The Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) was privileged to have Tweed Harris as their guest speaker on Wednesday, May 31. Tweed has previously shared his story as an actor, playwright, dancer, author, and teacher with the PCEC. Tweed has now reached his 90th year and for this presentation, he provided his “Reflections on Ageing and Changing Desires.”
Tweed’s message was that what one desires in youth is no longer important in adulthood. As we age and go through life experiences, our desires will change. His talk illustrated this view by recounting his own life and how his desires and aspirations changed over time.
First, he spoke about his early life in England and how he was first introduced to singing, thus creating his desire to become a singer and his early performances. He continued with his life story describing each stage and how it led to changing desires. During his national service his desire was to be a good soldier. When he delved into acting, his aspiration was to be a good actor. In one period of his life, he was a circus groom in Australia which led to his wanting to be a circus rider; but he was not able to achieve this desire as while still a groom he was fired due to exchanging punches with another groom.
During his acting career, he mentioned that he had differences with what a director wanted him to do. The director told him “If you don’t like it, become a director.” Thus, another endeavor and another desire to be a great director. Tweed also described how later in his life he became a teacher, and loved it. His desire then was to be an excellent teacher, which he considers he achieved explaining how he used his acting skills as part of his teaching style.
He concluded his talk by noting that when he was 79 and experiencing a “down period,” he decided to holiday in Thailand and how this led to his meeting a Thai man in a shopping center who, after 11 years is still his partner. He also mentioned that while in Australia he became a Buddhist and was told by Buddhist monks there that he would live to be 105. So, now his desire is to live, to love, and to be loved.
To view Tweed’s presentation, see the video on the PCEC’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnozAQPsJJ4. To read a summary about his previous presentation to the PCEC, visit https://www.pattayamail.com/ourcommunity/pcec-enjoys-humor-comedy-tragedy-184251.
MC Ren Lexander then called on George Wilson to conduct the Open Forum portion of the meeting where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya. To learn more about the PCEC, visit their website at: www.pcec.club.
