Category: blog

A reminder to myself: You don’t have to choose between solitude or engagement. There is a sweet spot between time for yourself and time for the world. You go inwards to find peace and you go outwards to spread peace. Seek your treasures from within and share them with others as you find them. Solitude without engagement or engagement without solitude — none of these states are healthy.

So remember, the middle way is the path. Veer to either extreme and the balance is lost.

Love yourself first, then love the world. But never forget to love the world. That, after all, is the sweet fruit of loving yourself.

We are all one.

I’m on a break right now from my photography work — a much-needed break. Still pending the completion of a couple of projects, but when they’re all wrapped up in end March / early April my break will officially begin.

Things are already slowing down. Today I had the whole day to myself. I read and meditated and ate a good lunch. I spent most of the day sitting at my balcony on my favorite chair. The weather was wonderfully rainy and windy, with occasional glimpses of sunlight. My favorite kind of weather.

I’ve longed for a proper break for a long time. I have always had mini-breaks and have always tried to take time off work, but I always ended up traveling or going somewhere else and getting myself even more tired out. Then I hop back into work immediately and get more tired again. It’s an endless looping cycle of being tired.

A break will be good for my creativity. I feel I have reached a stage with my photography where, without time to play and meander and be bored, things will simply continue to be business-as-usual. I can continue to take on more jobs and continue to make more money, but the truth is that I’m not happy with where I am creatively. In order to continue down this path of photography, it is almost essential that I take a good long break and come back re-energized.

I will be “off the grid” for a few months to allow myself space, lots and lots of space, for new possibilities to arise. I want to rest and to rest well, but I also want to rest so that my creative energy can be allowed to build up again.

And not only to connect with my own creativity again, but also with my own self. I know it sounds woo-woo as hell, but I want to come home to myself and to know — to remind myself of — what I really want. I want to further loosen the grip society has on me, to slowly unlock the door that has been keeping me imprisoned in a world of other people’s ideas.

And I think a break like this might be pretty useful for achieving something like what I’ve just described.

I’ll update on my progress here, of course =)

That, in Thich Nhat Hanh’s words, should be how we practise mindfulness. Not simply in a passive way, not simply by reading or studying, but by finding opportunities to practise while you go about your daily life, and to do it especially in those moments when you’re annoyed, angry or feeling less-than-okay.

Those are the perfect moments to practise.

Truer words have never been uttered.

“In a culture in which interpersonal relationships are generally considered to provide the answer to every form of distress, it is sometimes difficult to persuade well-meaning helpers that solitude can be as therapeutic as emotional support.”
― “Solitude: A Return to the Self”, Anthony Storr

Our friend J died last year from suicide. His wife — also my friend — has been writing about her grief on their blog. This piece is a particularly poignant one.

We miss you very much, J.

Do you plan out your days? Or do they let them flow naturally? If you plan your days, how do you do it? What’s your plan? What are your routines? I am especially interested in the answers of those who work for themselves or from home.

1. Sometimes I’m forced to do something I don’t particularly like and I end up enjoying myself, which reminds me that there is a great deal I don’t know about life and the world.

2. It’s not that we’re living in apocalyptic times, we just have catastrophic thoughts.

3. The days are short, the years shorter still.

4. If you can’t make yourself sit and meditate, wash dishes and meditate. It’s equally effective.

5. Do something different in order to create a day that looks nothing like the ones that have gone before.

6. Every day adds up to make up a life. Hence the small things we do every day matter.

7. I’m always happy when I wake up at 6.30am. (Even when I’m forced to.)

“The world is not simply there. Everything and everyone we see, we view through the lenses of our thoughts. Your mind is where your thoughts arise and form. It is not simply with your eyes but with your mind that you see the world. So much depends on your mind: How you see yourself, who you think you are, how you see others, what you think the meaning of life is, how you see death, belief, God, darkness. Beauty is all determined by the style of mind you have.

Your mind is your greatest treasure. We become so taken up with the world, with having and doing more and more, we come to ignore who we are and forget what we see the world with. The most powerful way to change your life is to change your mind.

When you beautify your mind, you beautify your world. You learn to see differently. In what seemed like dead situations, secret possibilities and invitations begin to open before you. In old suffering that held you long paralyzed, you find new keys. When your mind awakens, your life comes alive and the creative adventure of your soul takes off. Passion and compassion become your new companions.”

— JOHN O’DONOHUE

if you want to wake up early.

It’s as simple as that.

PS: When in doubt, simplify. Life doesn’t need to be complicated.

It’s so nice — in fact, unbelievably nice — to be getting comments on the blog again (hi Brian, Colin and Kifa!). I’m tempted to say, just like the good old days, but then comments haven’t exactly disappeared. They are still well and alive on Facebook and Instagram, but why does it just feel different?

Maybe because this is my very own place and like many others have mentioned before, it takes effort for people to find their way to personal websites / blogs like this. That’s why it’s almost sweet when someone puts in the work to write a comment. Alright, it’s very sweet!

So thank you for your comments. It’s really nice to be connected this way. Again. =)