Learn surfing

I went to learn surfing for the first time today, and...it wasn't easy. The worst thing about learning a new skill is that you'll be like a complete idiot and there's nothing you can do about it.

That may be the reason why many people hesitate about learning new things, and I know I used to avoid trying certain things just because I really don't like the feeling of being inadequate.

Well, one thing I learnt from travelling, is that if you want to explore new horizons, you just have to accept that being/behaving like an idiot is part of the process, so just go ahead and get on with it. In conclusion, I will continue to fumble and tumble in the waves for an indefinite (but hopefully not too long) period of time.


A thing about the waves at Muriwai today is that it was probably not the best condition for a beginner to learn surfing.

I found this advice on the internet "For your first days surfing the waves should be small, being easy enough for you to walk out to where the waves are breaking, and not have to fight your way off the beach being constantly battered by waves"

The description, "have to fight your way off the beach being constantly battered by waves", was exactly what happened today. I suppose that just made everything more....fun......in retrospect.

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Lost in translation

People are different, so different that you can be talking about the same thing, but your ideas/views/perspectives/realities are so far apart so that not only the other couldn't understand what you're talking about, they could have interpreted your words in ways beyond your expectation. And it's funny because this could be what the other person think of you at the same time.

I suppose once upon a time, when people lived in relatively segregated groups, where culture defined commonly agreed upon ideas and principals for them, it was easier to define what's right and what's wrong.

In today's world, where ideas & philosophies have virtually no boundaries, where different traditions & cultures clash constantly with each other, there's no longer absolute right or wrong.

Without a common basis of understanding, there may as well be no communication.


This was written as a comment to a recurring theme in my life, but seems like it can also cast itself as an afterthought to the movie of the same title. No wonder I liked the movie.

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500000 customers hit by Telecom broadband blackout

A heading from a news website.
It happened last Friday night, the blackout came abruptly and without warning I suddenly find that I could not connect to any website.

Well, a year or two ago this probably would have made me angry or feeling frustrated, but after my time in India, where internet & power outage was part of your daily experience, I simply have lots of appreciation for the quality of life and the stable services I'm getting in a developed country.

The dramatic contrast between India and NZ really put things into perspective. Living in a country, where a company would apologize for the occurrence of an overnight service outage, is, awesome.

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Stories

Story 1
Life is hard. You have to study hard, work hard, compete with everyone to earn your place in the world.
How successful you are determines your value to the society, to the world, so you better struggle and strive to be somebody.

Story 2
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. You just have to relax, follow your heart, flow with the current and it will take you to where you want to be. Who you are is valuable and worthy beyond question, so, believe in yourself, relax and have fun on this journey called life.


I've followed story 1 for almost two decades in my life, the problem with it is that not only does it not work for me, but it almost broke my spirit, drove me to despair and the edge of self destruction.

So screw it, I'm going with story 2.
Letting go of the mental & emotional baggage of story 1 takes time and effort, but it's the best decision I've every made.

There are many people who live by the principals of story 2, for example: Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Irwin...etc, and I found them to be a great source of inspiration.

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Visualization

Soviet Union Olympic study: During the 1980s, what was then the Soviet Union's Olympic team tested various training procedures. Athletes from various sports were split into four groups.

The first group trained entirely with physical practice - 100 percent of the time. The second group used physical training 75 percent of the time, and mental imagery 25 percent of the time. The third group split its training 50-50. The fourth group spent 25 percent of the time training physically, and 75 percent of the time mentally.

The mental training required them to spend time every day practicing their sport in their mind using mental imagery. At the end of the study, the group who had made the biggest gains or improvement was the fourth group - the one that had spent only 25 percent of the time training physically and 75 percent of the time using mental imagery. Interestingly, the group that trained 100 percent of the time physically actually improved the least.

-- from "Speed Secrets 6" by Ross Bentley.

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Joy

Divine inspiration comes in many forms, their expressions, however diverse, are universally joyful.

It's wonderful to witness so many joyful spirits around, an especially noticeable phenomenon in my social circles, is that many people are becoming happy first time parents.

Congratulations to those who finds joy in their lives, in any manner or forms.

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A photo published

One of my photo showing the full moon illuminating the Himalaya mountains is now published in Worldnomads Book of Travels 2008. I'm now waiting to receive my copy :)

Click the above image will take you to the webpage about the book, the photo I submitted can be seen in my previous post titled "panoramas" .

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leaving, floating onwards

The cat curled up like a furry cushion, sleeping soundly on my laps.
Usually he prefers to sleep on K's laps, but for the past two days he's been coming to me instead.

"Somehow cats always know that you are leaving. Before we left NZ, the cat we had came and stayed around us all the time." K said.

There are still 3 days left before I leave, but I'm already feeling nostalgic.
I really like my stay in Dharamkot, where we can see the mountains and valleys every day; walk pass forests, monkeys, mongooses, cows, donkeys, and of course dogs and cats; watch crows, huge vultures and other unknown birds flying in the sky.

Of course the place is not a paradise, it's fulled of inconveniences and daily bugs, like the frequent power cuts, internet problems, network cable problems, the cold weather & the absence of indoor heating, and the locals who always try to get as much money out of us as possible (they are the minority but unfortunately they are the ones that you have to deal with the most).

On the day before I leave, I still have to deal with the guys who sold and promised to buy back our computers, as he suddenly had a change of heart and wouldn't own up to the flowery promises he had made.
I also have to settle the payments with our landlord, who had already given us a few surprises regarding to the bills.

Every time something bad like the above happened, I wish I was in the comfort of my home in NZ, but...I will still miss the good things here once I'm gone.

"There's a French saying, every time you leave a place, a part of you dies." Five years ago, in a mountain village of Northern Italy, my Dutch flatmate told me this, before I left after finishing a two-week marble sculpture course.

Yes it is sad to leave a place where you've created a lot of memories, but that's just a natural part of travelling. You feel sad, but it's a beautiful feeling.

"I guess I'll miss you too." I say to the cat as I stroke his chin. He continues to sleep like a baby.

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Ouch my fingers!

The cold weather on the mountain have taken its first victim, after some itchy red patches appeared on my hands for several days, now 2.5 of my fingers are swollen like sausages.

Of course, it was my own fault for not realising the hazard of cold temperatures and taking preventive measures, but there was a good reason (whether wise or not): I tried to test my limits and see how much my body can adjust to the cold weather with minimum amount of external help.

So as a result:
- I washed clothes by hand with cold water
- I only wore a pair of gloves that's not wind proof and is probably slightly too tight (bad for blood circulation)
- I walked in snow/hail storms where the cold breeze attacked my umbrella-holding hands mercilessly (this one is unavoidable though)
- I ignored the early symptoms - the itchy red patches

Anyway my hands are now wrapped in a new pair of warm gloves, and with 12 days to go until I leave here, they shall survive.

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Believe it or not

I find that when I disagree with people's beliefs, quite often they get upset.
On the other hand, it upsets me when they assume that since I disagree with them, I must believe in the opposite beliefs.

Needless to say, with all the upsetting going around, the heated exchanges of disagreements often occur naturally and unavoidably.

It's an interesting and delicate situation when you are standing in the middle, and don't want to take side in the constant fightings between dualistic beliefs and ideas.

"Does god exist?"
"Does Jesus as a historical figure actually existed?"
"Is there a purpose to life, or are we all just nature's accidents?"
"Did we really evolve from monkeys? (evolution vs. creationism)"
"Did we (humankind) really landed on the moon?"
"Was Benezir Bhutto really killed by Al-Qaeda?"
("It's Musharraf, he's the one behind this!" Someone uttered this in a matter-of-fact-tone, immediately after the news of the assassination came out.)

Having spend a lot of time on questioning and thinking about everything I could, I concluded that: "If you know the truth, then you know it. Only when this knowing is absent do beliefs become necessary."

Of course we cannot know everything, so it is inevitable that we have to believe in a lot of things that we don't really know.
The point I want to make is that, since beliefs are merely pointers to the truth, there's no point to get too caught up with them mentally or emotionally, right? My beliefs often change with time anyway, like everything else, they are ever-changing and constantly evolving.

My attitude towards questions like "Do you believe....etc?" (eg. "Do you believe that we actually landed on the moon?") have always been something like: "Since I don't have access to the first-hand evidences, and I'm often not expert enough to interpret them, I prefer to stay neutral. I'll just observe, see what both side have to say, and leave it at that."

However this answer doesn't always pleases people.
"You are being political."
"You are just avoiding the responsibility to choose."
"You just won't open your eyes and see the truth, by saying that you will stay neutral, you are denying the evidences in front of you right here!"
"You can't stand in the middle of the street, the car is coming, choose which side you want to be on now, or the car will run you over!"

I frowned whenever I see people jump blindly into believing something, without carefully examining the validity of the story being told to them. Most of the time, people just want the evidences to support or reinforce their existing beliefs, they see what they want to see, and ignore whatever they don't like.

Those who are making an effort to search for the truth, who prefer to observe without rush to conclusions, have to stand the heat coming from people on both sides of the dualistic belief, or leave and go their own way.

How did a lone wolf become alone?

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