A journey of self discovery… that kind of sums up to me what life is about.
We arrive without recollection of why we came, where we came from, what purpose are we serving and who we really are.
Then we begin to feel the great urge to learn, discover and find out the truth.
And some are lucky enough to swim in the shallow waves of the greater knowing, the true purpose of life, whereas others may live their whole lives avoiding the quest.
Good Morning,
This post today is about a life changing moment, one of those that we have at a certain stage of our lives and they end up lodging themselves in our personal history, refusing to fade into the dusty halls of our memories, and maybe just maybe they were more significant than we can imagine and they were meant to be with us forever.
One such moment was for me back in Lebanon at a very young age, maybe 8 or 9 years old. I found myself spiralling into a tunnel of thought about space. I was sleeping on our rooftop under a thin canopy of grapes on a warm summer night with my family; a huge treat and a special event whenever we were allowed to do that. I remember watching the stars glimmering in total darkness and wondering what was beyond them? Were we contained in a bubble of some sort? And how can I ever comprehend the possibility of nothingness if there is one? Everything is existing in something, isn’t it? What’s at the end of that?
These questions have taken me on a life quest of search, research, questioning and wonder. From religion, to quantum physics, to wise people’s writings and mostly my own search during those moments of quiet when the mind can travel towards space, inside of space and beyond space towards the unknown.
When faced with a hot issue in the world like guns and the recent school shooting, it is a good idea to look at the simple facts. What are guns? Why do we have them? How did it all begin?
The simple truth is that they are human fashioned killing machines. That is their sole purpose, a metal object designed to project at strong speed another metal object with the purpose of puncturing the body of another human or animal and to cause injury or death. That simple fact should halt all arguments about having them with children, near children or having them at all.
I listen the news about Syria and all the children that died in the least week to benefit a recent group of arms dealers who benefit each time there is conflict and who thrive from the misery of the less fortunate. They try to romanticize the issue and muddle it so we won’t comprehend, but it is very simple, isn’t it?
Power, greed, wealth and the personal need for self gratification without counting any cost.
Day 55 of 365~
Image taken in a back alley in Shanghai, China
To live and not to wonder about the cause of life itself is like not having lived at all…
Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where do we go from here?
Day 34 of 365
Image is of an old friend in the forest
Everyday the world gives us so many reasons to have a heavy heart. Global warming, poverty, threats of war, cruelty, disease and most recently, vulgar and unworthy leadership.
Fighting the state of affairs with a heavy heart can only feed the cause of darkness in its attempt to veil our bright world. No. We will fight it with dance, music, art, inspiration and goodness. The darkest of nights cannot extinguish the light of one single candle.
Good night from Germany.
Day 14 of 365
Haven’t you ever had the strange revelation that something in you knows? It just knows. We often seek confirmation from others, we vainly attempt to disqualify the silent knowing within simply because we cannot trust it. But it knows…
Image taken today with the help of Lea, somewhere in Germany.
day 2 of 365
We struggle all our lives to achieve higher understanding, to get closer to the truth, but most of the time we fail to make the first step.
Photos taken in Shanghai, at the Power Station of Art.
There is a moment, a split second, when you are with your camera in the streets, and a moment you were hoping for surrenders itself to you. I am referring to that brief time before your subject has a time to react to your lens. I love that magical click that finds the person inside of their essence; a line of connection between you, the lens and the person.
You always hear stories of people on their deathbeds wishing they had said this or that to a loved one, wished they had expressed an emotion to someone that they know they should have, and wished that they would be allowed a second chance to say what they wanted to say but had no chance to. We design our lives in a way that creates valid excuses for our silence. We trade comfort and avoidance for confrontations and human expression. Where is the freedom in that?
We live to search and we spend our whole life looking for its meaning. I love that fact. I strive to be in the wonder of the quest itself not minding what I find or what remains a mystery. Life is filled with magic and I feel so lucky to feel it every single day. Truth is such an enigma and I wonder if we are ever meant to find it or to just dwell on the process.
Some random thoughts on the eve of the Chinese New Year~ Shanghai