Ever felt that if you aren’t getting something done, you are wasting time?

When it’s Game Over, will you have achieved a high enough score?

How rare is it these days to find an event in London which is current, relevant, inspirational and leaves you thinking about your day-to-day life attitude in a thoroughly different way.  And what a fabulous way to spend a couple of hours?  Sunday Sermons c/o The School of Life, aka Skool 4 Grown Ups are invigorating.

This had been in the diary for a while, further to looming hints that my natural gift of procrastination was back with a vengeance.  I was loathe to let it back in residence full time, only part part time if you please.  Back to Autumn at The School of Life, and to Jane McDonigal’s sermon on Productivity.  Jane ((Jane is a serious gamer from San Fran) was dressed to the nines, in a kind of mini frou frou ball dress complete with netting, ample cleavage on show and a flowing blond mane.  Not your average gamer me thought.

I was expecting a bunch of nerds and IT passionistas however, as ever. was totally misdirected with my ’other people’ assumptions.  In fact, the room was bursting with relatively affluent 30somethings in their Sunday best (no hats / frocks, just the prerequisite slick overcoats, pricey jeans, black boots, expensive accessories) all doing the London thing. What better way to start the crisp sunny day.

We were greeted at the door of the old Church Hall by a super tall circus-style man, dressed like a Pacman.  Nice touch.  Similar to morning hymns at school, we sang ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ in unison, led by ‘our music teacher’ up on the stage.  We were asked to write our ‘to do’ list for the following week on a red piece of paper, and then use same piece of paper to construct paper aeroplanes and fly them across the room.  Jane had cast her spell.  We were eating out of her hand.  Audience participation was a must, but in no way contrived.

Jane educated us on what it truly means to be productive.  FACT: This generation becomes bored frighteningly easily.  Is our ‘to do list’ merely an attempt to feel more adequate about our existence? Or are we going round and round in ever-increasing circles, creating lists to cross them off so that we can start all over again?  Pink Floyd immediately springs to mind.  Are we a blatant product of modern capitalism, ie. our relentless bitter sweet self-questioning and quest to fulfill our daily duty of contributing to the GDP?  Do you feel that if you are not getting something done, you are wasting time?

What we have achieved is a continuous rant to self.  As Jane said, when it says ‘Game Over’, will we have reached a high enough score?  So inherent is our fear of being unproductive, that we dont know what it is we are here to actually produce.

Jane taught us of the possible parallels to leading a more fulfilled life, via playing computer games.

According to Dr Martin Seligman’s new book, Flourish, due to be published by Simon & Schuster next spring, the following 4 x factors are necessary if if we are to flourish (and these same 4 things can be provided by playing computer games:
1. POSITIVE EMOTION

2. RELATIONSHIPS

My by-line is up and hopefully this will last longer than the requisite 15 minutes.

http://bit.ly/skooloflife

Am published, am loving it, and am on a roll.  Style Bible posted my piece on the School of Life and I love the fact that a dinner I attended, after having read about it in the press (Telegraph Magazine) lead to a feature.

I am covering London Jewellery Week for Style Bible this week – so get the bubbly and gems merging into a lucid couple of words please.

‘What is your most surprising fear, and where does it come from?’ was up for discussion during the first course.

A welcome cocktail had been thrust my way just moments ago, as I apprehensively joined a table of strangers who were sharing their views on the various aphorisms, or amuse-bouches, which were printed on laminated cards. Guests were under strict rules to focus on what was written on the cards, rather than veer towards predictable topics, such as the nightmare tube journey to the restaurant or the weather!

To admit that I am a sucker for novelties in the world of networking, would be an understatement, however this dinner retained my attention – and that of my fellow guests – until long after the coffees had been served. Chair-swapping between each course was encouraged, so as to mingle with as many people in the room. The delicious dessert course culminated in the newly formed group pontificating on, ‘how will our culture change in the next 100 years?’

I was at a Conversation Dinner, a regular on the curriculum at The School of Life. Established in 2008, The School was founded by Alain de Botton and Sophie Howarth (former curator of the Tate Modern), offering programmes for grown-ups who are instinctively curious, enjoy the process of thought and relish stimulating conversation. The founders’ intention was to create a modern-day apothecary for ‘pupils’ to come to be treated for common ailments of our zeitgeist, ie. jobs, relationships, personal philosophical dilemmas and so on. The School is based in Bloomsbury, with a retail space bursting with an inspirational offering of literature and prose.

De Botton and Howarth are no strangers to the power of words, concluding that in adulthood, our thirst for learning must be regularly quenched. Random yet like-minded strangers are offered a programme of Conversation Dinners, secular ‘Sunday Sermons’, Evening Classes, the Breakfast Club (sessions run weekdays for an hour, 7:30am) and Weekends (in London and outside). The Sunday Sermons were launched with the following in mind, ‘in the old days most of us looked to religion for direction on how to live. Now we flick through the Sunday papers or surf the net, finding little by way of good counsel’. Workshops include, ‘How To Be A Good Friend’, ‘How To Be Cool’, ‘How Necessary is a Relationship?’, ‘How To Have Better Conversations’, ‘How To Be Alone’, ‘How To Make a Difference’. The evening classes are led by VIP guest speakers, with a maximum of 30 per class, for people with busy lifestyles to meet new people, enjoy, relax and unwind, with wine and a bite.

Current Director Morgwn Rimel, (during Howarth’s maternity leave), says, ‘we forget to feed our soul at the weekend, turn your off-time into on-time…we have forgotten how to be free….we need to embrace our creativity in spite of how accomplished we are’. She is currently organising summer ‘play weekends’ where students are invited ‘to be more judgemental with yourselves, open up a little more’. One idea is a full day of urban gardening, a ‘taste voyage of epicuriosity’ headed by Tom Hodgkinson, of ‘The Idler’.

The ratio of women to men is usually 70:30 for the evening classes, while the monthly sermons are 50:50, with 400-500 people attending.

The School of Life is a nutritious chicken soup for the soul of the Noughties. In a refreshing take on the world which in no way preaches, the School advises us to grab a brief moment out of our daily schedule and re-awaken our dormant minds. In these times of increasing uncertainty, punters are offered a menu of programmes that curate ideas and process them, in a manner which is intelligent, thought–provoking and far from laden with psycho-babble. And Stylebible can whole heartedly reccomend that you give this new found way of thinking a go – who knows what you might come away with?