according to cue sheet is something an events manager can hope for a fairy tale outcome. All in all, it is still possible where the right event can be so memorable that the audience is left living happily after.
My final Capstone presentation ended well, I can get to close a chapter of rehearsals and project work without any dent to my mental health. I think six months of trying to figure out what a professional events industry practitioner does is quite an adventure if taken in the right spirit.
I try not to take in all the stress inducing anxiety moments by taking things in my stride if I am not at an expert level yet. Chilling out when things get heated is not easy as I try to prevent burn out and fatigue from setting in my deliberately stowing away my multiple gadgets like Ipad and laptops whenever I could.
The work in #events is tough. It can be hard to put on a smile when there are last minute changes, abrupt decision switching affecting the show. I suppose stress management is something I have to pick up by knowing myself better when it comes to handling the uncertain and unknown aspects of working on group work and adapting to the technical side of things from livestreaming to knowing what an audio engineer does.
I stuck it out with a new virtual events and production programme for close to six months. I had a steep learning curve as my knowledge of virtual events and production is close to primitive.
It felt surreal that my mind is still functional and with all the technical information swimming about to ward off the early onset of dementia.
For close to a decade, I did dream about going to school for self-fulfilment. Glad that I put in 100% attendance as amazingly I was not late for a single module.
It is amazing how much I want to put my mind through such rapid growth spurt. I enjoyed meandering through many knowledge domains from data analysis and design thinking. I thought 💠how stress management is really important as this is one of the top 5 most stressful industry due to its volatile and uncertain nature.
At last, a life chapter has to come to a close when I reached the summit. I am left with a final presentation of my Capstone project on a Clean Energy event.
All in all, I loved how 2022 have been a pivotal point in enabling me to have the opportunity to widen my social network, broaden my mental horizons and equipped me with practical skills to survive for the future of hybrid post Covid.
I think life can really be challenging at times where what is exhilarating or exciting can slide into a threat. On a stress meter, it can be difficult to guage from being in the comfort zone one moment and then transit out to another stage of growth that feels exciting.
By going for training earlier this year I can see how I respond to stress and what gets me fearful or overwhelmed as the roller coaster goes through many twist and turns. The season of intellectual growth where I get to know more about fields I didn’t venture into is quite like taking a rollercoaster ride and experiencing the highs and lows of data analytics, design thinking, fundamentals of events management and stress management.
Finally, the season where the ride will come to an end. This is where I have to respond to a new VUCA world. Embarking on another level of growth where life transitions can feel scary and I do look forward to change despite how as humans we find changes uncomfortable. But this is where we live out our best possible selves by daring to venture into uncharted territory and surviving.
I used to go out on National Day to celebrate by visiting the sights and sounds of the city. This year I am more introspective as I felt that some solitude moments spent in reading will help me listen to my heart 💓 to know what my heartbeat for Singapore is.
I am glad that this year I was brave enough to start embarking on a road that is more colourful and interesting. By studying with a group of people I would never otherwise cross paths with through a Singapore United course.
I made friends through my Virtual Events and Production class and got to make many friends from different walks of life from special needs teacher to content creator, ex media specialist, dog trainers, bartender. They all form like mosaic of the Singapore story as I write a new chapter of my life story.
I would say that Training is really fun and exciting sometimes because we just have to go deep into the trenches and work with people with different worldviews and background while sharing a common ground in doing the same assessment using the same Learners Guide.
I am glad above all I learnt to be more Singaporean by understanding all the challenges the country face during the pandemic on the business sector. And how I believe we can make it as a country again with a strong resilient and united citizen.
A valuable experience trying to do a Capstone Project where I had to cultivate extreme patience in ensuring that we can create a short and impactful presentation with only five slides as a criteria for the second stage of the Capstone.
The key thing is ensuring that a summary of what our hybrid event is and get the message pitched across in the shortest time to a potential client. Quite an experience considering that it has to be done in a group of six over Zoom where we had to agree on what corporate logos to use, the keynote speakers to use.
My key takeaway is that it is not easy trying not to fall in love with the original prototype of previously worked on design. I have to change the design of my Canvas infographics close to four times to get the desired final version where I have to cultivate the virtues of taking feedback well and responding to the minute and fine details to ensure that the final prototype is aesthetically pleasing.
I conclude that it is not easy being in the events industry where we have to work on the intricate details behind the scenes and then have to ensure that the external audiences from speakers to physical attendees are happy. A very tough yet rewarding and exciting work that can appear glamorous and exciting on the outside. That is if you are willing to be meticulous and look into the finer more intricate details.
Almost half a year is gone and before we know it 2022 will come to an end. I think so far I have not felt any regret making this decision to pursue such an interesting class called Hybrid Events and Production. What fascinated me at the start in March when I enrolled for the class is that I will have to change my routines, develop new interest and do an inordinate amount of teamwork for the class. Basically, the thought of not having any control over whether you can do your own thing or do group projects and discussions scares me.
As a solo ranger for a long time, teamwork is a big hurdle I have to cross . I felt that I would not be able to survive so many group projects, pair work and discussions. But I was very surprised by the amount of growth. Precisely, teamwork is such a difficult thing to adapt to that I have grown a lot more the past 5 months than the past 5 years.
I was startled at how I am still in the midst of a Capstone Project and still intrigued by all the concepts from Clean Energy, Livestreaming, Augmented Reality and Design Thinking prototype. Theories, ideas and concepts takes a life on its own when there is lively discussions and people from various industries cross paths. I do change my perceptions about people and the environment after immersing myself in this course. Well, I do hope that I can finish the race well and believe in my ability to harness the power of team work where the “whole” is “better than the sum of it’s parts”.
During one of my course on Design Thinking, I suffered from a case of wanderlust where we have to do pair work for our assessment. Our assessment was to apply design thinking concepts to come with a prototype by asking the right questions. I was surprised that within an hour my course mate is able to come up with the requirements for the assessment and do a good 7 days plan for a trip to Alaska to see the Northern Lights. It is small things like this that makes the course so heartwarming too!
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