Sunday 23 November 2014

Making Things Happen

Lose Control


So last week I realised, despite denying it for a long term, I am a control freak. Getting to Mexico means that I have to rely on lots of people; for funding, networking, event planning and all that stuff that goes with it. And apparently when I can't manage it all myself, I can't manage. So, things I've learnt and things I need to work on...



My Instagram of Husk festivities 
I met with José Luis Ayoub (a prominent anti-trafficking figure in Mexico) who taught me: DON'T expect Mexicans to be on time. Whilst he was prompt for our meeting I have been warned to always arrive late or take something to do while waiting, as punctuality is not the best trait of the average Mexican. And DO use social media. Promote yourself. Promote your organisation. Get your message across. Get fans. With a face and a clear message apparently it's easy... can't say I completely agree with this. I'm a talker but does anyone really want to read my day to day tweets? Well, we shall see as I try to put this idea into practice. The most I've managed so far is Instagram (a picture is worth a thousand words, right?) and posting things for the Sophie Hayes Foundation where I can hide under the mask of Sophie.





GoOverseas Volunteer/Intern Abroad Scholarship



What I need to work on. Turns out I can't control everything and I need to follow that awful mantra of 'keep calm' while I rely on other people to help me achieve things like getting a visa and funding. In order to not freak out (ok maybe that happened a couple of times) I realised I need to focus on the things I can control e.g. eating lots of chilli to build up my tolerance - which didn't go so well as I accidentally touched my eye with my chilli-covered finger - and doing a photoshoot next to a Mexican silhouette in order to apply for a grant >








Will I learn to live without being in complete control or will I somehow regain control and be overly blunt and bossy once more? To be continued...

flickelsewhere

Donate here with the message EL POZO to support my work in Mexico 

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