Appalachian Mission Trip with World Vision

Philippi, WV.

That's where we went for our 4 days and 3 nights mission trip. Philippi is located in the Appalachian region and with a sparse population of 3,000 residents, we joined World Vision to help this struggling small town.

Admittedly, each of us had different expectation about the town and the community that we would be serving, and what we saw there seems to defy all of our expectations. I guess we were still struggling to reconcile the definition of poor in the US compared to what we have brought up seeing in Indonesia. The family that we were serving seems to possess things that low-income Indonesians would be considered luxury: flat TV, fully stocked refrigerator, electricity, plumbing, and comfy bed.

However, this initial shock did not last long. We had a debrief the first night and took the chance to unite and align our perspective again to the Bible. God is teaching us that He does not discriminate any of the disciples when He washed their feet, including Judas. Thus, regardless of their poverty level, we were called to serve, and serve we will.

Our main goal is to finish painting one living room. First, we started the day getting to know Rosetta and her family (this is the family that we served), and quickly started to work. Before the wall can be painted, we needed to sand and chalk the wall. So majority of our time was spent doing these, while some of us (Eva, Upik, and Maria) were assigned to repaint another room.

During the course of three days, we slowly got to know Rosetta and her family. She shared how she was raised in a church, but hardships and disasters that came later in life pushed her away from believing in God. She could not understand why a loving God would put her in an alcoholic family and allow suffering to happen in her life: bankruptcy, medical bills, and many other calamities.

Despite the disappointment, she also shared how she was touched by the kindness of World Vision and all the volunteers who had come to help her renovating her house. Teared up, she confided that she was not ready to accept Christ yet, but all these gospel-adorning activities by Christians around her definitely softening her heart.

One personal memory with Rosetta was when she invited all of us to watch her son's football match. We were more than thrilled to take part in this family event and quickly agreed to attend. We arrived at the field, her brother insisted on paying all of our tickets (such an act of generosity) and we all sat down together cheering the home team. That game was a special moment because at that point, I believe we were bonded deeper when all of us cheering and shouting together for her son. No label, no presumption, no I-am-the-volunteer, and no I-am-the-poor, just people having fun together over a game.

The last day of service, we started out with a morning devotion from John 13 about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. We meditated on Jesus' servanthood: that He loves in spite of who the disciples are (no discrimination, including Judas), in spite of what He is facing (single focus to serve although He would be crucified the next day), and in spite of who He is (King).

Then, we painted the outside of the house and by the end of the day, we finished painting two sides of it. Quite an accomplishment. For our last dinner, Rosetta and her family came to our campground. It was truly a delight to have her over, and we discovered that she was a very friendly and sociable person. We thanked God that during the course of three days, the ice had melted, the racial and demographic gap had been bridged, and a memorable friendship was built between Rosetta and us.

As I looked back over the experience, I, and I'm sure I'm speaking for the whole team, was truly blessed by this trip. First, it is true what the Bible said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) and we experienced that first-hand. Not just the acts of service, but the satisfaction from being a blessing and to do this in the context of friendship and fellowship. Second, it humbled me: that my life is undeservedly blessed, that I complained more than I need, and I give thanks less than I should (we also had a no-complaint rule during the trip :) ). Third, God's unconditional love is far more radical than I imagined. Love views the world in opaque: no cultural, racial, socio-economic black and white and ultimately, demanding no response.

All in all, thanks to World Vision, Kris (the coordinator), and Rosetta and her family for the experience. Hopefully we can come back next year, with a different team!!

The Team, Rosetta (in pink), her husband and children, and Kris (in orange) from World Vision

Breaking Bad - How It Will End?

How a docile and harmless chemistry teacher turns into a ruthless drug dealer is what Breaking Bad all about. After being diagnosed with a cancer, Walter decided to cook crystal meth in order to provide for his family. Progressively, he descended into the abyss of moral destruction. The irony? This was after the factor that led him to "break bad" had disappeared: his cancer.

How this TV series would end is the one million dollar question. Whatever Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, has in mind, there are two moral complexities that need some resolution.

First, every action has its consequences. The idea of justice is ingrained in us and we are taught since child that consequences will follow. No crime goes unpunished. Revenge, is the default response whenever feelings or rights are violated. Thus, Walter has to face the ultimate judgment from all people whose lives and freedom he had raped for the pursuit of his drug empire. To let him off the hook seems to be offensively simple - a fairy tale.

On the other hand, some of us secretly wish that fairy tale does come true. We all know how dire circumstances awaken the Dr Jekyll in us, and the impossibility of extricating ourselves from the spiraling journey down. Part of us wish that forgiveness is not too much too ask; a jewel that the world can still readily dispense.

The reason Breaking Bad captures the heart of many viewers is because, to some degree, the story of Walter White is a story of us. It reveals a frightening nature of human. Given the right ingredients - power, absence of moral authority, wealth, duress - people "break bad".

I believe Breaking Bad is not a story about personal change, but about situational change. The more Walter's drug empire grows and the more obstacles he overcomes, the more convinced he is of his invincibility. His crime begets another crime, but the better he is at damage control, the more God-like he feels. Steadily, as the circumstances increase, he decreases. Under this escalating situational change, Dr Jekyll has totally overtaken Mr Hyde. It is this self-inflated Dr Jekyll who looks straight to his wife and says, "I'm not in the drug business, I'm in the empire business".

Breaking Bad runs on a frightening moral principal: every one of us can turn into season-6 Walter White. It shows, in a modern twist, what Philip Zimbardo had concluded in his famous Stanford Prison experiment: Dr Jekyll is not a hell of our own making, but a hell exist all along inside us.

At this point, no one knows how Breaking Bad is going to end, and I trust Gilligan will bring this challenging dilemma to a satisfying conclusion. Whether it would end with the idea of justice and love being mixed into a beautiful concoction still remain to be known. If yes, then Breaking Bad would be the closest tale of grace in today's modern culture - the return of the prodigal son, Walter White.

Lessons from Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Validated!

That was the pervasive feeling I had after reading Susan Cain's book, Quiet. Being an introvert for almost 26 years is like living under constant prejudice that we are the 2nd class personality. Who care about that kid sitting quietly at the corner? Why is he not contributing to the discussion? "He's sooo quiet," people whisper.

Like the sun by which everything become clear, this book explains why I behave the way I behaved. The crux of the issue is not about which personality is superior, but how one personality can support the other, and vice versa. This writing is even not an argument, but a plea (I'll let the extroverts argue) for more understanding to the inside world of an introvert.

1. We are not anti-social.
Might be shocking to you, but we enjoy being in a social event and socializing. However, I wish you would redefine the idea of social events that have been shaped heavily by the culture, and enter into the introverts' idea of social event instead.

Imagine a small table of four, either at a coffee shop or a wine bar, with Michael Buble playing on the background, and four friends chatting heartily about life. Forget beer pong. Forget limbo and please don't even mention a disco night, all those are beyond our threshold of tolerance. So, it's not that we are anti-social, but we are differently social. Apparently, a table of four works better for us.

2. We are not anti-fun
I apologize if I did not jump from my seat and dance to the beat of Pitbull singing. I remember I was at a Bruno Mars' concert, and there was me sitting down quietly trying to enjoy his voice in the middle of girls jumping, hollering and cam-videoing. Pardon me for being the "lousiest fan", but I did enjoy the concert and did have fun. I just prefer less stimulation, and thus produce less expression of enthusiasm. Take off the lighting, and everything that make a concert spectacular, and I will not be deprived of fun. I just enjoy it differently.

3. We do engage in brainstorming and group discussion session.
These two types of environment are the perfect incubator for extroverts: spotlight, quick decision, thinking out loud, and actions oriented. Unfortunately for introverts who prefer solitude, contemplation, and thought processing, these brainstorming and discussion session will only produce half-baked ideas that we feel very uncomfortable to present.

Believe me, we do engage in the discussion, but for the time you spend talking and brainstorming, we are thinking and contemplating - mostly about what you said two minutes ago. And because there is rarely a moment of silence to which we can finish our thought, we just can't keep up. It's not rare that I come out from these sessions feeling wrecked by all the brains storming my resources and leave me in vertigo.

4. We do feel excited about your idea
Don't interpret our lack of excitement, or our hesitant to high-five as a non cooperative gesture to your initiative. It's just very natural for us to go into contemplative mode and wander into the realm of "what if this does not work". Instead of risk taking, too often we are heed taking. And it's hard to be gregarious when our path to gregarious require a five minutes risk assessment of the idea. Trust me, once we settle with it, we develop what Cain said Quiet Persistence or Soft Power - a silent tenacity in achieving a goal.

"Foothill College communication studies professor Preston Ni calls this style soft power, and contends that even someone who's not outwardly charismatic can lead if she is committed to her cause. The introverted Mother Teresa wielded soft power, and so did Gandhi, who had been a shy man. "In the long run," says Ni, "if your idea is good and you lead with your heart, it's almost a universal law: You'll attract people who want to share your cause. Soft power is quiet persistence.""

5. Believe me, I'm an introvert
And many other of your friends who can be gregarious, loud, and seems pretty comfortable in a large social setting. This is because many introverts are pseudo-extrovert, or as what Cain put it, a high self monitoring introvert - people who can modify their behavior to social demands. Although we do enjoy (point #1 and point #2) the social interactions, they are taking a toll on us and our energy meter is depleting rapidly.

To this, Cain suggested a method called "restorative niche" - a physical or mental place to recharge your energy and be true to yourself. Allow this 5- 10 minutes break between high stimulating activities and go for a walk before meeting, or hide in a bathroom, or put on your noise-cancelling earphone, etc.

Overall, there is no finger pointing here, I don't blame the company culture or the education system for favoring the Extroverts ideal. What I am hoping is for introverts not to shy away from their strength, and for extroverts to understand the contribution that for long have been closeted by the introverts. I'm sure the synergy of a team depends on all parts working together in their areas of strength and after so much training and focus on 7 Habits or Strength Finder, maybe it's time to shift our focus and go back to people's most basic trait, introverts and extroverts personality.

Commencement Speech - You Are Not Special

Be careful what you hear. We tend to selectively hear only things that validate our opinion and sense of liking. We like to hear messages that tickle our ears, telling us that we deserve it, we are strong, and we are special. Aren't we the contender? Imagine that you are one out of the millions sperms that being dispensed, and you're the one who swim victoriously towards the egg? But hey, listen more carefully please: there are 6.8 billions sperm that manage to do that too, and more are following. That is why when one commencement speaker states that we are not special, the whole world throws a tantrum and gasp in disbelief.

How could he? 

How dare he? 

Yes, what rarely said and often only heard in a faint whisper is the line after that: how could he tell that disturbing truth that soon? How dare he shatter the beautiful yet misconstrued pictures that we have been constructing for this little child - that he is the most special and that the world revolve around him?

This speech is an appropriate wake up call not only for these children, but also for all of us. Listen to what David McCullough Jr, an English speaker from Wellesley High School has to say during this commencement speech. 

Here are some of my favorites:

'Yes, you've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You've been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You've been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we've been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your tweet. ... And now you've conquered high school ... and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community ...

But do not get the idea you're anything special. Because you're not.'

'Your planet ... is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it'

'Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It's what happens when you're thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion- and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joy of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. 

Because everyone is'

See this for complete transcript

StopKony 2012 - Campaign Against Child Soldiers in Uganda

Today, a social campaign against child soldiers is going viral, taking all social medias by storm. Kony 2012. A campaign initiated by Invisible Children with the purpose to create awareness about Joseph Kony, an international criminal who abducted children and forced them to be child soldiers. Pretty horrifying fact although the issue itself is not new.

I laud the campaign for successfully bringing this issue to the dinner table. At least, I've seen more post about Uganda now on my Facebook feeds rather than the usual food pictures and 9gag.com. I am excited that such issue can be shared with millions of people around the world, and now people know what's happening in Uganda and hopefully many other parts of the world.

As with anything viral, things will wane and all these people now tweeting #StopKony will wake up a week from now and have no slightest remembrance of this issue. It is expected that most people are driven emotionally and only feel the nudge to press the like or share button mostly to make themselves feel better. However, I believe out of millions who sway and move on, a few will take the issue to heart and would not be able to erase what their eyes have seen and what their ears have heard. These raging unstoppable passion will be the driving forces once more, rallying people to care about issues that matter.

So, I am totally behind this movement and this ground-breaking visibility especially after lately been exposed to testimonies from former child soldiers themselves. A Long Way Gone is a great memoir of a boy detailing his odyssey with war in Sierra Leone. Another book that I've read is First They Killed My Father, another gripping story of a girl's journey in a devastating brutal war in Cambodia. And now, the story of Jacob in Uganda.

Too many things are left unsaid and too many tears have been poured out invisibly. It is time for the people of the world to start noticing and sharing their problem. I know how the pain of losing a family member can be torturous, but to witness your parents being murdered is another different game, let alone to be forced to kill them yourself. There is no closure for that. No one should go through that kind of nightmare. Not us, and certainly not them.

Lessons Learned - The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

The idea of helping the poor has never escaped me, I am always internally drawn to the possibility of making the world a better place. I believe this is the passion that I share with Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder of Acumen fund, who unlike me started to realize her dream early in her career. It is with elation that I ravage the pages of her book, The Blue Sweater, mostly for sharing stories that had I possessed the courage, I would also be able to experience and share.

When the idealist and novice imagine a life of a social entrepreneurs in Africa, one would sway, due to their inept knowledge of the reality, to either one extreme: the painful rough path of suffering or the rewarding transcendental joy of changing the world. I myself have unconsciously been apologizing to myself for wanting the former and for enforcing such 'curse' upon my own life, why not vie for that wall street or consulting job? This book, however, shatter my misconstrued reality

Yes, the business of changing the world usually entail certain level of loneliness and hardships, but do not all roads contain their own rubble and hard path? Being negatively judged, unlawfully accused and even being poisoned are part of the package. Jacqueline described it perfectly here,

"Doing this in a different language, in a place far from home, where navigating even simple things could thwart the best intentions challenged me to my bones. There were plenty of nights when the sheer injustice of the world in which I lived would come crashing down. With no means of communication other than letters, a sense of isolation would envelop me, and there were nights that ended in tears of tiredness and sadness for a world that didn't seem to want to see the possibilities right there in front of it. In those times, I would turn to music. Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Cat Stevens began to feel like good friends on lonely nights" 

But unbeknownst to me is the magical adventure this life has to offer at the same time. Weekend is still weekend wherever you are, and the world is not lacking of any perks and fun to throw at you. For Jacqueline, it is that climbing one mountain in Africa or an adventurous travel from the far reaches of Ethiopia to the Kenyan savannas or to the volcanoes of Rwanda. Or even as simple as eating shish kebabs and grilled bananas, dancing to the tunes of African music with Rwandan beer at hand. Those are pictures that my misconstrued mind often denigrated as not being philanthropic, but certainly with every trough, a peak is about to follow.

Another issue that I am having hard time to grip with is the issue of lifestyle: how much are they going to change me and vice versa, how localize should we conform to their lifestyle and how much freedom are we throwing out of the window? I think big part of that answer depend on the level of involvement you want to be in. But this story helps me to understand and find a better conciliatory point between the joy and suffering of social entrepreneurs.

"I'm not sure I even want the champagne, Dan," I said. "I feel a little ashamed by it. I just don't know if it is right to be doing this while we're living here." 


Dan looked at me. "I know it doesn't make a lot of sense on one level. We're working with the really poor, and you and I couldn't be more privileged in relative terms. But don't pretend to be someone you aren't. If you were at home, you'd celebrate with champagne. If you want to remain happy and alive in this work, you need to reconcile this part of who you are and understand the inconsistencies with the work you do and how it all fits into your whole way of being." 


I looked at my lovely friend. As a young man, he'd lost his brother and had already endured great sadness in his life. His commitment to social change had never wavered. Maybe he knew something I didn't. 

Certainly, there are something I do not know unless I jump into it and get my hands dirty. Reading this book awaken the sleeping giant in me, I know I am several years behind, I am 24 now and little that I did except reading and learning about the issue. Other passionate young men and women have flown high and even let their wings being clipped and plucked during the quest, while mine remain ironically unscathed.

Going to Cambodia this year is my first action plan; an adventure to learn the world beyond me and to be familiar with what I think would be my world. Cowardice and comfort are two vices that I have been submitting into, but this time I refuse to bow down and present my tithe. I know I will take what Jacqueline said to heart,

Entrepreneurs see possibility, an idea, and won't stop, regardless of the obstacles, until they make it happen. They aren't necessarily the smartest people in the world, but they are the ones who have the guts and the heart to do whatever it takes to make dreams come real.

Response to Marine Urinating Dead Bodies

Only a few really know the cost of war, no one can really claim to understand what's happening out there only by sitting on their couch and watching BBC's documentation on war, just like no one understands tragedy and suffering without actually having your life tied to it, no matter how many movies you watch about death or even the holocaust.

After watching the video of soldiers urinating on dead corpse, and seeing the condemnation the whole world threw at them, I started to think. Of course, that was a stupid act, a 'completely inhuman', and 'utterly deplorable'. But still, granted that, what cause it? What is this shock viralling on the media?

Viktor E. Frankl, a holocaust survivor, in his book "Man's Search for Meaning" wrote that the prisoners upon witnessing so many scenes of beating, are hardened morally and mentally. Their impulse toward violence is increased (add to that the bereavement from food and rest), thus their capacity to handle, tolerate and commit violence is catapulted as well.

Not only the prisoners, the guards are also slowly transformed into a darker evil upon seeing and living and committing act of brutality in an increasing dosage. It dulls you, and suddenly gassing the Jews is not so bad at all. Let alone beating them or withholding food ration and in this case peeing on dead bodies. This kind of hellish environment forces the prisoner's life (and the guards as well) down to a primitive level, where humans cease to have meaning, merely an object, a thing, a weightless matter.

In a pretty much similar fashion, these soldiers are made to commit some atrocious acts which unlike the peeing video, never being taped and posted on Youtube - destroying community, shooting people on their head, bombing houses, and having to watch their friends being tortured and murdered on the battlefield. We often shriek and close our eyes upon watching such gruesome acts in a war or horror movie, these guys see it too often to even bother to close their eyes anymore. 

The urinating incident is indeed grotesque and insensitive, yet are we planting the seed at the first place? These people are put in hell; these are people who are commanded to 'kill on sight' upon seeing another human being and then to celebrate his death while the family, mother and daughter of that person gasping for breath trying to understand the gruesome reality of war. When morality is being taken out of the equation, when such immoral acts are their daily consumption, could they be blamed for urinating on dead bodies? 

If we were to be so "deeply troubled" at this incident, maybe what the world needs is a world without war after all. Maybe instead of putting all effort to bring justice to this, we should put greater effort in ending the war. Maybe war, even the most 'normal' activity of war, should trouble us greater, than the urination. 

Salary of Non Profits' Top Officials

First, look at the picture below. 

Source: www.csmonitor.com

Alright, in the spirit of not being judgmental, I did a quick Googe on the salary of top officials in non profit organizations. And I partly understand the argument that non profit has to compete with corporation to get the best and the brightest. But, still, six digit figures touching the veneer of $500,000 (or double that in some cases) seems a little bit unsettling to me. I am not a big corporation guy so I have little idea about the benefits and compensation in that kind of surroundings, but combining the idea of non profit dealing with malaria in Africa with the six digit figures spent on a holiday in Montreal is ..... a painful mental exercise. 

I am almost tempted to urge the non profits to simply settle with the brighter mind and look for the brightest heart instead. In my imagination, someone who is not motivated by dime (or in this case, hundred thousands) and who will voluntarily choose to be under underpaid (notice the double 'under'). There must be someone like that out there right? 

But after scrutinizing the report, it comes as a shock to me that World Vision, the organization that I wholeheartedly support, is on the list. Having read the book that Rich Stearns wrote, he definitely does not come out as a selfish greedy old guy, I can feel the passion and genuineness surfacing from his writings. So, no reconciliation yet to be made about this, I guess I'm just trying to be open minded and patiently waiting for a better explanation. 

I'm not arguing that the top executives should suffer and sacrifice his / her life, I guess what I'm calling for is a further re-evaluation of what salary range is acceptable or appropriate. How does compensation or benefit or salary is justifiably allocated? Should it be commensurate with his / her dedication, or how much money he / she raise that year, or seniority or a soft re-calling to that deep dark place often untouched nowadays called conscience?  

Charity This Christmas - Where to Donate?

There is at least one time in a year where people care about charity and more gleefully rummage their pocket to find some money to donate. Yes, the highly advertised season of joy and blessings is just at the corner. Because of this, I am sending an early gift for you guys by listing some of the charities that I am supporting / proposing and hopefully this will help some of you to decide which charity to give this Christmas. And since Christmas is again the season of sharing and helping, I ask you guys to list your charity or non-profit giving in the comment section to help other readers to decide too.

First and foremost, World Vision. You can adopt a child for $30-35 per month. This will not only pay for their school, but also to build their community by building infrastructure and facility.

2. Kiva: A micro-finance type of charity, supporting entrepreneurs all around the world by loaning money.

3. Room to read: building schools and library to educate children. They believe the world change when children are educated!! Amen to that.

4. If water is your thing, charity:water may be a good channel. Committed to bring safe and clean drinking water.

5. The hunger project: their vision is to end a person's  hunger not by giving them fish, but by empowering and teaching them "how to fish"

What about you? Please don't hesitate to share charities that you want to support or call out!!

Joplin, Three Months After

Joplin, MO is the destination and thus the 13 hours drive on Tuesday night with a team of 17 (10 adults and 7 kids). Brief background story: On May 23rd, a massive tornado hit Joplin destroying 1/3 of the city and killing at least 154 people. And thus here we are, three months later, cruising 705 miles from Columbus to Joplin with sheer intention to help with whatever tiny muscle and how-tos we have. 

Welcome to Joplin

The statue was "moved" from a park nearby by the tornado and landed safely at this concrete 

Although some areas are pretty much cleaned up, there are still some areas, like this, that remain untouched. 

What's left from the house. People write their house number and street address because the area is so destroyed that people don't recognize what street they're at. 

This is the tree that we're supposed to cut with an electric chainsaw. But none of us seems to know how to use such incredible tools and when one of us tried (me unfortunately), it took me prob 3 minutes to do the job (and 5 secs for him). Do the math, so we're being "liberated" from the task for the sake of efficiency and he let us watch and enjoy the show. 

The same tree, before being cut off, carried to the curb by the help of a larger tractor. 

This was a residential area before the tornado but now what's left of it are broken trees, vacant lots and foundation of houses.  

Newseum, Pulitzer Photographies and Reflection

There is a famous saying by Maya Angelou, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away". Last weekend at Newseum in Washington DC was the moment that continuously and repeatedly took my breath away. The experience was powerful and emotional; I looked inward to my small world full of insignificant and transient "breath of life" that I pined and held on so dearly and I looked outward to all the bits and pieces of history laid out clearly before me, and I was undone.

Eyes are too often deceiving as they are highly selective to what the beholders want to see (remember that we are told not to walk by sight but by faith?) One set of eyes could see the injustice happening one block away while another set of eyes could overlook the poverty right under his nose and ironically is only drawn to the sport car blazing right before his very eyes. 

My eyes are susceptible to that too, but all the great exhibits hanging in front of me immobilize my eyes from looking anywhere else, sucking my entire attention. In that moment, I choose to see the helplessness yet innocence of this baby during a war in Kosovo, having to be passed back and forth as his family was separated by a barbed wire. 

I choose to see the face of evil in the ruthless and gruesome act of lynching people and then banging the head with folding chair. Some grinned. A public spectacle. I choose to see the fate of an innocent one year old after a brutal city bombing. I choose to see the face of famine and drought, and I choose to look deeper until it dawned on me that some children died the most disgraceful death: devoured by vultures. 

I choose to see and try to understand why would a person burn another person to death?  I choose to see the agony of a sister wailed in grief as she saw her brother's feet buried under the rubble, unable to pull him out. I choose to see and clearly I see that every person has a story but unfortunately, those stories are often unknown and only rarely captured. Only once in a while, it is shared, and immortalized, by a click of a camera.

Even once they are captured, they are often treated like a hidden archive - exist but unknown. It is not only the eyes that choose not to see, but what most accessible to the eyes are often the rubbish and cheap imitation of life. Look at a magazine stand and what the eyes could see is a complete betrayal of reality: a thin model posing glamorously, a mouthwatering $40 meal, a shiny sport car and the latest technological gadget. Look at your Facebook stream and what you see is an imbalance of passion between reality and fake reality.  People posting, commenting, and shouting proudly about their "greatest dinner ever", "happiest vacation", "where could I get this, I want!!".

I see a distortion here. There is nothing wrong with deep passion for food, gadget or nature, but clearly I have a problem when a restaurant gets more review and exposure than these people out there. Enjoy food, enjoy beauty and enjoy money. But with people, don't just enjoy them, love them, with even greater passion! As beautiful as the mountain is, or as delicious as the food is, they are no way near as precious and beautiful as human beings. You know that, right? 

If your house is engulfed by fire, are you going to run into the fire and save your stunning picture with the great and mighty grand canyon? Are you going to risk your life for a recipe book, or a gadget or a book? I know I'm not but why do I care so much about where do I want to eat tonight? Why am I making my dinner meal as the headline news of the day? 

Truly, life is measured by the moments that take our breath away, and we need eyes wide opened to see what most precious in life. Some things can take your breath away, momentarily and never give it back to you, waiting for you to be suffocated. Some other things can take your breath away, and then re-breath it in back to you, and give you life. Switch your eyes for a while and look to the other end of the world or even look to your neighbor, look beyond your fortress of comfort and pleasure and you'll see what my eyes have been blessed to see. Behold and let your purified eyes be the judge, what do I wanna see today? Do I wanna see life, or do I wanna see the counterfeit?

*all the pictures were taken from my visit to Newseum thus the crooked pictures. 

Visit to Passion Works Studio

Around two months ago, we had an opportunity to visit Passion Works, a social business entrepreneurship located in Athens, OH. Basically, Passion Works is about doing a collaboration between artists with and without disability problems. It is originated from the belief that every humans are innately precious and are capable of doing something valuable to society. Patty Mitchell, its owner and founder, sees beyond their disability, and started to use this opportunity to help them restoring their sense of self-esteem while at the same time building her own company . Thus, you have the term Social Business, a for-profit company with a social vision.

At Passion Works Studio with founder, Patty Mitchell

So, how does the collaboration actually work? Sketch is drawn by disabled people; they are the one who come up with ideas which then being actualized by full time artists. Tons of wonderful ideas and drawings sprung up from their creative mind, one of them is the Passion Flowers which is now being recognized as the official flowers of Athens, OH. The products that they carry range from decorative item to functional items like guitar or even luggage.

It was unfortunate we didn't take more pics

As my eyes observed all the amazing artworks before me, my mind can't help to wonder. It doesn't take a special set of eyes to look at these people and realized that they are uniquely created. It doesn't take a master or Phd degree to acknowledge that they possess certain kind of abilities which often times are being overlooked. Patty sees through that, and I believe we can also see that. However, it takes a tender and courage heart to go beyond what we see or believe or acknowledge and actually turn that into an action. Often times, doing is much harder than believing, because doing is another level of commitment, and that is why people who are actually a doer, are those who are able to bring huge impact to the community. Patty Mitchell did this several years ago; starting with only a strong determination and bold courage, she brought her vision to reality, and thus has become an inspiration for lots of people, including me.

Learn more about Passion Works:
Follow them at Twitter http://twitter.com/PWStudio
Be their fan at Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pwstudio
Click here for video, and here

Elizabeth Gilbert's Talk on Creativity

It is not in my natural inclination to watch a video twice, and if that is ever the case, only for two possible reasons. First, the video bores me to death but yet watching it is necessary for certain purposes. Second, the video is freakin good that only when I watch it twice or more that my enjoyment is completed. This video by Elizabeth Gilbert undoubtedly falls into the later one, and my excitement went to the extent that I, to my own surprise, got up off my chair, and in a perfect harmony with the audience in the video, gave a standing ovation.

So, what's in the video that really piqued my interest? I think the way she delivered the talk was beautiful, as in no-other-people-can-do-it beautiful, as in exceptionally beautiful. Her word choice, eloquence, body gestures really arrested my attention, and these factors alone, without considering the argument heavily, already earned my favor.

I will not talk about the content beside this, that it is a subtle way to describe God, an "entity" that some called Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Zeus, The Universe, The Force, The Light, or The Creator. Whatever label you want to put on the word "God", it is secondary to this talk. For me, at least, this talk shows that God, or "A Genius" actually exists, be it inside or outside us, and the belief that there is no god will only do more harm to those who believe it.

So, please enjoy the video, it's worth 18 minutes of your time.

The Empty Pursuit of Fame

In this era of reality TV, advertisements and social medias , attention is a scarcity and people are competing ferociously for their share of fame and recognition. In the recent "balloon boy" case, parents willingly employ their own child to promote their popularity. It seems to me that people will not vacillate to legalize all means to gain fame; from performing the silliest act in "30 seconds to fame", broadcasting the daily struggle of raising eight Gosselins, and to staging a "six-year-old boy in a balloon" drama. All for the sake of winning people's wow, simply that - to bring a faint of self-worth into their bland dull life.

The need to be loved and recognized is a basic human trait; it is evident in each and every stage of humans' life. A baby hollers desperately to get his parents' attention, a high school student engineers a rebellion by failing his class, a college sophomore gets himself in a brawl to impress girls, a business owner donates his money to create media buzz. Each stage has its own weapon of choice, but the more people grow intellectually, the more insidious it becomes. Humans are innately the master of manipulation, and our boot camp starts even when we barely able to talk.

Is it wrong then to want to be recognized? I believe the answer is a resounding no. But when people will go to such length to satisfy their hunger for fame, it becomes an acute unquenchable obsession which if left untreated will start to redefine their self-esteem. And this incident simply shows what direction our current society is going: a celebrity-obsessed narcissistic culture.

That is why we are so obsessed with putting our latest pictures on Facebook, we peruse all blog posts on "getting more followers on Twitter", we have our own self-portrait or caricature, and we even Google ourselves. Yes, we want our existence to be affirmed, and we define our self-esteem based on useless opinions - how many facebook friends and twitter followers we have? How many people view our youtube video or blog?

Personally, I think we have to remember that people's opinion should never dictate our own evaluation of self-esteem. The impulse for fame will always be there, but I think we should master the art of controlling it and refuse to accept the delusion that it creates; self-worth should never be measured using a popularity contest from a bunch of unknown "voters".

I highly doubt that people will find true joy from having thousands of impersonal comments on their video. Would that really make you happy? For me, I believe that I am worth more than even millions of comments or followers, and I am just going to live my life freely without having to obsess over who's gonna like me or who's paying attention. Hey, my life is still a great drama, with or without camera around.