Can you guess whose offspring this is?
Don’t Work. Be Hated. Love Someone.
This is the convocation address from Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook, at NTU for the graduating class of 2008. It’s long but there’s some great points in there.
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.
Thanks @maevecath for sharing this inspiring video. TED talks with Dr. Lissa Rankin on mind body health and re-evaluating the Western model of medicine.
I love this.
It began with a simple concept. When we get caught up in our day-to-day worries, we lose sight of the big picture. We forget that life is a series of peaks and valleys and that each day is a tiny step toward a greater goal, be it unspoken or vocal. Artist Candy Chang tapped into this concept with her worldwide art installation Before I Die. Beginning in New Orleans, Chang transformed the side of a dilapidated building into a chalkboard for passersby to leave a piece of what they yearn for. With space to fill in your hopes and dreams, (some funny, some prophetic) the project has become a do-it-yourself reclaimation of the public space.
A few of my favourite contributions:
Before I die I want to …
find love
abadon all insecurities
be okay with not understanding
see all homeless people with homes
truly live
feed an elephant
live off the grid
believe
With walls in Brooklyn, Melbourne, and Montreal, the project continues to grow across the globe. The interactive art project invites locals to “discover what matters most to the people around” them, according to Chang. It envisions a world where we’re given more public opportunities for honest connection, creating an arena for us to plant intimate reminders of what drives us.
The story of our post-academic lives.
(Source: happy2bsad, via the-god-of-small-things)
I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul.
—Rumi
(Source: ascensionawareness, via novembersdiary)
Have you seen Tom Shadyac’s film I Am yet? I’m completely enamored with this story, with the simple case study of how a microcosm reflects on the macrocosm of our world. Tom asks some of the world’s most renown thinkers, philosophers, activists and spiritual leaders two questions: What’s wrong with the world? And what can we do about it? Among them, he speaks to the Noam Chomsky, David Suzuki, and the like.
I urge you to watch this documentary. If only to live vicariously through the urgency for change that Tom undergoes after a near-death experience.
Star Wars Yogis
Who says stress in a galaxy far, far away wasn’t tackled with some yoga asana? Check out Leia, Luke, Vader, and Yoda getting zen.
Michael Stone speaks in Vancouver on Buddhism, the Occupy Movement and the future of coping with conflict.
