Losing track of the days

I've lost track of what day of the week it is. Somewhere between 1,5 months of whirlwind event planning and the unexpected death of my uncle on Whit Monday almost two weeks ago and all its subsequent confusion and emotions, I've seemed to have lost track of the days. I keep thinking today is Friday. Or maybe Thursday. It definitely doesn't feel like the Sunday it is... But let's back up a little for it to all make sense.

I left you at the end of February, in my post Footprint Challenge/Better the World traineeship restlessness. In my search for something new to get into besides work and looking for work, I stumbled upon a call for team members to set up a day aimed at motivating approximately 50 fellow talented young job seekers in their job hunt. And so it happened that halfway through April, I was all of a sudden part of a team of 10 who set out to create an exciting new event by the end of May. With practically no budget, very little time between the first meeting and the launch of the event and so much to organise in that time, it seemed like a totally crazy idea. It probably was too =)

Despite the craziness of the idea, we dived right into it anyway to see what would happen, and worked hard at getting three different 'stages' with all kinds of activities off the ground, interspersed with three different guest speakers. We set up a 'skills lab' where people could find out more about themselves, their talents and how they work in a group setting. We set up a creative stage where we had dance and communication workshops, and people could paint their hearts out on huge canvasses. We set up a philosophical stage to get people thinking about who they are and what they find important in their lives, and about how they view the problem of the increasing unemployment rate among higher educated youth. I was mostly involved in setting up the activities for the philosophical stage, which naturally led to several interesting philosophical discussions with my fellow team members working on that stage with me. Making this event happen was exciting and very good to be a part of =) And all the hard work culminated into Saturday 25 May 2013: the first 'Try Before You Get the Job!' event. We had set up a solid and motivating program for the day, indeed found three inspiring speakers, had our location and most of our materials sponsored and ended up having about 30 participants for the day. Awesome =) And by the end of the day we got heaps of positive feedback from all our participants too, so that's always a nice bonus! If you had told me halfway through April at our first team meeting what we would accomplish in those short 1,5 months, I wouldn't have believed you. But we did it anyway, and I'm proud of us =)

I also wouldn't have believed you if you had said back in April that I would be at that event with a distracted mind and a sadness in my heart, as my uncle had died unexpectedly on Monday night earlier that same week. A huge shock to me and my family to say the least. It definitely put things into perspective...

My uncle's memorial service and funeral service on Monday and Tuesday respectively were beautiful, as far as such sad occassions can be beautiful. They were filled with love and respect for the person he was. Stories of his love for music and the outdoors, his passion for education and his drive to encourage young people to do and be their best filled the room. Memories of his storytelling ways and his often cheeky smile and twinkling eyes when telling these stories were shared. Even though I didn't see him all that often anymore since I moved out and especially since my grandma died almost 5 years ago now - my grandma's house usually being the place I saw my extended family outside of my parents' birthdays once I moved out of home - it's sad to know he won't be there at the next family gathering, telling his stories of his latest musical discovery or of the unruly teenage students with big mouths and tiny hearts at his school. Because that's the way I'll remember him most. And for that, if nothing else, I'll miss him.
xx