How to be a ‘Social Butterfly’ (Part One)
by Quentin Cockburn

The singular and most important thing you must remember, at all times, and I am emphatic in this is that to be a successful social butterfly you must consider yourself as social currency.  You are of significant value. If you invest poorly in that social currency, undervalue, it or over-reach, and “ flood the market” you will suffer devaluation and deferment to another preferred currency.  You see this fiscalised assessment all around you.  You’ve observed the rise of a ‘Beckham’, a singular unit of currency, augmented with a ‘Posh’, the monetary union, then the inevitable social over-exposure, devaluation and impoverishment.  Think the strategic, and then, and only then, measure your success through the broader conversation of media outlets and understand the devalued.  Their names are legion: Jamie Oliver, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Saville, Daryl Braithwaite, Big brother contestants, former master chefs, any of the Spice Girls, One Direction, against the proven performers, George Clooney, Kate Blanchett, Dame Edna, Kylie, Brad Pitt, and then finally you can see the rise and fall at work.  Devalued currencies rising again after a spectacular denouement, Hugh Grant, Robert Downey Junior, and the local standards of Ita, Farnsey and the perennial Judith Durham.  They are there because they are social and valued.  And unlike the share market are not dependent upon the whim of brokers and boards, they are self determined and autonomous to the mainstream

Now let us return to ‘How to be a Successful Social Butterfly’.

One must be possessed with confidence, if confidence is lacking one will become a social compromise, either a moth, a slug or an earwig.  You can see these lesser forms outside theatres, restaurants and clubs, always gravitating towards the light emanating from the butterfly.

As the social butterfly you move with grace, are active in conversation staying just long enough to arouse anticipation, envy, attention, and establish an enigmatic picture of yourself.  Being a social butterfly, a gadfly as it were is not a preening form of narcissistic self indulgence, rather an affirmation of your supreme being, your anointed self as the catalyst for all that must follow, and in this regard, you must be trained.  For through training one will achieve al level of consistency.  This is a process of trial and error, and some risk taking.  You must be an engaging conversationalist. Not boring, repetitive, but enthusiastic.  Able to access the irrelevant, the superficial and the intense with equanimity and tact.  To laugh, but not uproariously.  And possess a nuanced equipage of actual expressions in keeping with one so engaged, so effervescent, so captivating.  And yet, (this is the art), ensure through the ear and eyes of your audience, an attention borne by sensory rapture, an indulgence and the faintest hint of hesitation that this conversation may just cease, as you alight upon another flower, another sweet taste amidst the nectar of kindred spirits, and personalities.  In this regard, your trained eye will avoid the hideous and debilitating obligations of funerals, christenings, orations, and obligatory functions, (Private School Speech nights) where your spirit may be stilled, and compromised by the fug of boredom.

For conversation you are always witty, fresh, entrancing, with the unexpected, immerse yourself in paradox, never repeat the same anecdote, and inject life into the old and tired.

To be eligible for Certificate 3 complete this training by reading www.pcbycp.com tomorrow.