I love you. Bitter Sweet Symphony

Life. 

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life

Tryna make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die..' ~ The Verve

The original composers of the iconic and most controversial song was first attributed to Mick Jagger & Keith Richards. After 22 years of legal battles (over minor technicalities) between the managers and their lawyers, the rights to the song was finally given to The Verve whose 1996 recording and video became a huge hit. 

How did they finally resolve the long standing suit? 

Simple. By simply asking. All they did was ask Mick & Keith and they said yes.

The person involved in the middle of this fracas was Allen Klein, the shrewd and successful manager for both The Beatles as well as The Rolling Stones.

Anyway that's just a little trivia about the biggest injustices of the music industry around one of the most beautiful songs in the music industry.

Isn't this a Bittersweet Symphony in itself? Life's like that isn't it?

Enjoy. 

(And Don't be a slave to money.)

I love you. February

A Clear Night. A Full Moon. An Outdoor Party. Family and Friends.

Photo by Alexa on Unsplash

Chap Goh Mei, the 5th of February kicked off a much awaited and well deserved holiday celebration making up for Xmas, New Year, Chinese New Year and even Valentine's Day. And coinciding with Thaipusam.

I came out of hiatus to celebrate with family and friends. Lots to eat, lots to drink and lots to talk about, non-stop around the clock till dawn, then rest and repeat all weekend. That’s when I learnt that celebrations are mandatory among family and friends with wild boar ribs and cutlets roasting alongside chicken wings and drumsticks on the bbq. The more we have the more joyful we become when it's naturally isolated with no neighbours within sight.

Having being blissfully ensconced in my cave since November, progressing through December and January until February, I decided to spend at least one major holiday differently- alone. 

Did it with all three major holidays and ended up having a most enjoyable time. 

My lifelong valuable lessons;

1. There is already so much to do alone, what more if there were another person/s around? 

One would not have the luxury of space, time and silence to spend with oneself doing one's desires or simply doing nothing. 

2. The self-incarceration enabled me to get to know myself even more intimately. 

Hence the saying; "If you're never alone, you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void."~ Paulo Coelho

3. The time spent alone also got me to get clear on life's meaning and purpose. 

There is no meaning and there is no purpose in life. In short, life has no meaning therefore no purpose. Albert Camus' writings plays a major influence on existentialism here. Special mentions to his speech in NY City on "The Human Crisis" and his book "The Myth of Sisyphus"

4. Right in the middle of isolation and solitude in mid-January or thereabouts, I get to uncover the genius of Carl Jung through a commentary by Alan Watts.

Jung said; "Stop running away from your self. Let go and face yourself squarely." 

Which brings to mind a story about Jung by Alan Watts on the fate of Adolf Eichmann, a main architect of the Holocaust who was captured, tried and executed in Jerusalem. 

On the war between good and evil, Jung said; "To the degree that you condemn others and find evil in others you are to that degree unconscious of the same thing in yourself." "Or at least the potentiality of it."

Alan goes on to say; "There can be Eichmanns, Hitlers, and Himmlers, just because there are people who are unconscious of their own dark side, and they project that darkness outwards into Jews, or Communist or whatever the enemy may be, and say there is the darkness and the darkness is not in me. And because that darkness is not in me, I am justified in annihilating the enemy whether it be atom bombs or gas chambers. 

Like the moon, everybody has a dark side, and in facing ourselves squarely we get to face our dark side and accept even embrace it. Then we begin to see that between consciousness and unconsciousness, if we were placed in a similar situation of conflict, we would probably do the same if not worse.

5. Spirituality aside, I also get to come to grips with that four-letter word - Work. 

I realise that it's not work if you thoroughly enjoy it or when you can't stop thinking about it. Or both.

So, work or play for me is a WIP on a moment to moment basis. But whatever I'm working on, I'm landing it without chasing it. Sitting at my work station or my zero-gravity chair on my balcony, I conjure solutions for problems not yet existent for businesses by way of corporate storytelling. 

The mantra I use for the business equation - "All Progress Begins with the Truth."

Imagine all business starting with the truth. Their truths. 

What stories we can begin to tell...

But... truth be told, I realised that it's what we have been doing from the start...!

6. Last but not least this insight landed softly upon my consciousness;

"I am but a small iteration of a larger eternal cosmos. If I can't control and manifest my iteration's every desire here, then I am not worthy of transcendence and ascendance to the higher realms."

Namaste.

May March bring us an abundance of new prosperity, wisdom, and courage to create and pursue our hearts' desires.