I have been a fan of BBC’s Doctor Who series since secondary school days – I think I started with Tom Baker’s Doctor, during ABC’s re-runs of the series!? This was long before the current revival (started in 2005). Naturally I was a little sad to learn of Elizabeth Sladen’s sudden death back in the middle of last year. Here’s a nice tribute series of videos from BBC.
Today
Today of all days is this quote highly relevant. Sometimes we concern ourselves too much with lofty goals, imaginary problems, and overlook the obvious, the present. Without the “now” there will be no plenty of “tomorrow’s” to come.
“You think this is just another day in your life. It’s not just another day – it’s the one day that is given to you, today. It’s given to you, it’s a gift. It’s the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life, and the very last day, then you would have spent this day very well.”
Louie Schwartzberg
American Director and Producer
Worry
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (Dutch Christian, who with her father and other family members helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II.)
Internalising death
Just finished reading the book Lament for a son. In fact, I had actually skimmed over A grief observed by C. S. Lewis a while back and was looking for similar accounts of people living through a loss of some form. I guess, after seeing my pet bunny die a week ago, I was simply looking for some insights on how to deal with the situation. Even though he had only been with me for less than 6 months, my heart ached seeing him take his last breaths in my arms…
Lament for a son was written by a father who had lost his son in a mountain-climbing accident; he was only 25 at the time. This book contained thoughts as the father tried to deal with his internal turmoil, trying the best he could to resolve the apparent contradictions between his faith and the pain of losing his son before his life had started properly. Why does God allow such suffering? All the things left undone, unsaid. Reading the words, one cannot help but feel the anguish and pain of a father, but, towards the end, also hopes of a new beginning.
While reading, I was intrigued that the author, a devout Christian, essentially came to a similar conclusion as what many budhists take for granted*.
“We are one in suffering. Some are wealthy, some bright; some athletic, some admire. But we all suffer. For we all prize and love… Suffering is for the loving. If I hadn’t loved him, there wouldn’t be this agony.
…In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer.”
Perhaps, it is only though deaths (or similar tragic/traumatic incidents) will we have our faiths challenged, and maybe transcend ourselves – otherwise, as the author put it, the death was all for “nothing”.
* Although Christianity and Budhism diverge in how they treat this conclusion. Budha talked about escaping from the endless cycle of suffering…
Passing of a visionary
Yesterday was a day of sad news. It was the day when I read about the death of Steve Jobs, the main creative force behind the rejuvenated Apple (since he was brought back in 1997). He doesn’t know me and I have never had the privilege to meet him in person. However, love him or hate him (and there are plenty of those people, with a passion!), his company’s products – and some would say the results of his single-minded vision – have defined and continue to define much of the consumer technological landscape of the last decade to the present day. Ask someone what is an MP3 player, you’d probably either get a blank stare or iPod as an answer. When you are used as a benchmark (say, iPhone, iTunes, iPad) by all your competitors, you are on to something surely!?
Here is Jobs at the famous Stanford commencement address. As some people have commented, his passing – at such a young age too, I might add – seems to have triggered some form of self-examination: have we done enough with our god-given talents, with our lives?
Rest in peace, Steve.
Growth and change
Life is about growth and change. When you are no longer doing that — that is your whisper; that is your whisper that you are supposed to do something else.
Oprah Winfrey
American TV Host, Businesswoman and Philanthropist
Home NAS
Tossing up between choosing FreeNAS, Ubuntu server or Openfiler as choice of OS for my home network storage…
Riots and human dignity
We can probably analyse to death the social causes for the riots going on in Britain. However, personally I think there are no excuses for the disgrace taking place right now. Maybe there are lots of repressed frustrations, inequalities, blah-blah-blah…, at the end of the day each one of us needs to answer to our own actions – are we fighting for a cause or just satisfying our impulse for destruction and greed?
I am utterly impressed by the brave actions of this lady – seeing that innocent by-standers have been robbed or beaten up during the past few days of riots too.
Waiting game
“If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer. Every moment is the most important moment of your life. No future time is better than now to let down your guard and love.”
David Deida
American Author and Teacher
Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood
Just finished the main storyline of Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood early this morning. This is really the game to lose some sleep over!
Although the story of the Assassin’s Creed dates back to 2007, I only discovered this wonderful game mid-last year when I bought a PS3, together with Assasin’s Creed II (which by the way is head and shoulders better than the original, although it was quite a hit during its time too). After seeing the improvements made in Brotherhood, as well as trailers and gameplay presented at this year’s E3 (in the embedded clip), can’t wait untill the next edition, Revelations, comes out in November when the Ezio (and possibly Desmond ) saga will come to a glorious conclusion. Incidentally Uncharted 3 – another favourite of mine on PS3 – is slated for a November release too!