The Signifier

All that *glitters* is not Gulf

Voices emerge and break the myth of the Middle Eastern Dream
Today, like every other, part of my morning routine is a catchup on the world and a glimpse into the lives of people I've met over the years to see what's happening in areas of my past.

Ordinarily, this activity is a quick affair, scanning through lots of injections of what people have thought, smelt, tasted....everyday stuff that in most parts is nothing new or surprising. Now to the untrained eye, something like this (a report from journalist Johann Hari) would be considered just a bitter review of a trip to this glimmering city. However, what you're in fact reading is a brave voice emerging from a mission to find the REAL Dubai.

Already, the wheels of PR and loyalty are turning (AmazingWomenRock article) with an interesting "two wrongs do make a right" approach, pointing the finger to the rest of the World who treat their citizens in a similar fashion! Interesting considering that for a long time, the Emirates smugly announced they've built the city of Dubai using the lessons/mistakes made by the Western World as a guid of how NOT to do it!

Make a wish list this year...

Continuing on from my previous post, it struck me in a conversation I had this morning our new year plans need to be things we WANT to do not feel that we HAVE TO do. With this in mind and taking on board all that has been considered as 'lessons learned in 2008', I'm making a list now, it's a combination of things I've been scribbling down (year on year) in my notebook, alongside some new dreams.

If anything, it's going to be things "I hope to experience in my post-40 years....

Simplicity rules the day!

Understanding the Bedouin way is a very interesting exercise. Amid the crazy-chaos of 120kph on Sheikh Zayed Road and the fastest-pace of business, one has to recognise that everything distills into 'simplicity'...this is of course how it's been done for thousands of years out here.

In my last few hours in this neck of the woods, I've simplified my own environment and in doing so, I've seen different perspectives on those daily drudge things. My balcony view, the last one here...why is this one so different from the others? Post it notes from a month ago, bring a sting to the eye, food in the cupboard and recollections of that humid night we queued in Spinneys and stressed over the shopping bill.

When we go through a change in environment, the power of NLP kicks in and purges 'oneself' for all the emotional chemicals...it's like going to the gym purely for the buzz of enorphyns.

Simplicity is the call for today. Leaving behind (and forgiving) all those unwanted things Dubai has dealt us, appreciating what good is here (and it DOES exist!) and taking forward the things 'that work' into the next adventure....

It's time to see the REAL UAE!

For almost three months now, I've been bumbling along in the Dubai bubble, trying to cling to moments of creativity and realism to the UAE. Dubai, if you've ever been here has an element of glisten to it...something that is intended to distract from something that doesnt exist.

We've not got a chance, as our time here comes to a close, to experience the one real thing that actually was the reason to come out here in the first place...Oman! Having done plenty of research for a recent pitch, it has the reputation of being a place of happy, smiley people. A place where their leader has nothing but the prosperity of his people uppermost in his mind. It's also a place of amazing geographical and environmental beauty.

Im hoping for a shuttering lens and lots of smiles.....

Tick....Tock....Tick.....Tock....

It's almost time to say "see you in a bit"
I've done the majority of sifting now, shippers are due in tomorrow morning to put belongings into boxes and to dispatch them by sea and air.

It's been a funny old week to be honest. Jet lag recovery from a brief dip into my new world at the weekend, back to the final week at work and it's more frantic than normal (and that's saying something for agency life!).

I've been counting this time down, plenty of things to do slowing each second to a painful drag, but I'm almost there....ready to start a new era and ready to embark on new adventures.

I'm hoping delicious ambiguity is delivering me some high-points to compensate for the recent lows that have chipped the smiles from inside. I'm walking forwards into sandy terrain and looking forward to the next chapter......