Sometimes a 5 minute chat with my dad turns into a life long lesson that could be shared with your grandchildren when you're like 65. So the other night we were talking about the usual "how's your day?" "how's work?" etc etc...and then a little bit of family talk came into the convo...somehow it turned into talking about limitations and he shared with me a story about how he raised me and my brother. His philosophy is about guiding, leading and being flexible enough to let children learn when they're ready. No it wasn't a Dr. Phil special or an episode of Oprah, but a true to heart talk about how he's tried his best to raise good kids (which I appreciate). He talked about what it's like being raised as a child in Hong Kong with two other sisters...he talked about this special Hong Kong broadcast he listens to and had a story about limitations. How if you don't give children limitations, or guidelines to live, especially when they're older, the world ends up teaching them...which more often than not results in less than favorable consequences...he said this which was interesting:
"It's like having a child stand close to the ocean...the child is full of excitement at first, but then a rush of fear fills his heart...his knees tremble...at the site of the never ending ocean..vast...deep....uncertain.....the water is deep blue and the waves are crashing...unpredictable. He understands there is uncertainty"
The ocean represents a world without boundaries...without some kind of framework to help us understand where the limits are..the unpredictability can be fascinating..whether you're exploring the coral reefs or dangerous...
I like to perceive the analogy in a simple way..because I think the point is all that matters. It made sense to me and whether it's guidelines, limitations, discipline...or whatever....I will always appreciate any "heads up" that I can get.
I go over to my parents house every week and for some reason they always have some kind of 'key lesson' to teach me...which usually is profound because it comes from their experience and of course, an excerpt from probably the Tao. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have family around and also a rich culture to learn from. So naturally, everytime my parents start chatting away, I reach for the closest post it, envelope, napkin, or some kind of writing medium and material to capture the moment/lesson.
The most recent one is along the lines of "a gentleman flows like water while the rest are like honey".
They explained that a gentleman is truly flexible, one who remains the same, never changes for the worst...just like water...he's also soft, yet can be strong when needed. Honey on the other hand, is delicious upfront, sweet, yet stick...relating to neediness....changes in consistency once it is left on the shelf for a while...get's clumpy....and the flavor changes...
So the lesson for me is that water is what I strive for, the rest can be enticing (e.g. money, lust, etc) but water remains the same. At the point when you allow the surface to lure you, you soon realize it is all an illusion.
I'll add my scraps of lessons soon...I usually like to organize in a creative, often chaotic way....so more to come....:)
The Dominican Republic was amazing. The best part was exploring the land, people and enduring the humidity (from sun, to rain, to thunder, to lighting, to almost cats and dogs). Since I love to eat, the best part was understanding the agriculture, making coffee, breaking open a cocoa plant, learning about tobacco, cigar making and last but not least, enjoying some local mamajuana...aka rum (amazing taste with a tinge of honey and special herbs).
Some pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/natalie.woo/PuntaCana2009#
There's been a lot of changes the past few weeks including me procrastinating and not posting a recap from my Dominican Republic vacation (coming soon promise), moving back to Sunnyvale and now setting up my room and workstation at my new place... There's some ideas I want to write about and keep people posted. Here's a teaser.
proverbs. chinese. parents. post-it's matchbooks normal art journey living and the move leading
and all of this probably makes NO sense whatsoever...but you'll see soon :).
So for I'm loving every minute of uncertainty.
Ok gotta zzzzz...so I can wake up at 6am to go to a Persian/Indian wedding!
Natalie
ps. you can access my blog on www.woosachi.com now...rad.
I'm off to the Dominican Republic tomorrow and I'm excited to check out the beaches, people, wildlife, and the overall serenity of being in a new environment. The adventure begins and I'm looking for things that will hopefully inspire me to do more artwork.
I"m finally done with my Digital Design class which had it's challenging moments of learning the technology (fun QuarkExpress) and figuring out the best design to pull together a urban lifestyle mag (music, fashion, architecture spreads galore) in a eye blinks time. I've decided to take next semester off and really chill out and get my creative noggin to work for me...I'm testing out a few concepts and puling together my site soon so fingers crossed.
Dad's also training my brother's friend in Wing Chun again so I"m back on track...this is actually really good for me since I really want to live up to my name and master the martial art. June 1st is the date so I have to get my punches, kicks and training in line...fortunately I'm back to working on pretty consistently at work - (not to mention discovered this really cool way to shape obliques!). I get excited easily what can I say?
some things i wanna draw on vaca:
-local food -turtles -the peeps -beach happenings -....and more.
I did this in Hawaii once and tried to add some sand into my drawing of a sea turtle which worked with the salt water from the ocean....but unfortunately it tried up when I came back :(.
Lots of stuff going on....and u know what Chuck Yeager says... "Just before you break the sound barrier is when the cockpit shakes the most."
I say, enduring what shakes you to the core, will eventually lead you to reach a higher level of consciousness.
so i was walking in the store with my friend....this really cute card shop in palo alto and i thought it would be cool to get a card for mother's day. then my friend looks at me like im crazy and says "hey why don't you just make one?"
duh.
of course! so then i was like...good point, given i have a million sheets of mulberry paper and other wood shredded created papers. so i continued my bird cage series with this one... (minus the bird..it flew away).
crunch time again and midterms are around the corner...I'm taking this design technology class right now and the entire class focuses on preparing a magazine edition. The theme is urban living and so far it's been challenging and fun...here's a example of one of my layouts... it focuses on architecture, specifically the De Young Museum.
OK it's been a while yes...and if you know me, u know why. But now I'm back and happy to share with you my art, life and just the down-right good stuff that makes me smile (like chocolate cookie dough...mmm).
much of the madness and the mad scientist in me spends most of my time in my room, at my desk...pondering the next creative idea that I only hope will be savored by someone...usually my doggie Koji...she's a good sport...
I like to sit here, brainstorm, sketch, work, write and occasionally watch some netflix..looking for the next inspiration. It's not much but hopefully I'll have a nice view of the beach some day with my table and art shinnanigans all over the table.
What I'm listening to now (I'm always watching, listening to something:
talk about hard and time consuming....this printmaking class reminds me of the days people would make their paper outta trees, grind color dye from poppy flowers and make brushes out of horse hair and a tree branch to write a thank u letter to their cousin 500 miles away.
I'm trying to do a double plated image of my final linocut piece...it's a typical house hold item...getting the plates to match was a challeng
strange how linolieum and ink can create something cool and abstract....i'm working on a series of 5 for this piece but hopefully i'll get use to the cutting and crafting. =). Basically you paint a pattern on a linolieum block and cut out pieces from a special tool. Then you use a special ink to paint and print the pattern onto paper...pretty nifty.
I was going for a flower like, abstract piece. but this will do for now
During my past visit to Hong Kong, I was watching an episode on Chinese culture with my Mom at the Royal Pacific Hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui. I really enjoyed hearing and connecting more about my culture and specifically the traditions involved. There was a time when people took their elaborate birdcages to tea houses and parks to share with their friends. They often hung them on trees clustered together with other birdcages and sat and listened to them sing....and hear the song.
This is my first attempt to create a collection of pieces I call simply. 'Birdcages'.
I've been having trouble using my scanner so hopefully I'll figure it out soon..but here's a composition created with ink, green and hibiscus spice tea, and acrylic.
