Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2012

State of Mind

Have you ever second guessed yourself? Made a decision and wondered if it was the right one? Or spent more than necessary trying to come to a decision? I think people worry because they are comfortable with the status quo. The consequence of a decision is more or less unbeknownst to our current self. We're all afraid of losing what we have for what we could gain. Is the loss worth the gain? Will there be a gain? But alas! Sitting on our bums and worrying is not going to get anyone anywhere! Just make a decision based on your best judgement (or best instincts) and go for it! I believe that the gain will always be greater than the loss, you may just not realise it at the time.

Of course, I come across this quote just as I was about to start this entry.

Worry is imagination misplaced.

 

Monday, June 27, 2011

Flip of a Coin?

Due to forseen circumstances I have now come to a point where a new set of decisions will need to be made. Simply the 2 options are:

1. Study part-time for 1.5 years and work part-time at the same time.
Pros: $$$. I will have a much higher chance of actually passing and doing well on my courses. More time off to develop other skills which I am obviously missing because I still have no grad job!
Cons: Extending my degree by another year.

2. Suck it up for one more semester and graduate in December. Provided I haven't failed anything this semester.
Pros: Degree is not dragged for longer.
Cons: No sleep. High probability of failing. No job. No money.

As of this moment, I am going with option 1. Of course, that would depend on whether I failed anything this semester and also if I can find a job fairly quickly. I have another month to decide so definitely sleeping on this.

Inputs? Opinions?

If life hands you lemons, make lemonade. If people throw at you sticks and stones, play a new version of scissors, paper, rock. If something gets in your way, go around it.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Complex, Vast but Beautiful

I have a midterm in 1 day. I have procrastinated my entire 2 days away. As much as I try to focus on the imminent task, my heart and my mind is just not here. Firstly, it is incredibly frustrating that it's taking me so long to understand these concepts and all the equations I need. Secondly, I am so over studying these days. I am not interested in what we are learning, full stop. And right now it really is not a top priority of mine, as weird as that sounds.

I'm graduating at the end of this year. That means it's time to really contemplate what I should do once I graduate (provided I don't fail anything). I have given so much thought into this over the past year and even more so the last few months. There are just so many options out there: work, travel, volunteer, more study, start my own business? After rationally (fine, sometime irrationally) going through each option I have finally come to the conclusion that the only practical option I have at this point is to work. Which brings me back to my procrastination. Because I am always worrying about hearing back from companies, I am always thinking of back up plans in case I can't find a job. The problem is that I can't do anything about this anymore because I have finished sending in all my applications so now all I can do is worry. I know I really shouldn't let this get in my head but I really think the rest of my life depends on finding this first job. (Okay, a tad exaggeration but it feels like it does.)

But that is not what this post is supposed to be about. So during one of my (many) procrastination bouts, I decided to dust off the cobwebs on my blogging world. I caught up on some of the new posts that friends have posted during my absence. I have had a blog for many years now, I have always enjoyed writing blog posts. I have always loved reading other people's blog posts because I think it's such a great avenue to get to know that person on a different level. Some people express a sense of humour that they never show in person, others take the mickey out of everything, some contemplate life in a more serious way, and some use their blog as a way to raise awareness of issues they feel are important in the world. Whatever the purpose is, it is fascinating to see the thoughts that go on in each person's head. 

Today, reading all these blog posts, it made me realise (even though it's such an obvious thing) and appreciate just how different every person is, yet how we all have the same thoughts and go through the same emotions. I like that everyone has the same vulnerable thoughts about themselves, I like that we all appreciate the same small things in life and I like that we all have the same big (but different) futures we have painted for ourselves. I realised that we are all just trying to survive, trying to make our life that much better and that much more unique. It gives me life to see there is so much life out there. Nobody told us life was going to be cruisy, nobody said it will be sunshine everyday, and certainly nobody put in a definition of life that is has to predictable. So whatever you do (or don't do), just never forget to live.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

When 2 Souls Meet...

It's a beautiful thing. You talk, you laugh, you share stories. Then you get married and have children. Somewhere along the way, you get sick of each other. Suddenly flaws that you have never noticed before begin to creep into your attention, and it enlarges. You get mad and you yell at each other. Some couples resolve it, others try but can't, still others go on pretending it didn't happen.

I'm not sure which of the above categories my parents fall into, but I know which one they don't fall into. In fact, I'm not even sure if they even see each other. Maybe all they're seeing a version of each other that they have subconsciously built up over the years. A version that is the worst of each other. I know what I see. I see myself. I see them and I know they haven't changed in any way. I see myself now and I know I'm taking this differently to how I did a year ago.

I questioned myself many times over the past year. Even more so when I returned with a different mindset to the same situation. I wondered whether there were more that I could have done. Maybe there was. Now I just know that if I'm the only one trying to figure things out with reason rather than angst, I might as well not bother. I feel like this is a tug of war and I'm the string.

Am I wrong to be selfish? Am I wrong to let this go? I don't know. All I know is that with each passing day, I'm losing a shred of sanity.

Funny how one can learn to grow numb to the madness and block it away. I left the worst unsaid, let it all dissipate and I try to forget. But as I closed my eyes, steadied my feet on the ground, raised my head to the sky. And though time rolled by. Still I feel like that child as I look at the moon. Maybe I grew up a little too soon.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Just Another Day

Today was not exactly eventful but several small things made me extremely happy. One of those things was walking into a souvenir shop in San Francisco's Chinatown and hearing one of my favourite songs being played.

杨千嬅 的 笑中有淚

Can't say I can relate much to the lyrics but I loved the Music Box album by Miriam. Actually, that was the first Miriam album I ever owned. Neglected for years because I had the bias thought that Chinese music was much superior to English music. All this has changed now. I now listen to mostly Chinese music and a lot less English music. I figured a lot of it just comes down to habit.

I love Miriam for her outlook on life, and even more so her contradictions. It only proves she is human. She once said: 贏係贏自己,輸係輸自己。还有:生有限,活無限。其实千嬅有很多金句,很多都很实用,有起发性。

Another thing that I remembered today as I walked through the (HUGE) campus of Stanford was being told by Aereas that "you don't want to take bits and pieces from other people's thoughts, you want to create something of your own" when he was talking to me about what I should be doing for my research project. That sort of made me admit that I've been playing mix-and-match with a lot of the things I do. It's time to research and create my own.

And I've lost track on what the point of this entry was. Typical. Well, relating back to the title then, this was just another day in a foreign city with the same skeleton of thoughts but small adjustments are being made. I guess the message is, it doesn't matter where you are, who you are with, your thoughts are your own to temper with. As much as the environment is changing, if you don't want to change, nothing can change you. That is just an inherent stubbornness that all humans have.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Part Somewhere-In-Between: The Explanation, The Experiment

My original idea was to post in chronological order. I guess not anymore because there are things I need to say now.

In case you haven't noticed, there has been a slight change on my Facebook info. (Well, you know what they say, "it ain't official until it's on Facebook.") Hold on, before you start thinking "so she's doing this just for a Facebook status!?" No, I'm not. I wouldn't have put it up on Facebook but I figured that it'd make Knight happy and seeing as I've decided to make a commitment, I should perhaps put an effort into maintaining this relationship.

I think I put the everyone in a frenzy and probably rendered a few of you utterly speechless, literally. I'm pretty sure I put Knight's mind on a joyride too. I, on the other hand, was probably a little too calm about something this big. Both inside and out. You'll see why.

Some questions I know some of you are dying to have answered.

How?!
Yeah, I got that one like a gazillion times already (ignore the exaggeration because even though physically it wasn't a gazillion times, it feels like a gazillions times). Well I'm not quite sure how other people generally decide on these things, what happened certainly was not movie/drama-esque. Not even close. It's quite accurate to say that we had a talk and this is where we ended up.

Do I hear a request for details? T'was I who initiated this discussion. Within this discussion, which spanned 2 days (time difference, we didn't literally talk for 2 days straight), I asked him a lot of questions. Such as why he likes me, why he still likes me despite the numerous times I have turned him down, etc. These questions I received satisfactory answers for. Of course, he had questions for me too.

I have interacted with Knight enough to know that he's a good guy. He's nice to everyone. He also has qualities I hope to find in a guy, more specifically long term partner. At this stage, it's safe to say he is quite 专一, tick. Attention to detail, tick. High tolerance, tick. He knows how to cook, big tick. We also share some common interests. But some of his antics also annoy the shit out of me, although I found out recently where some of it comes from. He also lacks a few major qualities I'm looking for, I won't say what these are because I don't want to manipulate anyone to become my ideals.

I weighed the pros and cons, the pros won.

Why, why now?
That's a good question posed by Bonnie. Firstly, why. And this is where Santi and Ahmed comes in.

Santi, mi buen amigo! I don't think I ever told you this but to me, you're like a big brother I never :). Why did I come to talk to you about all that stuff? It just felt right. And I was surprised to see how open you were with me. Like you said, we are similar in many ways, especially the way we calculate our every step. Not to every minor detail, but just enough so we can roughly estimate where we're going to land. (Gosh, how I detest details, this is why I ain't ever going to be no scientist.)

Then you told me about the game. The game of life. The steps you've taken, the observations you saw. At the time, I only agreed with some of your propositions. I have long toyed with the idea that life is just a game. Despite that, I still clung tightly to the idea that life is not a game so I never let myself go fully. You, however, entered the game yourself, but portraying many characters which provoke certain events to occur within a situation. I never had the courage to take that step, until now. I'm very conscious of what others see me as and what their expectations are of me.

This is where "The Fuckin' Terrorist" aka Ahmed enters the story (don't worry, you were always in the story, just sidelining until the perfect moment :P). First stop, Seaworld. Man, you had me in confusion that whole freakin' day! Your confrontations were nothing short of intimidating (as were your straight-forwardness). But I'm glad for them because you pushed for specificity, something that I never bother with. You dug deeper and deeper, that much deeper than anyone else, in fact, that you also got some surprising results. (And you better keep them private too.) Next stop, the mall! I couldn't believe you actually took me there to "repackage" me. I ain't quite as monotonous as you think but still, I agree with a need for change, and I am changing. I've been wearing them tank tops and skinny jeans (no matter how uncomfortable they are! :P). Oh and you'd be glad to know that your getting together with S also contributed to my decision.

In addition, I believe I met someone who was very successful in forging meaningful relationships - Jezli. No, never too much credit because I'm making up for the lack of credit that you give yourself.(So why are you so militantly harsh on yourself? Where is all this self pressure coming from?)

I was impressed/in awe with the company you kept and hence asked you to blog about the "relationships" topic, hoping I could learn something handy. Then in one of your posts with the letter, I was struck at how familiar that situation sounded, eventually I realised that I am in that situation too! Except role reversal, I was the ignorant one. This made me reassess my situation. I figured that I wasn't completely oblivious to all that the other party feels, I just decided to ignore it because I didn't quite know how to handle it.

I don't know, I still think you should send that letter because otherwise you would never know. You might still not know the answer even if you sent it, but at least you tried. (By the way, apologies again for not living up to expectations, I don't deal well with expectations.)

So after I met these enlighteners, I decided it was time to do something. Something drastic. Something totally unexpected. (I still did my calculations though.) I was/am extremely curious to see how people will react, how I will react and where this will lead.

Open relationship?
What this genrally entails is that either party is still free to seek out other potential partners. Actually, Knight thought an "open relationship" was revealing the relationship to the public as opposed to a "relationship" where it's just the two of us that knows. Sorry Knight, definitely weren't on the same page with this one. He says he won't be on the lookout and hopes that I do the same, sorry mate, that is something that I definitely cannot guarantee. So now I've decided to change my definition of an "open relationship" to open to interpretations. Also, I'm not sure how this will turn out so 1) I don't want to fully commit myself until I can sense what it's headed; and 2) because of the previous reason, I don't want to give you too much false hope yet again.

~~~

This probably sounds like a game to you, and you know what? I ain't going to lie, it is a game. I am in this as a player, and I am going to play until I figure out what I want to do. I may lose respect from some people, I will most likely hurt the feelings of some, but I will not stop playing because of that. This time, I'm going to play, make mistakes, not care (too much) about the consequences of these mistakes and stop only when I have verified all that I need verifications for. Unfortunately, I learn things that much better by doing and faulting.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

I. The Ironies of Life

I have always thought life was ironic, especially mine.

I don't know where to start. I have grown into the habit of writing and thinking of everything in an abstract way. It takes less energy that way (since for a given system it is thermodynamically favourable for entropy to increase). Ironically, I dislike it when I am the one who has to piece the bits together.

I have also grown into the habit of disguising everything I feel in one way or another. Subtlety is perhaps my fondest tool. What's ironic is that I can never pick up subtlety from someone else so I don't like it when people are being subtle to me.

Do you know what else is ironic? The dislike I have of being stuck in the middle. Yet my favourite number is 5, smack bang halfway between 0 and 10. Every opinion I give, it has always been mid-range, not bad, not great, it's good. But I have learnt that being in the middle has its advantage - you can see both sides equally well.

I have a strong belief in being free. But over the years, I have subconsciously developed rules that I have placed on myself and those around me. I remember vowing to always, always have an open mind in every situation, but the social norms I follow, the cultural traditions that I obey, the rules that I have set for my sister for what I believe will make her “better” in my opinion are a contradiction to that very belief.

Let me share this angry little statement I wrote at 2:21am this morning (try 4 weeks ago, now 2 months ago??) while trying to find the 'off' button to my brain.

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It's ironic how I've made the same mistake I have recognised as the ultimate culprit in an everlasting issue.

As much as I love subtlety, I believe some things need to be said out loud, loud and clear. Silence will only perpetuate the problem.

You gave me a shovel, did you expect me to just hold it in my hands for decorations' sake? Yes Knight, I am talking to you and I know you were referring to me in your blog as "someone". Excuse my utter stupidity but I didn't quite realise you still felt that way about me because I can't f***in' read people's minds, especially when they're 15,000km away on the other half of the globe.

I take complete absolute blame on everything that has gone wrong in my life, including this. But you know what I've learnt over the years? It takes two hands to clap.
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That was 2 months ago. I was rather pissed off that night and lack of sleep probably didn’t help. Still, I think anger makes for honesty about things I usually wouldn’t be honest about. Let’s be open here.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Things I Should've Retained That I Did Not

Such as whether or not I can extend my J-1 visa while in the U.S.. (<-- How do I punctuate that?) I probably should've listened to the dude from the consulate that came and talked to us about our visas. Didn't pay much attention to the visa extension part at the time because I didn't think I'd be staying longer. Ha, how wrong was I. (As usual.)

Apparently I can stay in America for the rest of summer plus next quarter with just a DS-2019 form... I am very skeptical about that since the I-Centre has already given me wrong information more than once before. And apparently I cannot obtain a new visa or a visa extension while I'm still in America. This is going to be interesting if it turns out that I do need a visa.

Also, I am leaving the country and coming back a few days before my visa expires. I hope I can get back in or else I'll be a very angry person ready to punch someone in the face real hard.

Perhaps I should've also listened to the teacher when she told us to read this document online because it turns out that there were 5 questions on that document in the exam. Smart one, dumb one.



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Edit: Why do I remember nothing from Matlab either?!!