Published: March 19, 2022
A bright sunny day starts off with a lot of opportunity. And I was super excited from the moment I woke up this morning to go out and meet someone. Out of the last few days of working for long hours daily I was totally exhausted and couldn’t wait to catch some sunshine and fresh air. Doing something out of passion and doing it only for the sake of a routine – there is always a clear distinction. Even a physically demanding job could become more fulfilling when it’s done solely out of passion.
After I came to CBD, the first place I visited was Hyde Park. Sunshine, granary and a gentle breeze along with lots of people buzzing around. That was Hyde Park today – on a typical sunny morning. The grasses are now big and as I walked via the footpath and went a bit deeper inside, I could see the landscapers with the trimmer. The smell of freshly cut grasses filled the air – tart, organic, jungle like yet a country air, farm like. The mechanical noise of the trimmer could be heard from a distance almost taking over the muttered voices of the passersby who were talking on the phone walking past.
After a quick sweep through the park, I headed off to my usual location – townhalls – the busiest place in Sydney CBD. Despite the utter fiasco of my last session, today was much better in terms of the number of approaches I made. I was more fluid and animated while talking to others here and there. Some of them were disinterested while others listened a minute or two but had to leave as they had urgent affairs, while for the rest they didn’t have about ten (10) minutes to participate.
The streets were bustling with people during lunch time. It was packed. I navigated through the crowd most of the time with caution and sometimes with grace.
And among all these I was constantly being entertained by the big smiley sales pitchers and the grumpy pamphlet givers around townhalls, the sour-faced guitarist in front of David Jones and the melancholic violine player in front of Myers.
Almost two hours have passed now, and I am on the George St near Townhall station, and I was in front of the light rail stop next to Woolworths. There I saw her walking in front of me wearing a blue mask. My shoulders were heavy out of the weight of my gears and long walks along, so I leaned against a pole while resting my backpack on top as I was standing by the footpath. Had she walked faster I probably wouldn’t be able to stop her gathering myself at that moment. I vaguely remember though that she might have stopped on the footpath for something and perhaps then slowly I approached her. I am pretty sure I wasn’t at my best self at that moment. But her slow walk and being halted in the middle of all the hustle and bustle was perhaps the reason for my approach and somehow – to her credit of course – she remained calm while I explained the project to the best of my abilities. And as such she consented to join.
So, here is Tiffany born in Indonesia now settling in Australia. Recently finished her studies in Graphics design from UNSW and now hunting for her dream job.
Due to lack of time, I couldn’t continue this conversation for long. In fact, this was a very brief encounter lasting for about ten (10) minutes or so.
Her best friend Tamara is from Palestine whom she looks up to when she needs someone to be by her side in a foreign land thousands of miles away from home.
Life presents to us with lots of challenges especially when no one is around to support and guide us. And to survive those challenges we device different strategies to cope with different situations creating our own views of the world. One particularly interesting fact about her was during childhood she used to go to others mistaking them for her own parents. Well, it was seemingly a mistake – according to her, at least – but I tend to have a different view; was it really a mistake or a world view created during her formation years that helped her to be more sociable? – I pondered. Hard for me to be conclusive based on only one aspect of her early life, nonetheless, she seemed to me as a very easy going and happy personality who can easily get along with others which I found rather intriguing.
One of her favorite pastimes is indoor bouldering – climbing steps without wearing harness. Although I have never tried it myself, but it sounds like pretty fun to try out.
All the best wishes for her job hunting and landing on that dream job she must be longing for.
