My sister and brother-in-law couldn’t join our regular family dim sum after church today, I decided to skip as well. Instead of the regular Sunday routine, I decided to spend the day in the quiet studio. Insisted not to work on a Sunday, I let creativity take control and designed a DIY lantern in preparation for Mid-Autumn tomorrow. =)
Time seems to fly even faster when work is busy. Other than a brief family vacation at the beginning of the month, August has been a very busy month with work. I have spent most of my time today to hand over a small website revamp project to a client to launch in the next couple of days. And with the big web accessibility project I have been working on for months near its completion, work should be less hectic starting next week.
Hope to reclaim my life in September – to catch up with friends, spend more time with family, pick up sports again (soccer, badminton, running), and allocate time for some creative works.
As expected, it had been a busy week with work. There were nights when I worked till 2 or 3 am, good thing I’m not obligated to wake up early (I woke up pass 11am on Sat and I was 10 minutes late meeting up my sister and brother-in-law for breakfast and church this morning). I still managed to have dinner with my parents for 3 nights. On one hand, I dragged myself home for dinner simply to avoid my mother’s nagging. And on the other hand, I really do realize that my parents are getting old and I cherish the time I can be with them.
I was thinking a lot about my parents even at times when I was absorbed with work, felt a little guilty for spending so little time with them. I’m hoping (dreaming) that one day my work would take off and offer me a humble but constant cash flow with little supervision, then I’ll spend more time with my parents/family, doing things that they enjoy, like traveling to different places around the world. Is this the right thing to ask for? I don’t know.
Back to reality, work will still be busy this coming week, but hoping that it’ll be less hectic afterwards when I’m more or less done with a big website revamp project that I’ve been working on for months, and that another smaller website revamp project get launched before September 1st.
For many years, I’ve been dedicating my Sundays to rest and to spend time with my family. I did pretty much the same things today – breakfast with sister and brother-in-law before church, followed by dim sum with the rest of my family after the service. After getting home from dim sum, I would usually water my many succulents, catch up on the daily news, and take an afternoon nap. And tonight after dinner, I even get to watch some TV and mindlessly flip through the channels, something I haven’t done for a long time.
However, it didn’t feel all that relaxing today, I couldn’t get my mind off work and worrying about the many deadlines I need to meet in the next two weeks. Will likely be super busy until early September, I can only look forward to the time when I’ll be able to spend less time coding and more time on R&D and other creative works.
Initially planned for a spontaneous day to do anything I wanted out of the blue, but found out that I had to attend a conference call in the afternoon. I was hoping to lavish myself with one last day of free time before the expected long working days ahead.
I still managed to join the weekly painting class at night after missing the first class last week due to family trip. Entered the studio a little late, but I felt welcomed by the instructor and many familiar faces. Painting seemed even more enjoyable as work gets busier.
Hate to admit that I’m “busy”, I never liked hearing friends say they’re busy when we try to set up a date to meet up. But there’s really too much work piled up, need to finish 3 websites in the remaining 3 weeks of August, it’s going to be a personal record if I manage to complete this incredible feat!
It seems that the busier I get, the more I need solitude. I recall this bible verse: “… 你們得救在乎歸回安息； 你們得力在乎平靜安穩 ” (以賽亞書 30:15)
The short 5-day Japan trip came to a close last night as we arrived at HK Airport about 30 minutes before midnight.
I kind of wished I could stay for one more day in Hiroshima because a ceremony to commemorate the devastating atomic bomb in 1945 will be held there the next day. I wished to feel the soar and to remind myself to cherish the relatively peaceful days I’ve been taking for granted since birth.
Japan seems so much quieter than this noisy city I arrived in. I came back with a greater perspective of things but not as well rested as I initially hoped. I’m still not sure about calling this place “home”.
I always seem to do my traveling in August. I still vividly remember the time spent in Hawaii last August to attend my friend’s wedding, it unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best vacation ever. And for this August, 6 family members (including me) decided to join a short tour to Japan. The last time our family travelled together was back in the August of 2010 to Australia!
I’m still left with many undone work before embarking on this trip, will have to get back to them afterwards. I can actually use a little break from the noisy city. “Rest, for the purpose of traveling greater distances.”
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