The Great Awakening

 

When you see the whore sitting on a beast

that has seven heads and ten horns

and on her forehead

written a name of mystery: "Mother of Prostitutes"

we know it is time.

From everyone at The Great Awakening

we wish you an optimistic start to the New Year.

The World As You Are

There is this story from the wisdom of Sufis :

A stranger enters a village, and immediately looks for the Sufi master to ask advice.  He says, "I'm thinking of moving to live in this village.  What can you tell me about the people who live here?"

And the Sufi master replies, "What can you tell me about the people who live where you come from?"

"Ah," says the visitor angrily.  "They are terrible people.  They are robbers, cheats and liars.  The stab each other in the back."

"Well now," says the Sufi master.  "Isn't that a coincidence?  That's exactly what they're like here."

So the man departs the village and is never seen there again.

Soon, another stranger enters the village and he too seeks out the Sufi master for advice.  He says, "I'm thinking of moving to live in this village.  What can you tell me about the people who live here?"

And the Sufi master replies, "What can you tell me about the people who live where you come from?"

"Ah," says the visitor in fond remembrance, "They are wonderful people.  They're kind, gentle and compassionate.  They look after each other."

"Well now," says the Sufi master.  "Isn't that a coincidence?  That's exactly what they're like here."

"We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are." - Anais Nin

My column illustration titled "Mirror" | October 2018

Duty Before Love

I see people rushing around, their bodies tense, racing to keep up, eyes filled with fear - fear of falling behind, fear of not achieving enough, having enough, being enough, fear of standing still long enough to listen to their own thoughts.

Yet some people live for love, with a light in their eyes, radiating joy and energy.

I learned that Michelangelo's father wanted his sons to become silk and wool merchants to bring more money into the family.  He would beat Michelangelo whenever he caught him drawing.  Fortunately, the boy persisted in doing what he loved, going on to enrich our world with the power of his art.

Love inspires and energizes us, whereas fear only makes us frantic, and regimented duty can drain and deplete us.

Do you live for Love, Fear, or Duty?

May your new year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness and somewhere I hope you surprise yourself.

My column illustration titled "My English Rose" | December 2017
(I have this first draft of my drawing posted here replacing my final artwork because somehow I just find it more interesting :-)

Step Up and Shine

You are a star.  Make sure you shine.

It could be somewhere in the dark, somewhere smelly and filthy, a 20 square feet kitchen, or somewhere you don't even find your feet on the ground from the outset ...

Step up and shine.

My column illustration titled "My Stage" | November 2017

Rules Bypass

The Rockefeller family patriarch refuses to let nature take its course, and has instead opted to have another heart transplant at age 101, officially making the record as having "more heart transplants than any other human being that's ever existed" according to sources.  David's last one also his seventh heart transplant failed last year and he died.

Skin is falling off the face and we attempt to bypass rules that come down to life and death.

Elephants die at around 70 years old, spider monkeys die at around 25 years old and humans die around the age of 80, on average.

The body is not a machine.  Aging is programmed and about evolution.

OTHERWISE, WE WOULD LIVE FOREVER.

My column illustration titled "Rules Bypass" | July 2017

Humanity's Undoing

Stephen Hawking has identified human aggression as one of the greatest threats to the survival of humanity.  The physicist has previously stated that science itself would be humanity's undoing.  He said last January that there is "near certainty" that scientific advances would end human history, either through nuclear war, global warming, artificial intelligence, genetically-engineered viruses, or other unforeseen developments.

"Most of the threats we face come from the progress we've made in science and technology.  Humanity only has a century left on this planet before life as we know it comes to an end." he said at the time.

God's Word says that broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are on that path.  But narrow is the way that leads to life and only a few are on it.  May you be a person that's on the narrow way and not on Satan's broad way!

My column illustration titled "Humanity's Undoing" | February 2017

City Hall

By convention a city has a hall a tower & a clock by which the people of the city can regulate their lives.

It's a simple & beautiful concept.


My column illustration titled "City Hall" | November 2016

Animal Farm

The 7 Commandments:
1.   Whatever goes upon 2 legs is an enemy.
2.   Whatever goes upon 4 legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3.   No animal shall wear clothes.
4.   No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5.   No animal shall drink alcohol.
6.   No animal shall kill any other animal.
7.   All animals are equal.

Man is the only enemy we have.  Remove Man from the scene, & the root cause of hunger & overwork is abolished for ever.


My column illustration titled "Animal Farm" | June 2016

The Apple

I don't know if the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Eden brought death unto the world but I'm sure it's an APPLE.


My column illustration titled "The Forbidden Fruit" | March 2016

False Memory

A false memory is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event. People often think of memory as something like a video recorder, accurately documenting & storing everything that happens with perfect accuracy & clarity.  In reality, while it might be difficult for many people to believe, everyone has false memories.  Our memories are generally not as reliable as we think & false memories can form quite easily, even among people who typically have very good memories.

False memory forms because of one's inaccurate perception, inference, emotions, misattribution, fuzzy tracing, & misinformation effect.  In the case of misinformation, it happens under a few theories - the original information & the misleading information presented after the fact get blended together in memory; the misleading information actually overwrites the original memory of the event; since the misleading information is more recent in memory it tends to be easier to retrieve; the pertinent data from the original event may never have been encoded into memory in the first place so that when misleading information is presented it's incorporated into the mental narrative to fill in these "gaps" in memory.

While I was always cautious about memory accuracy (as far as I remember, hah!), now I am convinced that no memories are to be trusted.  I am confident that we create our memories every day anew, if ever so slightly.  It's such a terrifying but beautiful notion that every day you wake up with a slightly different personal past.

My column illustration titled "False Memory" | February 2016

See the Beauty

Some objects I picked to draw.

A vessel created by Bruno Gambone;
Pablo Picasso's "Bull's Head";
a couple of vases created by Katsunori Yaoita.

There is much to be inspired in awe & to learn over the shape & patina & the artist's intention ...

Last, a photo that I took in my garden when i was photocopying my drawing & here Lucie came.  She might have found & shared the beauty as I did :-)  As far as I know the big house where Picasso spent the last days of his life was surrounded by kids, friends, & family, 2 goats & 2 dogs.  Maybe this is the happiest house on earth.

My column illustration titled "See the Beauty" | Jan 2016

Let go

Sometimes you don't realize 

the weight of something you've been carrying 

until you feel the weight of its release.

My column illustration titled "Gain & Loss" | November 2015

A story

There is always a story behind everything.  

How a picture got on a wall.  How a scar got on your face.  How someone can use his fucked up hand he has been dealt in life to some greater good.  

And then there is always a story behind a story.

My column illustration titled "Perfume" | September 2015

A few good books

A few good books is what you need when you are feeling somewhat down, & lost.
They could be fiction, non fiction, design-related or biography.
Books are like flowers they could liven up your room.
And what books you have tells what you are.
I do love books.

My column illustration titled "Reading" | August 2015

Stars glitter across the heavens

In Greek Mythology the constellations were mostly god-favoured heroes who received a place in the heavens in memorial of their deeds. They were regarded, as semi-divine spirits, living entities who strode across the heavens.

The Paiute of North America describe the stars as the children of the sun and moon.  Because the sun loves to eat his children, the stars disappear whenever he rises above the horizon.  However, the moon, their mother, often dances happily across the sky with the stars.

Someone chooses to combine these 2 stories into one - when we leave we go back to the family of heavens.  Up there we dance when the moon rises and are watching and blessing our families below us.  

May your dad rest in peace.  

My column illustration titled "My Star" | April 2015

Searching

Obsessed by fairy tales one goes spend time searching for a magic door & a lost kingdom of peace.  Searching, researching & one makes himself more coffee until he ends up over-caffeinated until one is too old to enjoy life ...

Einstein was searching for String Theory.  It's said that it not only reconciles General Relativity to Quantum Mechanics, but it reconciles Science & the Bible as well.  But have we found out how the universe really works after all these years?  I bet what Einstein most enjoyed during his uncountable trips was his time with his violin families & friends.  

Have walked for miles, been searching & pondering how far & the answer is as far as the end of your nose.  Have a joyous New Year my dear friends!

My column illustration titled "Searching" | January 2015

Fail better

"All of old.  Nothing else ever.  Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.
Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better." - Samuel Beckett


My column illustration titled "Not Giving Up" | August 2014

Technology

I don't want to disturb what you're doing right now but apparently as many as 80 different species of aliens have been visiting Earth for thousand of years.  Some of them look like us.  2 alien ladies went to Las Vegas to shop dressed as nuns and no one was any the wiser.  In case you feel you might have met one in your home town, some are tall ("Nordic Blondes"), some are short ("Short Grays"), and some look like aliens in cartoons.  You'll be wondering, though, about their technology.  The aliens are "light years" ahead of us.  And, apparently, a lot of the things we use today, we got from them.  Ah, that's why it's called the Samsung Galaxy.  Microchips, Kevlar, Laser, Fibre Optics and so on ... As a matter of fact, aliens have been asking us nicely: I would give you more if you'd stop wars.

My column illustration titled "Amazing Technology" | June 2014

A Name

A name, is a word or term used for identification.  A name can be given to a person, place, or thing; for example, parents can give their child a name or scientist can give an element a name.

Someone, or something have nothing to say about their names being given; be they good names, or bad names.  That, we can see a lot from the real estate in Hong Kong - a good one to identify a specific unique, or a terrible one to reflect what class you are in?

Someone, or something that have been given names are expected to bear certain purposes and sometimes responsibilities.  A car number plate "be happy" does not make you happier; "love you 1314" does not promise anything.  Instead, they all reflect what you are as name givers.  

Jokes we give them a laugh; Disgust we puke up the food we have just eaten with shame.  We got to hold responsibilities when giving names.

My column illustration titled "Names" | May 2014

Sing me to sleep

The first thing I think about when I wake up most mornings is the fact that I'm tired.  I have been tired for decades.  I'm tired in the morning and in the afternoon, and I'm tired when I'm having my dinner, except right when I try to go to sleep.  I love to sleep.  I am an excellent, excellent sleeper.

My column illustration titled "Sleep" | April 2014