Oh, and I also bought an aunty-umbrella to populate my new bag with. I'm sure A and Weijie would approve. :)
Thursday, 31 January 2008
manually completed
Just bought me a new handbag, from Esprit. Only $129! (I had actually set my sights on an uber-chic cK bag that cost $799 [$600 after discount] and was almost bent on purchasing it when the decision to take another ramble around town turned up this beauty, so my wallet and I are particularly pleased with it.) While its design is simple and clean, without the ostentatious trimmings and motifs that are often concomitant with the haute brands, it is accented with a couple of rather nice touches that give it a feel of understated elegance. I was contemplating between this and a larger, gym bag for the same price. That one was definitely more capacious, and with the amount of things I'd probably need to bring with me in my new job, the space would definitely have come in handy. But I eventually thought the better of it. Every other person seems to be lugging a gym bag around these days. And as you know, I'm no sheep when it comes to fashion. I'm quite the pragmatist, but sometimes form must necessarily trump function. So I'm pretty satisfied with my new found bag and new bagged find. Now my arm feels complete and trendy! One more reason to strut. :D
Monday, 28 January 2008
losing loss / for a.
You once said that you thought something is irretrievably lost when words are given to emotions. You will remember that I initially disagreed. But upon reflection, I have changed my mind. And that is precisely why I am putting my emotions to words now.
Yes my dear, something is indeed lost in that leap from emotion to word. The fear of loss is lost. The hollow chasm of mute uncertainty is breached by something greater than itself. In letting go of the imagined fear of losing something, we find someone. First our self, and then ourselves. I wish to take that leap with you, to never cease finding our self and ourselves in each act of communion that flies in the masqueraded face of loss. For what is a relationship if not a journey of discovery of self and selves, and self for selves.
I'm looking across at the other side now, and bracing myself. I don't think the gap looks very wide. Between the both of us, I think we can make it. I'm extending my hand to you now. Won't you take it?
Yes my dear, something is indeed lost in that leap from emotion to word. The fear of loss is lost. The hollow chasm of mute uncertainty is breached by something greater than itself. In letting go of the imagined fear of losing something, we find someone. First our self, and then ourselves. I wish to take that leap with you, to never cease finding our self and ourselves in each act of communion that flies in the masqueraded face of loss. For what is a relationship if not a journey of discovery of self and selves, and self for selves.
I'm looking across at the other side now, and bracing myself. I don't think the gap looks very wide. Between the both of us, I think we can make it. I'm extending my hand to you now. Won't you take it?
signing off (a retrospection)
As my transition to another career has begun, I was tidying up my email accounts and stumbled upon this email that I wrote to my former colleagues at RSI. It is a poignant reminder of the sentiments that number the pages of the story of my life as yet another is about to be turned.
Written on 21 March 2007.
Dear Friends,
Eight months to the day I first met all of you, it's time to bid you farewell, as a colleague. Eight months precisely: the Chinaman in me thinks it bodes rather auspiciously. (That "2103" failed to garner me First Prize in last week's draw is secondary.)
While I do not subscribe to luck, neither do I discount it. But in the grander scheme of things, perhaps "Providence" lends itself as a more accurate term in describing how I feel about my opportunity to have gotten to know each of you. Life is not linear, but an intricate web of relationships. I never fail to wonder at how on audition day, the first two fellow candidates I met were actually Loretta and Mubin. Serendipity.
The first time I met each of you, my immediate thought was: must be Photoshop! I had, of course, seen each of your portraits on the website prior to joining and was looking forward to working with rather more... er, photogenic colleagues. :) I kid, of course! Each of you really is beautiful in your own way. (Yes, even Jack.) That I do not kid.
Eight months on a job is way too short when you get to spend it with people whose company you thoroughly enjoy; people whose acts of kindness, sense of humour, graciousness and generosity of spirit (except maybe when it comes to the upstairs Dalet system) drain each day of drudgery and fill it with bonhomie. And in spite of the typical complaints we typical Singaporeans are wont to indulge in, we know there's something truly unique and good going on here: a splendid confluence of wonderful individuals. Treasure it. You only begin to truly appreciate what you are about to miss. Yes, eight months among friends really is too short. (Yes, even with Jack.) But it is long enough to refine your understanding of what your calling in life is and what it isn't.
Switching careers wasn't an easy decision, of course. It was a choice sometimes reigned in by realities but always spurred on by ideals. In that tug-of-war, I learnt that sometimes we impose our own insecurities on the people we care about the most. But true fulfillment lies within the daring embrace of that restless tension between ideals and realities. Personal growth after all, is determined by the willingness to move out of one's comfort zone. Thank you, each of you, for your kind words of encouragement. I truly appreciate them.
I have been touched by each of you over the past eight months and will carry fond memories with me always.
Finally, if I had done anything within the past eight months to offend or vex you, I apologize and ask your pardon. And if I had done anything worthy of commendation, I ask that you may remember me kindly for it and allow that to define our friendship from here on. I have enjoyed your company immensely and will miss each of you terribly! (Of course, even Jack.)
Very sincerely yours,
Joel
Written on 21 March 2007.
Dear Friends,
Eight months to the day I first met all of you, it's time to bid you farewell, as a colleague. Eight months precisely: the Chinaman in me thinks it bodes rather auspiciously. (That "2103" failed to garner me First Prize in last week's draw is secondary.)
While I do not subscribe to luck, neither do I discount it. But in the grander scheme of things, perhaps "Providence" lends itself as a more accurate term in describing how I feel about my opportunity to have gotten to know each of you. Life is not linear, but an intricate web of relationships. I never fail to wonder at how on audition day, the first two fellow candidates I met were actually Loretta and Mubin. Serendipity.
The first time I met each of you, my immediate thought was: must be Photoshop! I had, of course, seen each of your portraits on the website prior to joining and was looking forward to working with rather more... er, photogenic colleagues. :) I kid, of course! Each of you really is beautiful in your own way. (Yes, even Jack.) That I do not kid.
Eight months on a job is way too short when you get to spend it with people whose company you thoroughly enjoy; people whose acts of kindness, sense of humour, graciousness and generosity of spirit (except maybe when it comes to the upstairs Dalet system) drain each day of drudgery and fill it with bonhomie. And in spite of the typical complaints we typical Singaporeans are wont to indulge in, we know there's something truly unique and good going on here: a splendid confluence of wonderful individuals. Treasure it. You only begin to truly appreciate what you are about to miss. Yes, eight months among friends really is too short. (Yes, even with Jack.) But it is long enough to refine your understanding of what your calling in life is and what it isn't.
Switching careers wasn't an easy decision, of course. It was a choice sometimes reigned in by realities but always spurred on by ideals. In that tug-of-war, I learnt that sometimes we impose our own insecurities on the people we care about the most. But true fulfillment lies within the daring embrace of that restless tension between ideals and realities. Personal growth after all, is determined by the willingness to move out of one's comfort zone. Thank you, each of you, for your kind words of encouragement. I truly appreciate them.
I have been touched by each of you over the past eight months and will carry fond memories with me always.
Finally, if I had done anything within the past eight months to offend or vex you, I apologize and ask your pardon. And if I had done anything worthy of commendation, I ask that you may remember me kindly for it and allow that to define our friendship from here on. I have enjoyed your company immensely and will miss each of you terribly! (Of course, even Jack.)
Very sincerely yours,
Joel