Going through some of the pictures in the "Meeting" album of my phone, I came across these that I'd taken a couple of years ago.
To be honest it feels like a lifetime.
Nine years.
i don't exactly remember what my mind was like at that time.
What I do remember is that the consultancy was just picking up, I was still working to make the complicated nature of our work sound coherent to others outside the industry, and I was learning to sound confident all at the same time.
It wasn't just for a professional reason that I agreed to go there.
There was a personal one too.
Victoria Concert Hall (due to SSO) has always been associated with classical music, opera performances, oratorios, and the like. Born and bred here, local citizen me- with years of classical piano training behind her- had never stepped foot inside, not for a concert, not for a performance, not for anything, never before.
There had never been any opportunity.
But this evening came one.
And I wasn't going to miss out.
Can't say I was very comfortable though.
Guess I'm not very good with formal events, especially those that need networking.
I mean, I'm better now, but those days weren't good.
In any case, the event this evening was an awards ceremony cum networking opportunity.
I can't recall if the networking part came first or after or if there were two before and after.
But there was a bar, a sort of lounge-like space, with a beautiful, classy-lit, candlelight-reminiscent glow where there was wine and canapes and finger foods, and you could have a glass whilst chatting with someone.
My colleague took a glass of wine.
Me, I hung out by the side watching everyone and anyone around me.
A part of me was curious what they were talking about.
Another part of me quietly wondered how it was that they seemed to know each other, as if they had all met somewhere before.
After a while came the awards ceremony and we all trooped into the hall.
No assigned seats, we simply sat wherever.
The ceremony began.
Here's where it gets a little funny.
The name of this event, I don't recall, but I know it involved luxury goods conglomerate brand Cartier, likely main sponsor- it was their awards show.
What I can be sure is that it was a ceremony to celebrate the achievement of women, particularly those who were entrepreneurs, start-up founders, or those whom were making a difference in the industry they were in.
Honestly... I didn't pay very much attention during the course of the ceremony.
So if you ask me today, I have no idea who the presenter was.
I have also no idea who the women were, or what they did.
But there's something that still resonates with me after all this time.
"Wow."
That's the word I kept hearing from winner after winner after winner as they went upstage to receive their awards.
And silently I wondered why.
I mean, ought there not be more that these lovely, good-looking, capable, intelligent women could say?
Surely there could be more expressions of thanks that they could say as they shook the hand of the presenter and collected the award?
But perhaps that be the answer.
Sometimes in life there ain't no need for lots of words.
Sometimes in life everything that needs be said can be wrapped up in a single word, one, or two.
There may even be a reason for that choice of a word.
I won't know.
I won't ever know.
Much time has passed since then.
I've changed a lot.
I've also grown a lot.
In that sense I'm glad I took the picture of the canapes I had that evening.
Blur as they are, they remind me of that one evening I was there.
And they remind me of the new friend I made.