onesunnyafternoon: ♥

Showing posts with label ♥. Show all posts

Monday 3 October 2016

To die slowly

“He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones "it’s" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.

He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”

"A Morte Devagar" is the work of Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros, often misquoted to Pablo Neruda

English translation via GoodReads

Friday 22 January 2016

{卷珠帘}

卷珠帘 {'Raise the pearl curtain'}, a beautiful traditional Chinese style song by young talented singer songwriter 霍尊 Huo Zun (also goes by Henry Huo) who came to fame on a Chinese singing talent contest a couple of years ago. The lyrics are written in old Chinese prose and describes a woman wistfully thinking of the person she loves as she sits by a window on a moonlit night.

I'm really loving the 古風 'gǔ fēng' ('style of the antiquity') and 中國風 'Zhōngguó fēng' ('Chinoiserie') art and music that can be found everywhere now by Chinese artists and musicians. Maybe it's just me getting older and that urge to look at your roots, but I'm rediscovering a great interest in all these traditional Chinese arts, the music, the dances, the clothing, the history and the folklore. Especially the 古風 aspect, which describes a style that conjures a Middle Kingdom of a time long ago, of myths and legends, when gods and spirits roamed, warlords clashed, heroes fought, and everything was that little bit more epic...

Monday 3 August 2015

So much to learn, so little time

You know, when I was younger, I used to wonder how I was ever going to be able to read all the books that had ever been written.

We have access now to so much information and knowledge via the internet, never mind 'fear of missing out', I think sometimes I have 'fear of not having enough time to find out and learn about it all'.

Reading about a random topic on Wiki that leads to a marathon onward link trail; finding that one picture or article or video on Facebook or Youtube or Pinterest that leads to discovering a new hobby, travel bucket list destination, singer, artist or just really interesting fact...anything! I love that.

I'd watched the odd video link posted by National Geographic before, but only recently realised that they were from a whole Short Film Showcase of videos from around the web. I'm working my way slowly through them - it's a great Sunday morning contemplation exercise. And I want to share the ones I love the most on the blog. One at a time, short little nuggets of thoughts and ideas. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

How about this beautifully mesmerising clip of the process of traditional hand egg painting in Bukovina, Romania, to kick things off?

The Art of Egg Painting: Ciocanesti, Romania from Jungles in Paris on Vimeo

Ornamental eggs are a signature craft of Eastern Europe. The jeweled Fabergé versions once coveted by the Russian nobility are really just a high-end take on a humbler, older, and perhaps even more remarkable Easter tradition. See the full story.

Credits: Directed + Shot + Edited by: TITUS ARMAND NAPIRLICA