Silent Night Sky

[slient-night-sky]

Ta hiểu em buồn lắm Khi dốc cả tâm can Thế mà đời bạc bẽo Khó khăn vẫn muôn vàn. Nhưng mà cô gái ạ Ai chẳng ngã đôi lần Quan trọng là sau đó Em còn dám bước chân? Chẳng phải là thất bại Khi mình vấp ngã đâu Thất bại là những lúc Em không dám bắt đầu.

[karoline-son]

"Có lẽ, đến một lúc, mọi người sẽ không còn sợ những đau đớn mà mình sẽ trải qua trong đời nữa. Mỗi mất mát đều đồng nghĩa với sự đền đáp, chỉ là bạn có đủ nhãn quan để nhìn thấy thứ mình được nhận hay không.

Cũng có thể coi những cái giá phải trả đó như từng viên gạch lát trên con đường đi tới thành công của bạn. Chúng, cũng chỉ là một sự đánh đổi, chấp nhận trả giá hay không là ở bạn. Mọi cái giá đều công bằng.

Cuộc đời cũng chẳng bao giờ quá tệ bạc. Nếu nó lấy đi một thứ, nó sẽ mang đến một thứ khác. Lớn lên trong “không gì cả” dạy con người ta một bài học không thể mua bằng tiền. Đó là khi phải cố gắng một mình làm mọi thứ mọi mình mà sau lưng chỉ còn là bức tường, không có cả lựa chọn để bỏ cuộc, bạn chỉ được phép đối mặt và mạnh mẽ đấu tranh.

Câu hay nhất về bất hạnh mà tôi từng bắt gặp trong một bộ phim là:

“One day you’ll see that every wrong thing in life was right”. Dịch sát nghĩa nhất với văn cảnh lúc ấy sẽ là “Đến một ngày cậu sẽ thấy tất cả mọi điều bất hạnh trên đời xảy ra đều có lí do. Sau cùng, mọi thứ sẽ được đền đáp”.

Đến một ngày tất cả chịu đựng của bạn sẽ trở nên có ý nghĩa. Đừng bỏ cuộc trước thời điểm ấy.”

[slient-night-sky]

GỬI CON

Có ai khen con đẹp. Con hãy cảm ơn và quên đi lời khen ấy Ai bảo con ngoan. Hãy cảm ơn và nhớ ngoan hiền hơn nữa Với người òa khóc vì nỗi đau mà họ đang mang Con hãy để bờ vai của mình thấm những giọt nước mắt ấy Với người đang oằn lưng vì nỗi khổ. Con hãy đến bên và kề vai gánh giúp Người chìa tay và xin con một đồng. Lần thứ nhất con hãy tặng người ấy hai đồng. Lần thứ hai hãy biếu họ một đồng. Lần thứ ba con phải biết lắc đầu. Và đến lần thứ tư con hãy im lặng, bước đi. Con hãy biết khen. Nhưng đừng vung vãi lời khen như những cậu ấm cô chiêu vung tiền qua cửa sổ Lời chê bai con hãy giữ riêng mình Nụ cười cho người. Con hãy học cách hào phóng của mặt trời khi tỏa nắng ấm Nỗi đau. Con hãy nén vào trong Nỗi buồn. Hãy biết chia cho những người đồng cảm Đừng khóc than - quỳ lụy - van nài. Khi con biết ngày mai rồi sẽ đến - có bầu trời, gió lộng thênh thang. Con hãy đưa tay. Khi thấy người vấp ngã Cần lánh xa. Kẻ thích quan quyền Bạn - là người biết đau hơn nỗi đau mà con đang chịu Thù - là người quặn đau với niềm vui mà con đang có Chọn bạn sai. Cả đời trả giá Bạn hóa thù. Tai họa một đời. Con hãy cho. Và quên ngay Đừng bao giờ tham. Dù chỉ một que tăm, sợi chỉ Chớ thấy vui khi mình thanh thản trước điều cần nghĩ. Sự thanh thản ấy chỉ có ở người vô tâm Đừng sợ bóng đêm. Đêm cũng là ngày của những người thiếu đi đôi mắt. Đừng vui quá. Sẽ đến lúc buồn Đừng quá buồn. Sẽ có lúc vui Tiến bước mà đánh mất mình. Con ơi, dừng lại Lùi bước để hiểu mình. Con cứ lùi thêm nhiều bước nữa Chẳng sao Hãy ngước nhìn lên cao để thấy mình còn thấp Nhìn xuống thấp. Để biết mình chưa cao. Con hãy nghĩ về tương lai. Nhưng đừng quên quá khứ Hy vọng vào ngày mai. Nhưng đừng buông xuôi hôm nay May rủi là chuyện cuộc đời. Nhưng cuộc đời nào chỉ chuyện rủi may Hãy nói thật ít. Để làm được nhiều - những điều có nghĩa của trái tim. Nếu cần, con hãy đi thật xa. Để mang về những hạt giống mới. Rồi dâng tặng cho đời. Dù chẳng được trả công. Những điều cha viết cho con - được kết từ trái tim chân thật Từ những tháng năm lao khổ cuộc đời Từ bao đêm chơi vơi giữa sóng cồn. Từ bao ngày vất vưởng long đong Cha viết cho con từ chính cuộc đời cha Những bài học một đời cay đắng Cha gởi cho con chút nắng. Hãy giữ giữa tim con Để khi con cất bước vào cuộc hành trình đầy gai và cạm bẫy Con sẽ bớt thấy đau và đỡ phải tủi hờn. Đừng hơn thua làm gì với cuộc đời, con ạ Hãy để chị, để anh giành lấy phần họ muốn Con hãy chậm bước dù là người đến muộn Dù phần con chẳng ai nhớ để dành! Hãy hân hoan với điều nhân nghĩa Đừng lạnh lùng trước chuyện bất nhân Và hãy tin vào điều có thật: Con người - sống để yêu thương.

[karoline-son]

Không ai sinh ra đã là một con người sở hữu sự điềm tĩnh và ôn tồn. Chúng ta đều bắt đầu cuộc sống là những đứa trẻ ích kỷ và non nớt. Vẻ thâm trầm và bình yên trên gương mặt mỗi con người đều phải được đánh đổi bằng việc vượt qua được những cuộc chiến vô cùng dày vò nơi nội tâm.

[slient-night-sky]

Latin Phrases

1. Acta non verba.

Deeds, not words.

2. Amor vincit omnia.

Love conquers all.

3. Audere est faucere.

To dare is to do.

4.Veni, vidi, vici.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

5. Non ducor, duco.

I am not led, I lead.

6. Bona fide.

In good faith.

7. Et tu, Brute?

And you, Brutus?

8. Dies irae.

Day of wrath.

9. Cras es noster.

Tomorrow, be ours.

10. Dictum factum.

What is said is done.

11. Carpe vinum.

Seize the wine.

12. Dum vita est, spes est.

While there is life, there is hope.

13. Carpe diem.

Seize the day.

14. Familia supra omnia.

Family over everything.

15. Fons vitae caritas.

Love is the fountain of life.

16. Sapientia potentia est.

Wisdom is power.

17. Melita, domi adsum!

Honey, I’m home!

18. Memento vivere.

Remember to live.

19. Morior invictus.

Death before defeat.

20. Palma non sine pulvere.

Dare to try.

21. Pax vobiscum.

Peace [be] with you.

22. Fortiter et fideliter.

Bravely and faithfully.

23. Sequere pecuniam.

Follow the money.

24. Omne initium difficile est.

Every beginning is difficult.

25. Sic vita est.

Such is life.

26. Hodie mihi, cras tibi.

Today it’s me, tomorrow it will be you.

27. Humilitas occidit superbiam.

Humility conquers pride.

28. Sic infit.

So it begins.

29. Igne natura renovatur integra.

Through fire, nature is reborn whole.

30. Oderint dum metuant.

Let them hate so long as they fear.

31. Ordo ab chao.

Out of chaos, comes order.

32. Libertas perfundet omnia luce.

Freedom will flood all things with light.

33. Una hirundo non facit ver.

One swallow does not make summer.

34. Verba volant, scripta manent.

Words fly away, writings remain.

35. Grandescunt aucta labore.

With hard work, all things increase and grow.

36. Actus me invito factus non est meus actus.

The act done by me against my will is not my act.

37. Ad meliora.

Towards better things.

38. Adversus solem ne loquitor.

Do not speak against the Sun.

39. Calamus gladio fortior.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

40. Vacate et scire.

Be still and know.

41. In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt.

In the absence of light, darkness prevails.

42. Ego te provoco.

I challenge you.

43. Quam bene non quantum.

How well, not how much.

44. Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis.

The time are changing, and we change in them.

45. Tendit in ardua virtus.

Virtue strives for what is difficult.

46. Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit.

Need makes even the timid brave.

47. Faber est suae quisque fortunae.

Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.

48. Barba non facit philosophum.

A beard doesn’t make one a philosopher.

49. Magna est vis consuetudinis.

Great is the power of habit.

50. Nil volentibus arduum.

Nothing [is] arduous for the willing.

51. Non loqui sed facere.

No talk but action.

52. Suum cuique.

To each his own.

53. Memores acti prudentes future.

Mindful of what has been done, aware of what will be.

54. Bono malum superate.

Overcome evil with good.

55. Vincit qui patitur.

He conquers who endures.

56. Qui totum vult totum perdit.

He who wants everything loses everything.

57. Pro bono.

For the good.

58. Praesis ut prosis ne ut imperes.

Lead in order to serve, not in order to rule.

59. Incepto ne desistam.

May I not shrink from my purpose.

60. Ad victoriam.

To victory.

[lotusinjadewell]

Lanterns on display for Mid Autumn festival in Hanoi, Vietnam. Credit to Đức Nguyễn.

[poetryfeels]

“It’s just so strange. You used to love me, and now you’re a stranger who happens to know all of my secrets.”

— -Clementine von Radics

[poetryfeels]

When Love Arrives by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye

I knew exactly what love looked like – in seventh grade

Even though I hadn’t met love yet, if love had wandered into my homeroom, I would’ve recognized him at first glance. Love wore a hemp necklace.  I would’ve recognized her at first glance, love wore a tight french braid.  Love played acoustic guitar and knew all my favorite Beatles songs. Love wasn’t afraid to ride the bus with me.  And I knew, I just must be searching the wrong classrooms, just must be checking the wrong hallways, she was there, I was sure of it.  If only I could find him.

But when love finally showed up, she had a bow cut.  He wore the same clothes every day for a week. Love hated the bus.  Love didn’t know anything about The Beatles.  Instead, every time I try to kiss love, our teeth got in the way. Love became the reason I lied to my parents. I’m going to- Ben’s house.  Love had terrible rhythm on the dance floor, but made sure we never missed a slow song.  Love waited by the phone because she knew if her father picked up it would be: “Hello? Hello? I guess they hung up.”

And love grew, stretched like a trampoline.  Love changed. Love disappeared,  Slowly, like baby teeth, losing parts of me I thought I needed.  Love vanished like an amateur magician, and everyone could see the trapdoor but me.  Like a flat tire, there were other places I planned on going, but my plans didn’t matter.  Love stayed away for years, and when love finally reappeared, I barely recognized him.  Love smelt different now, had darker eyes, a broader back, love came with freckles I didn’t recognize.  New birthmarks, a softer voice.  Now there were new sleeping patterns, new favorite books.  Love had songs that reminded him of someone else, songs love didn’t like to listen to. So did I.

But we found a park bench that fit us perfectly We found jokes that make us laugh.  And now, love makes me fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.  But love will probably finish most of them for a midnight snack.  Love looks great in lingerie but still likes to wear her retainer.  Love is a terrible driver, but a great navigator.  Love knows where she’s going, it just might take her two hours longer than she planned.  Love is messier now, not as simple.  Love uses the words “boobs” in front of my parents.  Love chews too loud.  Love leaves the cap off the toothpaste.  Love uses smiley faces in her text messages.  And turns out, love shits!

But love also cries.  And love will tell you you are beautiful and mean it, over and over again. “You are beautiful.” When you first wake up, “you are beautiful.”  When you’ve just been crying, “you are beautiful.”  When you don’t want to hear it, “you are beautiful.”  When you don’t believe it, “you are beautiful.”  When nobody else will tell you, “you are beautiful.”  Love still thinks you are beautiful.  But love is not perfect and will sometimes forget, when you need to hear it most, you are beautiful, do not forget this.

Love is not who you were expecting, love is not who you can predict.  Maybe love is in New York City, already asleep; You are in California, Australia, wide awake.  Maybe love is always in the wrong time zone. Maybe love is not ready for you.  Maybe you are not ready for love.  Maybe love just isn’t the marrying type.  Maybe the next time you see love is twenty years after the divorce, love is older now, but just as beautiful as you remembered.  Maybe love is only there for a month.  Maybe love is there for every firework, every birthday party, every hospital visit.  Maybe love stays- maybe love can’t.  Maybe love shouldn’t.

Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to,  And love leaves exactly when love must.  When love arrives, say, “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable.” If love leaves, ask her to leave the door open behind her.  Turn off the music, listen to the quiet, whisper,  “Thank you for stopping by.”

[slient-night-sky]

Being scammed taught me a big lesson.

I trusted people. I listened to the crowd. I was ignorant and careless. I let my anger control me and I couldn't think straight. Now I feel like a yoyo.

[slient-night-sky]

Matt Haig: Why I love my library

On that note, here are 10 reasons why I love my library.

1. It has librarians in it. Librarians are just like search engines, except they smile and they talk to me and they don't give me paid-for advertising when they are trying to help. And they have actual hearts.

2. It is not a shop. This is no small point. We live in a world where everything is a shop and so we are increasingly used to being in places that only like us for how much money we are going to spend there. This is demoralising. A library does not demoralise us. It is there to nourish our souls. As the famous non-librarians Barry Manilow and Westlife might say, a library comes and it gives without taking.

3. It is quiet. Yes, yes, I know not all libraries are quiet these days. I know that one or two have discos and bingo nights, but my library (in York) is quiet. And quiet is the new gold. An increasingly rare commodity that is rising in value.

4. It is like a book. I always make this comparison, but if you think about it a library is a book in building form. It is somewhere we can escape inside and get enriched by. It is a place where anyone is welcome, and where anyone can benefit from.

5. It is a retreat. When I was young my school library was a place where I could hang out away from the hard boys on the football field, and find fuel for my imagination. Last Christmas I was caught in the rain while doing some last minute shopping and my immediate options were – Top Shop, an overcrowded Starbucks or my library. No contest.

6. A library is a symbol of a healthy civilization. After the ancient library of Alexandria was burnt down it took a full millennium to regain the knowledge that was lost. And even though we have the internet to stop us losing our information now, a library remains the only place where anyone, regardless of income or background or technological competence, can find a place to sit and read and think and learn and nourish their mind.

7. It helps me write. Writers can't write properly in coffee shops. That is a big myth fabricated by American TV shows. The only place I can work, outside of my home office, is the library. It is calm there. People aren't going to kick you out if you don't order another Grande Skinny Dolce Cinnamon Latte and a granola bar. Plus – get this – they have books there. And if you want to create words it is always helpful to surround yourself by words, just as – at the opposite end of the scale – if you wanted to start a war it would be useful to surround.

8. It is paradise. (Jorge Luis Borges: "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.")

9. It is an island full of unexpected treasure. Amazon tells us that if we like such-and-such we might also like such-and-such. Fine. But sometimes we want eclecticism. We want to just hit upon something unexpected, pull it from the shelves and start reading. That kind of randomness is important. It might not be how marketing works but it is how imagination works. When I was fifteen every day after school I went to the library and discovered a myriad of delights – Jeanette Winterson, SE Hinton, Roald Dahl's adult stuff, Sue Townsend, James Joyce, Stephen King, and Emily Dickinson. There's no e-commerce algorithm in the world that would bring those up together.

10. It keeps me human, in a world slowly making it harder to be one. And I like being a human.

[heavensickness]

[hauntedbythenarrative]

Urban sadness

Non-places, Marc Augé

Sabine Agostini//After hour shadows in Tiong Bahru, kevouthere (on instagram)//FUJICOLOR 100／YASHICA ELECTRO35 GL//Up all night, Clarissa Bonet

[hauntedbythenarrative]

Marina Abramović//Nigel Van Wieck//Turtles all the way down, John Freen//Chungking express (1994), Wong kar wai//Nina Guilbeau//In the mood for love (2000), Wong kar wai//Beowulf, Maria Dahvana Headley//Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, Pavel Ignatyev//Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden//Sainte Agathe (c. 1637), Francesco Guarino

[slient-night-sky]

Navigating My Place In A Non-Place: Millenials And Their Urban Sadness

It is 7 pm on a Thursday, the metro train advises you to mind the gap as you make your way into the cramped compartment. The commuters, like you, rush in to grab the empty seats. Among them, those who have lost the battle- stand in the middle, some towards the gate, almost leaning on the doors. The announcements barely stop, but no one seems to be interested. With earphones plugged-in, the passengers’ thumbs continue scrolling their screens and you’re once again revisited by that strange feeling- a longing, aching, yearning feeling– as if something is missing in your life and it will never come back, although the sad part is, it was never there, to begin with. It’s late at night and you’re now in a 24/7 open market, buying a coke from a vending machine when that inexplicable desolate feeling rushes back to your system making you wish for a place and time that possibly do not exist. In the end, the chatter of the customers around you alongside the whirring sound of the machine brings you back to reality. It is before dawn now, you’re watching the city lights glow from your bedroom window and you sense yourself feeling detached again, you seem disconnected, removed from your physical surroundings- and that bottomless, unfathomable urban sadness returns.

So, what is this enigmatic concept that befalls on so many of us? That, above mentioned, feeling of ‘urban sadness’ has been explained by Marc Augé in his book ‘Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity’. Augé, who is a French Anthropologist, coined the term ‘non-place’ back in 1992, to refer to spaces where concerns of relations, history, and identity are erased. These spaces could be anything and anywhere, ranging from motorways or hotel-rooms to shopping malls and airports. These have been defined as the ‘opposite of a place’, as in they have no real identity and thus hold no true emotional connection with the users or customers. They exist to fulfil a specific need and that’s it. According to Augé, when we moved from modernity to what he calls “supermodernity”, we ended up creating these non-places. Supermodernity or hypermodernity is considered to be a period characterized by an awareness of the risks and flaws of being modern, but a stage which has not been able to overcome modernity’s troubles. Ultimately, it captures the essence of our present period of modern exaggeration.

The perception of a space like a non-place, however, is strictly subjective: any given individual can view any given location as a non-place, or as a crossroads of human relations. For instance, a shopping mall may not be a non-place for a person who works there regularly with colleagues and relationships. Non-places evoke in people a feeling of estrangement and loss of identity since everyone remains a stranger to everyone else. Their only intention is to envelop an individual into anonymity and loneliness for these spaces continue to be shrouded with transition and temporality. In the contemporary world that we live in, spaces are no longer perceived in the same way as they were before. Approaching from another vantage point, non-places could be seen as heirs to everything that has created discomfort or annoyance in the history of human spaces, and even today we find these spaces continue to evolve and plague some corners of the human psyche.

Rem Koolhaas, a Dutch architect, in his essay titled ‘Junkspace’, discusses a similar concept where he critiques contemporary urbanism and city-building. According to him, architecture as we know it has ceased to exist, and whatever has taken its place is yet to be identified and analysed. He defines ‘junkspace’ as something which is born out of a capitalistic lifestyle, as space which is huge and ‘full of absence’, something which follows no rules has no inherent order and subsists with no connections between its parts. In Junkspace, cities of production and consumption grow to reach the climax of modernism, leaving the inhabitants with no chance of escape. Furthermore, Koolhaas argues that bigness has become the definitive trait of contemporary architecture, and total transparency its ideology. The new buildings emerging in cityscapes worldwide are characterless and standardized, with no clear function, and way larger than they need to be. These faceless, bland, random buildings grow out of projects prepared by teams, where the signature of the author gets lost, and where no attention is paid to how the structures blend with the city skyline; they become separate entities, leading to a “rich orchestration of chaos.” Consequently, these ‘generic cities’ tend to make citizens struggle with their identities, further leading to that unceasing feeling of emptiness and what we call ‘urban sadness’.

‘Urban sadness’ can also find its trace in gentrified or renovated neighbourhoods, where the old homes are gone and have been replaced with larger fake-old-style units that not many can afford, where historic family-run businesses have been superseded with expensive cafes and one finds it hard to get an affordable cup of coffee. Spaces, where the play structures in the park have been stripped down and sitting anywhere without a purpose, is considered to be ‘loitering’; in fact, there is no place to sit. How the capitalist lifestyle has turned malls into emotional blackholes, casinos are now bloated on filters and chemicals, and airports have gotten worse and worse over the years, sickeningly starch and blind to our humanity. These spaces may initially excite you but they quickly leave you feeling empty, lost and detached; for these places cannot be grasped, they may be flamboyant yet unmemorable, desirable yet deplorable as if they are designed to exclude you.

However, there exists another aspect of this idea. While some consider non-places to be eerie and almost haunting, others have found a feeling of comfort in that detachment. People have experienced a sense of timelessness that the ever-humming neon lights bring, even finding it peaceful. The lack of any explicit personality and connection, makes them relaxed, taking away any pressure- the pressure of being known, the pressure of expectations and finally the pressure of simply being.

[slient-night-sky]

The Egg in All of Us

Starring an animated version of the lazy egg set in a live-action Tokyo, Gudetama is joined by a new friend: a freshly hatched chick by the name of Shakipiyo, whose enthusiastic and driven personality clashes with the lethargic despair of our favorite egg. Together, the unlikely pair must work together as they set off on a heartfelt adventure to find their mother.

The finer points of their journey are yet to be revealed. However, Gudetama’s belief that life is simply about being swept along until you’re eaten, combined with Shakipiyo’s will to survive and succeed, is almost certain to create some cute yet poignant moments throughout the series.

Being so unusual in its personality when compared to its animated counterparts, Gudetama’s success over the years raises the question: why does everyone love this miserable egg so much?

The answer? Because we can all relate to it.

The popularity of perpetually strong, positive characters makes sense because that’s something that most humans strive for. But in a world where life can simply become a little too much at times, Gudetama shines as a brilliant yet gooey example of what it’s like to be human.

Sometimes we don’t want to do the things we’re supposed to do. Sometimes everything feels a little bit too hard. Sometimes the thought of laying around all day on an egg-white mattress with a bacon blanket sounds perfect, and in that way, there’s a little bit of Gudetama in all of us.

[slient-night-sky]

[slient-night-sky]

Remember why we started.