October 2013 – nickpan.com

29th October, 201329th October, 2013

Homelessness

20130828_homlessness_cleo Happen to see a guy at McDonalds going back to the counter to say that they have got the order wrong after having fully eaten the whole burger. The puzzled look on the operationalised crews’ face sparked off a chain of events such as checking the order in the system, asking detailed question about the original order and wanted to find out if they got the order wrong and if so how did the mistake happen. As a bystander in another queue, it was obvious, the guy simply wanted another burger for free.

I sat down with my daughter Cleo and started to have a conversation about homelessness and this is roughly how it went.

Me: Cleo, do you know what is being homeless?

Cleo: Yah. When you got no place to stay.

Me: Why do you think some people are homeless?

Cleo: Because they never study properly.

Me: For some people maybe, but there are a lot of other reasons too.

Cleo listens on attentively while scooping the Oreo McFlurry into her mouth while looking up at me.

Me: Some might have been very successful businessman, but ended up owing a lot of people money, hence have to sell off their house, cars, everything to pay off those he owe money to.

Cleo nods with understanding.

Me: Some made really bad mistakes and the people in their family and maybe even friends don’t like him anymore and kicked him out of the house.

Cleo nods with understanding and you can see she is thinking.

We went on having our afternoon snack with Clara trying to sleep on my arm after a tiring afternoon of gymnastics.

Me: Cleo. Do you think its worse being homeless or being in jail?

Cleo stopped scooping her ice cream and started thinking about her new understanding of being homeless.

Cleo: Jail is better.

Me: Why?

Cleo: Because at least there is food there and also some place to sleep.

I smiled at the answer in my heart. Not because I think thats the right answer, but because she made an honest logical conclusion herself.

Me: So do you think its nice to be homeless?

Cleo: No.

I’m glad we spent that afternoon together.

23rd October, 201329th April, 2015

Change

Shirakawa-Go, Japan by Tatuya SSS on Flickr

The grass is greener on the other side. This is a very common phrase and I believe many of us subscribe to it on some subconscious level. We read things like 100 Trips You Must Take In Your Lifetime, Top 25 things to do before you die, Top 10 iconic travel experiences, Top 10: Manly Life Experiences or maybe even those crazy Kickstarter projects that get a million in a day like the Elevation Dock or Double Fine Adventure game. Then we ask ourselves, what the hell are we doing staying in this dead end job? Is there more to life? Should we just quit and go do things we like?

There is definitely some truth in it, but quitting your day job now without a plan is a huge move and many live to tell the tale of great experiences after quitting and even some great success stories of riches and amazing lifestyle, but even more are too embarrassed to mention anything as they dry up their savings, adjust their lifestyle to the best they can and maybe some end up going back into another dead end job.

The question can be “is your current job right for you?” or maybe we need to think “am I right for my employer?” If you are not getting your increments, if you are not being put in increasingly important roles, if you are not solving problems for your employer or co-workers (or your customers if you are self employed) then I believe there is a problem. Look at the company and look at yourself and don’t kid yourself, where do you think is the problem? I don’t know and I’m not trying to say where the problem is, but we all do need to take a serious look and ask ourselves honestly.

The seduction of change for change sake is very real and I believe we are telling ourselves something.

Ever since I’ve followed Airows on tumblr, I’ve came to the realisation of one thing. We all desire something else, something different. We want new experiences, visit new places.

This very simple Tumblr blog serves up visual inspirations. It shows up suave guys and alluring women, magnificent landscapes and awe inspiring architecture, lust worthy products and much desirable lifestyles. Its a pure visual treat. Life should look like this. Life should be like this.

I believe at this point, my altruistic friends will label me materialistic, seduced by the world. There are people suffering, less privileged, famine, rape, war, bad stuff, ugly stuff. True. Very true and you know what, these less privileged-suffering-hungry and abused-people in war stricken places desire the same thing. They desire change. Something else, something different.

Its not hard really.

Just get off your lazy ass and do something about it NOW. Take a short trip this weekend, renovate your room, cycle to the neighbouring country, save up for that trip and spend the money happily, pick up a skill, start ticking off your bucket list. If you don’t have a bucket list, than your ass is lazier then I’ve imagined.

Unfortunately we live in a society that primarily uses money as the yardstick of what we can and cannot have. Fine, if you still think quitting is it, then i’ve got nothing to say.

I’m very blessed because I love the people I work with and I dream of them all the time. Many are in different stages in their life, some young and figuring things out, some are at the brink of becoming an awesome manager, some at the brink of becoming an amazing individual in their craft, some are just enjoying themselves.

I could have chosen to view some as irresponsible, selfish, untalented or even downright useless, but then I’ll i’ll then be surrounded with idiots. Why would I want to do this to myself. I choose to truly believe I’m blessed and surrounded with awesome people. People who have great life stories, people who have great potential, people who I can be friends for life.

I desire change. Change for the better.

19th October, 201319th October, 2013

Everything and Nothing

East Coast Parkway Singapore
A character in a book that I’m reading is dying. He is a great guy and he knows his days are numbered. He does what he can to make sure his family is well taken care of before he leaves them and its really heart wrenching to experience this.

Does money matter? Does possession matter? Does status matter? Does leaving a legacy matter?

All the things we spend so much time on does not matter. This pursuit of everything is like the chasing of the wind.

True.

But if we did nothing, did not chase after the wind, honestly, we would not have experienced anything and might not have lived.

The daily commute is the early morning rush hour with the symphony of calf defining heels and lingering concoction of seductive perfumes of self worth. Rushing, yet restfully peaceful as your body teleports your mind to your daily toil.

The daily toil is the call to arms with individuals from all walks of life brought together to become loyal comrades for a common victory while sharing laughter to numb the pain from battle scars. A melting pot of ideas, stories, knowledge and experience. Teachers and disciples.

The life long responsibility of a parent is the freedom to craft minds with boundless imagination and allowing the little ones to be more than what they think they can be while creating irreplaceable memories which we can bring to our graves. With photos that bring smiles to our hearts we tell the same stories again and again.

We don’t need everything and we should not desire nothing.

For everything is wonderful and everything is everything.

3rd October, 20133rd October, 2013

Interviews with an Alien

20130817_thehivequeen The Hive Queen by =morganagod — The Hive Queen by =morganagod

Humans. A strange species.

They have managed to accomplishments great feats. They have built amazing structures, many times taller then them. Established efficient cities that allowed a dense number of inhabitants to live in close proximity while being able to control the climate in their habitats all across their planet. They have also pushed their physical bodies, scaled their tallest peaks, dived their deepest oceans. Where they can’t reach themselves, they have sent probes deep into their oceans and into space, far away from their homeworld.

Humans. Although they are one species, they have varied cultures and each rich with practices that gets passed on from generation to generation willingly even if they seem to serve no particular rational meaning. Humans are creative, as they can solve a problem in many different ways when different individuals are tasked to solve them.

There are also activities that they carry out for no productive reason, some of these activities shows desires of bringing order to elements that reflect light spectrum in a geometrical and symmetrical way. Creating objects for the sheer pleasure of creation. Other activities like the act of mating seems popular too but not all acts leads to offsprings as they seem to only enjoy the act.

Having to share a small planet and its resources seems to be a constant struggle with Humans. They fight amongst themselves constantly and kill each other on a daily basis. Their daily activities and over population trend is also harmful to their only planet. They must definitely know it, but then why do they still do it?

Their great accomplishments and detrimental behaviours make them a strange and conflicted species. It feels as if they don’t think they are of the same species.

However, there are some Human dynamics that can’t be explained scientifically and some of these actions should be caused by reasons that are unobservable by science. By talking to a group in a certain way before engaging in combat increases their abilities. They believe in some things that are unseen, unheard and plainly unobservable. They at times act extremely irrationally even at the lost of their lives to ensure the survival of others.

Humans, so brilliant yet so wretched.

Credit:
Image by =morganagod at deviantART