My mum is always emailing me those links to cutsey messages - you know, those ghastly Hallmark things that say things like: ”send a smile to 10 people and make the world a better place”. I hate those things. And I mean HATE them with a passion.
I mean, who has the time in a busy working day to waste precious minutes of downloading time only to be faced with another list of “love your friends” kinds of cliches encased in toddler level graphics?
Anyway after repeated please and threats, she’s thinned down the number she sends on, but occasionally there will be one or two waiting in my inbox. And sometimes I still click to open them.
So yesterday I finally took the time to open two that had been waiting for me for a while and guess what? They were great.
There’s this one about an Australian guy who is about the only person I’ve ever seen who can have a hall full of school going teenagers spellbound - laughing and crying and visibly intensely moved by what he had to say. He gets their attention first of all by just showing up. It’s not often that young people from the developed world have ever seen a man with no arms and no legs. But he’s not there to be a freak show. I suspect any kid who’s ever heard what he has to say will remember it for the rest of their life.
And then there’s this short film - just four minutes long - that won a prize at Cannes. It says a lot this tiny little bit of celluloid about how much can be said in 4 minutes of film and how much can be said in a few little words, because there’s no dialogue in it except right at the end.
So maybe its true that all women turn into their mothers at some stage - because here I am, sending you these little links to share. But trust me, these ones are worth the effort of opening them.
