Cheers (I’ll Drink to That)*

When there is noise, and it is time to watch your back, it is not easy to judge those around you. Support can be a fleeting and changeable thing. But I am grateful for the simple and un-obligatory gestures– a suitcase dragged across apartment blocks, a head’s up over a bowl of noodles. The time spent to lend an ear, share experience, and give sincere advice. I am typically detached, and did not think of these things as important, but I have learnt that they are. Thank goodness, there are things to be thankful for in rubbish situations. *almost Rihanna

Big Pictures

You know – the earthquake in Japan, which caused the lives of over 10,000 people, destroyed homes, belongings and whole families, also resulted in the Earth spinning faster- by a grand total of 0.0000018 seconds. Imagine – in the big picture of the planet, something that massive only caused that minute an effect.

But imagine also, the impact of such devastation on each individual who is (no pun intended) on eye-level with the storm – this is probably the worst thing that could happen to you.

It is maybe the same for every person who dies in a war and their families, or anyone who at some point realised we are all cogs in a very, very, big machine.

Well guess what, what a special cog we each are, even if only to ourselves and the lives we touch. Perhaps the idea is to aspire towards the biggest picture we can have of ourselves, and keep in mind that despite all, it is still part of a bigger picture out there. It will be okay, and if it isn’t, there is room to make it better.

Maya Angelou also said

''I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands, you need to be able to throw something back".

I like the Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong. There, you worship both the God of Culture and the Martial God. Which makes sense because sometimes, even the most civil must fight. So if fight we must, may we have guidance that it be in the highest order of ways.

Perhaps I'm a little serious but...

These days, I discovered that people do a lot to get to know one another. And it seems that there are no rules, except those in your head. A boy on vacation hooks up with a stewardess on a flight in from somewhere, and tries to convince her to fly out to see him at home the next week. A girl calls a married colleague in the middle of the night to complain about a date he recommended which didn’t work out.

Increasingly, boundaries are set only by the two people in a connection with each other. And because boundaries are set independent of any norms, so is the definition of overstepping them. Forget then right and wrong, these become even grayer.

Perhaps, the only constant is that every connection between two people is a balance of power. And the idea is to keep the upper hand to protect, or win the things that personally matter. Even in relationships where there is love, faith, and trust? Maybe, I don’t know.

As for things getting out of hand, I also don’t know. Perhaps “Laissez faire et laissez passer” (let do, and let pass)* is already the inevitable. I’d like to think "Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui même!" (let do, and let pass, the world goes on by itself!)* is more reassuring, there is a feeling that there will always be some correction or adjustment to balance, down the road. Still, this is scary stuff.

*Wikipedia