This time around, we gathered at The Ship @ PJ Centrestage in Section 13, Petaling Jaya – an iconic steakhouse started by a Malaysian who cooked on a British merchant ship before he opened his first restaurant in KL’s Jalan Sultan Ismail in 1972.
The theme Steffi picked was “Cancer”.
There was a lot of sharing, personal stories that swept us off our feet and at the same time, fiddling with our emotions. The storytellers themselves – at least three of them pummeled us with their emotionally-charged narratives – as their recounting overflowing with anguish and sting and pain glued us to our seats. And we all meekly surrendered to pathos and piquancy and poignancy.
Thankfully, there were a couple of speeches that navigated a little away from the heart-breaking heaviness of the sorrow-filled stories – and these helped us regain much-needed composure and steadfastness.
I am reminded of what American writer Lois Lowry said: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared”. I totally agree!
If you don’t already know, October is designated the Pink Month. The Pink Month is about breast cancer awareness where efforts are made to educate those concerned about the disease, including early identification and signs and symptoms associated with breast cancer.
And Steffi revealed that she is a breast cancer survivor who battled her illness bravely. Respect.
Overall, this meeting sparked us with a different kind of vibe. It. Was. Affecting. Moving. Touching. Suriakumar said it brought us closer – and he was so right!
Note: Steffi had requested participants to wear pink – and we all did.
Onwards to The Victory:
#theartandscienceofrhetoric
#confidentcommunication
#communicationinnovations
#worldspeakerscoalition
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