In case you're wondering where I've been,
I've been exploring the wonderful world of Lj and Tumblr. Micro-blogging~!!
And of course, stuck beneath piles of books and papers, or so I'd like to believe.




Lj/intothekiln
Tumblr/unprecedentedserenity

Life presents so many ways to deal with pain and sorrow. The temptation to escape by fighting, reasoning, forgetting, by drowning the trouble with activity, by shutting oneself out from the world, by surrendering to defeat and sullen resentment always seems too real to evade. Yet, what is peace?

He said, "I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places,
They shall be filled again.
O voices moaning deep within me, cease."
But vain the word, vain, vain;
Not in forgetting lieth peace.

He said, "I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir me and sustain;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood, cease."
But vain, the word, vain, vain:
Not in endeavour lieth peace.

He said, "I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life's riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease."
But vain the word, vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.

He said, "I will submit, I am defeated.
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
O futile murmurings, why will ye not cease?"
But vain the word, vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.

He said, "I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His son explain."
Then did the turmoil deep within him cease.
Not vain the word, not vain:
For in Acceptance lieth peace.

- Amy Carmichael




Acceptance of the fact that You are the Almighty, and You hold my world in the palm of Your hand. Acceptance of the fact that You will restore all things in Your time. Acceptance of the fact that I am afraid of the future, but You know, and You will guide me, even if I don't feel it all the time.

Headed to Dubliner on Friday night with Sherms, Jun, Ele and Arvind to hear Lily, Roy Dragon and Alvin from Music Lab play. They were awesome!! And Lily sung "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles, the song I'm doing now.

Otherwise, it has been a strangely, quiet, quiet weekend, and I'm not used to it ): I got a surprise letter in the mail! I swear I almost shrieked when I read the letter late on Friday night. But it was a good kinda surprise :P and it really made me happy from deep within. Come back soon!

I'm stuck now with piles and piles of things to study as midsem break approaches. Why do they even call it BREAK? It's not a break if it means intense, intense mugging.

Had an enriching, enriching Saturday spent at the YO! (Young and Old) Forum organised by the Council for 3rd Age in collaboration with GAHA @ NYAA and MCYS. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was the guest of honour, alongside Mr Gerald Ee among other distinguished guests. I enjoyed the seminar for the very reason that I am passionate about intergenearational issues. I believe something needs to be done about improving ties between grandchildren and grandparents, I am passionate about elder care and in the preservation and protection of the living gems we have in society.

So yes, back to the Seminar. In the morning, we had field studies whereby we broke up into 4 groups and visited different elderly activity centres/housing estates. My group visited this block of Senior Citizens' Studio Appartments which were down the street from my house! Can't believe I have ample fieldwork for my Honours Thesis right at my doorstep. Anyway, so yes we interviewed old people and talked to them, a little like what I normally do at LOH, actually.

In the afternoon we returned to SP for discussion. I was chosen to represent my group and to make a presentation to Dr Vivian based on our findings and our proposal for ideas to bridge the intergenerational divide.

We then had a verbal sparring session whereby we questioned the Panel on pertinenet ageing issues and what the government was doing regarding various ageing issues. Throughout the whole Panel session, all I was really thinking about were the old folks at Redhill (where I normally visit) and the old folks at the studio appartment blocks in Tampines. One room houses vs. four room houses. Dark, unventilated houses vs. clean, sparkling white houses. Both belonging to the elderly. Why the divide??

Those issues aside, certainly it was heartening to find like-minded people who share the same passion as me - people, family - or in particular, the elderly, and using our various fields of expertise in a bid to want to help the elderly. For instance, Terence, a TP Design student, questioned Dr Vivian about the current design of nursing homes. I met more NUS friends and the various Polys and JCs! Really cool :D

That being said, the forum just realligns my passion with my ambition- to examine the family, to give people a deeper understanding of the family, and hopefully, reform perceptions of family. After all, family is the core of who we are, family is what makes us. Maybe it's Prof Straughn (who is now an NMP)'s influence as well, but who knows, you may one day just see me in Parliament, giving another presentation to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan as I did on Saturday.

A leaf upon the river: let it float
With the loitering tide by many a winding reach
Under the grassy banks, past many a beach
Of silvery silt and shingle! The waves lift
Lazily on through lights that cross and shift
And dancing shadows, where the birch and beech
High up their leaning loving boughs impleach,
Then sweep it down the mill-race sudden and swift.
A heart that dallies with love's luring tide
Dancing with soft pulsation, lightly afloat
Upon the rising and subsiding wave,
Borne on through sun and shadow: let it glide,
Till helpless as a hurricane-harried boat
It hear the deafening waters rush and rave.

-John Barlas

"A spirit of restlessness and resistance can never wait, but one who believes he is loved with an everlasting love, and knows that underneath are the everlasting arms, will find strength and peace."

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Psalm 62:5)

Your agenda, not mine.

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes within me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one seleced day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day."

-Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Been thinking about stuff.
Thinking back, thinking forward, thinking now.
When do you listen to your heart, or is there just too much at stake to lose?

"Let me, O God, stifle forever in my heart every thought that would tempt me to doubt thy goodness. O Merciful Father! Let me no longer reason about grace, but silently abandon myself to its operation. Grace performs everything in us, but does it with and through us. It is by it therefore, that I forbear, that I suffer, that I wait, that I resist, that I believe, that I hope, that I love, all in co-operation with grace. Following its guidance, it will do all things with me, and I shall do all things through it. It moves the heart, but the heart must move; there is no salvation without action. I must work then, without losing a moment, that I may put no hindrance in the way of grace which is incessantly working within me. All the good is of grace, all the evil is of self; when I do right, it is grace that does it; when I do wrong, it is because I resist grace."
-Fenelon

Your grace is sufficient for me
Your strength is made perfect
When I am weak
And all that I cling to
I lay at Your feet
Your grace is sufficient for me

I'm no longer striving
To merit Your love
I rest in Your promise to me
That all of my sins have
Been washed in Your blood
Your mercy is all that I need

You see me as righteous
Because of the blood
That made the atonement for me
Your mercy has triumphed
Where I should be judged
So now by Your grace I am free

For you, my dear girl(: Be encouraged, and be blessed by the gift God has given you.