C-C-C-C

inspired by and adapted from PPAP; sing to the tune:

🎶i have a coffee, i have a clementine
uh! coffee-clementine!

i have a coffee, i have a comp
uh! comp-coffee!

clementine-coffee, comp-coffee
uh! coffee-comp-clementine-coffee 🎶

a reflection on “芸芸众生,日日忙忙碌碌何为?”

there’s only one certainty in life since birth — death.
but the time in-between birth to death is unknown to the individual (while some pple may argue that some higher beings/deities know/control/pre-determined it).
what would then one need to do to pass the time in-between?
ironically, the first thing is to find sustenance, to sustain the ever-dying shell; regardless if you are humans or prokaryotes, you do the same. in the grown up world context, it would mean “earning a living”, for most is to find a job(s) to earn an income to find sustenance and obtain things, to prevent the shell from dying too fast.
when one is able to find sustenance, and there’s still energy and time and not yet time to rest/sleep to regain energy for finding sustenance, pple begin to choose things to do (e.g., entertainment, interests, hobbies).

and life goes on like that, day in day out, excluding ‘sudden death’ events, the shell slowly crawls towards the certainty.

so back to the question, 芸芸众生,日日忙忙碌碌何为?the answer is perhaps 为了不死,或知道会死但不要想太多?
so what’s death? would death means ‘nothing’ at t+1? i wouldnt know for sure, but perhaps ‘nothing’ is the conception for those who seek early ‘termination’ on the journey to certainty?

different religions (generally defined as a set of beliefs, practices, and moral codes that relate to the nature of the universe and the place of individuals within it) would have shed different lights on the question of “芸芸众生,日日忙忙碌碌何为?”. from a buddhist perspective, one is trapped in the worldly cycle of death and rebirth (aka samsara). and one truth in this trap is suffering (dukkha), which can refer to “direct suffering, being liable to suffering, a bodily painful feeling, or unsatisfactoriness, deficiency, insufficiency.” not sure if there’s another religion where suffering is absent, not there at all?

how to attain the end of suffering, the end of the cycle, and thus the 芸芸众生,日日忙忙碌碌? it would be to work towards enlightenment through eliminating ignorance and craving. the method is to follow the eightfold path (八正道): right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

so if you are a 芸芸众生 like me reading this in the midst of 日日忙忙碌碌, perhaps you can find a way in your (religious) beliefs to explain the purpose of your 日日忙忙碌碌 and if there’s a way to seek an end to it, of cos unless you love work so much and also there’s no ‘suffering’ in life. for me, the eightfold path (八正道) would be a good start, if not a reminder (:

references:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism/The-Four-Noble-Truths
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zg7297h/revision/3
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyhmk2p/revision/1

in the distant gotham south primary school …

there’s 3 depts – teaching, admin, and tech team.
fries is the only teacher-HOD (without another teacher!) in the teaching dept with 2 other sch counsellors.
one of the counsellors randomly appears in office, while another counsellor’s on permanent wfh arrangement.

in the staff room, fries is the only one designing lesson, preparing worksheets, and her movement creates echoes in the room cos she’s the only teacher (cf. counsellors’ job)

the admin dept is next to the staff room, so randomly fries sees them but other times don’t. and anyway, their job’s totally different from hers.
the tech team sits on another level so fries also don’t see them, not forgetting, their jobs’ different from hers too (and they probably din know fries also led a tech life, and whatever they’re doing, fries can also do)

as fries admires her own lesson design, feeling proud of the worksheets, fries also imagines herself being the HOD with at least one other teacher working with her in the vision painted for her.

the painted future is, however, akan datang and the echoes sounded more solid than this fiction occurring in gotham.

what is passion? what is comms?

saw this, love it:

source: STB via https://www.visitsingapore.com/madewithpassion/about/

and my brain started spinning and this is the (current) outcome:

What is Comms?
Comms. One word. Five letters. Limtiless meanings flourish.

(Tan, 2023)

#beta #4ideaimprovement

post COVID-19 swim

stopped routine when COVID-19 broke out. 1st swim since then. 10 laps of 50m. only managed to swim 2 laps non-stop. hope to build up stamina soon.

“For someone who lives in a condo, u r not maxing out.” #wkr