Couldn’t afford the luxury of a creative day, instead, I was busy juggling among 4 web projects. Tired, too much work with too little time, it’s been a long time since I felt pressure like this.
Hope to clear up as much work as I can before my upcoming family trip, it looks like I’ll continue to be crazily busy in the next few days.
A lot of things happened this past week – McD openly lied about their food source, a couple of planes crashed, one of the biggest online news media closed down, and all the while the war in the Middle East grew fierce.
With the internet media, news seems immediate and restlessly grabbing our attention. Our fellowship on Friday invited a speaker to talk about the online media, it got me thinking about my time spent (wasted) online. Admittedly, I’m probably spending too much time on FB checking out the recent happenings of friends.
Sometimes I feel the urge to unplug and go completely offline, but is that even possible? I don’t think I can even get by a day without checking FB, not to say that I’m actually working in the IT industry.
Facing a bombarding news week, I recall this famous prayer:
I pray for Serenity for the things I cannot change,
Courage for the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.
I had imagined many times what the grand opening of my studio would be like – a cozy and joyful celebration with light snacks and drinks to serve family and friends. But I’ve been a bit too busy with work lately that I couldn’t find time to properly prepare for this big day.
Instead of the celebration I imagined, my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and young nephew came over for dim sum followed by a short visit to the studio. My mother seemed to be very pleased with what I had done to the space since the last time she visited many months ago. But the happiest one was my 9-yr-old nephew, he was all over the place, curiously examining every corner of the studio. He pretended to draw on the artboard one time and pretended to be working on the computer another time. I think the little guy has the potential to be a (starving) artist, I can see it from the gift he gave me today. =)
Today marks the humble beginning of my long term endeavor, may God continue to guide me in my career.
I wish to informally “launch” a potentially long-term endeavor “723 Studio” on Wednesday (July 23rd). With only 2 days and still many scheduled work unfinished, I can only do some “門面功夫”. =) Will try to finish painting the entrance door by Wednesday!
Finished the last piece of work of the 3-month painting course at night, the next course will start again in 2 weeks.
Spent a day in the studio alone, quietly and slowly cleared up some work. Feeling better now that I have a greater outlook on next week’s work schedule.
Sometimes the best way to handle work-related stress is just simply to work harder to get it out of the way.
Woke up feeling especially exhausted this morning, probably due to the soccer game under heavy rain and then coding pass 3am last night.
Sent out my weekly work progress update in the afternoon. My friend seemed particularly impatient and ill-tempered over the phone despite what I considered a hardworking and productive week. Now I hope to soon finish the bulk of this web project and then focus on the other projects that are waiting for me.
Had to miss fellowship at night because a high school friend is visiting the city and organized a dinner gathering. Despite the occasional laughter, my mind seemed to be drifted off elsewhere most of the time, thinking about work, tomorrow’s plans,… I was a bit too tired to strike an interesting conversation.
Like many others, I carried out my activities a bit like a zombie today. The finale of the World Cup was ended by an awesome goal by Germany, beating Argentina 1:0 near the end of the extended period. It was an exciting match, but I kind of thought that Messi hadn’t put his 100 + 10% into the game. His regretful expression when receiving the “Golden Goal” trophy seemed to echo my speculation.
Regardless, the month of awkward sleeping routine has come to an end, and I shall once again return to my regular work hours and shift full gear to take care of the work that had been piling up for me.
Suffered an emotional low when my favorite team Brazil got a humiliating (and historic) 7:1 lost a couple of days ago. A game that’s supposed to bring joy and peace to people resulted in buckets of tears instead. I prayed there wouldn’t be a riot. When Argentina played Netherlands in the semi-final this morning, I cheered for Argentina hoping their win would regain my faith in South American style football. It was a zero scoring game and Argentina barely won via penalty shootout. My faith probably wouldn’t be totally regained until I see them beat Germany in the Final!
I started questioning myself recently why I rooted for the South American teams (Brazil & Argentina), and I think I have an answer. To me, South American style football is more free-form, joyous, and unpredictable. In contrast, teams like Germany and Netherlands feel more like an army playing under strict orders that are based upon many tactics and statistics. It’s a bit like Art vs Science. In a sense, South American style football is more romantic and fun.
The World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina will be one of the biggest trial on my belief in South American style football!
As the saying goes, rain and tax are two things you just can’t avoid in life. Arrived at the studio slightly early this morning to file my annual tax, my very first time in HK. Had been procrastinating for weeks, felt relieved now that I finally got it over with. I’m now ready for a fresh new start!
Good thing the tax filing only occupied my morning, I was able to keep my weekly creativity ritual for the rest of the day. Helped my church design a poster quickly in the afternoon before my evening painting class. My stomach was feeling slightly queasy on my way to class, but that uncomfortable feeling simply vanished as I focused on painting. I think I had experienced the healing side of art.
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