I was that close to finding the answer that solves my problems. But alas, the divine intervention wouldn’t give me everything. Just some cookie crumbs. Looks like I have to bake my own cookies, now and fast.
I blame the Malaysian High Court.
“The world is not round”
More than four hundred years ago in Europe, the orthodox view is that the world is flat. Any suggestion otherwise was considered to be sacrilegious, and punishable by death. Today, the accepted view is that the world is round. Now, to say that the world is not round will not condemn one to eternal damnation, but surely, to eternal shame. Despite the world being more liberal than ever, we are still bound by orthodoxy, from what we do to what we think; the way we dress, speak – everything are to be tailored to suit the cultural script, intertwined with our usual uninteresting routines.
Our lives are determined by orthodoxy from the day we were born. When we reach the right age, our parents send us off to school and we work hard to score decent grades to get into a decent college to get a decent degree. We waste a good ¼ of our lives to earn a decent degree and another ¼ working a decent job earning a decent wage. As we are halfway through our life, we realize that we have only another ¼ of our lives remaining to do what we have always aspired to do because the last ¼ of our lives will probably be spent on sickbeds. But it has become too late by then, because at this halfway point of our lives, we’ll be too busy making sure that our children goes through the same process we did. Every penny we earned is invested in our children to ensure they go through the same routine – school, college, work, marriage, kids.
What we do every day has become a routine – no surprises, no excitement anymore. Nine-to-six at work and back home; seven-to-one at school and off to tuition; weekends off, lazing at home. Everything has to be done according to convention.
In a couple of year’s time, I’ll be a quarter of a century old. For as long as I have lived, I have adhered to the orthodox like everyone else. I went to a decent school, and I managed to score some decent grades, and I will be graduating with a decent degree in a year’s time. What is next? Orthodoxy commands that I shall get a decent job find a decent man and build a decent family with him. But a friend of mine posed this question (or rather a statement) a few days ago: can you imagine working from nine-to-six every week days for the next twenty five years?
The society has become too used to routine and conventions. We sleep at night, and work during the days; we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner – it’s unorthodox not to do any of these. Routines give us order but it is superficial and contradicts our true nature. This contradiction creates a tension and chaos deep down inside us, because the true nature of a human being is one of individuality.
Deep down inside every one of us, there is a yearning to break free from this routine but so engrossed are we with our conventional lives that we forget how to live our real lives, our own lives. We synchronized our superficial lives with that of others, creating a “normal and regular” life – a life no different than others, but at least it is “safe”.
I want to break free of this “safety net”. I want to defy routine and orthodoxy – do things that I make me contented with my life. I want to be able to say, when I’m at my deathbed that I have lived my life, not lived a normal conventional life.
I could imagine myself in Egypt, going through Tutankhamen’s treasures; in China, searching for Qin Shi Huang’s burial site; or in Greece looking for the Lost City of Atlantis. I could get hunted down by a certain Imhotep, but who cares because I will be enjoying my life and who knows, I might meet my Indiana Jones.
Or, I should be working on a warp engine now. Fighting the Borg in an inter-galactic war should be more interesting than a legal battle in the court. Well, live long and prosper is a definitely a better phrase than may it please the court. I might end up being tortured in the hands of a certain Klingon but the chance to be in an adventure with James T. Kirk (Chris Pine’s version for obvious reasons), to go where no men has gone before, is just too difficult to pass.
Well, those are probably far-fetched dreams. I shall start small, by proclaiming that the world is not round.
~~~~~~
chiewee is currently preparing for the LAWASIA Moot Competition. Reading about underwater treasure salvage (for the purpose of the competition) has reignited her interest in archeology. She is toying with the idea of a full time salvage venture into the Straits of Malacca in search for sunken vessels from the Malacca Sultanate era – her idea of against routine and orthodoxy. Her first foray into unorthodoxy was when she used a stapler to crack the shell of boiled eggs – an act motivated by her laziness to get a spoon from the kitchen. You would have realized by now that she has gone a little bit kuku. She is becoming extremely disillusioned with her routine and now is at the lowest ebb of her life. She is looking for inspiration and divine-intervention to get through these trying times.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” Buddha
We’re halfway through 2009. I remember starting the year with a fear; a fear that this year might not be as good as last year. Indeed, I could not have a worst start than this. I could hardly point to a thing that I do since the start of the year, and say “This is good, I’m happy and satisfied”. I have taken so many wrong routes, and made lots of wrong choices. I can only hope that I have not done some irreversible damages. The first half of the year have been exceptionally difficult for me.
Then I realised today, that this so called “unlucky streak” could be the result of my negative thinking. My fears, all of them have become realities, because I have conditioned them to be in that way through my thoughts.
I started last year with so much zest and enthusiasm, nothing but a positive outlook towards life; and everything turned out well.
We are what we think we are, and we are who we think we are.
So, this is my new-half year resolution; that I shall have nothing but positive thoughts!
How many fifteen minutes do you have in a day? How difficult is it to spend 1/96 of your 15 minutes in a day thinking about nothing? No thinking, but only feeling – feeling your breathing rhythm. That’s meditation for beginners.
It’s quite difficult. The untrained mind is a wandering mind – lack of concentration, full of self-doubt. The first few times are the hardest because you feel like you are not making any progress. But you will be rewarded for your perseverance. Concentration – that’s the key.
With concentration, comes mindfulness and with mindfulness comes insight. An insight into life, into the paradoxical world of chaos and peace – an insight that will give you the answer, help you understand and lead you to acceptance of everything in this world. It is then you will achieve tranquility of mind.
Try it. It’ll only take 15 minutes of your day. I’m sure you have lots to spare.
~~~
“There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.” Buddha.
All set for D-Day tomorrow
PLACE: UTM Campus, Jalan Semarak
TIME: 0900 hours
And……..
Licence To Kill
“The Art of War”: Super compressed version of Law of Tort notes for last minute revision CHECK
“M-16″: Pilot G-2 pens – highly recommended for non-stop smooth writing for 3 hours CHECK
“Ammo”: Refills. Gonna need lots of them CHECK
“Time bomb”: Stop watch. Gotta watch your time. CHECK
“Licence to Kill”: Examination docket. Can’t do anything without it. CHECK
Death is uncertain in the sense that we cannot conclusively tell what will happen to us after death. Death is certain in the sense that we know that everyone of us will experience death. It is this combination of uncertainty and certainty of death that makes us feel so fearful of death. Clinging on to life when death is inevitable makes death even harder and more painful. Accepting that one has to leave this life and move on to another existence makes death more bearable. Part of accepting death is accepting the fact that nothing we owned in this world can be brought to our next existence. Part of accepting death is to let go.
……..
Now that the depressing part about death is over, let’s talk about the brighter side of death. One would ask, how can death be bright when it is so sad and miserable to oneself and also to others? Death can bring light to the lives of others through making the ultimate gift of life: organ and tissues donation. The commonly transplanted organs are kidney, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas while transplantable tissues are eyes, bones, skin and heart valves. Thus, a single donor can save the lives of many people. We know that death brings grief and sorrow to our loved ones, but if the death has already occurred and cannot be reversed, why not make it worthwhile and meaningful by saving others lives and prevent the same grief and sorrow to their loved ones?
Err.. I thought green ribbon's a symbol for environment
One recurring question in pledging your organs will be the fear that your hospital treatment will be affected once it is made known that you are a donor i.e. that hospital will be less likely to go all out to save your life in view that your organs can be harvested if you die so that it could be donated to others. This is however a myth. It is a doctor’s duty to undertake all known measures to save your life till the end. Only when brain death has been confirmed will the issue of organ and tissue donation be discussed with your next of kin.
We will never be certain of what is after life until we experience death, but there are certain things about death that I would like to presume as that will make me accept death easier. I would like to believe is that death is not painful. It does not entail physical pain, because our consciousness is no longer with our body, and it does not entail psychological pain if and only if we accept death by letting go of our attachment to our possessions.
So people, pledge your organs! How? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
Just joking.
For those of you who are in KL, make your way to the National Transplant Resource Centre @ Hospital Kuala Lumpur. For those of you who are not in KL, I was serious about going to the nearest hospital.
Headaches. Those things just don’t have the same effect anymore. They’re like drugs ya know, or for some they are drugs . The more you take them, the more you want them. The less you take them, you’ll end up like me. Headaches.
I have been having them regularly nowadays. Regular coffee and tea just don’t work anymore.
Starbucks IV
I need to up the ante. Get a Starbucks IV attach to my veins. Rich caffiene flowing through my blood stream with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. That sounds oh….so…..tempting.
Pardon the deadpanned post. It’s my subconsicous Id working.
picture courtesy of www.gearsandwidgets.com
For those of you who have been suffering using Windows XP/Vista inferior interface, but yet do not have the ka-ching ($$$) to buy a Mac, let me introduce you to your saviour:
Stardock.com - Say goodbye to boring Windows!
We are all running the last mile of yet another triathlon. This year’s run was shorter compared to last year but it is definitely tougher which calls for a combination of ability to do short sprint and stamina befitting of a long distance runner. There were more hills to climb compared to last year and we had to carry more weight in our backpack – thank goodness we did not fall off the cliff. Some of us were on the verge of drowning while swimming through vast ocean, only to be kept afloat by those buoys.
I was referring to the incoming exams.
We had lesser time to prepare this year, which means we had to pace ourselves, yet preserve enough energy to last till the day of the exams. The syllabus is no doubt bulkier this year, and many of us felt like giving up at one point or another. There were so much information to digest and we were all drowning in the sea of information, but thanks to the buoys (revisions, lecturers, and friends), we were able to pull through and run this last mile.
Now, we’ll run to the finishing line, together, hand-in-hand.
"子貢問曰、有一言、而可以終身行之者乎。子曰、其恕乎、己所 不欲、勿施於人。
"never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself"
Analects XV.24