Glorifying The Past

Sometimes, people who just can't stop wistfully talking about their past as though they were the best days of their lives annoy me. It is a common misconception that the past was always better than the present. I do not believe that my life was better when I was younger than how it is now. It is true that sometimes in life, we go through peak times when, maybe everything we did succeeded, or we go through times when things just don't work the way we want at all.

That is because everyone sees the past through good memories. If his/her week was made up of 4 days of good mood days and 3 days of bad mood days, people, when they look back, remember only the 4 good days of that week. I guess it is a good thing. But it is not good if it makes people think that the past was always better than present.

It is almost like saying the music and movies from the past were far better than they are now, which is not logical because the music and the movies that we see now have been filtered by time and popularity, and hence we see only the good few that has survived all these times, and not the everyday random ones that people of that era also might have detested.

ping pong pang

Today at the Table Tenning club, the lady there who registers the people coming in and out took our 4$ entry fee and wrote it down. Then she turned away fishing for bats and balls. She asked,

"Got balls?"

Awkward silence.................................. She stopped.

"Uh yeah yeah, got them." I mumbled.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, real awkward.

things i'm finger crossed about

about:

1. Jordi Duff Clinic launch: it's looking like the launch date has to be pushed back again. AS Designs, Auckland messing up with our supplies and even the men's tees haven't turned up til now, not to mention special custom made women's. But once it launches it will be the dope-est design label out. With many prayers.

2. {OB!} magazine: is due tomorrow and I am looking forward to designing it all day today. It is looking real sweet, just need to finish up the cover page and the travel page and chuck in the photography (two pages). Can't wait to see the final works.

3. Simon's Rwanda painting: will be beautiful. I just bought the white massive board. MASSIVE I promise. 

4. Screen Printing: Got to start finishing the design and print be ready for emulsion by monday.

5. Worship leading: this sunday leading the song 'Tear Down The Walls' at morning church and possibly lead in a prayer, if I feel up to it. Sonya my co-leader is an awesome singer btw and she is good.

6. JOB AFTER GRADUATION: Possibly my biggest concern. I am relying on finding one immediately, which will save me a heck lot of worry and waste of time and energy. I just need to find something to do right now, with something remotely related to designing, since I have got Jordi Duff Clinic running about already.

Big times coming up, and big times I am treading on.

sowing and reaping

Whatever you sow you reap. When you sleep or eat or walk or work os sit, the seeds that you sow keep growing somewhere, inside your life. If you sow depression, you reap depression, if you sow hope you reap life, if you sow life you reap life, if you sow time you reap its value.

Sometimes I am bothered by the things that I sow into my own life. What will I reap one day. I hardly know what I even sow, and that scares me more. I should try and think about what I spend my time on, what I spend my thoughts on, and think about what I will reap later when the harvest comes. If I sow weed I cannot expect to harvest crops. It's as straight as that.

Think about the future, think about what will make you happy tomorrow and sow for that. Not saying you forsake how you feel today and only think about the future, because it is more important to live now than later. But then if I am sowing something good now, it also means that I am living well. And if I don't start now and think about tomorrow, when will I start? I cannot start tomorrow because in that case tomorrow I will have nothing to reap, or worse I will reap the fruit of time and energy wasted.

Today my portion was about the Kingdom being like a farmer who goes out to sow and then he goes back and goes about his daily business like sleeping, eating and waking up, and in that meantime what he threw into his fields kept growing and eventually there came a time for him to harvest. It is a beautiful imagery of how everything we do bears fruits. And as much as it is beautiful, it is scary if I have not been living my life well enough.

generosity

noble birthed.

on creativity and new music.

Very few things baffle me these days as much as music that sits on the box charts and top rated lists. Crazy stuff that sounds real simple, but added with a right mix of smart-ness and more smartness. Music today aren't exactly profound or even technically and musically outstanding. They are just smart. It is the sort of music that makes you feel it came up in fluke moments. But I appreciate the smartness involved in it. I respect the risk that musicians and producers take to throw out new stuff out there. Sometimes the same things become tedious and boring. I guess people and the world has become tired of fawning over the old age of music. Or even if they still love the old music, they make something new out of it. 

It is the age of free spread of ideas and creativity.

It is the best time and era for me as an artist to be alive in. I believe in that.

This is not just in music. 

Sometimes, however, the extreme freedom in spread of ideas and creativity lurks like a threat to the career of a designer like me. You go online and you see people who aren't 'designers' by profession making crazy stuff that are as good as professional works, I do end up feeling a little disturbed, to be honest.

But ... really? Are they threat? If I think about it, there is no threat in real art and creativity. Creativity is building something out of nothing. You can never ever run out of space to imagine. Never. Even if 6 billion people created stuff every moment all the time, there will always be something to keep creating. If 6 billion were building houses, the earth will run out of space. If 6 billion were doing accounts the earth would  run out of account jobs easily. But even if 6 billion people become creative, there would always be space for more creativity. 

Of course if even 2 billion people were doing graphic design jobs, then there would be no more design work vacancy left. But then if our lives, everyday endeavours were sparked by creativity and newness, there will always be space to grow for everyone.

about people leaving

Its crazy to think how people come and go. Someone as close as Han can just leave like that one fine day without thinking of coming back. How intertwined lives can be so pulled apart like this. Today he flies back to Korea. And atleast Thiu lives in Korea and there is still a chance of keeping the friendship alive through him.
Situations and demands of live can so easily and conveniently pull people in and out of one's life. That just baffles me. What about people I know now? Will I, one day say goodbye to them too?
Atleast there is this conventional (I have to say, conventional to be honest, because my 'modern' self tells me to find a better escape) and deep believe that one day despite all the tearing apart here on earth, there will a reunion for all people who believe in Jesus. This is not some exclusive club or party that only Christians are allowed entry into. I think there will be a lot of people. Provided they found a way to get there without being a Christian (I will not go into that for now haha. No blasphemous talk on my blog entry here).
Anyway, as I was saying, it baffles me that people I know so well have become just memories now. Its the thing about life I guess. Whether it's too blunt to accept it or not, I can only be thankful that they have been there for that time of my life (as much as I have been there for that time of their life).
--
The birds are singing outside. Summer came and hugged my window this morning. I hope it is here to stay. We will need that when we see people leave.