RIP Steve

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. Busy is the lame, but nonetheless valid excuse I'm giving. The excuse I'm about to give is.... that I have nothing to write. Though life continues to go on, events continue to unfold, there has been nothing compelling enough for me to pen down beyond the random pieces of thoughts that would belong more on a twitter post than on a blog like this.

Steve Job died today. I remember being so impressed with his famous speech on ted.com to Stanford University graduates about how to live before you die. That was 6 years ago when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He talked about how he said ''Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." I admired that about the man. It would seem he lived a truly remarkable life by embracing his impending death.

We aren't all Steve Jobs. Only a minoriy of people ever truly live remarkable lives, doing things that would affect millions of people. The rest of us would most likely live unremarkable, ordinary lives. Remarkable people are the exception, the rest of us are the rule.  Not that there is anything shameful about that.If there is anything I think Steve Jobs was trying to say in his speech was to measure your life against yourself, kind of like a game of golf. "Your time is limited. Don't waste your time living someone elses life" he said...The only handicap you needed to improve on was your own. You had to trust your own gut and intuition to do what you think is right, instead of following what the world tells you you need to do.  He did a lot of great work in his life at Apple..He loved what he did, and people loved the things he did. The secret to those great work was this... "You've got to find what you love...... The only way to do great work, is to love what you do..."

It's funny....  that truly importan things only become apparent to us when we realize that we could lose it at any moment. The fact that whatever it is we have in our possession, isn't really something we own perpetually, but rather something we steward over momentarily. In this case, life itself. We have this life to live, but it's not meant forever. We build friendships, but they too come and go. The things we have and the money we earn, all eventually get passed on to others, either through our own doing or death. Nothing this side of heaven is ever permanent. It's fleeting. And I guess that's what makes it beautiful.

RIP Steve Jobs.

And good night my friend. You are on my mind as always.

Eyes of the Beholder

Cause you’re beautiful my love
When I close my eyes
You’re beautiful my love
Under heaven’s skies

Collective Soul - Under Heaven's Sky

Think about when a woman looks her best, and we normally think of a woman that is nicely dolled up, full make up, stunning dress, matching accessories, perfectly manicured fingernails, gorgeous hairdo, killer shoes and a cute little handbag to top it all off. That's when a woman is supposed to radiate beauty right?

But it IS said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

You know at what moment I find a woman to be her most beautiful? When she smiles. When she looks at you, you look at her back, and she smiles. That's when I find her so beautiful. I'm a real sucker for that. Take a deep look into my eyes and just smile and I'm done for. There's something about the notion of another person being able to find joy by looking into your eyes.. ....just melts me. And I find myself thinking 'this is such a wonderful, warm and ultimately beautiful person'. It's almost as if happiness makes a person beautiful. It's almost as if the only things you need to do to stay beautiful (and youthful) in just by living, loving, and laugh...

You know what time of the day I find women to be at her most beautiful? In the morning. Yes.. morning.. with her hair all messy and tangled up, no make up, no mascara, no expensive perfume... just the peaceful, calm and contented look on their face after a good nights sleep... untroubled by worries and problems of the day (though that usually returns the minute she starts looking at her watch)... But while the moment last, I think the look of peace and contentment is also beautiful. Problems trouble us, make us worry, and often bring out the ugly sides of us. When a person is not forced into a corner, when a person is untroubled.. they get the chance to lower their guard... and you see... from the look on their face.. the beauty that lies beneath.


You're beautiful my love.. under heaven's skies.

A Glimpse of Heaven on Earth

 People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child - our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

 
When was the last time you stopped to stare at the sky?

When I was younger, I used to spend hours staring at the sky, looking at the shapes of the clouds. It was always fascinating. The longer you stared, the more you could see it taking the shape of things you knew like maybe a horse, a dog, a butterfly or even a face. And as the wind blew and the bus I was in moved along, so would the clouds change in shape, forming a new sort of image all the time. Almost anything could appear in the sky and it was governed only by my imagination. For some reason, I could do this for hours on end, usually on those long bus rides alone up north to go see my mother.

But the bus rides got lesser, and I think maybe my sense of imagination slowed down considerably…. And I stopped looking at the sky. I didn’t look up anymore. And I didn’t for a good many years. Somehow, it had stopped fascinating me. Maybe it’s because I started living in the city with no clear skyline. Maybe it’s because I grew up and no longer marveled at life’s simplicities. This realization made me a bit sad. When did I start to forget how to appreciate these simple beauties of life? Wind chimes no longer enchant me; I don’t poke on the morning dews on leaves anymore; and touching the leaves of pokok semalu (a.k.a sleeping plant) and watching it close no longer makes me jump with excitement. I knew it was the same sky, same kind of dew, same plant, just a different me.

I do know it’s inevitable that we all grow out of looking at the world with fresh eyes. We all grow up, we all lose our innocence, and we all stop experiencing life with wide eyed wonder.

But I try to look up more often these days. I don’t want to stop marveling at life’s beauty, however simple, however common. I've been trying to make it a point to consciously take note of how the sky looked each and every day and appreciate it for what it is. Some days, it’s bright and sunny, some days it’s cold and cloudy, but some days when I’m lucky, when the sun is at an angle and the cloud is just clearing, I catch a glimpse of what I’d like to imagine heaven looks like. It is literally like looking at heaven on earth. When you think about it that way, you really marvel at the majesty of God.

It’s amazing how I ever forgot that.