“This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. An instead of calling it work, realize its play.” Alan Watts
Again we had the pleasure to welcome Patrick, Natheer and Lei in our meeting. Keyem dialed in from the Emirates for the first time and Alex, our division president, also took part to see how our club was performing.
Jeff, the Toastmaster of the evening, introduced the theme work/play with a short video showing his grandchild absorbed in work or was it playing?
With further quotes he gave more insights into the theme in the course of the evening.
JP gave us a great joke about Einstein which was well received by the audience.
One day, Einstein had to speak at an important science conference, but he was sick of being a guest speaker.
“I’m sick of these conferences too, you know,” he told his driver. “It’s always the same thing over and over and over again.”
“You’re right, sir,” the driver said. “I have attended all of them as your driver, and by now, I have memorized everything even though I don’t understand science. If you allow me, I can give the speech in your place.”
Einstein thought it was a brilliant idea. After all, no one there knew how he looked like. “Let’s do that!” he excitedly said.
After switching clothes, Einstein and the driver went inside. Einstein made himself comfortable in one of the seats while the driver headed towards the stage.
The driver delivered the usual speech. After he was done, claps echoed through the hall. Einstein was proud of him. Suddenly, one of the scientists stood up and asked him a tough question in an attempt to look smart.
The hall went silent as everyone held their breath. A moment later, the driver looked the scientist dead in the eye and said, “Sir, your question is so easy, I’m going to let my driver answer it on my behalf.”
As Table Topics Master Sybille explained the rules for the TT session and asked five questions:
1. Quotation by Einstein: Play is the highest form of research”. How would you explain Einstein’s statement? Poorana shared with us a story of his childhood. In his research about electricity he caused a power cut.
2. Watching children play you might see them totally absorbed in their world. Have you ever experienced this kind of flow in your work life? Patrick described his work as programmer which sometimes is playful but leads to solutions.
3. Companies have learned that employees are better motivated when they like their job and feel connected to their workplace. Does your company promote and work/play events had have you taken part? Ley told us about a company visit to Hambach castle and share with us what she learned about the German flag.
4. Brian Sutton-Smith, a Harvard Professor said: “The opposite of play is not work, it’s depression.” What do you think Sutton-Smith meant? Natheer pointed out the importance of being playful in your work.
5. Thinking of a top pianist – are his/her performances more work or more play? Keyem pointed out the elements of joy which are the basis for creative work.
We had one prepared speech delivered by Oliver. He is working on the path strategic relationships and his project was evaluation and feedback. He gave us a very emotional speech on asthma and the way the pharmaceutical companies do not really care. The title of his speech was “Can you make them care?”
Oliver’s speech was evaluated by Ksenja. She praised all the rhethorical qualifications Oliver showed in his speech. She loved his dedication to the topic. She would have liked more explanations when it came to specialist information. But all in all it was a great speech.
Craig rounded off the evening as General Evaluator. In his outstanding report he gave very detailed feedback to every speaker of the evening with lots of valuable take aways for everyone. This was simply “wunderbar.”
In the awards session the best TT award was given to Lei.
In the club business session the officers informed about the next meeting in presence at the Bürgerhaus in Mannheim Neckarstadt. We meet in person on September 13, 2022 there. From September till the end of the year we will meet in person for the first meeting of the month (on the 2d Tuesday) and online for the second meeting (on the 4th Tuesday).
Dolly Parton: “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
Many thanks to Sybille for this great recap!
Please join us in-person for our next meeting on the 13th of September.
Best wishes, Jeff, Ma nnheim Int. Toastmasters
Here is a photo of the evening:
