Did we do good Toastmaster's things on Wednesday? Of course, but that's not what we remember.
The whole evening was like a carrot cake of fun and enthusiasm, with each person adding their own dimension to the mix. As the night went on the mix grew stickier and gooier, and when it was all over and baked to perfection it was the brilliant Rivka David, the General Evaluator for the evening, who slathered the cake with the finest butter icing money can buy. The enthusiasm and excitement, as she compared our Toastmasters club to the human body, was bursting out of her and pulling on her words like a child pulling their parent's arm towards an empty swing in a bustling playground. When the words came she told us that the human body is not made of the same stuff it was a year ago and yet its form remains. Who knew? And as for our club? Members come and go just like the transitory atoms in our bodies and yet the spirit, the warmth, and the love remain. Never was this more evident than on Wednesday.
Frances Pardell arrived with fire in her belly and a bucketful of energy to boot. As the Table Topics Master she delighted in recounting her woes during school sports day and was positively beaming when announcing her adopted status as the official handicap. At that point the stage was set for competition and for the second week running it was a visitor who stole the trophy. The visiting Ray Jardine drew us into his story as he humorously described the horror of his school swimming lessons at the hand of a screaming teacher and mind-numbingly cold water. Ask him again and no doubt he'll describe them as the best days of his life.
And so to the prepared speeches.
The time was around ten after eight when the banks burst. We could sense that something had been set free, that it was gaining momentum, and that it would culminate in something rather exciting. The time was around eight sixteen when Alastair Kight completed his Ice Breaker and returned to his seat. Alistair's speech was delivered with a great edge of expectancy as he slowly released his grip on the reins and let the energy build to the conclusion. Did this Kiwi Really Fly? Without a doubt.
The three remaining speeches were given by Shola Ayeni, Sanjit Joseph, and Adam Shaw, and together they gave a fine account of life. In Shola's third speech she proclaimed "What a coincidence". She was speaking at our club, on our stage, and at the hand of our timekeeper, only because the name Jim Rohn was coincidentally heard and lodged in her mind. Are our lives carved into form by only a handful of coincidences? If Shola had us believing that our lives cross by chance, then Sanjit must have wondered why so many coincidences lead to the M25? In his first speech from the Advanced Communicator series, titled "The M25 and Me", Sanjit entertained with his driving experiences and tales of his prized, albeit short-lived, BMW 2002. Even with life's curve-balls Sanjit mused that with sanguine trances and automatic gearboxes he may avoid the M25 forevermore.
It was Adam who was last to speak and fittingly it was he who rounded up life's musings with what is arguably the most important: love. In his second speech, titled "Love and Fire", Adam proposed that when boiled down our lives reduce to key pivotal points in life's game of join the dots. Following a weekend of Reiki courses, and following a period of time where tears of unknown origin were never far from his eyes, Adam experienced an epiphany and was mentally catapulted to his remedy: use the word love, even in places where it seems foreign or forgotten. Tell the people whom we love that we love them, and tell them whilst they're still alive.
We have two number two speeches in store for our next meeting. Remember those banks that burst? It seems there's plenty of momentum in the waters and Alistair is continuing to ride the wave. I wonder if Sanjit has made an impression upon him? The second number two speech will be delivered by Ryan Pearson. Who? Oh just that guy who joined the club ten months ago. Perhaps someone should have pointed out that having broken the ice we don't have to wait until it melts before moving on! Ryan prefers to subscribe to the slow and steady philosophy, and with a speech that is four months in the making he has certainly raised curiosities, if not expectations.
Add the 8th of August to your diaries and relish an inspiring and gripping evening. No-one likes the distraction of rolling tumbleweed so show your support for your fellow Toastmasters, and bring some friends too.
