When everything is nothing and nothing is everything

Doco Club launched in Fremantle in Feb. I am staying here unless its Rio. Follow this link to see SALT http://www.saltdoco.com/index.htm

2010

Here comes 2010. It is also the year of a Tiger in Chinese Zodiac, a year of courage. I like the number. It looks so symmetrical, in balance and peaceful. Whatever it will be, just bring it on.

On the road again

I have not written for a while. I have been on the road. Not only literally but also in all aspects of my life - mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am trying to put everything into perspective. I have yet to allocate a quiet time for reflections, to digest and rationalise it all. I have a date with a wise, beautiful, funny and witty middle-aged woman called "Me" on Thursday night. Despite the changes, I am utterly and totally calm and positive. In fact, I am feeling on top of the world.

I have always been intriqued with life's mystery. I have always been amazed with what life managed to throw at me. Sometimes, I want time to run faster than the speed of light. I am impatient. I want to know what is there for me around the corner. I have to remind myself to smell the roses. This is exactly what I intend to do for the next few months.

Painting - "Poet on a Mountain" by Chen Zhou [Shen Chou] 1427-1509 Ming Dynasty - a handscroll.

Under the Parasol

I had a long afternoon of reflections with girlfriends last Sunday. We started under the parasol at 1 Twentysix at 11am and ended under the parasol of 09-03 Signature Park at 10pm when we said our goodbye. My girlfriends have helped me in finding my balance, keeping my feet on the ground, keeping my sanity and reminding me of who I am and where I came from. The session reminded me of this part of the book I am currently reading.

There is a truth that is deeper than experience. It's beyond what we see, or even what we feel. It's an order of truth that separates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception. We're helpless, usually in the face of it. The cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willing to pay. It doesn't always help us to love the world, but it does prevent us from hating the world. The only way to know that truth is to share it, from heart to heart.

-Shantaram-

Always looking forward to many more sessions like this, anywhere, anytime.

Painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida - under the Parasol Zarauz 1910

The Age of Innocence

She was the Barbie in pink princess outfit. Tiara on her head and glittering pink stiletto. I was worried she would start wearing make up at Grade 2. Now, she refused to wear a skirt, anything pink or purple, anything with glitters or ribbons or flowers. Anything that associates her with being girlish.

This morning, she lost her headband. The only one she likes after 2 hours of shopping. It was blue and no ribbons, no glitters, just plain blue. I decided to tie her hair with the simplest purple hairband I could find, one step better than the rubber elastic you found from fish market. As I was walking her to school, I saw the hairband was no longer on her hair. She said it fell. Yeah right! Well, at least she likes to wear undies to school now. I just have to focus on the positives.

The photo was taken 6 years ago when she insisted on wearing a fairy outfit to a mall. The boy was her 1st boyfriend, an Iranian-Pakistani descent. She collects boys now like she collected Barbie outfits 6 years ago. This semester, her collection is blonde long-haired boy named Griffin. She likes him because he has long hair and his name reminds her of a griffin in her fantasy book.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Irrespective of how many times I have sent my two kids to school, I still feel melancholic on my way back to a quiet home. I should feel relieved but not. It is funny and sad at the same time. It is funny because I longed for a quiet time to myself but I don’t really enjoy it when I have it. It is sad because I am worried that I have set my life to be dependent on my children. A new friend I met yesterday told me that we should feel grateful of the noise the children make at home. It shows that they are healthy, living their childhood and are using their brain creatively to annoy each other. I love positive energy with a dash of wisdom.

Any schoolboy can do experiments in the physic laboratory to test various scientific hypotheses. But man, because he has only one life to live, cannot conduct experiments to test whether to follow his passion or not.

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being”

Milan Kundera

Love is....

This is our wedding vows. The phrases meant much deeper than they were 10 years ago. I sworn that this is the best relationship advice I have ever received from anyone.

Kahlil Gibran on "Marriage" and his painting "Love".

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow