Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category

The Lazarus Effect

Pause. Think. Do something.

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The Road

So, I was thinking about energy saving bulbs. Then I took a shower. After shower, I paced slowly to the kitchen, turned the tap and filled a bottle of water. At that moment, I was thinking about my parents.

Menu. Subtitles. Play.

For a minute or two I was wondering if the audio was ‘on’. This movie starts with no sound. Well, you’d expect a score – a background score of sorts. Well, score one! No score. So I sit in silent concentration. I moved from my bed, about 7 feet away – to my desk chair, about a feet away from the screen on which The Road plays. I’m glad I did that; and did that quite early in the show.

So the story unfolds. The movie… is intimate. Fearful. Captivating. Hopeful. Redemptive.

Reflective. Urgent. Profound.

Re-Creativity

I’ve been in a pretty pensive state lately about creativity and its applications, namely in the realm of communicating abstracts, like faith. Without tactile sensations, nor proof of existence – the creative outlet is underrated and under-understood, especially when called upon to bridge that gap. Here’s a compilation of thoughts that resonates with me. I think I’ve found a natural frequency to my raison d’etre… Enough to know how to propel. Enough to doubt (maybe even despise?) convention. Enough to hope.

When it comes to creating things (and things of art). It’s usually manageable when it’s purely a functional object. We cannot not care about being eco-friendly. We need pieces of innovation to represent the character and creeds of its creator. When that happens, one has to stop and rethink ye old method of production. Economics is secondary. Risk follows change. Yet, it is needed. For “when you see an object, you make so many assumptions about that object in seconds.” If perception is intrinsic, then explanations become plan B. The creative work itself, needs to be persuasive. We need to meta-design. Watch this.

I’ve stumbled upon a film about the change in production, distribution and consumption of creative works. “A new generation of global creators and artists is emerging, equipped with other points of reference and other tools. The teachers arenʼt certified schools anymore – itʼs web sites, discussion forums and a “learn by doing”-mentality. We see the children of a digital age, unspoiled or uneducated depending on who you ask. Collaboration over hierarchy, digital over analog – a change in the way we produce, distribute and consume creative works.” More about the film here Press Pause Play. Meanwhile, here’s the teaser…

(Appended on 8 July)
And then, here’s proof… Natalie of Community Channel speaking at Ideacity…

And some time ago, I found Elizabeth Gilbert on TED. She “muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses – and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person ‘being’ a genius, all of us ‘have’ a genius.”

Sometimes, we need to defy physics. Don’t we? Some time ago, ‘fact’ was that the earth was flat. Till they discovered otherwise. Curiosity. Doubt, a precursor of faith. I think we need to be child-like (as opposed to being childish). We could all use some Peter Pan moments, flying into the open sky. (Where’s Tinkerbell?) Away we go into Never-Never-Land. Here… watch Sigur Rós’ depiction of the said concept:

Creativity could also take strides in making a difference in society. And this, we need more and more and more…

Check out Favela Paintings…

We could all use some peace don’t we. I’m so gonna make some Peace-In-a-Boxes too. The idea is to give it away.

And there are times when creation meets creator, in perfect creativity… it’s like, “my hands they float up above me, and you whisper you love me. And I begin to fade into our secret place. The music makes me sway. The angels singing say we are alone with you. I am alone and they are too with you. I’m still alive…”

Do you not see the beauty that is? It’s everywhere. May we not be stuck in yesterday’s Flatland. Transcend. Avant. Like, “when we’re still holding on to how things were, our arms aren’t free to embrace today,” -Rob Bell.

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” -Albert Einstein.

I suppose I’m just recording fleeting moments of creative. Creativity, like faith, is intangible, but attainable. I experience, I art, I believe, I live – in no specific order.

Masel tov.

Departures

Can’t watch this enough. If I have you describe how I feel about the movie, I’ll bring you to a garden, or a beach or a river… And I’ll hand you a stone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departures_(film)

Idealists… Freedom Beckons

I just read something I typed on November 18, 2008 – but never published. Wow. It goes like this…

Today I deliberate on the meaning of freedom. Human rights. Basic needs. And the cost of freedom.

I quote from Micheal Moore’s 5 Nov Letter on President-Elect Obama’s win:

“We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, “gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?” Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We’ve entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.”

Failure, Empathy & the Imagination

J.K. Rowling speaks. Listen to eloquence, rhyme and profundity.

Something about tens

It seems, this year’s throwing the ‘tens’ around. At least at me.

A few hours ago, before midnight – I played the song “All Around Me” by Flyleaf for the 100th time. Slightly over a week ago, I tweeted my 1001th tweet. This year also marks the 10th year of leaving secondary school. A significant milestone 2010 will be to to me. And the fascination with these ones and zeros will continue to be.

You’re Not Alone

Japanese Perfection

Watched The Ramen Girl again today – in it’s entirety. The last I watched, I probably missed the beginning scenes. Anyway, it seems more evident, that there is something uniquely tranquil and mystical about the Japanese way of doing things. Maybe its got something to do with the tension of environments they are forced into – the hustle and bustle of urban modernity meets/versus solitary nature, green, zen, soul.

Spoke to a friend or two about my fascination with Hakagure – The Art of the Samurai. The artistry is oh so… meaningful. The mind wonders about this pursuit of perfection = pursuit of meaning to life.

I am also reminded of Departures – the movie. Meaning of life found, in the ceremonial preparation of the dead – for those that are mourning.

Then some days earlier, I watched Paris, Je T’aime – this film, is about finding love.

Profound, all these films are.

Waking Life

So I stepped into this Neo world, whose skin is mist covering iridescent pearl.
I catch a glimpse of this shimmery thing, the star hanging on this rear-view mirror;
reminiscent of Orion’s constellation just moments earlier;
when the sky was clear and clouds not seen, I stare in admiration as stars do inspire.

Watched Waking Life for the second time, on the second day. Again, I feel so much awe. Life is… now. It is also eternal. It is also momentary. Time, is like an elastic ozone of permissive life – of continuous opportunities to exasperate and extricate an affirmative ‘yes’ to the question of being ‘one’ – with eternity, of finding immortality.

The most profound, verbose, discourse of existential psychology and the memento of dreams; capturing in lucid transcendence – the human attempt to understand and tame it.

The Man Dies

The names of the actors are rolling-in but the lights are still dimmed. Usually by now they would have it all turned on, but I really didn’t want them to. So I sat up straight and leaned forward, elbows on the backrest of the seat in front of me, chin on them, and eyes glued to the silver screen – trying to appreciate what I just watched for the last two hours.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife“, it reads. A few seconds after – therein, the credits of movie makers start to appear. Then the lights come on. By now I was seating back trying to truly grasp all that was – the movie.

It is good! It’s not just a love story, I feel. It’s about time, love, and loss. It’s about the need to live the now – for later. And time, being transient, ephemeral and fleeting – is merciless. And we, it’s occupants, are bound. Therefore, we – time-bound-beings, need to make full use of it’s linear ‘dimension-ality’. Our occupation in this very moment, counts for the very essence of existence. Even so, time is also fateful. Things happen for a reason. And one day, I’ll find out why. Also I belief divinity sees time in multi-dimensions, hence having full knowledge of the past, present and future – and IS at it’s helm. So the probing question for self analysis is – am I existing now, if I choose to not to anything now? Anything substantial that is. I suppose there must be some sort of philosophical branch that wrecks-brains about these kinds of questions. The existentialists maybe? We all have a choice nevertheless; to be & live in the now/there. To dasein. I hope I choose to live the now – for the right kinda tomorrow. Choose right, do right and not be needing to wish I could correct my could-have-been-right last nights.

Anyway… Audrey Niffenegger and Robert Schwentke, author and director of the film respectively, deserves kudos. I wish I could write, and tell stories and record them in motion and light and pass them on so vividly and brilliantly as they do. Ahh. Art. I love thee.

So while gathering my thoughts, I recall watching a few other films, nights before and I’m starting to see a striking connection about these films. Today I watched The Time Traveler’s Wife. A couple of days back, I watched Namesake. Several days before that I watched Romeo & Juliet (the Baz Luhrmann adaptation). And then a while back, I remember watching Partition (the one with Kristin Kreuk). Common denominating factor; the protagonist husband, dies. Fortunately, between Romeo & Juliet and Namesake, I watched City of Angels – this time, well, unfortunately – the lady dies. Yet I love all of these movies. It teaches you something about life. I learn from The Time Traveler’s Wife – that, well, maybe you’ll one day get propose to a girl who’ll know how to joke and say ‘no’ just to express freewill but not really mean it. And that’s dandy In Romeo & Juliet, one wishes to have poetry in life – in some sort of nu-Shakespearean kinda way. And not to swear on the moons and the stars, but to ’swear’ on thy self for I art my fair-lady’s imagery of god (heavy paraphrasing here). In Partition, one wishes that the world unites in one-ness and seeks peace, in all matters of culture, religion and what-nots. Let bygones be bygones, and let not a foolish family feud be one that is passed on to generations to come. The latter resounds true for Romeo and Juliet as well. It is sad that where humanity fails, there comes saving grace in the form of a story of heaven finding means to kill discord’s loves with lost. And in City of Angels – one deeply appreciates the palatable texture of eating a pear.

I also like the end titles of The Time Traveler’s Wife. It is by a mnemonically apt person named Scarlet Letters. Such simple fusing of fine music along with a kaleidoscopic bokeh of lights – lovely.

So leave me dear blog-post, to my bewilderment and I bid thee good morrow. For it’s fast approaching dawn and I am intent and making today/tonight/tomorrow count for time-eternal post-haste.

Next thing to read, Odysseus (by Homer) – it’s in the iPhone waiting to be read. The story’s similar to this movie’s love/loss/time theme sorta thingy. But it’ll have to wait, my bookish retreat is in the form of Alice in Wonderland for now.

I Love Dreams (& Soft-Toys)

I absolutely love dreaming. Makes sleeping-time worth the sleep. There’s something about having no worries, ‘living out’ utter randomness. God’s ‘creativity’ is so ‘perfect’ in this world. I pray every day that I dream dreams that are meaningful, wonderful, awe-inspiring. But if utter randomness, and imbalanced-body-clock-bad-body-chemistry takes over, and bad dreams appear – it’s nothing to cry about. In that state of semi-consciousness, I’ve realized that I can sometimes dictate where my dream takes me. Yet if I can’t, and if I wake in the midst of a bad one, I stop, I say a pray, then I give it a few moments to let it sink in me-now-slightly-more-conscious state of mind, then I get back to sleep – now I try to ‘press’ the resume button on the upper-middle-quadrant of the right hemisphere of ze’ brain… Okay, maybe that’s just an attempt at subjugation. But if I do continue where I left off – what better time than now, to correct it Otherwise, it’s time to move on to your next dream (given we’re in the next REM cycle).

Thank you Lord for dreams, they make no-sense sometimes, but one can hope that it makes more sense than the senseless world we sometimes live in. Help me appreciate the life you’ve given me and the opportunity for rest. Although I wish for a longer state of dreaming, I know I have to do the things I have to do in the non-dreaming world. May you then, speak to me when I do dream. Coz that’s like the only time, my mind doesn’t get in the way of things you want to say to me. Or I hope so. So speak to me like you did to Nebuchadnezzar, just don’t make me wonder too much. Maybe, make me understand dreams like Daniel. May I dream, then live and live in full abundance because I’ve dreamt, and in that dream, you spoke to me. Told me things, and shown me greater things. Bless the days, and more so the nights. Thank you for the power of the mind, and also the powerless mind when it comes to orienteering dreams. In our dreams, we’re all the same. We are all wanting, all needing, all seeking, all fearful. So take over MY mind, my dreams, and make it whole. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And o I love the very-old-fur-flattened-puppy-with-a-belly-named-’puppy’ that’s sleeping next to me when I go to bed. He’s a representation of motherly love, and innocence. I think mum bought me that when I was like… 10? O my.

I wrote another post a long time ago on Dreams.

Watch: What dreams may come, featuring Robin Williams

Read about man’s attempt at dream interpretation mostly of the Freud kind. Then read a lil about Daniel’s interpretation.

Cool Ideas

Creativity is the verve of the universe. It is divine, thriving, undying.

The account of Genesis 1:16-18 records, “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good…”

May I seek Thee. Fix my gaze, lest I fall prey to mundanity. Inspire me, revoke me, muse me, lead me. In my designs, may I draw closely to You who IS creativity, my ethereality.

(Post writing… I sound so evanescence now. Hmm.)

Virtuality

This is so surreal, yet not lacking in any visceral sentiment. It is deeply felt.

O how I wish I could create, correct, colour, rehabilitate certain aspects of my life – past and present and future. I wonder about choice and the arbitrary decisions we make daily. I think of the realm I am living in, and however it may seem – bleak or vivid, surely serves a greater purpose of rehabilitation – to an ideal state of conscience and being. May I choose that which brings me closer to that Ideal.

I see myself being attracted to both characters – their desires and their needs. I relate as much to him – creating, in the hope and need to save; as much as I relate to her, in the helplessness and reliance of some being, that is greater than this limiting dimension of which I happen to be living in. I think I tarry being in a coma more than I am being a creator. I am crawling in a dimension, navigating my way through paths in hopes to actualize and be mesmerized by the creator of the flower, than the flower in itself. But thank you for flowers nonetheless.

In the lives of others, I wish to be like the creator, or at the very least – a semblance of colour. In the lives of others, I hope I spill colours – colours of one refined palate that is so vivid, you cannot not find life in that which is coloured. I hope the things that I touch, model and make take on colours that carry a saturation and vigor that is enough to rouse the living dead. Yet, to rouse is not my doing. I should only colour and colour well. Or maybe, I should colour myself enough, so that the very things that I touch, be coloured by touch, rather than a brush.

O how I rhyme Selah.

This I sign, May I, may You – have I to colour and be alive.

One Must

There comes a time, when one must do what he must.
Now, there is much to do – one prays for sustenance.
Yet he wishes to evanesce.

Linger on, he shall. He could. But surpass lingering, he must.
Yet I, alone cannot. So he submits, for it is not his will, but His.
And He, through Him and by Him all things are as it should be.
I think.

Therefore I am.

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