Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Suspension without suspense
being in between jobs is a bless-ed curse in disguise. time off is wonderful, as long as it is well spent. Define 'well spent' : 1. making use of the luxury of time that is proportionate to what your bank acct can tolerate. 2. allocate and justify who you meet, before you become bound to the forces of employment. 3. make sure you enjoy the process of 'time well spent.'
of course, all this includes the act of finding your 'next thing,' and may suck up all your energy and peace of mind in the rabbit chase. i just got lucky. 'timing is everything' - the mantra of my life says.
what was i getting at...? oh, yes. You know it's been a good week when you have excellent conversations with brilliant people, and their brilliance rubs off and inspires you to do something absolutely crazy and wonderful.
AmandaD and I sat on the floor in discourse about what we gained from our experiences abroad (Kenya, Hong Kong), the impact exuted, and mapping out our lifetime career. By the way, this all went down with red wine swivelling in one hand, shamelessly devouring Chris' wine country collection - almost a dozen empty bottles in the kitchen (we're talking $45-50/bottle wine here). The mood was mellow, but we were vibrant and swayed in the euphoria of "I am so happy. I am so damn lucky in so many ways." We agreed that we would die happy should we get hit by a bus (possibly the craaaazy MUNI?) the next day. Anyway, back to the career conversation: kids these days are so impatient and cannot hold a job down for more than 1-2 years. 3 years at best. --- we are those kids. The only constant is change, and you have this incessant itch on your behind that drives you to uproot and go looking for your next adventure. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 21st century: we are the spoiled children of wanderlust and nomadic blood. There is a spirit of "I can do ANYTHING if I set my mind on it" omnipotence (a.k.a. - hubris, ego) in the air. The hoops we've jumped and the unavoidable opening of minds and horizons we encountered in our international experience give us towering confidence that we can DO IT - whatever it is. Ever since I met Amanda in 1999, who immediately struck a heated conversation sitting on the hotel carpet for an hour in Milwaukee, I knew that she was a very special person with an ambition and knack for common sense logic. And it's always charming that she speaks to me in Japanese.
Drake is one person I got to know through nomadlife first, and then met in actual flesh and blood only within the last month. There was something absolutely wonderful in a scatter-brained-curiosity-of-a-cat way in his writing that made me think "wow, I want to talk to this guy." There are rare breeds of Americans who feel humbled to the ignorance of the USA and actively pursues the knowledge. The modesty is conveyed in his humorous demeanor, and he knows far more than he gives himself credit for. I would gladly nominate people like him to be our country's ambassador - in a non-political way though, of course. We jam-packed a series of conversations about politics, economics, saving the world, dreams, careers, travel, yaddi-yaddi-yadda for the last couple of days while I was in SoCal. I am sure that this is only the beginning of our friendship. You know San Francisco will be waiting for you.
Anthony Kiedis - well, I didn't meet him in person, per se, but reading his autobiography has been a trip for the last couple of days (esp. being in L.A. now). Ingenious creativity, both hindered and inspired by drug addiction which left him in precarious, chaotic, and some of the best story-telling situations. It made me think, "wow, this guy has been in the 'low of the lows' - but somehow still eked out a living." It's also interesting to read what situation inspired the lyrics to the RHCP songs, and their rebellious desire to stand out from the status quo is making me fantasize about what eccentric hobby I should take up next. Something artful, perhaps.
2 months will zoom by, if i want it to. The deciding factor is whether the time is 'well-spent' or not.
of course, all this includes the act of finding your 'next thing,' and may suck up all your energy and peace of mind in the rabbit chase. i just got lucky. 'timing is everything' - the mantra of my life says.
what was i getting at...? oh, yes. You know it's been a good week when you have excellent conversations with brilliant people, and their brilliance rubs off and inspires you to do something absolutely crazy and wonderful.
AmandaD and I sat on the floor in discourse about what we gained from our experiences abroad (Kenya, Hong Kong), the impact exuted, and mapping out our lifetime career. By the way, this all went down with red wine swivelling in one hand, shamelessly devouring Chris' wine country collection - almost a dozen empty bottles in the kitchen (we're talking $45-50/bottle wine here). The mood was mellow, but we were vibrant and swayed in the euphoria of "I am so happy. I am so damn lucky in so many ways." We agreed that we would die happy should we get hit by a bus (possibly the craaaazy MUNI?) the next day. Anyway, back to the career conversation: kids these days are so impatient and cannot hold a job down for more than 1-2 years. 3 years at best. --- we are those kids. The only constant is change, and you have this incessant itch on your behind that drives you to uproot and go looking for your next adventure. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 21st century: we are the spoiled children of wanderlust and nomadic blood. There is a spirit of "I can do ANYTHING if I set my mind on it" omnipotence (a.k.a. - hubris, ego) in the air. The hoops we've jumped and the unavoidable opening of minds and horizons we encountered in our international experience give us towering confidence that we can DO IT - whatever it is. Ever since I met Amanda in 1999, who immediately struck a heated conversation sitting on the hotel carpet for an hour in Milwaukee, I knew that she was a very special person with an ambition and knack for common sense logic. And it's always charming that she speaks to me in Japanese.
Drake is one person I got to know through nomadlife first, and then met in actual flesh and blood only within the last month. There was something absolutely wonderful in a scatter-brained-curiosity-of-a-cat way in his writing that made me think "wow, I want to talk to this guy." There are rare breeds of Americans who feel humbled to the ignorance of the USA and actively pursues the knowledge. The modesty is conveyed in his humorous demeanor, and he knows far more than he gives himself credit for. I would gladly nominate people like him to be our country's ambassador - in a non-political way though, of course. We jam-packed a series of conversations about politics, economics, saving the world, dreams, careers, travel, yaddi-yaddi-yadda for the last couple of days while I was in SoCal. I am sure that this is only the beginning of our friendship. You know San Francisco will be waiting for you.
Anthony Kiedis - well, I didn't meet him in person, per se, but reading his autobiography has been a trip for the last couple of days (esp. being in L.A. now). Ingenious creativity, both hindered and inspired by drug addiction which left him in precarious, chaotic, and some of the best story-telling situations. It made me think, "wow, this guy has been in the 'low of the lows' - but somehow still eked out a living." It's also interesting to read what situation inspired the lyrics to the RHCP songs, and their rebellious desire to stand out from the status quo is making me fantasize about what eccentric hobby I should take up next. Something artful, perhaps.
2 months will zoom by, if i want it to. The deciding factor is whether the time is 'well-spent' or not.
// posted by sakit @ 7:39 AM 
Comments:
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Ambassador Drake! I like the sound of that!! Cheers, Saki. Thanks for all the nice words, it was great chatting it up with you, too!! Look forward to seein ya again!
how are you doing back home? haven't seen you online for really long! hope you like your time and it was all well spent.
i am currently idling at home waiting for my paper to go to Holland and kick start my next exciting journey. can't wait though a bit scared of the challenge and the caliber of people I am working together with. guess it'll turn out to be fine soon.
keep in touch, saki!
Love,
Chris
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i am currently idling at home waiting for my paper to go to Holland and kick start my next exciting journey. can't wait though a bit scared of the challenge and the caliber of people I am working together with. guess it'll turn out to be fine soon.
keep in touch, saki!
Love,
Chris
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