What Speaks To My Most Authentic Self?

That's my question of the day. I heard a renown educator pose it to an audience, and it hit me: what speaks to my most authentic self? For a moment, I thought I'd have a ready answer. Because, gosh, I know me so well, right?

Wrong. There was/is/has been (note change to present continuous tense) prolonged contemplation. Then here I am, blogging about it, and still not in any definitive way. What speaks to MY most authentic self? WHAT speaks to my most authentic self? What speaks to my most AUTHENTIC self? It is, I admit, a worthy question.

What I love about this question is how it is personalised. It's not asking about YOUR most authentic self (no offence to you, I assure you I value and highly esteem your self and its authenticity). It's asking about ME and MY authenticity. It's talking about ME from MY paradigm, MY perspective, MY point of view. I think many people have become so absorbed in (and by) their environments that they have forgotten the existence of their authentic selves, and the need to nurture them. We can get so caught up in being politically correct that we begin to create - and nurture - a self that engenders what everyone around us wants us to be, but that betrays the very essence of those elements that speak most to who we really are or want to be.

It's like kids growing into adults and forgetting the importance of having and pursuing dreams with  firm belief in their possibility. The kid had the big heart, but not the knowledge. The adult has no heart, lotsa *negative* knowledge. And, for some reason, society affirms the adult, rehabilitates the kid, but never considers a way to consolidate both points of view.

I love this question because it asks us to go back to basics and rediscover genuineness and authenticity. It asks us to do more than just get by under the shroud of conformity. It forces us to face up to what is different and real about each of us - and to own it. I hope you take the time to answer the question.

As the World Turns ...

My mind is screaming to go beyond established walls. Beyond the boundaries of chronic limitation.

Like Mandela, there's a gnawing in me, because powerlessness must not be tolerated. It must not be accepted. It must be fought. And inertia can be a disease that debilitates forever. And it must be avoided at all cost.

'Wutlissniss' has to start somewhere. It starts on the day when you decide to slow down. That one moment when you decide to 'take a break' can somehow metamorphosise into years. Years of breaks and breaking. Until finally, you see something new taking form. Water comes together. Dry land appears. Shoots and roots burst into being. The wheels of time keep turning in endless revolutions. 

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Aha ... Eureka! A revolution. An evolution.

Bring back the Byrne!!

Jason Byrne, of the BBC's Radio 2's
The Jason Byrne Show.

I'm a sucker for BBC programmes (Jamaicans, I mean the internationally known TV/RADIO station/news service, not the cloth!). It could very well be a cultivated bias (because I've become a kind of BBC buff, with a marked interest in all things BBC). Or it could be that the quality of their programmes appeals to me like no other broadcasting group's programmes have. Whatever the reason. Here I am. The BBC buff.

I especially love their iPlayer service because it affords me the luxury of listening to pre-recorded programmes at my leisure. So, for example, I can catch up on programmes from Radio 4 and 2 that I wouldn't otherwise hear (because those stations are not available in Jamaica). And that's exactly what I do. I listen to either the World Service live (I love World Have Your Say and the News Hour), or something on the iPlayer.

I'm particularly in love with their comedy offerings. I think they're fantastic! The wit. Puns. Clever riddles and literary wheeling and dealing ... I love it! My favourite type of comedy has to be sketch. It requires the kind of on-the-spot, quick thinking that leaves my adrenaline peaked, pulse racing and general respiratory cavity breathless from chronic laughter. I love The News Quiz, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Just A Minute, The Unbelievable Truth, Saturday Stand-Up ... but most of all, I absolutely adore this Irish sketch comedian called Jason Byrne! He's dynamite! And hilarious. The wit. The jokes. The Irish accent ...  *swoons*. You get the picture.

He's become a big (read really important) part of my weekly BBC diet, much like a glance at the BBC's news home page has become a seriously indispensible part of my daily routine.

Imagine my surprise when I couldn't find his programme on my iPlayer anymore. I felt crushed. Deserted. A little lost. A lot upset. And empty (how's that for dramatic, lol). How could the BBC - my one true love - have jilted me in this way? I wasn't even this upset when they ended the Caribbean service and dashed to pieces every bit of hope I'd had of one day working there. No. That hurt. But not as much as this kidnapping of my weekly bit of Irish heaven. I was incensed! Still am.

I've gone a week without him and I don't think I can last. Nothing is the same. The BBC has GOT to listen to me on this one. Lives are stake here, so bring back the Byrne!!! I must find him on my iPlayer tomorrow, or else ...

PS In case you're wondering, I didn't find him on my player the next day. Still haven't. And, yes, sadly, I'm surviving. But how happy I'd be if they'd oblige me and bring my Byrne back!