Sunday, April 29, 2012

Article

Beautiful morning inspiration on the Spring in Palestine by Joseph Dana. The daily stories of real people - we need more of that. Do read.

On Appreciation

Why do we take people for granted?

A question I’ve been wondering about recently. We seem to fall into this vicious cycle of losing someone, vowing to appreciate our loved ones, forgetting that vow, losing that person, and on and on and on. But why?

I don’t believe that it’s a human flaw. I believe appreciating the people around us is a cultivated habit and most of us have just not learned it properly.

Here are four things we can do to break that cycle and teach ourselves to appreciate:
1. Break arrogance: learn to say sorry, stop holding grudges, stop building walls to keep people out. These things will carve out our egos.
2. Learn to trust: be brave enough to give people second chances and trust people with your appreciation. Don’t do it to gain their appreciation, do it for yourself. And if they drop the ball, pick it up and show them more appreciation for being human.
3. Balance in everything: showing someone you care does not mean allowing that person to trample all over your life. Find your balance. Avoid excessiveness, give compassion, strive for excellence. Balance is a reciprocal and reiterative process.
4. Nurture hope: find the strength within you to push yourself towards continuous compassion and appreciation in order that your own spirit may grow.

But why bother? Learning the habit of being appreciative and compassionate is hard work and, fair warning, will almost never be recognized. So what is it all for?

Love.

It’s always been about love and it always will be about love. True, capital letter, Love. To know the Love, to show the Love, to share the Love. It is a process. A long and difficult and daily process to not only feel that true Love within you for another, but to be able to transform that into true appreciation as well. Before it’s too late.

The good news is that it is very achievable. Let’s put in the effort and together we will learn to break the cycle of taking people for granted and we will create habits of Love instead.

Steal Like an Artist




I read a lovely post on Brainpickings on this book, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. I dropped by the bookstore for some procrastination and found they had the book, which to my happiness turned out to be more of an experience than a book and turned out to be absolutely steal-worthy. Except that I bought it. Cuz that would be criminal activity where I live. And I finished devouring it in less than an hour.


Anyways. Here’s the low-down:
1. Steal like an artist
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
3. Write the book you want to read
4. Use your hands
5. Side projects and hobbies are important
6. The secret: do good work and share it with people
7. Geography is no longer our master
8. Be nice (the world is a small town)
9. Be boring (it’s the only way to get work done)
10. Creativity is subtraction

Dispersed with interesting quotes, this one was my favorite: “The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” - Jessica Hische.

What do you do to procrastinate? I read and make up conversations and scenarios in my head and talk to myself and daydream. Don’t psychoanalyze that.

OK this book is inspiring, get on it!
www.austinkleon.com

Always



I was thinking about you
Thinking about me
Thinking about us
What we’re gonna be
Open my eyes
It was only just a dream

Traveled back
Down that road
Will you come back
No one knows
I realized
It was only just a dream

(Nelly - Just a Dream)

Friday, April 27, 2012

Shadow

Yesterday I was the Porcelain Doll and you were the Shadow, and I wish it wasnt so. Nostalgia is painful. I dont want to live in the pandora's box of y(our) memories anymore. Wake me up from this beautiful mess and let's create something new.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Step outside.


Happiness is a state of mind.

I'm trying out this new thing where I learn something new on a regular basis. Outside of formal education, life-learning is much more exciting. One of the things Ive recently been teaching myself is to drink milk. Ya, it's not a very exciting learning process, but my mama would be proud. 23 years later, Im realizing how milk-deficient my life is. My addiction to cheese is detrimental in many aspects unfortunately, but Ive never been able to enjoy milk. But for some reason Ive decided it's the challenge of the month. Ive had four full cups so far, and not gagged. Progress I believe. Slow and steady.

Everything you want in life is right outside your comfort zone. - Robert Allen.

What are you challenging yourself with recently?

Article: On the Road

From the very lovely 99 Percent website, an article on how to produce great work while traveling. A talk with some of my favorite authors Rolf Potts and Chris Guillebeau.

Morning inspiration from me to you :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

On Excellence

(In the garden of a Buddhist temple in Singapore, May 2011)

Excellence is a common theme in many spiritualities and religions. It is the intention to strive to do your best in every act you do.

I recently went to two theatre productions here in London, The Lion King and the Shen Yun Chinese folk dance performance. Both of them completely breathtaking and absolutely brilliant. And they got me thinking about the amount of effort and sheer excellence that artists put into their work. This happens every time I attend any sort of artistic performance. Spoken word, folk dances, story telling circles, it's always just pure creative energy. Rehearsed and practiced for hours on end attempting to reach human perfection, attempting to reach something deep within each of us.

What if we made a decision today that every action in our lives would be taken with purpose, every action will strive for excellence. This is not a call for an obsession with perfection. It is a call to try harder. To make every action an excellent performance. What if we woke up every day and decided today would be our best performance yet?

If that doesn't change the world, I don't know what can.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Holding hands

A little old couple
Holding hands
Walking down the street
Making plans

And while they walked so slow
And held up the alleyway
No one seemed to mind
Watching them
Stole my mind
Caught my breath
Held my eyes

They took a walk today
To their old streets
Sat in the park in the square
Where they used to meet

She whispered a story
Of once upon a time

We sat near the cool pool
At the foot of that sand dune
You lay your head on my lap
And we watched the clouds float past

Do you remember that my love?

And so they sat in the park
My little old couple
He lay his head on her lap
And as they watched the clouds float past
All that needed to be said
Was spoken in just
One moment
One lifetime
Of silence.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Quotes

Exhale only love. -Rumi

Traveling leaves you speechless - then turns you into a storyteller. - Ibn Battuta

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Hierarchy: London

The transport hierarchy in central London is simple enough.

The double decker buses are at the top of the food chain. The buses rule the roads. They don't care about anyone or anything in their way. The buses are out to get the cabs. The cab drivers are rude and in a hurry. They're trying to get past the huge buses. The cabbies are out to get the cyclists. The cyclists are everywhere. Scurrying left right and center. You don't see them until they're past you. The cyclists are out to get the pedestrians. The pedestrians. The lowly pedestrians are huffing and puffing their way down the sidewalks. They try to cross the streets without dying. Finally, the pedestrians are out to get the tourists, those people who decide to take painstakingly slow strolls at lunch and rush hours on Oxford Street and hold up the whole population.

And the tourists have no bloody idea of this whole mess.

Know your place and stick to it. Any deviants will not be tolerated. This is a well oiled machine my friends.