I have been reading Walden lately, and there's one quote that sticks out in my mind, more than any other:
"Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind [...] When a man is warmed by the several modes which I have described, what does he want next? Surely not more warmth of the same kind, as more and richer food, larger and more splendid houses, finer and more abundant clothing, more numerous incessant, and hotter fires, and the like [...] there are some that complain most energetically and inconsolably of any, because they are, as they say, doing their duty. I also have in my mind that seemingly wealthy, but most terribly impoverished class of all, who have accumulated dross, but know not how to use it, or get rid of it, and thus have forged their own golden and silver fetters."
Thus, the story of Walden begins, as an adventure into the desire to shed oneself of the fetters of society and mankind that displace us from regular, human activity.
While I won't go into detail into Walden, (for I honestly think Thoreau is a bit of a stuck up hippie) the premise of Walden is something that I think is universal in desire among most serviceable human beings: the desire to communicate with nature in such a way as to better our humanity.
I spent a really nice time up near Mount Forest in Ontario, and had a chance to fish on some very clear waters, muck about in a cave and sit under a waterfall (which has been one of my favourite experiences this year). Alas, I had to return to the big city, to find it unchanged. The people are still unfortunate, the activities here are still fairly benign, and for the most part, I would rather be in a more natural setting.
While I love my friends here, and I love the work opportunities that I have in a city like this, I definitely feel like there is something missing in my life, and I think it is the closeness of nature in my life. As someone who has spent long summers out in the so-called wild, whether in Cold Lake, Alberta, or in Saskatchewan, it makes me realize how much I miss having those natural comforts close to me in my life. Thoreau was right about one thing in regards to being part of the middle class...the heat that you experience from the societal pleasures in life often are the kind of heat that makes life unbearable, not the kind of heat that warms our hearts.
Most of my happiest memories have been in a natural setting, amongst trees, and wildlife, etc. There are still some things in modern society that I enjoy (like the ability to e-mail, or use a map connected to GPS) but more than anything I wonder if my life would be better if I lived somewhere that I didn't have most of these things.
For now, there's not much that I can do except live here. I have a job, I have a life that I've made here, and that's that, as they say. But someday, maybe I'll live somewhere a little more...natural.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
TOW: Creativity
You know, my new job requires me to be creative at work. And by creative, I mean really creative. I come up with themes to marketing campaigns, I do graphic design, recently I've become somewhat of a no-name Youtube star for the videos I'm creating , and I edit everything, do all the technical side of things, and tell a story with pictures, videos and words. And I do it all several times a week.
What I realize from doing this is that creativity is very much like a muscle. If you over-exert it, you'll strain or even injure you're ability to be creative. This is essentially every hipster-esque art piece that was trying so hard to be something, it went full circle and went back to sucking. Maybe it could have been really 'real' or 'moving' had it not included every artist reference to everything and its non-committal boyfriend. But, like most works of art, it's trying to say too much, trying to be too much, trying to be 'the artist' before the art. Works of art like this are strained. It's not a healthy piece of art. It's just as unpleasant as watching a bodybuilder lift his max weight. It's all grunt-face and quivering muscles that can barely hold up 350 pounds.
But if you don't exercise you're creativity, you'll lose it. You will be sluggish, unaware, unfeeling to the world around you. You become a consumer, instead of a maker. It's good to consume art and culture, but it's important to make things, to be, to live in the moment that is the 'artist's moment.' It's good to exercise your creativity. It keeps you mentally strong, awake, and feeling good about yourself.
I have been working on a couple projects that are taking a lot of my time, and some days I don't have the creativity, the will power, nor the sleep allowance that allows me to create anything of value. Because creativity requires that I have some kind of energy to give, to infuse into my activities, and when I come home tired or drained, there's not a lot to give. The creative spirit requires nearly boundless energy, drawing from that inner well that always replenishes itself as long as you save time for introspection, reflection, and productive creative activity.
Create, do, be. Unless you are satisfied with a creative piece, it doesn't matter what other people think. You have an obligation to yourself to put that energy in you, in things in the world until they make you smile, until they make you happy, and that you can see in the world, things in yourself that you've always wanted to share. Because the world we live in, the world of constant, nearly suffocating connection, demands of us that we share only the best of ourselves. The masters of our world are always the ones that are creating the content in it, the sights, the sounds the smells, the feelings. It's up to us to curate that content, and to reflect something of ourselves onto the world that can make others know us for who we really are. That's creativity.
What I realize from doing this is that creativity is very much like a muscle. If you over-exert it, you'll strain or even injure you're ability to be creative. This is essentially every hipster-esque art piece that was trying so hard to be something, it went full circle and went back to sucking. Maybe it could have been really 'real' or 'moving' had it not included every artist reference to everything and its non-committal boyfriend. But, like most works of art, it's trying to say too much, trying to be too much, trying to be 'the artist' before the art. Works of art like this are strained. It's not a healthy piece of art. It's just as unpleasant as watching a bodybuilder lift his max weight. It's all grunt-face and quivering muscles that can barely hold up 350 pounds.
But if you don't exercise you're creativity, you'll lose it. You will be sluggish, unaware, unfeeling to the world around you. You become a consumer, instead of a maker. It's good to consume art and culture, but it's important to make things, to be, to live in the moment that is the 'artist's moment.' It's good to exercise your creativity. It keeps you mentally strong, awake, and feeling good about yourself.
I have been working on a couple projects that are taking a lot of my time, and some days I don't have the creativity, the will power, nor the sleep allowance that allows me to create anything of value. Because creativity requires that I have some kind of energy to give, to infuse into my activities, and when I come home tired or drained, there's not a lot to give. The creative spirit requires nearly boundless energy, drawing from that inner well that always replenishes itself as long as you save time for introspection, reflection, and productive creative activity.
Create, do, be. Unless you are satisfied with a creative piece, it doesn't matter what other people think. You have an obligation to yourself to put that energy in you, in things in the world until they make you smile, until they make you happy, and that you can see in the world, things in yourself that you've always wanted to share. Because the world we live in, the world of constant, nearly suffocating connection, demands of us that we share only the best of ourselves. The masters of our world are always the ones that are creating the content in it, the sights, the sounds the smells, the feelings. It's up to us to curate that content, and to reflect something of ourselves onto the world that can make others know us for who we really are. That's creativity.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Sunday, July 01, 2012
TOW: Canada and Racial Diversity
Lately, I've been feeling a bit sluggish mentally. So, I've decided to do myself a favor, and started doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. It's a good exercise, and I'm forcing myself to look up every answer I don't know and research it. One of the answers on the crossword was the poem, "I, Too." by Langston Hughes. Given that it's Canada Day weekend, I thought it would be good to post a political poem.
It's sad to think that less than a hundred years ago, racial segregation existed. In 1910, Woodrow Wilson segregated the Federal Government of the United States. (Say what?) Restaurants could be shut down for serving both black and white people.
Rosa Parks, the woman who wouldn't give up her bus seat for a white person, only happened in 1955. Black people, in my grandparents time, were considered less than people. The Klu Klux clan was practically a political party.
Canada has a rich history of diversity...but this poem makes me think of all the things that still have to happen, and change so that all people can have fair opportunities in our great country. Racism, segregation of populations still exists, especially between white people and immigrants here in Toronto, as well as indigenous and Western Canadians. We have a lot to learn. I hope for change in the future.
It's sad to think that less than a hundred years ago, racial segregation existed. In 1910, Woodrow Wilson segregated the Federal Government of the United States. (Say what?) Restaurants could be shut down for serving both black and white people.
Rosa Parks, the woman who wouldn't give up her bus seat for a white person, only happened in 1955. Black people, in my grandparents time, were considered less than people. The Klu Klux clan was practically a political party.
Canada has a rich history of diversity...but this poem makes me think of all the things that still have to happen, and change so that all people can have fair opportunities in our great country. Racism, segregation of populations still exists, especially between white people and immigrants here in Toronto, as well as indigenous and Western Canadians. We have a lot to learn. I hope for change in the future.
I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes
Sunday, June 24, 2012
TOW: Anchoring and Moral Judgment
I have been spending the last two weeks thinking about what anchors me, and what keeps me going, day after day. When I feel strong, I feel like I can count the number of friends I have, the beauty of the good things in my life, and all the things that keep me stable in the changing winds of fortune.
In Consolatio Philosophiae, a lot of thought was put into the value of fame, fortune, and happy middle-class living. Because of the whims of political fortune, Boethius, a famed scholar and thinker, was to be put on trial and put to death. He often sat, for a time, talking to the muses of art and poetry, in hopes that they could heal his pain. What he came to realize over time, however, is that all men and women are subject to the Wheel of Fortune:
"I know how Fortune is ever most friendly and alluring to those whom she strives to deceive, until she overwhelms them with grief beyond bearing, by deserting them when least expected. … Are you trying to stay the force of her turning wheel? Ah! dull-witted mortal, if Fortune begin to stay still, she is no longer Fortune."
We are all subject to deception of living well. We think that if we have this, we have that, we will feel 'safe' in life, only to lose those things and be brought down again. I have acquired the bad habit of counting the good things in my, the bad things in my life, comparing and contrasting. This is modern psychology's view of how to get by in life. It's a stop-gap for all of us, when, for a reason or another, we cannot engage in a higher level of moral thinking. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
For example, almost all Hollywood movies are the concept of Rota Fortunae. The hero begins with nothing, rises to prominence, and the credits close with him or her at the very top of that wheel, riding into the sunset. No one hears about how the soldier that won the hand of his lady/man got cancer a year later and died, and his/her fiancee committed suicide. That wouldn't be a good movie. (Well, maybe in Russian cinema, but not here.)
We love to see people succeed. There's something very nice about that. Human nature wants to focus on the good, it really does, even when it can only see evil, lack, want. We still want to count all the good things we have seen. Morality becomes a counting game of moral banking.
Those things we can count without cost, without measure, those things are the most valuable like love and inner peace. But even these, during our dark times, Fortune will take from us. The true measure of a man lies in those moments, in what he can perceive, in what he can push himself to be.
I have picked up the Bible lately again, and I have been doing a lot of thinking about who do I trust to represent a fair vision of myself, of who I am, who I can trust with my mirror's image. It used to be my family. As I grow older, I realize I have to be able to hold that reflection up to myself, and do my best to really wonder if I'm satisfied, if I'm a happy man, if I'm a good man.
The best lives, I think are those who have been to the lowest point in their moral scheme, those who can say that everything that made them feel they were a good person was taken away from them, and they can still continue. In other words, a foolish person who can hope beyond hope when bad things happen. This picture has been in my mind as I go to sleep over the last few weeks.
The image is of three Belgian men, standing atop the rubble of what used to be their homes. They are covered in soot, the war is over, and there's nothing to do but rebuild. And they did. And eventually Flanders became a beautiful, modern, human place again. But not without sacrifice and unnecessary death and loss. They lost everything, absolutely everything, and they rebuilt.
So, when you lose both your fortune and your happiness, there is nothing left but to rebuild. And no matter what point of life that comes to for us, we can only rebuild, and remember. And instead of counting blessings, we can only marvel at our own strength, and ability to succeed again, in the face of failure.
"I know how Fortune is ever most friendly and alluring to those whom she strives to deceive, until she overwhelms them with grief beyond bearing, by deserting them when least expected. … Are you trying to stay the force of her turning wheel? Ah! dull-witted mortal, if Fortune begin to stay still, she is no longer Fortune."
We are all subject to deception of living well. We think that if we have this, we have that, we will feel 'safe' in life, only to lose those things and be brought down again. I have acquired the bad habit of counting the good things in my, the bad things in my life, comparing and contrasting. This is modern psychology's view of how to get by in life. It's a stop-gap for all of us, when, for a reason or another, we cannot engage in a higher level of moral thinking. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
For example, almost all Hollywood movies are the concept of Rota Fortunae. The hero begins with nothing, rises to prominence, and the credits close with him or her at the very top of that wheel, riding into the sunset. No one hears about how the soldier that won the hand of his lady/man got cancer a year later and died, and his/her fiancee committed suicide. That wouldn't be a good movie. (Well, maybe in Russian cinema, but not here.)
We love to see people succeed. There's something very nice about that. Human nature wants to focus on the good, it really does, even when it can only see evil, lack, want. We still want to count all the good things we have seen. Morality becomes a counting game of moral banking.
Those things we can count without cost, without measure, those things are the most valuable like love and inner peace. But even these, during our dark times, Fortune will take from us. The true measure of a man lies in those moments, in what he can perceive, in what he can push himself to be.
I have picked up the Bible lately again, and I have been doing a lot of thinking about who do I trust to represent a fair vision of myself, of who I am, who I can trust with my mirror's image. It used to be my family. As I grow older, I realize I have to be able to hold that reflection up to myself, and do my best to really wonder if I'm satisfied, if I'm a happy man, if I'm a good man.
The best lives, I think are those who have been to the lowest point in their moral scheme, those who can say that everything that made them feel they were a good person was taken away from them, and they can still continue. In other words, a foolish person who can hope beyond hope when bad things happen. This picture has been in my mind as I go to sleep over the last few weeks.
The image is of three Belgian men, standing atop the rubble of what used to be their homes. They are covered in soot, the war is over, and there's nothing to do but rebuild. And they did. And eventually Flanders became a beautiful, modern, human place again. But not without sacrifice and unnecessary death and loss. They lost everything, absolutely everything, and they rebuilt.
So, when you lose both your fortune and your happiness, there is nothing left but to rebuild. And no matter what point of life that comes to for us, we can only rebuild, and remember. And instead of counting blessings, we can only marvel at our own strength, and ability to succeed again, in the face of failure.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
TOW: Relationships
It's funny how relationships change over time.
We always think people will be in our lives forever.
But the truth is, relationships change, people do things differently than in the past...they're often trying to figure out what makes them happiest.
In my life, as long as I'm not have a cynical moment...I think everything changes. Life goes on...children are born, friends and family members die...life goes in a cycle.
In my brighter moments, I sometimes think about the phases of life, and what sort of phase I'm currently in.
I know that the relationships in my life can't all stay the same forever. They have to evolve, or die. Behavior that repeats itself over and over is probably negative behavior. Positive relationships don't stay the same...they evolve with the people who are constantly changing, aging, healthy or sick, smart or not-so-smart, wise or unwise in their lives. Negative relationships ask us to always remain the same, and never change.
But we can't stay the same...for our relationships, and our inner selves deserve better. We all need to be able to evolve and find ways to be happy.
Life isn't worth living without great relationships. But great relationships really only exist when we evolve with those relationships.
We always think people will be in our lives forever.
But the truth is, relationships change, people do things differently than in the past...they're often trying to figure out what makes them happiest.
In my life, as long as I'm not have a cynical moment...I think everything changes. Life goes on...children are born, friends and family members die...life goes in a cycle.
In my brighter moments, I sometimes think about the phases of life, and what sort of phase I'm currently in.
I know that the relationships in my life can't all stay the same forever. They have to evolve, or die. Behavior that repeats itself over and over is probably negative behavior. Positive relationships don't stay the same...they evolve with the people who are constantly changing, aging, healthy or sick, smart or not-so-smart, wise or unwise in their lives. Negative relationships ask us to always remain the same, and never change.
But we can't stay the same...for our relationships, and our inner selves deserve better. We all need to be able to evolve and find ways to be happy.
Life isn't worth living without great relationships. But great relationships really only exist when we evolve with those relationships.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
TOW: The Creative Process
I have been thinking a lot about what makes me a creative individual and what I need to do to be creative. I have decided I need a couple things:
1. Inspiration: I need to feel inspired. Usually I look at pictures for ideas, or I surf the web, letting my mind wander before I choose an idea. Some of the best ideas I have had have come after discarding several ideas.
2. Process: I need to fiddle in a workspace for a while on a backdrop that makes sense. Whether it's a t-shirt mock-up, a sketch, or some kind of website item, I need to have some kind of paper or some area I can just let loose for a while. For work, I prefer to use Illustrator when doing digital graphics. When writing, I (now) like to make charts and diagrams to refer my writing with. I find it helps to keep a consistent narrative in view.
3. Designing: Once I have an idea firmly in place, I try and provide several variations of the same idea. So, this could mean I do a graffiti art piece (like today) and I do versions with different colour combinations and different item placements, but generally with the same 5-6 items. This way I can decide where things belong, and think about what makes the most sense visually, or on page. This applies to my writing process as well. I find I'm constantly moving sections of words for placement value.
4. Editing: I mock-up several designs into a one sheet item (writing includes this, give or take) which I then print off to look at. Sometimes the print really helps me decide on whether I like an item or not. It helps to do this in varying sizes if I'm only considering slight variations to one design item.
5. Revamping: I then take the one item I'm pleased with and I work on it until I feel it's a finished piece. This includes writing. For illustration, I find this is about 3 edits. For writing, I find it takes me 5-7. Not sure if this has to do with my skill as a writer, or if it's because writing is more subjective than graphic design.
6. Finalizing: I then choose the item to present for approval or to use in day-to-day use.
This process can take me anywhere from 1 hour to 1 year. On an average, however, this process usually takes me a week.
1. Inspiration: I need to feel inspired. Usually I look at pictures for ideas, or I surf the web, letting my mind wander before I choose an idea. Some of the best ideas I have had have come after discarding several ideas.
2. Process: I need to fiddle in a workspace for a while on a backdrop that makes sense. Whether it's a t-shirt mock-up, a sketch, or some kind of website item, I need to have some kind of paper or some area I can just let loose for a while. For work, I prefer to use Illustrator when doing digital graphics. When writing, I (now) like to make charts and diagrams to refer my writing with. I find it helps to keep a consistent narrative in view.
3. Designing: Once I have an idea firmly in place, I try and provide several variations of the same idea. So, this could mean I do a graffiti art piece (like today) and I do versions with different colour combinations and different item placements, but generally with the same 5-6 items. This way I can decide where things belong, and think about what makes the most sense visually, or on page. This applies to my writing process as well. I find I'm constantly moving sections of words for placement value.
4. Editing: I mock-up several designs into a one sheet item (writing includes this, give or take) which I then print off to look at. Sometimes the print really helps me decide on whether I like an item or not. It helps to do this in varying sizes if I'm only considering slight variations to one design item.
5. Revamping: I then take the one item I'm pleased with and I work on it until I feel it's a finished piece. This includes writing. For illustration, I find this is about 3 edits. For writing, I find it takes me 5-7. Not sure if this has to do with my skill as a writer, or if it's because writing is more subjective than graphic design.
6. Finalizing: I then choose the item to present for approval or to use in day-to-day use.
This process can take me anywhere from 1 hour to 1 year. On an average, however, this process usually takes me a week.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
TOW: Lazy versus Happy
There's one line in a song called "Is the Where It Ends," I always remember from the Barenaked Ladies:
She's like a baby
I'm like a cat
When we are happy
we both get fat
Now, this is not a post about body image, but this is about the link between being content, and being lazy.
I have been pretty lazy these last few weeks. There have been bursts of craziness at work, and yes, it's been busy here and there, but the real issue is that when I get home, I have been turning on the internet tv, maybe going to the gym, and just settling into a pattern. I don't mind patterns, but I've been complacent lately.
And it's because I've been content.
A lot of great things have been happening. Work is going well, I have low amounts of drama in my life, my family isn't calling every five minutes asking me to move into their basement because they miss me and generally things are pretty swell. Life is good, and I've been wearing a smile on my face more often.
But what I have found is that when I get complacent, a lot of things start to take a turn for the worse. I don't exercise as much. Personal projects (I'm looking at you, iPhone game) get flung to the side and sometimes forgotten for a while or slowed down to the point where there's little progress. You get lazy.
It's true that the devil work is in idle hands, but more than that, I sometimes find myself slipping into a routine where I go past relaxing, past 'me time' and straight into lazyville.
Oddly, I seem to thrive on chaos, conflict and disorder to propel me into something better. The last couple years there has been a lot of change in my life, and I think it has to do with the fact that I've been striving for something better. When I'm mad, or upset, or feeling weird, I feel the need to act, to make change, to do something, anything, to make things better.
When I get happy, it's hard for me to see how much better the quality of life could be if I got another job, got a raise, won some kind of award. I guess I'm content when I have very little.
But happiness for me springs from being active, and doing things in the world. My happiness comes from activity, not the absence of it. So I guess I can be content with very little, but my happiness requires that contentment is never enough. Happiness has to be a state of being, working, living, changing, and evolving. And sometimes we don't evolve for the better when we try to change things, but I still think that's better than being a very specific kind of complacent.
She's like a baby
I'm like a cat
When we are happy
we both get fat
Now, this is not a post about body image, but this is about the link between being content, and being lazy.
I have been pretty lazy these last few weeks. There have been bursts of craziness at work, and yes, it's been busy here and there, but the real issue is that when I get home, I have been turning on the internet tv, maybe going to the gym, and just settling into a pattern. I don't mind patterns, but I've been complacent lately.
And it's because I've been content.
A lot of great things have been happening. Work is going well, I have low amounts of drama in my life, my family isn't calling every five minutes asking me to move into their basement because they miss me and generally things are pretty swell. Life is good, and I've been wearing a smile on my face more often.
But what I have found is that when I get complacent, a lot of things start to take a turn for the worse. I don't exercise as much. Personal projects (I'm looking at you, iPhone game) get flung to the side and sometimes forgotten for a while or slowed down to the point where there's little progress. You get lazy.
It's true that the devil work is in idle hands, but more than that, I sometimes find myself slipping into a routine where I go past relaxing, past 'me time' and straight into lazyville.
Oddly, I seem to thrive on chaos, conflict and disorder to propel me into something better. The last couple years there has been a lot of change in my life, and I think it has to do with the fact that I've been striving for something better. When I'm mad, or upset, or feeling weird, I feel the need to act, to make change, to do something, anything, to make things better.
When I get happy, it's hard for me to see how much better the quality of life could be if I got another job, got a raise, won some kind of award. I guess I'm content when I have very little.
But happiness for me springs from being active, and doing things in the world. My happiness comes from activity, not the absence of it. So I guess I can be content with very little, but my happiness requires that contentment is never enough. Happiness has to be a state of being, working, living, changing, and evolving. And sometimes we don't evolve for the better when we try to change things, but I still think that's better than being a very specific kind of complacent.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day!
To all the moms who are my buddies and family, I wish you the best day. I had a great conversation with my mom this morning. I love her more than anything. :)
MAN
I haven't posted on here in FOREVER.
I've just found myself really, really busy on Sunday and Monday nights, which is usually when post things here.
I'll be working on a better update schedule in the near future. For now, though, I just need to focus on getting back on track with some things that really matter to me. Like writing, for example. And not just business writing, which I have been focusing way too much on in the last 3 years. It's really hard to write well when most of your thoughts have to be branded and less than three sentences. Kind of kills the creative process when you're only working for one client.
Writing really matters to me, and though I'm not very good at it, when I am, I really feel like I've accomplished something.
So, I plan to write here more....I've just been on hiatus for a bit! ^_^
I've just found myself really, really busy on Sunday and Monday nights, which is usually when post things here.
I'll be working on a better update schedule in the near future. For now, though, I just need to focus on getting back on track with some things that really matter to me. Like writing, for example. And not just business writing, which I have been focusing way too much on in the last 3 years. It's really hard to write well when most of your thoughts have to be branded and less than three sentences. Kind of kills the creative process when you're only working for one client.
Writing really matters to me, and though I'm not very good at it, when I am, I really feel like I've accomplished something.
So, I plan to write here more....I've just been on hiatus for a bit! ^_^
Monday, April 16, 2012
TOW: Buddhist Circles
Sometimes in life, you feel like you're going in circles.
No end, no beginning...just a place in the middle. You think you're getting good at something, and then something new happens in your life, and everything changes. Then suddenly you're back at the beginning. You're never quite finished...well...until you're finished, as in, C'EST FINI.
....
The Buddhists have a sacred art form called 'Mandala.' They create intricate, beautiful circles in the sand.
But these circles, even if they're the most beautiful thing that's ever existed, once a mandala is finished, a monk sweeps it away, and starts anew.
Nothing matters in life some much you can't start again and change. Buddhists use this tool for spiritual meditation, but all humans have the idea of a circle, propelling them deeper and deeper into themselves.
Lately, I feel like, in some way, I'm at the start of a circle.
In other ways, I feel like I'm near the end.
Buddhists mandalas say a lot about spiritual health and the good life. The good life is being in the middle of things. The middle is where it's at. End are alright, and beginnings can be exhilarating, but for me, save me for the thick of things, the good right in between so many different things. It can be beautiful, it can be good, and it's almost always meaningful.
VOW: Robbie Williams and One Direction
I'm not huge into these guys, but I kind of love the duet they did.
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