I'VE GOT THAT CLOUD NINE FEELING; in spades, to boot.

I may be broke and jobless, but I'm all Frankenstein up in here; as in: "I LIVE!!!"

While I'm throwing  adages at you, let me hit you with my favourite,

"Aun aprender"

It beautifully means, "I am still learning, I am always learning."

As for the "yatta" in my headline, that, too, is a catchphrase in another language: Japanese. It's pretty much congratulations, but with an "I knew you could do it!" pulse.

I'm saying "Yatta!" to myself at the start of this New Year. And while it may be rather un-Nihongo to be so self-congratulatory, by golly I deserve it.

Never too old to learn something new

At my age, I picked myself up and went back to school, so to speak, to study Television and Video Production via a Government training programme.

I've excelled in Media, including television, for 31 years. But the one thing I could not do was hands-on editing. I could produce and direct, but short of PowerPoint and Keynote slideshows, albeit excellent ones, I could not use editing systems to create videos.

I always tell people, 

"Think of your talents, skills, training and tools as your Bat Man utility belt."

So I resolved (no pun intended ... though only fans of DaVinci Resolve will get that) to add a new ability under my already heavily-loaded belt.

However, between hating classroom settings and being in close quarters with fairly strangers; among other vastly more challenging things, I almost dropped out time and again. 

Then Covid-19 pandemic struck; social distancing and lock-down became the new norm, and our lecturer surely surely became one of the first Trini people to start running classes in ZOOM.

DISTANCE LEARNING WAS A GIFT. I was made for this!

So I thrived and, ably supported by the blessed lecturer I mentioned earlier, rallied until we could return to live, practical sessions. Thereupon we completed our final assessments and achieved our Caribbean Vocational Qualifications.

So "Yatta!" to me. "Yatta, yatta, yatta!" And of course to everybody else.

What was supposed to have been a four-month course stretched out to a full year thanks to Covid restrictions. This time last year I could not edit a video with my own hands. This year ... I can.

I am still learning. I am always learning. How wonderful that is.

Out from that philosophy I formed my own personal motto,

"Never over"

Yes, as in: the learning is never over; the growing is never over; the manifesting is never over; we have to keep on keeping on.

COME GOOD

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!

Photo by: Padjo Planet Photography

Care to imbibe more New Year well-wishes vibe? Connect via: Trinbago Shine On

Life is just full of laughs. Take a break and look around.

Come Good

Photos insights: Imagine, the sound of a door inspired a poem about the wind. A door pix I had, but we cannot snap the wind, only the effects of it. As Carnival fast approaches, I want to try and pay homage to the sheer visual feast of it by featuring images from last years Kiddies Carnival. This young masquerader embodies the energy of the poem: what wind does to cloth, the exotic, the mysterious, the colours of rage, the dance we do when hit by hard wind and more that I know you can see for yourself. Photos by Jhaye-Q