Co-Creation

 One definition of co-creation is working with nature to help things grow. A nature community in Scotland calls it a collaboration "between human and earth spirits to create a wonderful garden". 

This morning I spotted my cat nibbling at some grass, a special specie which I carefully planted in an enclosure in my garden. After having salad she sat up and pee at the same spot. I was really amused that she was eating the grass that was fertilized by her own output.

I may not work with nature in such direct terms as my cat but I certainly feel the flow when I am working in my garden and talking with the plants. I love the words 'human and earth spirits'. I also like the term 'co-creation'. It certainly is a joy to watch a plant grow slowly  from a seed or cutting to a full bloom plant. I create the conditions for the plant to grow, tapping the spirit of the earth. The plant in turn provides seedlings and tips as well as spur my human spirit to propagate more plants and to further connect with the earth. 

In the business context co-creation is the making of a product where consumers' input plays a vital role. Similarly in a personal context, co-creation is getting input from one's inner voice or soul's input to create something, embark on a project or fulfil some life purpose.

Feeling listless and disturbed by existential angst one night I probed into what actually lifts me up. I think of travel and how delightful it has always been when seeing and experiencing something new. Without doubt it exhilarates my senses. A voice inside me says there is something more in life than momentary delight. With further inward exploration it reaffirms my belief that there is only one path. 

I thank whoever or whatever you called it for the gift to be able to connect with children.

Carl Jung- Your destiny is the result of the collaboration between the conscious and the unconscious

Viewing from space

 

The Sanskrit word for equanimity is 'Upekkha' . The word's literal meaning is 'looking down' or having a bird eye view. It thus implies that having a wider perspective of things will result in a more balanced view and being less affected by emotions, like observing at a distance.

It is not surprising then that Astronauts have expressed a shift in awareness when viewing earth from space. As astronaut Buzz Aldrin described it, "It's the uncanny sense of understanding the "big picture.." Space philosopher, Frank White calls it "the overview effect". From talking with astronauts he found out that their experience of viewing earth from space "have strengthened their resilience when facing problems and existential challenges back on earth".

In a state of equanimity there is space, quiet and connectedness. When we experience emotional turmoil we need to give ourselves space. Someone uses the analogy of giving a wild horse space to run. Giving space to ourselves is to acknowledge our emotions and being aware of their impact on body sensations. We expand the space further by taking in our surroundings and the outside world. Embracing nature is a good way to calm ourselves and see the bigger picture behind any problem. Looking at planet earth inhabited by trillions of living things from space will most certainly transcend one's self preoccupation to a higher perspective beyond self.

So next time when you are emotionally charged over some issues imagine yourself in space looking down on a tiny speck of you on planet earth. It will help you zoom out of an exaggerated view of your personal problems and gain broader perspective of the situation. That is detaching from yourself at a far far distance with a sense of perspective.

You will achieve a semblance of Upekkha.

Danger of Single Vision

 

"May God keeps us from single vision ...."- William Blake.

When Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh broached the possibility of religious bias in top civil servants either now or in the future, he is in my opinion alluding to the above quote from Blake.

When Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam responded by cautioning that Mr. Singh's statement could be misread as saying that top civil servants could be biased....and leaving that impression.. would be seriously wrong...", he is exhibiting clearly a single vision of always being 'attacked' by opposition parties and the need to defend at all costs.

Mr. Singh had cautioned that any dominant religious belief among senior civil servants "if not now, maybe some time in the future?" may put at risk laws and policies being "tilted towards particular religious beliefs". He also raised concerns over discrimination against LGBTQ community

Clearly I do not see this as an attack but truly a caution very well placed. One can imagine if in a situation all our judges belong to the same religious belief would it not be possible that their judgement  is subtly influenced by the same set of values; values which may not be held so strongly in another faith or community. 

Closer to home 'one vision' is a threat to harmony in families. Counselors often try to make their clients see their misbeliefs or one track mind. 

Surely our leaders can do better for the future harmony of our country.

Fine balancing

 

"Within the white calm of yang, there is a black spot to remind us that order can arbitrarily turned into chaos, often through our own actions. And within the dark yin is a white dot, to similarly remind us that chaos can just easily be turned back by us into order." - Meira Chand in her article 'Emerging from a time of chaos into a new order'.

Only reading this article do I understand the meaning of the dots within each white and dark segment ie, the turning points. 

During Chinese New Year we wish each other 新年快乐 万事如意! ie. (Happy New Year & May everything goes well as you wish). Quite a tall order but still we wish that for everyone. In Chinese horoscope everyone belongs to one of the 12 zodiac animals. Every year some zodiac animals will fare better than others in life circumstances , almost like taking turns. Except for a few, life for most people will traverse high and low points throughout life, or even at any one point there will simultaneously be blessings and challenges albeit in different proportions. Hence what is important is the ability to balance between the two, like what Meira Chand describes as 'living on the middle line that separates cohesion from confusion'.

 

However it takes a clear and steady mind to recognise the white dot when immersed in the dark yin, in order to turn chaos into order and similarly the dark dot in the white yang reminds one to be wary of excessive attachment to good things. Hence the best wish we should offer one another perhaps should be:

"May you balance well"

In search of support

 

So at a regular eye check-up at the SNEC, I was diagnosed with Fuch Cornea Dystrophy . The first doctor that attended to me ordered a scan after I casually mentioned that my eyesight seems blurry at times. I didn't go back to the same doctor after the scan but was seen by a seemingly younger doctor. Well you can't ask why because the whole clinic is swarmed with patients many complaining to the nurses of the long wait.

The problem as explained by the second doctor seems scary. She said the cells of the inner layer of the cornea are depleting at a faster rate than normal. She said my cataract problem on the other hand is slight and she advised I should delay any cataract operation as long as possible as there is a risk that a cataract operation will worsen the dystrophy problem. Alarmed I asked how bad the condition is currently and what is the worst that can happen. She did not want to tell how bad the condition is (or maybe she didn't really know) but kept on saying it varies with different individual how fast the condition deteriorates. The worst thing that can happen is loss of vision which requires a cornea transplant. Meanwhile the doctor's body language showed signs of impatience. Being a hypochondriac and not receiving enough information I asked her to repeat the name of the diagnosis again . She rolled her eyes took out a piece of A4 size paper, tore out a quarter page and wrote the name on it. She said she will review me in 8 months and dismissed me without prescribing any medication, not even eyedrops when the common symptom is dry eyes. So much for subsidised government hospital care but then you can't blame them. It was 4.30pm and there were still quite many patients waiting outside.

Back home needless to say I did extensive research and gathered information mainly from website of doctors accompanied with the skillful services they offer. I tried to locate support groups or forums which don't seem to be many but chanced upon one in the US. I applied to be a member and was accepted with warm welcome by the moderator who talked about visiting Singapore way back in the 90s and how amazed he was when he checked the google map now. Another kind lady shared her experience with her surgery which she described as painless and smooth. I am really amazed at the amount of information I can obtain from this group. You have doctors who patiently answer in detail loads of questions raised and give very useful advice to address concerns. The website also has updates on the latest treatment as well as trials carried out using the latest medical technology. Members of the group also comfort and give moral support to one another. I learned there are many types of surgery involved depending on the condition and they don't sound so scary as how my good doctor made it.

It makes me wonder why these doctors have the time and make the effort to help answer the support group members' concerns. It is not surprising then that the US is home to one of the largest number of Civic Participation organisations in the world. This is because it is far from a nanny state like ours.

So for a start I should also stop behaving like a spoilt kid. As one of the doctors in the above mentioned support group advised a member if her doctor doesn't talk to her she should just go find one who does. He added humorously that you get what you paid for. 

Well looks like I have to start looking for a private specialist.

Revived Curiosity

 

A question was posed to a religious teacher on how he will react when witnessing a person verbally and emotionally abusing another. The teacher replied that he would approach the perpetrator to ask "Are you ok? Do you need help?". Asking that of the perpetrator instead of the victim is kind of unusual but that is what the teacher termed "curious compassion" ie. to find out what affliction the perpetrator is suffering from that they have to vent it on another person. 

Instead of judging the perpetrator one has to find out what they are going through. In fact the perpetrator may be surprised by the question because they themselves may not know what's going on within themselves.

Similarly one should be curiously compassionate towards oneself. This morning I was peeved with the attitude of a bank's hotline customer service officer. I was so furious that I slammed the phone on her and felt bad afterwards. Remembering the term "curious compassion" I asked myself "Are you ok?" I replied "I am angry, I felt she didn't think me important". I then asked myself "Do you need help?" to which I answered "Yes, I need help with my constant need to be well regarded". 

Curious compassion acknowledges that there is a lot of things we don't know about another person or even our own self. In some sense it goes beyond the rational to judge and goes deeper to understand the emotions and the roots behind. For example a teacher who practices curious compassion does not just write off a student for being lazy for not doing his homework but instead is curious as to why he does not do so.

I guess not everyone are empathetic by nature but every person can be curious to start with. In the example of the "lazy" student, the teacher may be the " no nonsense " type but being curious and finding out more about the student may change his approach in some ways.

Well we were curious when we were kids weren't we? Let us revive it.

Harmoniously Together

Yesterday morning at Taichi class I was practicing in front of a tall slim tree with sparse leaves. Part of its thin trunk  is covered with moss. 2 stumps of wild grass sprung from its lower and upper bark. By itself , the tree with its exposed roots is far from beautiful and appears pathetically frail. The tree however is surrounded on 4 sides by 3 feet tall plants with purple flowers. Putting them together within a frame, I will name the picture "Harmoniously Together .

It was a cool breezy morning and as I moved my body in rhythmic alignment with my slow breath I kind of felt the energy flow, internally at first and then encompassing the the breeze and the surrounding including "Harmoniously Together".

The energy flow brought about a state of calm which made me more  patient and measured in speech when interacting with people during the day.

"There is a deep interconnectedness of all life on earth, from the tiniest organisms, to the largest ecosystems, and absolutely between each person."- Bryant McGill-Voive Of Reason