To Start the Year

At Mel's New Year's Eve dinner, PH talked about his enduring interest in computers, and how his father always said he loved tearing computers apart and putting them back again when he was younger.

We talked about doing the things we love, the things we are passionate about.

And I think that was a good thought with which to close the year. Along with a number of other things that happened in the second half of last year, I really 2012 ought to be the 'Year of the Heart'—a year to be honest with my feelings and myself, for I believe that only in attaining harmony with myself will I be able to do the same with others.

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I told myself in 2010, when I graduated, that I would take something like a year off to decide on what to do next. It has since been a year and a half, coming to two years this June. So it's really quite about time I decided!

Remember this post? Denise suggested, "The least predictable one, of course, because you know it's gonna be an exciting and rewarding (monetary or otherwise) experience, no matter what!"

I have more or less decided that, whatever I do next, it will not be a PhD in the sciences. I really enjoyed my undergraduate days, but then I was reminded last year that I never chose Ecology in order to make it a career; I chose it because that was what I wanted to study, to experience, at that point in my life.

I learnt yesterday that an old primary school friend is starting a diploma in Digital Animation at The One Academy. Apparently she wanted to do it four years ago, but was advised against it by her father. As such, she did a course in business economics and management. In my reply to this news, I reflected on how life really is too short to be stuck doing the 'safe' things, especially if your heart is elsewhere.

Of course, I am aware that there are many who don't have a choice, either because of extenuating circumstances, or because they are not sufficiently qualified for certain jobs, and so on. But by and large, I do feel that many have a very real choice—besides, it's not as if the 'safe jobs' are any better a guarantee of a secure and comfortable future.

The latter half of 2011 was replete with 'visits' to the past, to my roots and the things I've been true to, and that have been true to me over the years. I found myself thinking about the artists in my life—those who have shaped how I see the world: people like Uncle Hui, Eric Peris Christine Peh, and even my own doppelgänger, Jia Ming herself.

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So what's ahead for 2012?

First of all, I think this is the year I'll write my 1000th post here! So that will be something to look forward to, not so much because of the 'record', but because it will be a good time to look back over the last eight years or so since I started blogging, and see how I've grown, developed and changed over these years.

Anyway, this is just a short post to kick-start the year. The long reflections on last year will come later, as will all the trip 'reports': so many trips made last year, so many places visited, but none properly featured here yet. I hope to get this done—or at least, get the ball rolling—sometime mid-Jan, hopefully, once I've settled the UM Cares sustainability handbook project, which is finally near the end!

And I have a number of projects lined up, about which I'm very excited. More on these later, but one thing I can say about them: I really feel they've been delayed too long. If we don't put our skills and powers to good use when we can, they really will atrophy!


The last photograph of 2011, taken at Mel's: