Friday, June 20, 2008
Temperance.
Okay, I've finally embarked upon this blog entry. I've been procrastinating this entry ever since I mentioned it in my post on 30th March. This is going to be one heck of a long post.
Anyway, quite a few things have happened since the last time I blogged. Firstly, I got a new phone, Samsung SOUL. I would say it's a nice phone overall, except that it lacks some features I would like, such as a dedicated 3.5mm audio jack, a Xenon flash for the camera, as well as WiFi connectivity. But at least I can snap pictures whenever I like now.
So, there was Seng Yew's 21st birthday, held at a nice cosy place in Chinatown called Global Sounds Cafe. It was a double celebration, with his friend Jon. But anyway, Seng got kind of drunk, and wasn't really himself that night. But I suppose it's when someone is drunk that they stop restraining themselves, and you get to see another side of them that you don't usually see. So the question is, Which is the real him? Most of us act in a certain manner not based on instinct, but based on what is acceptable by society. But perhaps it isn't such a bad thing. Humans are social creatures after all, and who wouldn't want to be recognized and welcome as a member of society?
Anyway, pictures (Yes, taken with my phone, but edited with Photoshop since the originals were too insufficiently lit.) from the party:
The photos look extremely "grainy" when viewed full size, due to the fact that they were taken when there wasn't enough light. Though it should be quite clear why everyone was commenting on Gervinn's hair. =X
And anyway, two days later, was Yichou's birthday chalet, at Aloha Loyang. We ended up playing Big 2 and Bridge for the most part. Picture (I only took one) below:
Not as many of us attended, since most of us were notified somewhat at the last minute. Anyway, that's basically the gist of what has happened over the past weeks. And now, onto the topic of this post.
Temperance. One of the cards in the major arcana of the tarot. I'm too lazy to try to find a picture of it to post here. But anyway, one of the key ideas behind Temperance is about balance. Finding the middle ground. Many of us fail to realize that in our lives, most things are not entirely black or white, but usually in shades of grey. What I mean is that, for example, most of us like to view things as either "good" or "bad". But most of the time, it's actually more of to what extent is the degree of good or bad.
So now, I'm in this phase of life where I question myself about qualities of a person's character. What triggered these thoughts, most importantly, was my view on being hardworking or lazy. It seems to me that there is only a thin line between a vice and a virtue in many cases. Of course, being lazy is definitely a vice. But when you become hardworking, and work towards your goals, does there come a point where the degree of being hardworking actually makes it more akin to being ambitious? Sure, everyone needs goals and ambitions in order to have something to work towards. But being overzealous when working towards ones ambitions is another thing altogether.
Sometimes when I want to chiong, I would pause to ask myself, To what extent should I be doing this? I don't want to end up losing myself. But I suppose, being at this young age that I am, there are still many things out there waiting for me to learn and experience. I've seen this quote in someone's nick on msn: Trying is the first step to failure. At first thought, that seemed to makes sense. But then the afterthought kicks in, and I believe this sums it up better: If you never try, you will never fail. But neither will you ever succeed.
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Anyway, quite a few things have happened since the last time I blogged. Firstly, I got a new phone, Samsung SOUL. I would say it's a nice phone overall, except that it lacks some features I would like, such as a dedicated 3.5mm audio jack, a Xenon flash for the camera, as well as WiFi connectivity. But at least I can snap pictures whenever I like now.
So, there was Seng Yew's 21st birthday, held at a nice cosy place in Chinatown called Global Sounds Cafe. It was a double celebration, with his friend Jon. But anyway, Seng got kind of drunk, and wasn't really himself that night. But I suppose it's when someone is drunk that they stop restraining themselves, and you get to see another side of them that you don't usually see. So the question is, Which is the real him? Most of us act in a certain manner not based on instinct, but based on what is acceptable by society. But perhaps it isn't such a bad thing. Humans are social creatures after all, and who wouldn't want to be recognized and welcome as a member of society?
Anyway, pictures (Yes, taken with my phone, but edited with Photoshop since the originals were too insufficiently lit.) from the party:
The photos look extremely "grainy" when viewed full size, due to the fact that they were taken when there wasn't enough light. Though it should be quite clear why everyone was commenting on Gervinn's hair. =X
And anyway, two days later, was Yichou's birthday chalet, at Aloha Loyang. We ended up playing Big 2 and Bridge for the most part. Picture (I only took one) below:
Not as many of us attended, since most of us were notified somewhat at the last minute. Anyway, that's basically the gist of what has happened over the past weeks. And now, onto the topic of this post.
Temperance. One of the cards in the major arcana of the tarot. I'm too lazy to try to find a picture of it to post here. But anyway, one of the key ideas behind Temperance is about balance. Finding the middle ground. Many of us fail to realize that in our lives, most things are not entirely black or white, but usually in shades of grey. What I mean is that, for example, most of us like to view things as either "good" or "bad". But most of the time, it's actually more of to what extent is the degree of good or bad.
So now, I'm in this phase of life where I question myself about qualities of a person's character. What triggered these thoughts, most importantly, was my view on being hardworking or lazy. It seems to me that there is only a thin line between a vice and a virtue in many cases. Of course, being lazy is definitely a vice. But when you become hardworking, and work towards your goals, does there come a point where the degree of being hardworking actually makes it more akin to being ambitious? Sure, everyone needs goals and ambitions in order to have something to work towards. But being overzealous when working towards ones ambitions is another thing altogether.
Sometimes when I want to chiong, I would pause to ask myself, To what extent should I be doing this? I don't want to end up losing myself. But I suppose, being at this young age that I am, there are still many things out there waiting for me to learn and experience. I've seen this quote in someone's nick on msn: Trying is the first step to failure. At first thought, that seemed to makes sense. But then the afterthought kicks in, and I believe this sums it up better: If you never try, you will never fail. But neither will you ever succeed.
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