Retract, Retreat, and Refuel

Take a 360 degree look at your surroundings and you will notice that we are bombarded by all these advertisements and articles which promise one ultimate thing:instant gratification. We are being taught to get everything in a split of a second, from losing 7 lbs in a week under the tutelage of Jennifer Aniston to getting an instant healing under the miraculous power of Benny Hinn.

Yes, we want everything now, and it has to be now. Why? Because we are told to be hurry, to follow the world's accelerating pace. I think it is just about time when one-minute microwavable food is not fast enough, and waiting 1.02 second for Google to display its search is a waste of time.

In contrary to the contemporary culture, The Bible teaches a very opposite approach. We frequently heard the exclamation "Hurry Up!", but The Bible tells us to slow down and be still in the Lord. When all the instant messages, email, text keep us occupied, The Bible urges us to slow down and reflect. The Bible teaches a very aberrant approach: retract, retreat and refuel. Retract from the noisy culture, Retreat to a quiet place, and Refuel your spiritual tank.


And with regard to that, I found the prayer of St Anselm to be profound and relevant, especially in times like this when people have to learn that is is okay to press the "esc" button, or it is even highly recommended to shut down your computer, your ipod, your blackberry, facebook notification to escape for a moment and listen to the voice of God.

Come now, little man, turn aside

for a little while from your daily employment,

escape for a moment

from the tumult of your thoughts

Put aside your weighty cares,

let your burdensome distractions wait,

free yourself awhile for God,

and rest awhile in Him.

Enter the inner chamber of your soul

shut out everything except God

and that which can help you in seeking Him,

and when you have shut the door, seek Him.

Now my whole heart, say to God,

"I seek your face,

Lord it is your face I seek."

St Anselm

The Untypical Birthday Greetings

A typical birthday greetings, anywhere in the world, contain the platitude "have a blast" or "wish you all the best" kind of happy smiley hopeful messages. Yes, people should share happiness on that special day; birds are singing, trees are dancing, and the universe joins in that joyous chime of festivity.

However, that was not the case for my birthday this year. As I learned about my mom's malady a day before I am entering the age 23 demographic, there was really not much to be happy for. Thus, it is interesting to note how the birthday messages that I got from my friends this year deviate from the normal common greetings.

Mostly taken from The Bible, all these messages brought comfort and console to my weary and chaotic heart. They do not hope for 'my wishes to come true' nor for me to smile 'on this special day', but they do promise strength and hope during this specific times of trouble. I found these to be profound and timely, and I can't help not to share these blessings with you

2 Chron 16:9

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Psalm 9:9-10

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Isaiah 54:10

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Career in Sales?

As a person who had spent months and months job-searching and interview-hopping, I think my credibility in the area of giving job-search and interview tips is undoubtedly well-recognized. Even if you objected to that claim, I will still shamelessly insist in writing this entry, simply because there are still some lessons worth-sharing coming from these excruciating months of unemployment.

Having sending tons of resume to whatever job postings with the word 'marketing' on it, I discovered, some after the 1st interview and some after further Googling, several shady and fishy companies that are worth watching out for.

All of these companies have a peculiar interest in changing their names as often as changing a diaper. Some has undergone four different names in the course of only one or two year; this fact itself must have made you wonder what kind of scheme these companies are up to. Yesterday I checked, Google has not changed its name, and it is still Google today and I believe will remain Google tomorrow.

One, and the only, example I will mention here is this sales and marketing company now being introduced as Fission Inc. Further research (and you can do it yourself) reveals that it has progressed under names like Marketing Concept, Athens Consulting, and Midara Inc.

As I slowly learnt, all these companies share one common similarity in their business model: a newly hired employee will have to start out doing face-to-face marketing be it inside a store, door-to-door or B2B. Then, they sugar the pill by promising office ownership in just eight to twelve months time if you are 'hardworking' enough, and by that I mean completely dismantling your social life and crushing your bones for sixty hours per week including weekend.

This model obviously and thankfully is not for everyone, and my simple point here is if you are a person who are deeply corrosive to direct marketing and just want to live a happy and balanced life, stay away from all job postings from a 'sales and marketing firm' promising 'rapid promotion to management', and especially be more concerned if they have just changed their name from Google to Hoogle. Let's somebody else apply for that, please.

By Request... You Are Eliminated

Not many people are privy to the fact that I've used to take pride in my wide collection of songs. Although there are tons of songs that I probably never listen intently, it always feels good to be able to share some songs whenever someone put a request.

But for the last several years, I've been trying to let go of that stupid ambition and concede my defeat to other fanatics who are more ambitious than me. As I ruthlessly delete some of the songs that have never been my favorite, I do realize that the remaining songs collection actually resemble my personality better.

So, what actually are the songs that I have to put permanently into the recycle bin? Here are some examples:

1. Classical music

Classical music is definitely not my favorite music, ever. They are to be played occasionally with the desired effect of increasing my intelligence, but I think this effort is 23 years too late. Now that my IQ is fixed, no matter how many times Andrea Bocelli sings, it never seems to achieve its intended purpose.

2. Japanese or Korean music

During my junior high-school years, in the midst of an identity crisis, I was led to conform to a handful of my friends who were really into this type of music; L'arc-en-Ciel or Rurouni Kenshin or any other typical 'anyong-haseyo' music. But now as I know myself better, I can boldly declare that I would only listen to songs that are understandable to me, and unfortunately Japanese and Korean are not listed on my resume.

3. The Beatles

Yes, the beatles. I know some of you will gasp in terror and disbelief, but please pardon me for not liking them very much. Regardless of their well-respected songs, I just don't see myself singing to the beat of "Love me do" or "Yellow submarine". I harbor no specific grudge to their songs, well maybe beside the fact that they are too old for me, and listening to them is like scaling down to watch "24" on a black and white television.

I will stop here before I ramble too much into Stevie Wonder or Elvis Presley and get into trouble. The point is, I like my iTunes playlist better now, and I don't have to keep on pressing 'next' when Luciano Pavarotti voices his tenor. We can't have all kind of music, sometimes we need to make choices and pick some that really dear to us. So, sorry Andrea Bocelli, L'ar-en-ciel and The Beatles, you guys are eliminated.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Talk on Creativity

It is not in my natural inclination to watch a video twice, and if that is ever the case, only for two possible reasons. First, the video bores me to death but yet watching it is necessary for certain purposes. Second, the video is freakin good that only when I watch it twice or more that my enjoyment is completed. This video by Elizabeth Gilbert undoubtedly falls into the later one, and my excitement went to the extent that I, to my own surprise, got up off my chair, and in a perfect harmony with the audience in the video, gave a standing ovation.

So, what's in the video that really piqued my interest? I think the way she delivered the talk was beautiful, as in no-other-people-can-do-it beautiful, as in exceptionally beautiful. Her word choice, eloquence, body gestures really arrested my attention, and these factors alone, without considering the argument heavily, already earned my favor.

I will not talk about the content beside this, that it is a subtle way to describe God, an "entity" that some called Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Zeus, The Universe, The Force, The Light, or The Creator. Whatever label you want to put on the word "God", it is secondary to this talk. For me, at least, this talk shows that God, or "A Genius" actually exists, be it inside or outside us, and the belief that there is no god will only do more harm to those who believe it.

So, please enjoy the video, it's worth 18 minutes of your time.

A Simpler and, Hopefully, a Better Blog

Everything in this world undergo changes; from Britney Spears to Lady Gaga, cassette player to Ipod, telegraph to Blackberry, etc etc you name it. The world is revolving at an accelerating pace, shutting off tomorrow's trend and welcoming today's hype. Changes are always on the horizon, and the wisest people will always roll their sleeve up to embrace them. This concept, even starts to change: we are not to be reactive to change, but to be proactive; we are the agent of change.

So what's all this babble about change? Am I running some political campaigns here?

I apologize for not being direct, but as I myself have undergone several changes in my life (which I hope is conspicuous to you all through the three months zero entry in my blog), I decided to be more flexible with my blog.

I was adamant in dedicating this blog to some issues 'out' there, be it political, social or economy (of course with some flavors here and there about myself). Thus, each entry was expected to be lengthy and complicated, but as my life started to resemble those two criteria, I was running out of hands to even navigate and arrange the pieces of my life, and let alone to write a lengthy and complicated entry on an issue 'out' there.

Fully aware of the changes and limitations in me, and unashamedly still seething with passion to write, I duly declare here that my blog will switch gear from today onwards. I will put down my idealistic approach and start having fun with it. It will be, just like what the name 'coloring every moment' suggests, full of topics across the board - the same old 'out' there issues, or even some rambling that is too long to be tweeted.

Blogging is a pleasure, and rambling is something far too precious to let go or to over-complicate. So, just like a toddler taking it easy with crayon, let's treat a blog just like a blog, a place where your most brilliant idea or your most witless comment can be heard and be made known to all the people 'out' there.

So, let's expect more entries in the upcoming week guys!!!

The Word Became Flesh

In retrospect, the year 2009 marks both the high and low points of my life: as my undergraduate journey reached its finish line this year, a new set of challenges presented themselves as I flipped open a new chapter of job and career. Struggling through the ordeal of setting my foot in the world of career, I found myself identifying with several characters in the Bible who faced similar doubt and anxiety just like me.

David in Psalm 55 was overwhelmed with anguish as his enemies intensely pursued him, and to his bewilderment, God remained silent. Job hit rock-bottom when God took everything away from him, and in his utmost agony, he cried to God "Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees?"

Just like these people, there were also many occurrences in my life where I doubt his wisdom. During my four months of job-search, I doubted whether he was in control over my predicament; I wondered if he accidentally overlooked my case and left me 'home-alone'. I doubted his sovereignty when he gave me the not-so-popular job in sales. I doubted if he understood me and had my best interest at heart when my job was being taken away from me. Sometimes I see myself as a puppet being controlled aimlessly by the puppet master, and when situation does not go as my script perceives, I second-guess his wisdom "Do you know what you're doing? You don't know what it's like down here!"

Thankfully, this Christmas has given me a new enlarged perspective, primarily as the antidote to all my doubts. Christmas is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue. It is his descent, not my ascent to God; his initiative, not mine; his condescension to be relevant and approachable; his emptying of his deity to absorb grieve, pain, and anxiety. His incarnation provides answer to Job's accusation and mine "Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you know what it's like down here". Yes, for a time, God did.

And that is how Christmas provides solution for each of my ordeal; Christmas is the ultimate answer. I may not grasp his mysterious plan in my life yet, the future is still clouded with uncertainties and I will still waver in my unbelief and vacillate like a faithless child. But as I revisit the story of Christmas, I realize that the Father who sent his begotten son to ill-deserving people such as me is still the same Father who loves me today with the same love that put Jesus in a small manger as well as on the cross.

Two thousand years ago, at a small manger in Bethlehem, God has proven his love for me, and I can bank on that fact and rest assure that the same love will care for me today, tomorrow, or even the year after. Yes, amidst of all the uncertainties, his love is still in control and by looking at Christmas I can confidently says that my future is taken care of.

- Inspired by Grace Notes by Philip Yancey -

Hidden Pearls in the East Coast

Who have never heard of the magnificent Statue of Liberty in New York, or the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco, or the luxurious hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, or even the breathtaking view of Grand Canyon? Yes, those are the typical must-see cities in the United States, but the quaint lighthouse in Maine or the opulence of Newport with its extravagant mansions are unfortunately unknown to many.

This trip uniquely stands out from the rest that I've been through simply because it was not a typical travel agency itinerary and I truly enjoyed every minute of it - from the superb lobster in Maine to the colorful gingerbread houses in Martha's Vineyard. That was a combo in itself; couple that with the perfect companionship and that makes the trip a super combo experience.

At one of the landmarks in Princeton University - was not on our list, but turned out to be a great side-trip. Full of astoundingly architectural buildings.

The eye-popping view of Cape Elizabeth, Portland Headlight on the background really adds to the beauty.

Providence, home of Brown University. The 4th Ivy League University we visited on this trip after Princeton, Harvard and MIT. Yes, we were so determined to suck their intellectuality.

Ogunquit, Maine.

I absolutely love this place, Oguinquit in Maine. Small yet beautiful town, resplendent with local shops and restaurants. This is the Must Visit - it was unfortunate we didn't get the chance to go through the Marginal Walk - a beautiful trail along the coast.

Martha's Vineyard

Pic1 Panoramic view of the Gay Headlight. Pic2 Lovely and neat gingerbread houses, now you know how it feels to live in a fairy tale. Pic3 Taking picture freely on a middle of a street - love the ambiance of a small town

Newport

Newport is a hidden pearl in New England; I was left in awe witnessing the opulent of the socialite's mansions as well as the countless spots to take excellent pictures, oh and not forgetting the excellent sushi (Sumo sushi & Newport Tokyo House). Without a doubt, a Must Visit!!

So, now that you see all these pictures, you might want to reconsider New York for your next trip =)