Diaries?
Blogs?
Journals?
What are those?
I used to wonder what they were and what they were for in the first place. I liked writing ever since I was young but somehow, the thought of writing a diary never occured to me. Then, one day, I had this one friend who had a journal about his daily life activities. On the surface, it was just a black-covered book with a strap that locked the book. The pages started to flip. It was then when I partially, if not fully, realized the wonders of having a diary or a journal. My friend used to describe it to me as a 'friend that never talks back and always listens to you'. Wow, that would be pretty neat. And all I had to do is to get a pen and start writing on it. Indeed, it was quite tempting. However, till the end of high school, I never did completely write one. Only once did I try writing one when I got really frustrated with something and that only lasted about 5 pages. Yep, I was hungry for imagination. I remembered attempting to do art and public speaking to somehow bring out that inner creativity within me. This was no longer a futile attempt to write a journal. It was a journey; one aimed at finding the spark that would ignite my soul. Who knew that writing a journal would eventually lead to me seeking my own identity? Well, one thing was for certain though, this was going to be a turning point in my future. And I've got no choice but to face it sooner, if not later.
7th August 2010. Goodbye, Malaysia and I was off to Canada. Not the day I discovered my inner passion, but definitely a turning point in my life. It was anticipated, but I wasn't prepared for it. Regrets. That was pretty much what I felt at that moment. There was no turning back though. The clock was ticking. I went into a high school in Toronto for a year. Despite being exposed to a new environment, I didn't have the leisure to embrace these exciting cultures that were knocking at my door. Or rather, I didn't try to. My mind was completely focused on one thing, studies. All I could think of was achieving some scholarship to get into some university without my parents paying for it. Yep, looks like my journey paused for now. However, the only course that reminded me of that journey was Grade 12 English. I had an interesting teacher who talks in depth about existentialism. All the assignments were related to that concept. It was new to me, but I found it fascinating. Not as something to adopt, but just something to learn about. It was then when I began to realize, bit by bit, my inner zen. I enjoyed learning about different perspectives to life. Yea, math seemed fun but this was more intriguing. There were no right or wrong answers; just ones with evidence or support and ones with neither. A step forward I have taken.
8th September 2011; the beginning of life at the University of Toronto. Another perfect place to embrace the diverse cultures of people from all around the world. This just might prove to be the place where my journey shall end. Time keeps ticking, assignments never stop coming. Once again, I was caught up in the same situation once again; only this time, my journey wasn't resumed by my English classes, friends did. I began to make friends and slowly learned more of their perspectives about life or anything at all. Then, it struck me once again. This intense feeling. Is this my inner zen? I now knew that my passion was somehow related to the knowledge of life from multiple perspectives.
Now, I see a path along my journey. However, I lack the driving force to push me forward. Yep, friends once again. One day, I was at the campus library with this friend of mine from Sri Lanka. Out of randomness, he takes out a notebook. He started talking about it and encouraged me to write one. Familiar indeed, just like those words from back then. My journey hadn't resumed though. I recalled it, but attempted nothing. December 15th 2011; the killer blow. Another friend of mine from Malaysia appeared. I can't seem to remember what we were chatting about besides this somewhat facebook poking tradition we had. Once again, out of randomness, she mentioned about her blog. A blog? Hm...an online diary huh? That sounds pretty tempting. So, she showed me her blog. It was just breathtaking. Her blog had quite a number of inspiring poems about life. Yep, I thought to myself, this is awesome!
I eventually found a way to create this blog. Okay , I've reached a resting point at my journey. However, its not my destination yet. Or rather, I have no clue what my destination is like. Well, whatever the case is, with this almost empty blog of mine, I'm going to take another step forward by publishing this post and introducing myself to the world of online blogging. I may not be an exceptional blogger or writer, but if anyone reading this could provide feedback or comment about my blog, I would really appreciate it. With your help, I believe I'll be a step closer towards my destination. Yea, maybe I won't be able to reach my destination before this life of mine expires, but as the saying goes, " It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end".
P.S.- Thanks a lot to my two friends from Sri Lanka and Malaysia for helping me ignite the passion of my soul. You know who you are. I owe you both one ;)
Blogs?
Journals?
What are those?
I used to wonder what they were and what they were for in the first place. I liked writing ever since I was young but somehow, the thought of writing a diary never occured to me. Then, one day, I had this one friend who had a journal about his daily life activities. On the surface, it was just a black-covered book with a strap that locked the book. The pages started to flip. It was then when I partially, if not fully, realized the wonders of having a diary or a journal. My friend used to describe it to me as a 'friend that never talks back and always listens to you'. Wow, that would be pretty neat. And all I had to do is to get a pen and start writing on it. Indeed, it was quite tempting. However, till the end of high school, I never did completely write one. Only once did I try writing one when I got really frustrated with something and that only lasted about 5 pages. Yep, I was hungry for imagination. I remembered attempting to do art and public speaking to somehow bring out that inner creativity within me. This was no longer a futile attempt to write a journal. It was a journey; one aimed at finding the spark that would ignite my soul. Who knew that writing a journal would eventually lead to me seeking my own identity? Well, one thing was for certain though, this was going to be a turning point in my future. And I've got no choice but to face it sooner, if not later.
7th August 2010. Goodbye, Malaysia and I was off to Canada. Not the day I discovered my inner passion, but definitely a turning point in my life. It was anticipated, but I wasn't prepared for it. Regrets. That was pretty much what I felt at that moment. There was no turning back though. The clock was ticking. I went into a high school in Toronto for a year. Despite being exposed to a new environment, I didn't have the leisure to embrace these exciting cultures that were knocking at my door. Or rather, I didn't try to. My mind was completely focused on one thing, studies. All I could think of was achieving some scholarship to get into some university without my parents paying for it. Yep, looks like my journey paused for now. However, the only course that reminded me of that journey was Grade 12 English. I had an interesting teacher who talks in depth about existentialism. All the assignments were related to that concept. It was new to me, but I found it fascinating. Not as something to adopt, but just something to learn about. It was then when I began to realize, bit by bit, my inner zen. I enjoyed learning about different perspectives to life. Yea, math seemed fun but this was more intriguing. There were no right or wrong answers; just ones with evidence or support and ones with neither. A step forward I have taken.
8th September 2011; the beginning of life at the University of Toronto. Another perfect place to embrace the diverse cultures of people from all around the world. This just might prove to be the place where my journey shall end. Time keeps ticking, assignments never stop coming. Once again, I was caught up in the same situation once again; only this time, my journey wasn't resumed by my English classes, friends did. I began to make friends and slowly learned more of their perspectives about life or anything at all. Then, it struck me once again. This intense feeling. Is this my inner zen? I now knew that my passion was somehow related to the knowledge of life from multiple perspectives.
Now, I see a path along my journey. However, I lack the driving force to push me forward. Yep, friends once again. One day, I was at the campus library with this friend of mine from Sri Lanka. Out of randomness, he takes out a notebook. He started talking about it and encouraged me to write one. Familiar indeed, just like those words from back then. My journey hadn't resumed though. I recalled it, but attempted nothing. December 15th 2011; the killer blow. Another friend of mine from Malaysia appeared. I can't seem to remember what we were chatting about besides this somewhat facebook poking tradition we had. Once again, out of randomness, she mentioned about her blog. A blog? Hm...an online diary huh? That sounds pretty tempting. So, she showed me her blog. It was just breathtaking. Her blog had quite a number of inspiring poems about life. Yep, I thought to myself, this is awesome!
I eventually found a way to create this blog. Okay , I've reached a resting point at my journey. However, its not my destination yet. Or rather, I have no clue what my destination is like. Well, whatever the case is, with this almost empty blog of mine, I'm going to take another step forward by publishing this post and introducing myself to the world of online blogging. I may not be an exceptional blogger or writer, but if anyone reading this could provide feedback or comment about my blog, I would really appreciate it. With your help, I believe I'll be a step closer towards my destination. Yea, maybe I won't be able to reach my destination before this life of mine expires, but as the saying goes, " It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end".
P.S.- Thanks a lot to my two friends from Sri Lanka and Malaysia for helping me ignite the passion of my soul. You know who you are. I owe you both one ;)
