There are millions of reasons not to be an artist, but only one, your unique one, to be an artist. Find that and go be an artist, right now.
I like the implications of his message because he doesn’t say, “quit your job and become a writer.” He just wants people to unleash their creative mind because it’ll make them happier.
“But is heaviness truly deplorable and lightness splendid?
The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man’s body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life’s most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to earth, the more real and truthful they become.
Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant.
What shall then we choose? Weight or lightness?”
-from The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Art: CMYK by Skurktur
Just when I thought I’ve changed so much on my own, I discover that I’m surrounded by my mom’s influences. Even when she’s thousands of miles away, she still influences me significantly. Her constant effort at exposing me to different things have resulted in forming who I am today. Deepest gratitude to you, the strongest woman I know.
precious lines from alexandre chappel on Vimeo.
The Pen Project from Ian Schon on Vimeo.
Ever since I started going to school, I had an obsession with writing instruments. Starting off with mechanical pencils in elementary school to fountain pens. Being a student, writing is a daily activity; a pen is my sword. So, to see someone who has this much passion for producing quality pens for everyday use is very inspiring. He gets it right, too. He considers many aspects of a pen, from portability to the writing experience. And the videos are downright beautiful.
Getting a 5, but for what?
Math in high school can be a torture. Trying to learn concepts that have no direct connection to our lives as a student, many fall and lose interest. And it’s not their fault.
Why am I taking BC Calculus? Why should I take the AP Exam? Throughout this whole year, I saw no practical use of calculus in my life. I saw no beauty, no elegance, I only saw the board filled with dy/dx and integrals. Does it develop me into a critical thinker or a problem solver? If we were learning fundamental ideas behind calculus, comparing Newton and Leibniz, and proving theorems, I might be able to believe that. But no. We’re here, solving problems to get a 5 on the AP exam. To impress the colleges with a meaningless number that supposedly represents our ability to do math. To escape my mom’s horror and consternation—and the inevitable, “what happened?”—as if a 5 were a guarantee.
There’s no meaning behind solving these problems; it’s merely my attempt to escape the pressure of my environment.
It’s no wonder math becomes a torture.
I hope that there will come a day when math has no direct impact on my life. Maybe then, I could hope to truly learn math, discovering beauty behind the ugly façade it is forced to wear.
