90 Percent of Life is Showing Up

I was asked today what my motto of life is. There are a couple. One is that if you step out into the universe, it will reach out to meet you. However, that’s a bit new wave woo-woo at times (and I can’t always nail it in regards to saying it right!) so the other one I also subscribe to is Woody Allen’s “ninety percent of life is showing up”. (OK, I may have got it wrong and it’s actually 80 and I’m getting it mixed up with the Edison 99% perspiration quote, but you get the gist).

Anyway, I was reminded of this with a weird set of events from today. 2pm this afternoon I was happily at home, contemplating the work I should be doing this afternoon, when a tweet came through:

@TamyEmmaPepin @vickytnz might be able to offer suggestions.

— A.J. Kandy (@AJKandy) October 13, 2013

After firing off some options

@TamyEmmaPepin Eep, shops will be closing in an hour or so! There's the @starandshadow Tusk Festival, @tynesidecinema, or @DesignEventNE

— Vicky Teinaki (@vickytnz) October 13, 2013

I thought, ‘screw it, I’m not doing anything that important this afternoon anyway, this is too good an opportunity to miss’.

@tamyemmapepin Where are you? I'm about 15 mins walk from town if you need someone 🙂

— Vicky Teinaki (@vickytnz) October 13, 2013

4pm, I’m getting filmed as I open the door to a French-Canadian film crew. (Dammit, should have been wearing more makeup. Never mind). I wandered around with Tamy and her film crew around the Quayside for a couple of hours, hoping like heck I was giving my adopted home justice and not screwing up the facts!

(Oh, and as a reticent New Zealander, I completely forgot that the French—including French Canadians—do the kiss on each cheek thing. Cultural fail!)

As it turns out, the series they’re filming is all about using social media to connect.

TAMY@, is a “new generation” television travel series. A concept whereby a trendy, curious and travel enthusiast community influences its content and plays a role in its programming. In short, TAMY @ is an appetizing, inspiring and surprising trip, that allows us to discover new destinations in the United Kingdom, all the while teaching us how to travel connected.

It should be going to air April 2014, yay! I also pointed the crew to the original Twitchhiker Paul Smith, who is being interviewed by them this very moment (I think).

I actually got asked as part of a vox pop what my motto for life was: hence the Woody Allen quote. I’d like to think that this was a prime example of it, as was jumping on a plane three years ago to study in a country that I’d never even visited.