as a semi-initiate to the world of japanese manga and anime, i have found that one of the most ubiquitous and recurrent themes is that of protection. what invariably motivates the protagonist to the next level of power, time and time again, is the desire to protect the (significantly weaker) friends and loved ones around him.
i sometimes feel disappointed and bitter when the people i know seem so much more concerned about pursuing their happinesses here while not paying too much attention to the problems raging around them. deep down, i know this bitterness is not any good, and there are several reasons for this. one i mentioned in an earlier post - that being optimistic rather than pessimistic tends just to be more effective a strategy for eliciting behavioral change. the second reason i will outline below:
what is the point of helping people meet their basic needs? i don't think it is so that people can be kept alive, because i don't think life is defined by the physiological processes that our basic needs satisfy. human life is the sum total of our experiences, our dreams and aspirations, our relationships, the truth, beauty, and goodness that we see in the world around us. we don't live so we can put more bread in our mouths tomorrow, we live so we can know the joys of success and the pains of suffering, so we can grow into the people we want to be, so we can fall in love.
so i have no reason to feel bitter. they are truly living, and that is a wonderful, beautiful thing that everyone everywhere should be able to do. and this, fundamentally, is what i really am trying to protect. all of the basic needs stuff - they are but the requisite threads that we need to weave the tapestry of our lives.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
purpose
what do you think the ultimate goal of life is?
security and stability?
to pass on one's genes?
happiness?
to glorify god?
to improve the lot of others?
to experience as many things as possible?
security and stability?
to pass on one's genes?
happiness?
to glorify god?
to improve the lot of others?
to experience as many things as possible?
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Monday, 21 December 2009
love from the archives
a few days ago, a friend of mine told me that he always thought that i was 'asexual' - so interested in career that romance and matters of the heart would be of no importance to me. besides being a little surprising, these remarks really struck some nostalgic chords.
what happened almost 2 years ago seems like a dream. thank goodness for gmail sent-mail, since i have a written account of what i was emailing my friends in edmonton from when i was in china:
"...The ironic thing is, that when I first met here 4 months ago she hardly took my breath away - she was just another face at work. Even a month ago, after we had interacted much more, my feelings for here were not that strong - I merely had the sense that perhaps we had the potential to get along. Since then, however, I can only say that with every passing day spent in her company I have fallen for her a little more. The more time I have spent with her, the more I plumbed the depths of her character and person (to the extent that that can be done in a month), the more I began to appreciate her..."
"... hours flew by, as we joked about things as absurd as unicorns and made weird animal noises, discussed the latest developments in international relations, or dived into the world of religion and philosophy and spirituality. But even when no words passed between us, there was no awkwardness or boredom in the silence. The comfort and relaxation and satisfaction I felt in her company covered all our interactions, from inane chatter to the warmth of holding hands to watching BBC international to cooking up a storm..."
"...So we are confronted with what are essentially insurmountable logistical challenges - I am going back to Canada to start medical school, a process that will last the next 9 years, while she is going to stay in China..."
"...I think we will cherish the next few weeks that we have with one another as best that we can. It would be nice if things could go on longer, if circumstances were different, but I suppose you play with the hand that you are dealt. I will endeavor to enjoy the time we have and not cling to the memories after we part ways. So do I regret what I have done, getting to know her in spite of knowing the ending before even the beginning was written? I know that saying goodbye will be sad, but I think, hope that this is more than offset by meeting someone I connected so well with and who has taught me so much..."
well, things lasted a bit longer that i thought they would, and i fell a bit harder than i thought i would. i recall thinking i would give up anything to make things last: i would have thrown away every single friendship (and i value friendships very highly), to make things last; i was even contemplating throwing away the idealism that drives most of what i do too. it is astounding the degree to which rationality can be subsumed by emotion and passion.
_______________
it's almost 2010, and while i am technically 2 years older i feel so much younger. in beijing, it was as if i had a taste of what grown-up life is like; now, i am back to being a kid. but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. i feel as if there is something to be cherished from every different environment you find yourself living in.
so here i am, a 'baby asian' (my ex's nickname for me) once more. the future will come - in the meanwhile, it's good to savor the present.
what happened almost 2 years ago seems like a dream. thank goodness for gmail sent-mail, since i have a written account of what i was emailing my friends in edmonton from when i was in china:
"...The ironic thing is, that when I first met here 4 months ago she hardly took my breath away - she was just another face at work. Even a month ago, after we had interacted much more, my feelings for here were not that strong - I merely had the sense that perhaps we had the potential to get along. Since then, however, I can only say that with every passing day spent in her company I have fallen for her a little more. The more time I have spent with her, the more I plumbed the depths of her character and person (to the extent that that can be done in a month), the more I began to appreciate her..."
"... hours flew by, as we joked about things as absurd as unicorns and made weird animal noises, discussed the latest developments in international relations, or dived into the world of religion and philosophy and spirituality. But even when no words passed between us, there was no awkwardness or boredom in the silence. The comfort and relaxation and satisfaction I felt in her company covered all our interactions, from inane chatter to the warmth of holding hands to watching BBC international to cooking up a storm..."
"...So we are confronted with what are essentially insurmountable logistical challenges - I am going back to Canada to start medical school, a process that will last the next 9 years, while she is going to stay in China..."
"...I think we will cherish the next few weeks that we have with one another as best that we can. It would be nice if things could go on longer, if circumstances were different, but I suppose you play with the hand that you are dealt. I will endeavor to enjoy the time we have and not cling to the memories after we part ways. So do I regret what I have done, getting to know her in spite of knowing the ending before even the beginning was written? I know that saying goodbye will be sad, but I think, hope that this is more than offset by meeting someone I connected so well with and who has taught me so much..."
well, things lasted a bit longer that i thought they would, and i fell a bit harder than i thought i would. i recall thinking i would give up anything to make things last: i would have thrown away every single friendship (and i value friendships very highly), to make things last; i was even contemplating throwing away the idealism that drives most of what i do too. it is astounding the degree to which rationality can be subsumed by emotion and passion.
_______________
it's almost 2010, and while i am technically 2 years older i feel so much younger. in beijing, it was as if i had a taste of what grown-up life is like; now, i am back to being a kid. but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. i feel as if there is something to be cherished from every different environment you find yourself living in.
so here i am, a 'baby asian' (my ex's nickname for me) once more. the future will come - in the meanwhile, it's good to savor the present.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
an imperfect offering
i'm not much for exchanging gifts over the christmas holidays, but i was very fortunate to receive the book 'an imperfect offering' from lillian (thanks lillian!). the book tracks the experiences of james orbinski, former head of of msf (aka doctors without borders) and his experiences - from somalia in the early 1990s as government and order disintegrated into anarchy to rwanda during the genocide when over a million tutsis were systematically, efficiently, and brutally exterminated over just 14 weeks; from founding the msf campaign for essential medicines initiative that dramatically brought down the prices of life-saving medications to accepting the nobel peace prize on behalf of msf for their humanitarian efforts.
i was so engrossed in the book that i finished reading it by this morning. christmas is usually overflowing with mirth and merriment, but this book was anything but - it was filled with tales of despair, suffering, and more than anything else, death. yet in the midst of its horrors, i felt that a message of hope resounded strongly. this was the story of one man's unshakeable struggle against overwhelming injustices. and at the end of it all, decades after he began his career, it is clear that while injustices remains and needless suffering persists, it is just as clear that HE TRULY MADE A DIFFERENCE.
towards the end of the novel, he writes about optimism and hope: "optimism is the expecation, based on the evidence at hand, that there is a reasonable chance of a good outcome. hope, on the other hand, is the certainty that a given action is right, that it "makes sense, regardless of how the situation might turn out."
how priviliged i am to be able to study medicine, a career that should not about career stability, good lifestyle, or power and prestige, but that is, at its essence, about improving the lot of my fellow man. how priviliged i am to believe in God, someone i can turn to for light no matter how bleak the world becomes.
this christmas, i will be thankful, and i will be hopeful.
towards the end of the novel, he writes about optimism and hope: "optimism is the expecation, based on the evidence at hand, that there is a reasonable chance of a good outcome. hope, on the other hand, is the certainty that a given action is right, that it "makes sense, regardless of how the situation might turn out."
how priviliged i am to be able to study medicine, a career that should not about career stability, good lifestyle, or power and prestige, but that is, at its essence, about improving the lot of my fellow man. how priviliged i am to believe in God, someone i can turn to for light no matter how bleak the world becomes.
this christmas, i will be thankful, and i will be hopeful.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
social psychology on how to save the world
From... http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200912/nicholas-kristof-philanthropy-advice-1.html
Lessons from social psychology suggest that:
"If one lesson is the need to emphasize hopefulness, the second is that storytelling needs to focus on an individual, not a group."
"One experiment found that people are quite willing to pay for a water-treatment facility to save 4,500 lives in a refugee camp with 11,000 people in it, but they are much less willing to pay for the same facility to save 4,500 lives when the refugee camp is said to have 250,000 inhabitants. In effect, what matters is saving a high proportion of people, not just a large number of lives."
"In each case, research subjects were quite willing to help and donated generously either to Rokia or to Moussa (for argument's sake, two hungry children). But when people were asked to donate to Rokia and Moussa together, with their photographs side by side, donations decreased. Slovic found that our empathy begins to fade when the number of victims reaches just two. As he puts it: "The more who die, the less we care."
what FASCINATING stuff! if ever there was a reason not be sad about the state of the world, this would be it! and in reality, a little bit would really go a long, long way - the challenge of providing basic needs for all is far from insurmountable
let's shed those heavy boots forever :)
Lessons from social psychology suggest that:
"If one lesson is the need to emphasize hopefulness, the second is that storytelling needs to focus on an individual, not a group."
"One experiment found that people are quite willing to pay for a water-treatment facility to save 4,500 lives in a refugee camp with 11,000 people in it, but they are much less willing to pay for the same facility to save 4,500 lives when the refugee camp is said to have 250,000 inhabitants. In effect, what matters is saving a high proportion of people, not just a large number of lives."
"In each case, research subjects were quite willing to help and donated generously either to Rokia or to Moussa (for argument's sake, two hungry children). But when people were asked to donate to Rokia and Moussa together, with their photographs side by side, donations decreased. Slovic found that our empathy begins to fade when the number of victims reaches just two. As he puts it: "The more who die, the less we care."
what FASCINATING stuff! if ever there was a reason not be sad about the state of the world, this would be it! and in reality, a little bit would really go a long, long way - the challenge of providing basic needs for all is far from insurmountable
let's shed those heavy boots forever :)
Saturday, 12 December 2009
i <3 alliteration
i have been feeling a bit down as of late: perhaps it's my nasty family history of depression rumbling, general jadedness about the human condition, being diagnosed with arthritis and AS, who knows.
whatever the reason - no more! as lillian put very it very correctly last night, there is so much to be grateful for. and what's the point of being heavy boots? it certainly doesn't do yourself, the people around you, or the world at large any good. so, let the festivities reign this christmas season. nothing like the end of school, impending yuletide cheer, and the return of faraways to herald happy halcyon hours.
whatever the reason - no more! as lillian put very it very correctly last night, there is so much to be grateful for. and what's the point of being heavy boots? it certainly doesn't do yourself, the people around you, or the world at large any good. so, let the festivities reign this christmas season. nothing like the end of school, impending yuletide cheer, and the return of faraways to herald happy halcyon hours.
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