Six members and one guest returned to our old watering hole to discuss on uninhabited independence and what it meant to us individually. I guess, Decanter Section 17 will always have a special place in our hearts.
As I understand it, this "uninhabited independence" is a freedom born of absolute isolation – a stark, empty space stripped completely of social connection and emotional attachment. However, the organizer-cum-host looked beyond this definition; he wanted us to be creative and share our individual interpretations.
While you might see a bustling new beginning, I see a beautiful, blank slate. A space where, stripped of everyone else's expectations, you finally find yourself.
Metaphorically, this is the bird that has left the cage. It is liberation from internal restraints and constraints. No bars to hold me back. This is the true state of uninhabited independence: an endless, untouched territory where I can fly anywhere, at any time, bound only by the horizon of my own choosing.
But note, it is not about flying off just to prove I have broken gravity. It is about having the grace to return to the earth without letting it trap me again. My life is no longer a cage; it is a steady, open space where I can share myself with the world, fully anchored in my own freedom.
Angelou uses the cage to symbolize confinement, but the bird represents our ultimate freedom to fly and touch the heavens. Like that free bird, uninhabited independence means the sky belongs to us.
Suriakumar always loves to make us ponder, contemplate and think deeply!
Our gallery of August 11 photos taken at our World Speakers' Coalition meeting:
We took the chance to celebrate Alan’s birthday, which was the day before.
#publicspeaking
#theartandscienceofrhetoric
#confidentcommunication
#communicationinnovations
#worldspeakerscoalition
