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INTERTEMPORAL

wondering the world
This is the blog that I personally keep when I go travelling etc

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That time of year has come again. The highlight of any school calendar. Graduation. A mass of beautifully dressed, perfectly arranged young ladies totter into the marquee, past the school logo painted on the grass, excitedly anticipating their opportunity to walk across that stage. At the time, what is said, who wears what and how much of the programme page your school time achievements fill couldn’t be more important.

I vividly remember being the awkward school girl that was so highly strung, I reacted to anything and everything. Fair to say I was profoundly uncomfortable through the whole event but it was a necessity. Speech day truly marked the end of an era, the end of thirteen years.  Thirteen years in the same institution. Thirteen years which taught me so much and for that I am very grateful.  I certainly did not realise how far I had to go and how much more there is to life than learning history quotes and gossiping about the antics of the last social.

Now, I have come to the end of my first year at university. I am sure I still don’t appreciate how far I have to go and I would be lying if I said that I don’t still enjoy discussing the latest gossip and that those historians’ views have not become any more meaningful. However, something has fundamentally changed.  I have.

Since leaving school, I have experienced so many new opportunities and people, shaped my views on my priorities and broadened my horizons to appreciate different aspects of life. From wrestling with the coffee machine to create the perfect flat white and singing/ translating Mambo No. 5 to a class of fifty Ecuadorian high school students to being the first to race over the line in the Women’s Beginners coxed fours at BUCS regatta, the highs of the past two years have been insane whilst the lows have pushed me further every time.

The last Watson school bill has been paid and my sister is about to become an old girl.  Although she, like I didn’t, doesn’t appreciate how exciting the walk across that stage actually is, I am so looking forward to watching her make this transition.  She has an amazing amount to give in this world and I hope that she will capitalise on her potential in the coming years.

For me, I also feel I am reaching another turning point. In fact, for the whole of family Watson, June 30th is a significant date. Teko Too is setting off to sail across the Atlantic, home life will change as my sister ventures on her gap year, and for me, next year is when things begin to get real.  University now counts, I hope to move into the senior rowing squad and for the first time ever I am going to be living in a house, paying bills and cooking my own food.

Speech day means something different to everyone but for us, this is a significant year.  It’s quite appropriate that the day after the event, I am off again. This time on my own, to volunteer in Costa Rica.  It was a moment of madness when I booked my flights but this sums up how much things have changed since my speech day.

On that note, I open my blog and start out on the next journey to see what awaits around the corner.

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“When you’re a child, anything and everything is possible. The challenge so often is hanging onto that as we grow up...”>

£1 to anyone who can explain to me what exactly the Ellen MacArthur Foundation does.  I certainly had no idea.

Many of us will recall back to 2005 when Dame Ellen MacArthur broke the record time for sailing around the world solo. She became a household name. I was nine years old and awe inspired by her achievement. I remember my mum being glued to her autobiography, gripped by the excitement of her adventure.

Currently, the average member of the Watson family spends considerable time contemplating all things boat. This week, as my dad and I sailed down the coast of Ireland, on the initial stage of the great Caribbean voyage, my thoughts turned once more to Ellen MacArthur. I had stumbled across her fifteen minute Ted talk from 2015 and, assuming she would be reflecting on her sailing experiences, I gave it a watch.  I was astonished by how wrong I was.

TAs she quite rightly pointed out, few in our society have a genuine understanding about the the concept of finite.  Using anecdotes of her time sailing in the Southern Ocean, she highlighted how she gained an appreciation “the finite resource”, the fundamental principle to all economics.  In the 71 days and 14 hours that it took her to break the record, she lived on her own, on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles from any rescue, only glimpsing landmass a mere two times. Fair to say she had to make do with what she had and once that was gone there was no replenishment available.

nspired by her revelations, Ellen set about gaining a broad understanding of resource economics, retiring from competitive sailing in order to pursue this new found passion.  A natural interest of her’s was in the issues facing the industry that her great grandfather spent 52 years working in. Coal. 

Britain would not be where we are today if it wasn’t for coal.  It powered the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars and even today, plays a significant role in powering the world economy. Whilst I can sometimes be skeptical of the accuracy of the figures, there are estimates to suggest that, at our current rate of use, we only have 118 years left of our coal reserves. Throwback to 118 years ago. Back two centuries, in the age before phones, passenger jets and when the only photographs available are faded, grainy, back and white images of another era. It can be hard to imagine living that long ago let alone think forward that far forward in the future. However, as she points out, 118 years ago her great grandfather, whom she knew personally as a child, was born. It’s really not long and the clock never stops. 

As with many things in life, the more she researched and understood, the more passionate she became about global economics. As with me, when she was made aware of the concept of the “circular economy” something struck a cord.

The circular economy is the concept of an economy that reuses resources constantly in the production and consumption process, as opposed to our current linear model, where we consume and dispose.  Innovation, creativity, reuse and rethinking. It’s big, it’s bold but it’s revolutionary. 

So in answer to my initial question, the Ellen MacArthur foundation serves to promote the concept of the circular economy through analysis, education and business. Founded in 2010, it is partnered with global corporations and universities all over the world. Millions have already been invested into this idea but the potential of this project is enormous and has a very exciting future ahead. 

Who would have thought it? The sailing Dame with no further education qualification is now committing her life to a whole new but vital cause that is going to affect us all. She has inspired me again.  She understands her passions and dares to act. And boy when she act’s does she go big. Her talk was delivered eloquently and I genuinely believe that she, the ideas behind her Foundation and the organisation structure that is already in place deserves close attention for the future.

“They can use their creativity and knowledge to rebuild the entire system” 

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