Suomenlinna

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain

Suomenlinna, Finland

July 2014

Stand for something

“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.”

― Peter Hamilton

An Autumn dream

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C. S. Lewis

Here's an inspirational essay written by director, Ang Lee: A Never-Ending Dream

Koskela Workshop (Kitchen by Mike), Rosebery

   

‎"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls " 

- Pablo Picasso

More photos at Kitchen by Mike here

Stepping stones

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. 

 Proverbs 16:9

Rose Garden & Pavilion, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney

 

     Making himself right at home. Love it.

I had a conversation with a work colleague about her experience in moving from Korea to the U.S. and now Australia, and she mentioned this Korean proverb:

나무는 옮기면 죽고 사람은 옮겨야 산다.

Roughly translated: A tree that is uprooted will die, but man needs to be uprooted to live/thrive. 

Meaning that when people experience living in different places they will grow, learn and expand their horizons that much more.

会社で同僚の移民経験を聞きながら韓国のことわざを習いました：

나무는 옮기면 죽고 사람은 옮겨야 산다.
木は移したら死んで人は移さなければ住む。

意味は人は幅広く活動をすると(例えば, 海外に住んでみること)見聞が増えてきて視界が広くなり、大きな仕事をすることができるという話です。私は海外にもう住みたいです。

Dreams and Reality

Confucius says, "If you enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life".

Back in 2011, I posted this well-known poem about taking the road less travelled. During the same period I also posted quotes from the 'Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho. 
He's right - It's now 2013 and I don't think I'll ever be able to keep it quiet...

From the 'Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho:
- "My heart is a traitor," the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. "It doesn't want me to go on."
"That makes sense," the alchemist answered. "Naturally it's afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won."
"Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?"
"Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world.
"You mean I should listen, even if it's treasonous?
"Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you'll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them. You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it's better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you'll never have to fear an unanticipated blow."

- "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity"  

- "When I have been truly searching for my treasure, every day has been luminous, because I've known that every hour was a part of the dream I would find it. When I have been truly searching for my treasure, I've discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve."  
- "Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now."
- "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure"

A maxim

Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny

Sharp lights and This=Love by The Scripts

Nothing interesting about these two photos except for the pointed light reflected on the wall and magazine cover. 'Frankie' is one of my favourite Australian magazine.

Listening to 'This=Love' by The Scripts. I like the lyrics.

If you could be anywhere that you wanted to be
With anyone that you wanted to be with
Do anything that you wanted to do
What would it be and who would it be with you
Time flies but you’re the pilot
It moves real fast but you’re the driver
You may crash and burn sometimes

This is why we do it this is worth the pain
This is where we bow down get back up again
This is where the heart lies this is from above

The ultimate measure of a man

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.   

- Martin Luther King Jr 

t

J.K. Rowling quote

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”

            ― J.K. Rowling

Lesser photographer

It's nice to know there are people out there with the same view when it comes to 'photography'.

A Lesser Photographer is a great concept which I totally agree with! You can have the latest gear, equipment and post-processing technique but it doesn't mean it will guarantee the best image nor does it immediately classify you as a 'professional photographer'.

It's simple. It's about the photo, not the camera.
Some of my favourite images on this blog are from my trusty Panasonic point-and-shoot camera (here, here and here).

I was contemplating on whether I should spend 2k on a Nikon d7000 or use it on my trip to London, but after reading this from the Lesser Photographer, I have decided to save it for the 'diversity of my image library' and make the most out of the cameras I have now ;)

$1200 could buy you the latest prosumer DSLR body or a plane ticket to place you’ve never been, with change to spare for a guide. Which would add more to your life experience and to the diversity of your image library? There are plenty of very fashionable photographers with little in their images to showfor it.

Regrets and mistakes,

             they're memories made...

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost - poem

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

By Robert Frost