I have absolutely no future in drawing but lately, I've been thinking about how Art relates to me. About how I use Art, can use Art, and why I believe in using Art to make sense of the world around us.
I spend so much time thinking and reveling in fantasy, escapism, and just feel empowered when there's energy in the air before it rains, when the sun's in transition.
The adrenaline awakens me when I sense that anything could happen. It's as though the world's surface is shrouded in a hyper epic reality that is indeed holistic existential reality; and not the droning course of reality that people believe they lead their lives in.
In the unpredictability of such surroundings, breathing environments of which the atmosphere we soak in, there is stability and reassurance that a greater divinity guardians our existence.
Disneyland, the worlds created within motion pictures of art, these are realities to me that are essentially an assertion and also a consequence of existence. The mundane office routine, the train rides that we take for granted; these negate our humanoid disposition.
Randomness as salvation and a rejection of such claustrophobic structure, the embracing of idiosyncrasies and feeling based, instinct driven harmonies in art, music, video, and literature. All these different things that accumulate into an understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
They set us in a particular direction, in hope that ultimately the answers to life's mysteries will be revealed to us, our purposes fulfilled, and what we have accomplished will have eternal significance.
I like to see the big picture, like a 3rd person point of view. Life seems interesting when you view it that way.. But I also believe that a balance is very important.. ultimately, you've got to remember to live.
Hmm.. Many a times when I write entries such as these, people will come by saying that they don’t get what I'm trying to say at all. Well, you don’t need to.. it's just my brain working overtime thinking of the many aspects in life that 'inspired' me to write.. But if you’re able to read between the lines and unravel the essential message I sought to convey.. I’d really think that you and I will be able to have a nice chit chat over lunch or dinner... at a mental institution. Anyway, I caught Knocked Up on HBO last night. There was this scene which made me laugh out loud; yes it's macabre but hey It's funny lor!
I came across two news articles related to money recently. One explored the link between material wealth and happiness. The other related a seemingly different mindset between Asians and Australians when it comes to the money issue. It seems that for most Asians, the topic of money dominates most conversations. As for the Australians, they were more preoccupied with other social and non-wealth related topics.
Putting one and one together, these articles intrigue me because I tend to agree we are too engrossed in accumulating wealth. Money can buy us the luxurious coupe, dream home or even that long overdue holiday. However, couples have broken up, marriages have failed and even families have been destroy directly or indirectly due to money. This really highlights the power the money can bring about at both ends of the spectrum.
I believe as we go in search of material wealth, we should also keep stock of our balance in life. I have to admit I belong to the group who sometimes get too blinded with money that I'd offer to take on extra job assignments or work overtime (LOL @ Shaowei) to feed my extravagant lifestyle.. No, the allowance from my parents is hardly enough to last me the week. However, what about my parents, family and hobbies? These aspects of my life becomes neglected and when one looks back what is the point of having so much money when it cannot buy love and kinship?
I've heard of a self-made millionaire businessman, the father of my ex-classmate. Even before selling his electronics business, he had already amassed a pile of wealth which many can only long for. However, all his children have either migrated or are overseas studying. When it came to festive holidays, he would readily invite employees to his home. His frequent invitations came about because he was worried of boredom. This is because his sprawling mansion is occupied by only his wife, a couple of maids, himself and a huge dose of loneliness.
We work so hard so whether we want to scrimp and save or splurge and enjoy is our prerogative. However, I believe money may be a common denominator but it is not the only thing that makes our life worthwhile. Material wealth can bring contentment but only a balanced spiritual and emotional state can bring about a higher level of true happiness.
On a side note: I think I need to buy a girlfriend. To up my emotional ante!
I've been feeling so uninspired lately thereby accounting for the lack of juicy updates. Heck, I've even toyed with the idea of deleting this blog entirely. Blogging is seen as an outlet of expression; though one can never be too careful on this cyber-realm we dub as the World Wide Web. Of late, there's been a dearth of plot and narrowness of imagination.
Yes, I find it difficult to express myself. Even in writing.
But 'dao', here it goes...
Everyone makes mistakes. One mistake. Two mistakes. Dozen mistakes. Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow. We all make mistakes. Every minute of our life we make decisions, some of which may turn out to be mistakes.
Sometimes we are told to learn from others' mistakes. But I firmly believe that we learn most from our own mistakes. So just go out there and make your own mistakes. You will definitely fall down, get hurt, cry, laugh, love, struggle, but you will always get back up, stronger.
Life is too short to stay down and feel regret for those mistakes. You just have to believe that everything happens for a reason. And if you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that life's going to be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. It’s not what you look like or what you have. But it’s the little things in life that make it all worth while..
Watching the sunset and the moon rise. Spending time doing crazy things with your friends. Moments where you spend those precious minutes with family. Random trips in the middle of the night. Taking a nice long walk. Dancing in the rain. Singing as if no one could hear you. Staying up all night with your best friend(s). Falling in love. Smiling. A hug. Conquering your biggest fear. Watching the waves crash into the sand. Spending a day shopping. Eating till your heart's content..
Life doesn't always give second chances, take the first one. Live it to the full (No such thing as Living life to the fullest; you would be committing a gross mistake if you did ;) ) with no regrets from yesterday. Maybe you will make your own mistakes but then you will never regret the things you learnt through the experience..
Just remember that you only get one shot.. One shot at this minute. One shot at this day. One shot at this age. One shot at life.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment, and take from it everything you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. So what does one mistake mean if you see the big picture?
There is an article in there about this Japanese guy who went on a killing spree, because he was depressed. There was something about how he was constantly mistreated when he was young, and how he was a social outcast because he didn't know how to get along with people. Thus having, no friends, or a girlfriend, plus not being able to keep his job, he exploded.
Anyone else remember the Virginia Tech killings? Again, Cho was mistreated and looked down upon, just because he was different.
Theory is, people who are mentally disturbed are people who have suffered some form of abuse in their lives, be it social, physical, or emotional abuse.
I remember when I was in Secondary School, there was a boy who was a schizophrenic. No one knew he was suffering from this disease, but let's just say that I was horrible to that kid. Called him names, generally just looked down on him because he was different. I never did anything worse than that, but other people did; bullied him till no end. I didn't do anything, but I laughed along.
When I turned 15, I started seeing how miserable the guy was, and started regretting everything that I ever did to him, and I started to stop others from bullying him. Not that it ever worked. I felt so sorry for him, and I really saw how mean people can be to the ones who are different.
One day, when we turned 16, we found out by lieu of our teacher that he was a schizophrenic. After that, everyone started treating him with so much kindness and respect. Better late than never, true, but it didn't really repair the 4 years of damage that we inflicted on this guy. I will always remember the guy, and how I became a mean, near-evil person, and how much pleasure I derived from bullying the guy. Thinking about it now, it makes me sick to the stomach, knowing that I once had so much fun humiliating someone.
To this day, I try my best to be fair to people, no matter how different they are, or how annoying they can be.
It's just sad la, the things that can happen from years of neglect. We should all just be nicer people. Or you know, don't stare when you see someone who looks different.
Just that day I was on the MRT, and this boy sat down beside me. He's slightly retarded, I think. Anyway, he kept leaning across me to look at what I was reading, and kept pointing at my book. Man, it was fucking annoying. But I tolerated it, felt sorry for him. When he was getting off the train, the boy just turned and waved goodbye to me. Seriously, it was really really sweet.
After he got off, this guy came towards me and said that he saw everything that happened. Then he asked me, 'Why didn’t you tell him off?" You should have seen his face - he had this look on his face, and every syllable was just dripping with disgust.
Like, what in the blue hell... Why so disgusted when you were standing in a corner just watching away? I shot him a look, and said "I'm telling you off now."
Once again, it looks as though another veritable hornet's nest has been stirred up in my school's forum. I, on the other hand, have successfully restrained myself from replying lest it escalates into nothing short of a nuclear war ('cos I get carried away at times, hehe..) God is non-exclusive for He loves stupid people as well; he's in my school's prayer group. Geez..
He started a forum thread lambasting gays; labelling them as disgusting and unnatural which invoked the ire of the common student population.
And although I feel that the government was right not to repeal the statute on homosexuality, the issue is not something to look down upon, but rather it is something that we could try to know better and not criticize. Gays have been looked down upon by many people, which is something I don't like at all. Sexual identity is a very confusing issue to many people, and it is not really a good idea at all if one simply says that it is disgusting and unnatural. The problem is: Even the "straight" people sometimes feel homosexual impulses. A person of the same gender who is stunningly beautiful, for instance, or very successful in life, may soon begin to appeal to one's sexual senses. However, he/she only becomes a homosexual if one chooses to follow those impulses.
Another theory behind this could be due to the lack of an influence of the opposite gender in the person's life, e.g. a boy lacking a mother, or a girl lacking a father.
Before this degrades into a GP essay, let me just say this: Homosexuals are human too, and to oversimplify and generalize a complicated issue like this by calling it disgusting and unnatural only serves to show lack of maturity and critical thinking.
That's the reason why i say global fears arising from a pandemic of fatuity is NOT unfounded. There, I've said my piece. What are YOUR views?
