When we die, we wake up.

Strange & weird.

Bitter but beautiful.

Shallow yet deep.

Each life is merely a dream.

Let us learn as much as we can.

Rev 2.10-11

"But do not fear what you are about to suffer. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death."

The Culture of Competition

There’s something really disturbing about this concept of “winning”. Everyone seems to want to be always on top of everybody else. There’s nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself and attempting to achieve the highest standards; but when it comes to a point when the drive makes you step on other people and make them feel inferior, it just gets out of hand.

See, the current understanding of winning is actually a product of two deadly sins: (1) Pride – the opposite of humility and (2) Envy – the opposite of contentment. We, as humans, have always relied on our intelligence to outlast other species. However, ruling over lands, seas and air did not stop us from continuing our hunger for domination that even among our kind we want to be the ones regarded as the highest.

Anywhere we go, we are in competition. In games, even when it gets personal, we still consider it sports. In work & government, we call it politics. In school, we call it academic excellence. There’s sibling rivalry with a brother or a sister. There’s the need for approval from a parent. There’s the hate-and-love relationship with a best-friend. And don’t forget the passive-aggression and hidden self-pity of being the less-successful spouse. These are unnecessary baggage. Even contests are based on popularity and are, more often than not, decided upon by not-so-deserving judges thus resulting in non-reliable outcomes.

So what do we want to achieve by winning?
Respect? Or money & bragging rights?

What do we get from being cut-throat competitive?
Mastery in that field? Or figured-out cheats just to get the prize?

More importantly, do we know how to handle either fame or oblivion?

We are too bothered by the blessings others receive that we forget the ones we have. Like DNA, every single human being has a different set of achievements in one way or another.

Let me make it clear that I am as guilty as my nearest neighbour; lest I be accused of hypocrisy. But awareness is the beginning of enlightenment. I do not want to hide my inner demons for doing such will only make it stronger until it eats me up.

What I want to lay down the table is the sad fact that society is too absorbed in unhealthy competition. Almost everyone has the goal of becoming better than others. Maybe we should realize that our differences should not be regarded as destructive but rather something that creates harmony. Nature can attest to this if we look and listen closely. The moment we understand this, we will learn that there’s no such thing as winning and losing. It is only a matter of living together.

The Unheard Howls

MALLS.

For most, it's a nest to kill time;
a center to meet familiar faces;
maybe ease their hunger;
and sometimes pay for things they may or may not need.

To me it's a jungle.
An alternative to a handful of other places. Sure it makes lives easier and more convenient. But looking at hundreds of people all crammed into one building going into different directions makes the world seem more unorganized.

When I sit down (if I can even find a seat) and listen to the sounds from the distant corners of this entity, I find it deafening and even scary. It's a mixture of all the unheard howls & sighs of all the lonely souls gathering in a ceremony of keeping ourselves busy to forget our troubles.

I know this works to the advantage of demons that lurk. To divert our attention away from the spirit of nature; from silent conversations and steady hours.

The mall is a monster of a machine that rapidly eats away the simplicity of every city.

Make it stop.


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[Image from the 1982 Warner Bros. Film 'Blade Runner']

All that glitters is not gold.

Take a song you like that has a video for it.

Think about the music without the suggested visuals.

Do you honestly suppose you would've liked it even if you weren't aware of the video?

These days, living in a world with easily accessible media makes most people prefer the eye-candy that accompanies a song rather than the sonic landscape itself - meant to be listened to. Not exactly seen.

Of course since the advent of the music video, we cannot deny the opportunities it created for musicians. It was an invitation to enter people's living rooms and present themselves as what they look like; specifically what they look like while moving. Concerts didn't stay true to the intended recorded versions. So MTV stepped in. All the pop stars & the rock stars joined the bandwagon (no pun intended). Then, as that one hit declared, 'Video killed the radio star'.

But the artist's looks, the antics, the fashion - are these big factors for us to appreciate the music? Are we too hungry for entertainment that we want it to be always maximized? Or are we just in touch with our literal vision that we always want everything to be associated with images? What if we're actually too lazy to separate them? Thus creating the dillema of judgment. Mediocrity concealed in sparkles. The ordinary masked as royalty. But as the old cliche goes, 'All that glitters is not gold'.

I think we are lazy. I believe we are. Otherwise, not too many stories have become comic books; not too many novels have become films; and not almost all popular songs have become music videos.

This is not to discount the beauty of visual arts. That's another subject. My point is we continue to abandon our imagination and leave it to the money-makers to feed theirs to us. So I would like you to try this: Go back & experience music the way it's supposed to be experienced - to the ears and straight to your brain (or heart, if you will).

I challenge you.


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[Image from the 1968 MGM film '2001: A Space Odyssey']