Two Bad Bricks

Two bad bricks, a story by Ajahn Brahm (AB), which is rather powerful to remember when dealing with perfection and guilt (at least it keeps coming back into my mind). As a monk AB built his first brick wall. When he finished, he noticed that all the other bricks were nicely in line, but there were two which we inclined at an angle. "They looked terrible. They spoiled the whole wall. They ruined it."

AB wanted to knock the wall down and start over again, or even better, blow it up. The abbot said no, the wall had to stay.

When he showed vistors around the fledgling monastry, he always tried to avoid taking them past the brick wall. He hated anyone seeing it. But one day, a visitor saw the wall and remarked casually "That's a nice wall".

AB replied in surprise "Sir, have you left your glasses in your car or are visually imparied? Can't you see those two bad bricks which spoil the whole wall?" The visitor's reply changed his whole view of the wall, of himself, and of many other aspects of his life. He said, "Yes. I can see those two bad bricks. But I can also see the 998 good bricks as well."

AB was stunned. For the first time, he could see other bricks in that wall apart from the other two mistakes. Above, below, to the left and to the right of the bad bricks were good, perfect bricks. Moreover, the perfect bricks were many, many more than the two bad bricks. Before, his eyes would focus exclusively on the two mistakes; and was blind to everything else. Now that he could see the good bricks, the wall didnt look so bad after all.

AB: How many people end a relationship or get divorced because all they can see in their partner are "two bad bricks"? How many of us become depressed or even contemplate suicide because all we can see in ourselves are "two bad bricks"?

We've all got our two bad bricks, but the perfect bricks in each one of us are much, much more than the mistakes.

So, are you a bad wall deserving destruction? Or are you a good wall with a couple of bad bricks, just like the rest of us?

09-12-07: 23

Again in Singapore, we felt the tremors. The panic was experienced on 9/12/07, three times on 9/13/07 and the last one on 9/20/07.

On those days, if you rushed home and glued yourself to the news channel, you would read about how office buildings were evacuated (I personally ran down 16 flights of stairs on 9/12 evening), how Singaporeans posted their videos, of the fish tank water sloshing or how their lights were swaying from the Indonesia quake tremors. Locals started discussing if our buildings and infrastructure are safe enough to withstand tremours from our neighbour in Indonesia. Afterall Singapore is supposed to be in an earthquake free zone.

09-12-07: These are not lucky numbers. This is the date where the first (8.4 magnitude) series of major earthquakes striked Indonesia's Sumatra. The world's largest earthquake in more than two years has not only spurred volcanic activity near the epicenter, but reported to increase the risk of another major tremblor occuring in the region (Bloomberg).

23: That is not just today's date; but the death toll to-date in Indonesia. Adding on, more than 15,000 buildings collapsed or were damanged, and 88 wounded in Indonesia.

While we were panicking to remember how vulnerable we can be by being affected by our neighbouring country, let us not forget about mankind being directly impacted where the earthquake striked.

Not implying that Singaporeans should not panic because of what happened. If tremors could throw us of the ground, lets not forget the real loss of lives.

After all, the well-being of a group of individuals is more important than that of one single individual.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend!!

Above picture is taken from Karuizawa, Japan in Autumn 2006..

This Saturday I had an interesting encounter at the jewellery shop. My bf and I were looking at some pieces when a young and loving couple walked in choosing wedding bands. They were very loving until the salesperson somehow placed a S$26,000 diamond on me. Of course we were not going to buy it. However from her perspective, it looked like the guy beside me was buying me the S$26,000 one carat.

Interestingly, the loving mood for them quickly disappeared. She was slouching and sulking while the boy beside her tried to cheer her and manage the loving mood that disappeared as soon as the grandeur diamond surfaced. Whoever said that the size of the diamond correlates to love? But that is what the jewelley industry says, that was how the significance of diamond becomes important in a relationship, and that was what couples who just started earning their income believed, so that was how some couples correlates the brilliance of the rock to their relationship.

Come on Girls!!?

Vacations Rock!

This time it is going to happen - NYC. Ditching the two weeks Europe trip, as my sister seemed more committed to planning her reporting deadlines (way to go audit, you got yourself a faithful fan!)

My favourite vacation plans were usually targeted towards a non-city destination, as most of my photos around here would show. However, the choice this time is very different - more of human factors than destination driven. I am travelling with my good friend from Tokyo, and to visit a good friend I met in Tokyo now working in NYC. I also want to visit my first boss in Tokyo who has now relocated back to NYC...isnt the world very much inter-connected?

Having a better work life balance now, I wonder if this is really what I want. Life becomes stable, domestic and less exciting. Been spending my evenings in front of the television before I go to bed. Can my time be better enriched?