factor

If someone asked me what is it I love doing; I don't know how to provide a simple answer. I will probably give a long-winded thesis and by the time I finished the questioner will regret asking me that. By the time I finished talking I probably have no idea as to what I just said. Because it takes more than language fluency to utter one's truest desires. It is easy to produce a bunch of junk-filled answer. All I need are big words and jargons and I could throw in some quotations by famous people. I can bring in Socrates or Seneca and this could impress some folks. But I know deep down it is immitation. I am no different from a copy machine.

It is an old trick and even lame, to live the dreams of others. Someone I met for the first time on the train, an acquaintance turned friend told me that I only need to take two extra steps to make a difference in my life. Pick up the pen and start writing. Find a place, pay the rent and start a Tarot business. Write a script or should I say complete the story and find a cast. It takes only two steps with a lot of effort.

You see I have this habit of talking to strangers. The main reason I enjoy taking the train and all sorts of public transports. I meet all types of people and not all are safe to talk to. But when I set my intention right, the good folks just keep coming to me one by one.

Sometimes we find ourselves not getting anywhere and we feel this deadening frustration taking over. We are almost aimlessly stuck with a degree. I reckon almost every Tom, Dick and Harry has a degree, a masters' degree or a PHD and in fact all three. I guess after driving around the career path for almost 5 years, it is not what degree that counts; but how determined is our will and how much we love what we do that keep our wheel spinning. We need the technical knowledge so obtaining the right kind of education does help. However if I love what I do, I don't need a piece of paper and test results to prove that.

I have nothing agaisnt proper education. The word civilisation in Chinese is a combination of two root characters; bright and literacy. Literacy here is interpreted in a broader sense to include knowledge. We need technical, scientific and artistic knowledge. Can I point out that any kind of knowledge will be of no use to one who has no wisdom and thus the light (bright). I am not playing a word game here. It is important that all that we have learnt in school, at home, at work, during trainings and in the library are applied in the best way possible and it need not be in a conventional way acceptable by the society.

This means one who studies law need not be a lawyer and his education is not wasted. His legal training will be with him even if he does not call himself a lawyer. Which occupation pays more and provides for better job prospects must not be the main deciding factors of choosing a career. Our career is not a job, it is living a life.

Schools, teachers, guardians and parents shouldn't make doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and gangsters out of children. They should make a human out of them. With a fully functioning heart and mind, they can understand what makes them leap with joy and these children are then aware of what they love to do for the rest of their lives.

reminder

Self-centered desires need a lot of attention to thrive. They are like delicate houseplants, not very hardy. Unless their needs are met precisely, they cannot last long. If we do not water and fertilize them regularly - think about them, dream about them, plan and wish - they will wither and die.

To get plants to thrive, it is considered helpful to talk to them in soothing, friendly tones. Destructive desires thrive on talk too; the more we talk about them, the stronger they get. So whenever you feel driven by a compulsive, destructive urge, don't analyze it; don't talk about it; don't dwell on it. Turn your attention away from it by throwing yourself into work for others. It can starve the desire away.

E. E.

newbie

I started a new blog http://dclips.blogspot.com/

It is named "daily clips" which means it is light writing and thus light reading. Well it has to focus on different issues and perspectives of things. Perhaps you can take it as a comic strip that you read in the newspapers. It is part of the newspapers as a whole but it is given a lot of space to be sarcastic, humorous and even a little sick at times compared with the dead serious news you read on the headlines.

It is my alter-ego.

a thousand faces

This journey we call life is not easy and no one said it is. For starters I don't think we are sinners who fell from the Garden of Eden, remember Adam and Eve? Our task is not to collect merits, do a lot of charity, help others in order to gain an entrance to Heaven; back into the the Garden of Eden. Look at Mr. John Constantine who didn't want to go to Hell and so became a half-breed hunter, exorcist and ghostbuster hoping to earn a one way ticket to the holy Kingdom. Only when Constantine did an act not out of his selfish need to redeem himself from the sin of suicide, did he truly understand the true act of charity.

Heaven is not a destiny, it is within our hearts. We can see it when we truly do an act for others, for this society, for this world and not doing something in hope and in fear and in duress. We don't have to "go" to heaven as if we must board a plane to reach a place. The scene of Constantine ascending to heaven is only a metaphor. It is to signify that we have surpassed the selfishness which dictates all we do to finally commit a pure act of sacrifice for others.

We have to live this life holistically and not waste the goodness we are born with. Try to extend a helping hand to those in need. Of course do remember not to impose your whims and fantasies on others. Very often do we judge what is good and what is bad based on our beliefs that are tinted with prejudice. We don't really see a person until we look without prejudiced-eyes.

For people like Capt. Bala, Michael, Bro. Quek and Bro. Tuck Loon who serve mankind, you are the hero with a thousand faces.