I know I've promised part two of my Penang trip but I have made choices that require me to focus on other things in my life. But I'll be back! (Arnie in The Last Stand is really good)
After this I would turn this blog into a portfolio of my work and work towards a location independent career. Oh, what I would give to see the world! Fingers crossed.
I have just finished transcribing an hour-long interview and several short speeches. And while that would be left to stew in the brain for it to produce a comprehensive prose that will fill several pages in a magazine, I have come to a conclusion that I am a better writer splicing together random facts and opinions on a subject than sharing my thoughts on, say, durian mille crepes.
Now there are a few reasons why many journalists or writers for publications may not readily share their own opinions or are reluctant to share their personal opinions online. Many editors and journalists who have their own blogs in which they write about the exact things they write about for their publications. But some have limited their blogs to their professional work, making it more like their portfolio than a reflection of what goes on in their minds.
Here are, I think, a few reasons why:
1. If writing is your job, it ceases to become your hobby after a while.
2. If you are a journalist, personal opinions are always left out of copy. Also, if you are writing about the things you write about professionally, people may read your personal thoughts and judge your work differently. You always want to be as objective as possible.
3. If you are a writer, you can save those thoughts for a book or your next paid publication ;).
4. When you write during your "down" time, you know what happens.
5. That AP style obsession really hurts creativity.
6. Readers would benefit more from reading about how they could prevent cancer than why Twilight is the next best thing to happen to humanity after Coke.
7. Experiencing things with the intention to write about it often takes the fun out of the experience.
8. My boss would likely prefer that I spend the time writing this post on more productive pursuits. Like the next story.
But, if we write about something else, like our passion, it may make a difference. There are so many things to write about but so little time!
Anyway, I came across this video and thought it would be great to share. Have always loved Japanese composers.
1. When it rains, it really pours. Hard. Just as you thought your life was uneventful, an avalanche visits you with everything you wished for and avoided fervently coming at you at once. And the only thought on your mind is, SHIT.
2. It's not THAT bad. Yes, life is pretty screwed up now. Yes, maggi goreng is the best food you can find within walking distance and you're constantly on coffee or diet coke or something that will elicit similar responses from your body. You are stressed, not stressed enough, loved, not loved, or dumped. But that's just going to fade with time. But mourn it too long and you'll miss the opportunity staring in your face all these while.
3. JUMP. Don't look. Don't think. Just do it.
4. The best thing about being in love is the opportunity to know yourself better so you could be a better version of you. It is not selfish. A better you is great for people around you.
5. Problems are only problems if you refuse to look at them as challenges.
6. The secret of success is having the blind faith that you would make it in the end. Doing your best is good enough.
7. Its OK to swear sometimes. Better to get the load off than let it fester.
8. I really think everyone should get a SANDBAG or learn to meditate. The aggression has to go somewhere.
9. I'm an unapologetic fighter. But I've learned to pick my battles and accept that you can't win it all.
10. If you are feeling down and out, take me out for a drink. You won't regret it! (with endorsements from many that goes along 'thank you for the therapeutic session') And no. We do not need alcohol.
Goals are, corny, at best. I mean, who wants to be reminded of the days when we wrote in our report card our goals for the coming term? Get an A for history, pass the Math exam.
Over the years I've learnt the virtue of simply just saying - I want to do this next year and this is what I am going to do to make it a reality. It makes you accountable, it gives you focus.
At first I never really meant it. I only set goals I knew I would achieve. Get X number of As in major exams, finish a project or yearbook. Finish X amount of books in a year.
But recently with changes in my personal and professional life I inadvertently started to mope and focus on the teeny weeny details that did not help me enjoy the journey as much as I thought I would. Until someone told me to write down my goals and keep it in my drawer so I do not lose sight of what I wanted in life.
I have no drawer at home so here's my list of to-dos before Dec 31, 2013:
1. Run a 10km marathon in under 1 hour
2. Exercise and meditate every day
3. Monthly day/weekend trips to all states in Peninsula Malaysia
4. Contribute an article to an international publication
In essence goal-setting shifts the mind to focus on the future and ensure that we could live in the present, because we would know that whatever we do now is a step towards our goal.
We'll see if I can cross most of these things on the list off next year. Fingers crossed!
Courtesy of SkyJump (Auckland). Boy thinking about it still gives me the adrenaline high.
I consider my life rather average and nondescript. No roller coasters, no shocking developments. But I'm sometimes impulsively foolish and there's no end to the number of crazy friends I have in my life. In no particular order, here's the list. Will try to blog about them soon.
1. Jumped off a 192m building
2. Spent RM3 a day on food for 3 days
3. Took three weeks off to reflect on life at an isolated meditation centre
4. Built a man-made wetland
5. Buried my first lab rat
6. Went without sleep for 72 hours on a can of Livita
7. Swallowed my first escargot
8. Searched for worm eggs in monkey poop
9. Wore a saree with a petticoat a size smaller (and nearly died of oxygen deprivation)
Off to meet some people I haven't met for a very, very long time! I'm sure I could add to this list.
You can relax at the bus stop here Photo courtesy of geograph.org.uk, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons
I'm back. Well, for many of you I am finally here.
Truth is, I have tried, many many times, to keep a blog that I would keep alive for more than a year. Write about something. Life, work (which due to many reasons I could not share explicit details), interests.
But it never happened. Somehow, somewhere along the lines of a birthday, a 31st December, or a new state of mind, I would delete whatever I have written for the past year or so and start afresh.
Anyhow, thispost (specifically, item 11 - which inspires the name of this blog) reminded me that sometimes it pays to remember good times in an environment where there is so much negativity. If you think kopitiam stories about crime, corruption, and general nastiness are bad, try to imagine yourself in the shoes of people whose job is getting the story first-hand.
So, have mercy on people in the media. If you think what you get these days is crap, spare some kind thoughts for the crap filter.
To good memories. :)
Wen
PS: I was told that I sound tired in this post. Maybe I was. But I'm feeling rejuvenated again and will be back to my chirpier self when I write about the holiday that was absolutely my best so far --> Pulau Perhentian.
