It's not about the bicycle

We found that modern mechanical invention, instead of disenchanting the universe, had really afforded the means of exploring its marvels more surely. Instead of going around the world with a rifle, for the purpose of killing something ... this bold youth simply went round the globe to see the people who were on it; and since he always had something to show them as interesting as anything that they could show him, he made his way among all the nations.

• Thomas Wentworth Higginson, from the preface to_ Around the World on a Bicycle_, by Thomas Stevens

This quote sums up the spirit of mind that I'm taking away from this year's Nethui. Whilst some will claim it is but a talkfest, it's a start. A start to conversations, that will lead to connections, that will lead to many things. Good things. Useful things. Life changing things.

Life is not about the outcome, because the final outcome is we're all dead.

Life is about the process. How we enrich that process, and how we share that process with others is what we should be focusing on. We can call the process 'education', 'health', 'law' or 'governance' - but the process is about shaping and creating this shared experience called society and culture.

Here's to the many good people who attended Nethui, to the many good people around this place we call home, and to sharing the process.