Facebook recently reminded me that I did a photography and prose project back in 2011. Everyday, an image and some words. It’s called “I <3” (“I LOVE”). I stopped at Day 200, for reasons I don’t recall. Reading back, I can’t imagine how I wrote some of the proses.
Sometimes I wish I could write like the old me. But mostly, I’m happy I get a chance to reacquaint with him through writing 200 words a day now.
These old words from that old self, are inspiring me today to write differently.
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From 14 Feb 2011 onwards for 1 whole year, I would be embarking on my “I <3 ___” project to capture nuances of life which I love, of which I had never found time to count blessing for.
We are all truly blessed, to just simply be able to live. Life can be tough, and especially for many stuck in deep poverty (be it financially or spiritually), life may not be worth living that much.
But if we could just try, and find time to count just ONE blessing we received each day; something that we witnessed or experienced which we loved; perhaps then, that would have been reason enough to had lived through that day, and reason to live through the next to find the next blessing.
May we all find bliss.
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[Day 9] I <3 how, with a fervent imagination & the right tools, Life’s magic unveils galaxies in street lamps.
[Day 12] I <3 how one’s age and sense of mortality are reflected in things you own for a long time
[Day 20] I <3 long walks called on by yearning legs & a longing soul, meandering through lost alley-ways soaked in whisky-orange street light.
[Day 29] I <3 why we see what we see when we need to see them.
[Day 36] I <3 clouds & how they bring an impossible but potent mix of spiritual awe, bodily calm, mindful peace, child-like wonder, & soulful daydream…
[Day 54] I <3 the breeze, especially today - but how does one capture the Wind on camera? It brushes thru my hair & rustles the leaves, but is neither; as how God moves.
[Day 57] I <3 the lonesome stillness of 3am strolls through the heartlands… It’s so still, I can almost hear the sleeping town breathing.
[Day 74] I <3 the womb-like solace of the dark & the tomb-like silence of the night.
[Day 86] I <3 the unfathomable unfolding of Life that is God.
[Day 87] I <3 how Life is fractal - we are mirrors for others for ourselves.
[Day 90] I <3 watching rain fall.
[Day 91] I <3 watching the bright colours on my new pinwheel, spinning & swirling, pulling my mind into freshness & joy.
[Day 93] I <3 how 5pm brings the gentlest of sunlight for the day, wrapping everything & everyone in a soft glow that seems surreal & divine at the same time.
[Day 102] I <3 how we are all little lights swimming in this great Vastness, seeking the brightest Light & hoping one day we may not have to seek no more.
[Day 104] I <3 idyll…& the lessons on idyll one can learn from cat-watching.
[Day 110] I <3 how sometimes things become clearer when the lights dim & dark.
[Day 128] I <3 a nice, pink sunset to end the day: “A sunset a day, keeps the blues at bay.” - don’t you think so?
[Day 137] I <3 “叶子是不会飞翔的翅膀。翅膀是落在天上的叶子。＂
[Day 141] I <3 the freedom of an open road @4am… stirring memories of yesteryears cycling to East Coast in the middle of the night just to feel the sea breeze.
[Day 158] I <3 how little everyday scenes like this reminds me that the perceived importance of many of the things we have & fight to keep everyday, are really NOT so at all. In the end, Nature reclaims everything…& there’s actually very, very little we truly own.
[Day 164] I <3 how Life resembles fireworks - a moment’s passing of dazzling beauty. With what urgency then, must we strive in order to truly live, to dazzle as brightly as we could?
[Day 167] I <3 the echoing call of church bells through the streets…how it thugs at something deep within. And also triggering early morning memories of cobbled stone pavements & wholesome aroma of French baguette… *deep breaths
[Day 182] I <3 giving up, when giving up is due. Just for the day. Another day, another opportunity, awaits.