Monthly Archives: June 2009
The Tao Character
A few spottings of the “Tao” character while I was in Hong Kong. The word is somewhat ubiquitous, since it can mean “road”, “path”, or “way”, and so marks road signs everywhere. This is the same character that I got tattooed on my right wrist.
It’s interesting to see how different Chinese characters can look, whether they’re engraved, painted, written, or stamped.
Surrounding Myself With Great People
It’s hard for me to hang out with people with same bad habits as I have (or have had).
Habits like:
- overreacting
- worrying
- analyzing or thinking too much
- being judgmental
- getting emotionally involved in arguments/discussions
- putting value in material things
- being impatient
- getting too competitive
I always try to improve and refuse to accept these things in myself, so it’s hard for me to accept them in others. I’m also afraid that spending too much time with them would make me complacent, as I’d start to believe that these things are acceptable because other people are okay with it.
That’s why I surround myself with people who are better than me.
Saying Goodbye to Frederic and Misun
They’re in France now, and I feel like a part of me is missing. I know they aren’t gone forever, but they’re so far away that I can’t just drive over to their house on a whim to talk anymore. They were people who really understood me, who introduced me to so much of the world, who inspired me, who gave me confidence.
Before getting on the bus to Montreal, Frédéric told me that we’ll go on lots of adventures together. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Amnesiac Epiphanies
It seems like every weekend I make plans, because I think “I haven’t seen this person in a while and I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to hang out with them again.” But it doesn’t seem to stop, because there’s always another person to see, another thing to do, and by the time I’ve caught up with the last friend, it’s been months since I saw the first friend again.
This is the first weekend that I’ve had free. I just played Black and White 2 for five hours, and it feels good, considering that I haven’t really played a game in a while, let alone be able to lose myself in one. It’s like I don’t get a chance to relax for more than 45 minutes at a time before I’m off doing something else.
A lot of my older co-workers tell me they don’t even have time to relax on the weekends. It’s one of those things that comes with having kids, having a house, having a full-time job. Is this what being an adult is about? Not that I mind; for a while now, I’ve wanted to be this busy so I could forget about things, to move on.
And then, I realized that I have.