And nature calls

The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
All streams run to the sea
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1 : 5-9

I do not know what meaning the Ecclesiastes hold for you, but for me, it expounds on philosophical truths that still deeply confound me.

Some say that time is cyclical; seasons come and go and will come again. The others say that time is linear; all things have a beginning, a present and an end. But I say that time, essentially, is just a medium for predestined events, regardless of its cyclical or linearity.

And Man exists in this space of time, trying its utmost to make a mark in this world. Unknowingly, Man strives to become time. Yet, all is futile because Man is just another being subjected to the whims of the universe. Eventually, all ostensible achievements and milestones are fruitless because:

All is vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

But it does not matter. My place in this universe is a precious gift unto me.

Yours,
Aoede

I think but therefore I am not.

I have been thinking about life, my existence on Earth and about my purpose in life. I can’t think out things into existence and I cannot ignore how I have taken many things for granted.
I don’t believe we can think human emotions to be a result of a series of impersonal events that happened billions of years ago. Talking about the deeper things in life just makes me realise that life is sacred and I am a result of God’s creation.
On another note, I have been reading about the uproar on pinkdot sg and its implications on society and the banning of certain children’s books that spread homosexual content.
Are we too extreme and too biased if we should consciously ignore our evolving society? What then is the purpose of education if it only results in Singaporeans showing concern for what only interests them or what is beneficial, but not what truly matters?
Have we become too caught up with ourselves and the darned social media that we forget we are but one of 6 billion people in the world? Why should our country revolve around us and not us the other way around?
I’m not saying everything should be accepted and nothing condemned but if we should see something really wrong with our society then censorship is the last thing we should be doing!
Many issues burden me and all I can say is that I am thankful God has given me the opportunities and time to reflect upon societal issues. I feel like my calling as an educator is just getting stronger as the days past.

 

Cheers,
Isabel

Of the World

I’m trapped within the boundaries
of every broken bridge
I’m lost within the fog
at the edge of the ridge

I’m wedged between the metal bars
the poles that hold me in
my fingers between the narrow grail
grasping onto sin

I’m standing on this mountain top
the wind threatening to blow
over the cliff into the ravine
falling to the deaths below

weak and waiting wails I cry
but there is an ending line
where hearts are hard and cold
and where I am left behind

I stand within the clouds
inches from the sun
consumed by the raging waters
on water could I run

sulfur burn I reconcile
what can I understand
to know the metaphor is literal
I refuse to comprehend

fire and flames engulf my mind
imagination is what I had
till I discovered it was wrong
definitions that drove me mad

I long to see and savour
that one sweet lasting day
but now I’m caught in the vineyard
of this world’s tasteful play

I’m singing in the valley
riding on the wind
toying with the fire
gasping for the sin

overflowing is this wonderment
this control this contempt
it strengthens my brittleness
no men is exempt

I cry out I call to be woken
leave me not unshaken
of the world am I left
and left utterly broken

 

 

Yours Sincerely,
Ella

On Fear

This is one of my first works – the works of a beginner whose hands cannot paint what the heart demands. This is also a work which I deliberated for a while before posting, but thanks to my supportive friends who complimented and encouraged me, I have decided to share this with everyone.

I have a habit of adding a rhyming couplet at the end of each painting that my heart feels strongly for. Perhaps, my art is unable to fully express what my heart longs to speak and I come back to words again to supplement what is lacking. In art-making, my mind feels crippled, but in words, my mind finds freedom. Here goes:

Fear is a debilitating disease,
Like a monster extending its lease.

Fear seems to be the monster that we feed with our imaginations and thoughts. Many times, it doesn’t warrant that intensity which we so strongly feel. But in our moments of weakness, we allow it to nourish within our souls.

Sometimes, fear gets so crippling that we lose ourselves. Fear unleashes other monsters that consumes us from the inside.

Don’t feed the monsters.

Yours,
Aoede

When the Arts and Science converge

Poetry is like music to the mind, functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals

I came across this simple title for an article on Science Daily while researching for a small presentation. The contents of the article was definitely to my interest, however another thing that intrigued me was the title in itself. The first part of this statement seems to me to be beautiful. It even seems like something I would define as well crafted. Yet the second half of the sentence spoiled everything for me. It was as if I was cruelly ripped out of a dazed dreamland and back into reality. It may seem very odd that I am describing my feelings about this simple statement. However, this statement in itself echoes the content of the article, namely, how arts and science converge. Perhaps it evoked a dream like feeling for me because of my identification with poetry and how I use it to express myself. Still, even if you do not agree with me on the beauty I see in it, the first part of the sentence mainly focuses on the arts such as poetry and music. The simile of comparing poetry to music and the alliteration of music and mind made the clause even more poetic and beautiful. However, the second clause seems rather abrupt and definitely very scientific since it states an experimental method. Ironically, even this short reflection on the statement is a convergence of arts and science; an expression of the beauty I found in it and a rather scientific explanation for it.

 

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131009125959.htm

On a side note, this is another article I came across, which also explains why I feel mathematics can be also be beautiful. No wonder mathematicians describe proofs as “elegant”.

Mathematical beauty activates same brain region as great art or music

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140212183557.htm

 

Yours Sincerely,
Ella

In response to the Daily Post’s ‘Strike a Chord’

I learnt how to play the piano since i was 4, and the viola when i was 13. Music has really taken up almost my whole life, as I continue to pursue it at the undergraduate level. I actually always wanted to be a medical doctor rushing in the A&E and saving lives. The occupation i detested and despised most was the role of an educator. Never would I have imagined that decades later, I would actually take up a government scholarship to be a music teacher in a high school.
The journey to become a professional musician is wrought with many hardships. I had to uproot myself from the country I grew up in and move to the UK, where I spent many days and nights alone. I pondered much about music in the past year, and even doubted my ability in excelling in it. I would say the hardest course I took in my first year in university is Musicology.
I never understood why I had to read up on Haydn’s pay at the Esterhazy court, McClary’s feminist views on works, Ingrid Monson’s (hope I remembered her name correctly) experiences as a musician etc.
I only gained what I would call ‘The Enlightenment’ right before the Musicology paper, and i only studied for that paper a couple of days before the examination.
The piano has been to me an integral part of my life. I cannot just divorce it. My ears tend to judge a pianist straight away when I pass by buskers or just anyone who happens to play in front of me. In the practice rooms in school, I enjoy the privacy behind the closed doors with the sign “Engaged” , so that no one would judge me per se for my terrible sight-reading or my habit in striking the piano harshly. Apparently, I can be heard two floors down.
While I ironically do not like to listen to keyboard works (I prefer to listen to symphonies and concertos), I do love to play the piano. However, I am such a lazy pianist I have to drag myself to the piano when I’m learning a new work.
On another note, despite many who look down on the Viola (well, there IS a hierarchy in the orchestra), I find its tone rather pleasing. Because of its intermediate range between that of a violin’s and cello’s, I realise it laments and cries with my inner soul.
When I’m sad, I love to play the viola. Its range from the bass clef to the treble makes it a versatile instrument whose voice is so much richer than the violin’s.

Music reaches to the inner depths of my soul and I know I can identify with it. Actually, anyone can identify with music. Just choose a genre you love and listen intently for the nuances.

The Daily Post

 

 

 

Cheers,
Isabel

The birth of our avenue of expression

Today is the day we finally sought to collate all the work we have done. Some of us like to find meaning in poetry, some in music and some through photographs.

In a Singapore that has been obsessed with economic growth and advancements in science and technology, people who meddle in the arts scene struggle to survive. We are barely succeeding in threading the waters. We are most probably closer to drowning.

I recently went to Yong Siak Street just last Saturday to visit the highly recommended and raved about hipster shops. Books Actually made a name for itself quite recently and I must say I was impressed and encouraged by their faith in local writers. I believe in Singapore’s talent, not just in the scientific and business arenas, but also in the arts scene.

We hope that we would never give up on our artistic endeavours and for those out there who are looking for healthy ways to express yourselves, I tell you, art is never the wrong method.

 

 

Cheers,
Isabel