I took a bus from Penang to KL today, and when I bought the ticket I asked “what time will it arrive in KL, they said, “maybe 7 pm”.
Monthly Archives: December 2011
Saying Thank You
It’s hard to describe with words what I felt this morning at the clinic when one of my patients after I finished patching him up, stood up, put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me in the eyes and said: “thanks for looking after me, and the other patients out there, you guys are doing a great job”.
He said that even though, I knew he was in pain and had been bleeding out in the waiting room for almost 3 hours while waiting for his turn.
He knew we were doing the best we can, I saw it in his eyes and I appreciate that.
Got the same feeling, sometimes while teaching, after the class some students will say “thank you for your lesson, it was great”, they knew I had spent long hours preparing it and I looked up the material I knew it would be interesting to them.
Or in Australia, while driving the bus, it actually meant a lot to me that the passengers went that extra mile (not literally), before getting off, and said “thank you driver”, it made me feel proud of being their driver.
And while I’m cooking at the stall, once a customer said to me “that was a great meal, thanks a lot for that”
he was just being polite, but for me, it meant a lot more than that.
A sincere gratefulness can go a long way into making someone’s day a joyful one.
So don’t forget to do your best at being polite and giving your best compliment to those that take care of you or make your life easier.
Also to those ones who don’t, especially to those ones who don’t, so you can learn forgiveness and understanding also.
so, thank you so much for reading this and let’s practice being grateful to everyone today!
A place to call home
Friend 1: Don’t you ever miss home?
Bruno: I don’t know, define home.
Friend 1: Well, the place you grew up, or where your parents are.
Bruno: But the place I grew up or where my parents are never really felt like home, so why should I call it home?
Friend 1: Well, because that’s what most people call home.
Bruno: But that would be living in the past, and I have the theory that the past doesn’t really exist, its fake, just an illusion we create with our imagination and it exists only in our minds, same as the future.
There’s just here and now instead, so home is this place I’m staying at now, why would I miss it if I’m already here?
Friend 1: But most people feel like they need to belong somewhere and have somewhere to come back to, don’t you feel like that sometimes? Don’t you need a place to reminisce?
Bruno: That doesn’t make much sense, why would I want to belong somewhere if I can belong everywhere instead.
Friend 1: If you belong everywhere, the place you grew up won’t feel special anymore.
Bruno: True, but you can make every place feel special, it’s up to us what we consider special or not.
Friend 1: But most people need a place to call home.
Bruno: So, if most people eat horse dung, I should eat it as well, just because everyone else does?
Friend 1: Well, yeah, that’s why we usually do stuff, because everyone else does it, and that’s how we’ve been doing it for centuries.
Bruno: I can understand that, customs, rituals, traditions, do we really need that?
Friend 1: Yes
Bruno: What for?
Friend 1: To have a sense of identity, a sense of belonging to a place and to a culture.
Bruno: But the outcome of having a sense of belonging to a place and a culture will be that you will not be allowed to see other people who belong to different cultures than yours as equal to you.
Countries, religions, ethnicities, social status and position will only prevent you from seeing that actually, we are all the same everywhere.
And will make you justify acts of violence against people of the “different culture” such as terrorism, exploitation, racism, just because they are “different”.
Friend 1: Ok, I see where you’re getting at, is this another government conspiracy to keep us on a tight leash and justify whatever acts of violence they decide to engage on?
Bruno: Not really, before we made up the nation states, like 200 years ago, we always swore loyalty to some king, god or emperor. Basically any excuse we can come up with to kill one another and take over our land and resources because we didn’t know anything better, now we do.
Friend 1: Yes, what is that? Some utopian future where we all love each other and are kind to each other?
Bruno: Yes.
Friend 1: Cool.
Kind of people I would like to hang out with
Would accept: Someone that says what they think and not what other people expect them to say.
Ideally: someone who can criticize me without being afraid of hurting my feelings or offending me.
saying thank you (before editing)
Its hard to describe with words what i felt this morning at the clinic when one of my patients, after i finished patching him up, stood up, put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me in the eyes and said:
“thanks for looking after me, and the other patients out there, you guys are doing a great job”
he said that even though, i knew, he was in pain, and had been bleeding out at the waiting room for almost 3 hours while waiting for his turn.
He knew we were doing the best we can, I saw it in his eyes and I appreciate that.
Got the same feeling, sometimes while teaching, after the class some students will say “thank you for your lesson, it was great”
they knew I had spend a long hours preparing it and I looked up the material I knew it would be interesting to them.
or in australia, while driving the bus, it actually meant a lot for me that the passengers went that extra mile (not literally), before getting off, and said “thank you driver”, it made me feel proud of being their driver.
and while I’m cooking at the stall, once a customer said to me “that was a great meal, thanks a lot for that”
he was just being polite, but for me it meant a lot more than that.
a sincere greatfullness can go a long way into making someone’s day a joyfull one.
so don’t forget to do your best at being polite and giving your best compliment to those that take care of you or make your life easier.
also to those one’s who don’t, specially to those ones who dont, so you can learn forgivness and understanding also.
and while we are at it why not going to indonesia to thank all the sweat factory workers who work
for 2 dolars a day so you can have your nike or branded goods that you dont need, or how about going to africa and thank all the children that work as
slaves to bring you the chocolate or to visit the chinese slaves that ensemble your iphone and all those gadgets.
you are either part of the problem or part of the solution.
you have 2 options
option 1: stop spending money on things you don’t need, stop supporting governemts and corporations in their exploitative agendas and join the local movements agains income inequality
http://www.occupytogether.org/
or.. option 2: close this tab, pretend you didn’t read this and move along with your daily routine.
either way, it’s up to you.
About Couchsurfing 1
Life before Couchsurfing, for me, was totally different that it is now.
there are 1001 ways to make money without working, or in case you don’t like money (makes your hands dirty?) there are 1001 ways to live without it.
Relaxation
I usually have problems relaxing, same as most people. I think we all have problems and if we don’t, we just make some up.
Most people’s problems revolve around their jobs, careers, school, studies, money, friends, family, house, the future and the past.
Mines are a bit different, I worry about things that are happening at this same moment in a different place that I consider unfair. I worry about what to do in the future, the meaning of life and my existence. I get puzzled by the universe, global problems, the animals, the environment, overpopulation, lack of food, water and energy, my health, politics, the revolution and much other stuff, I, for some reason, feel like I have to take care of.
And those issues prevent me from relaxing and enjoying the moment.
So, there’s an exercise I like to practice sometimes, it consists of laying in bed for like an hour or more, stretching like a cat, tossing and turning, staring at the ceiling and remind myself that:
– I don’t need to take care of that stuff and if I don’t someone else will.
– I’m still young, handsome, smart and healthy.
– No one really cares much about me, If I just lay in bed the whole day no one would even notice or if I lay in bed the whole year probably no one would care either.
– If I die today it will take at least a few weeks before someone finds out (that’s how important I am).
– I’m still free, to choose the life I want, free to think, say and do whatever I want, go wherever, whenever, or just using that freedom to stay in bed stretching like the cat.
– I don’t need to account myself for anything I do. I don’t need to go to work tomorrow, nor next week nor next year and I don’t need to accomplish or achieve anything anymore.
– I’m not Jack Bauer and there are no terrorist attacks to prevent. Just stretching is ok.
– I’ve done enough already so now it’s time for me to relax!
Issues with big groups
Damn! why is it so hard for me to fit in a group?
The only times I ever had a group of friends that I can remember, it was in Argentina, 2 other guys and me, yeah, that’s a group. Because its more than 2 people, and we seldom talked, we just played video games.
After that I made a few good friends but never had a group to hang out with, I really tried though.
I’ve been to many countries and in most of them, I tried to fit in with countless different groups of people, including punks, squatters, heavy metal fans, RPG groups, vegans, vegetarians, hardcore fans, sXe’s, surfers, hippies, Buddhists, are khrisnas, skeptics, office workers, homeless, English teachers, rock climbers, students, scientists, backpackers, engineers, and sometimes even unemployed bums like myself.
And failed miserably every single time, never got to hang out with the same group for more than a few weeks.
It seems my personality re-shapes itself to become the opposite of what the group is. In a pointless act of rebellion.
So the reason why I couldn’t fit in any group is that every time I am on one, I become everything the group hates.
Even though I totally agree with the group ideas, I would somehow find a way to challenge them in an obnoxious arrogant way that makes me an asshole in front of the group, for some reason.
Why I do that? I have no idea!!!
I do have a few theories though. One of them is that I like being the center of attention and if I think the same as everyone else in the group I would go unnoticed.
Another theory is that I can’t keep up with social pressure, and most groups of friends expect you to act on a certain way, dress, think, talk on a certain way, go to places and keep in touch. And for me is just too much pressure the idea of “having” to do something because its the norm and everyone else does it.
Another theory is that maybe I just don’t like groups, and I feel more confortable by myself or with just one person by my side. Usually, someone weak, that I can control and influence and will never outsmart me or put me down, so I keep being the brightest star and feeding my selfish ego.
That’s how manipulative I am. Or maybe not. Maybe I haven’t yet found a group of friends that’s adequate for me.
I don’t actually quite understand why I do that, yet keep pushing people away from me. And when they try to keep in touch I’d just ignore them or act coldly.
I was hanging out with backpackers a few days ago and they were using words like “chillaxed” and “explore” and carrying a big backpack on their back and a smaller one on their chest, lonely planet guide books, cameras, and stopping to take pictures every 5 minutes. For some reason that made me uneasy and made me feel like I didnt belong with them, because they were very different from me.
But actually they are just nice and positive guys, trying to have a good time, same as me, I have no rational reason whatsoever to dislike them. and they are usually kind to me.
I tend to focus on the differences I have with others instead of the similarities, but even if they had been clones of me, and think exactly like me. I would have surely found a reason to dislike them.
So, that’s one more thing for me to work on, trying to appreciate the similarities i have with people, try to join a big group, and stay on it.
Ideas 3: Energy
Free, clean, renewable, unlimited energy should our main objective right now, not just for the environment, for our health and for the economy, but for our inner peace and relaxation also.
Imagine how silent our cities will be, with all the cars hovering smoothly.
Imagine all the sounds we are missing, from the birds and animals we haven’t exterminated yet. From the wind and trees, the rain and the rivers.
Imagine silence.
Last time I had total peace and silence it was more than 15 months ago. How is that possible?
How can we focus and relax with all that noise drilling around all day and night?
We can’t, that’s the idea. It’s in the best interest of the people who make money from the fossil fuel industry to keep us from thinking for ourselves so we don’t question the reasons why we are still using such a noisy way of energy.
Or maybe is not, maybe it’s just a coincidence that fossil fuel makes transport and production processes very loud and annoying.
Either way, in most cities you can see 60 cars transporting one person each, instead of one big car transporting 60 people. Why is that? Why do we do that? Are we just plain selfish and we don’t care about anything else that our own short-term comfort? Or we are victims of a system that led us to believe that’s the right thing to do and everyone else does it, so it’s ok.
Ideas 2: Justice
understanding the old lady
I went to watch a documentary, the name was: ” My heart is not broken yet”. It was about an old Korean lady who was a comfort woman, a sex slave for the Japanese army during the war.
She spent the last 10 years, and lots of money, filling and following a lawsuit against the Japanese government, asking them to issue an official apology to her, because she knows Japanese don’t like to apologize or admit they made mistakes.
That’s right, she didn’t want monetary compensation, she didn’t want the Japanese or any other country to just get rid of their armies, stop the wars and live in peace, she didn’t want to make sure what happened to her won’t happen again to anyone else in the future.
She just wanted an apology.
And she didn’t want an apology from the soldiers or military officials that served during the war, but from the actual Japanese government that little had to do with what happened 60 years ago.
Yet the Japanese keep denying everything, whitewashing the textbooks and censoring the history regarding Nanjing, Korea, and SE Asia.
And the Japanese people believe it, because, you know that’s what the government says…
same as the chinese believe that the tibetans are hostiles and whatever story the teach them about chairman Mao, the North Koreans believe their dictator is a hero or a god or whatever.
Same as the Israelis with the Palestinians, the Russians with the Georgians, the Americans with the Middle Easterns, they will always believe the official story (whatever b.s. the government says) just because they say it. Yeah, that’s all the proof we need right now to believe something. We need the government to say it, that’s it. Same as before we needed the church to say it and that was it. Whatever they say we will believe and whatever they want us to do, we will do, because we are stupid and it’s easier just to follow orders than to think for ourselves or stand up for what’s right.
In my case, growing up in Argentina, in Latinamerica, when I was there I’ve been conditioned to believe that the reason why I was poor and had no food it was because the Americans owned all the big companies and controlled the economy there. and because the British stole some island, and because the Chinese, Koreans, and other Latin Americans came and take the jobs from us, and yeah, you know, the economy, the inflation, the corruption, the debt, the crisis, WTF!
We are always blaming other people (or the circumstances) for our misery instead of taking responsibility for our actions.
And the Korean woman just wants an official apology…
Let’s say the japanese government will admit everything, apology and give money to everyone like the germans did. What would that change?
I think we should learn from our mistakes and make sure it doesn’t happen again. what’s the point of worrying about the past and regretting things we did or other people did to us?
And all the people who went to watch that documentary were all happy with the documentary and admiring the old lady.
This kind of things happen to me every day and make me feel like I’m all alone and no one understands me.
Maybe im taking the wrong approach, and I should try to understand them, instead of asking other people to understand me.
That’s difficult, and I would have to accept he fact that I dont have the ultimate truth and other people have their own truths also.
Maybe the apology would help and change things by making them understand that they made a mistake and they shouldn’t kill, torture and rape people again.
And other countries will see what that the Japanese took responsibility and won’t make the same mistake.
Well, probably not, but I should still try to understand others, instead of always thinking I am the only one who’s right and I know everything.
I will try today, and maybe in a few years if I ever read this again it will remind me that I should try harder to understand everyone (including this old lady)
conspiracy
I read this today:
“We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life. We’ve added years to life, not life to years. ” George Carlin
and then among the comments there was one that got me thinking, here it goes:
“clever but part of me thinks it was written by the bankers to calm the masses from a revolution and the likes of the occupy wall st protesters into putting up with higher taxes and lower wages, just my 2 cents”
so 2 thoughts came to mind after I read that, first, how some people think everything’s a conspiracy and everyone’s always out to get you.
and the second thought was, what if it were true?
Emma and Carl Sagan
Nop, not a valid proof |
Meditation
And maybe try to be a bit kinder to people around you, and give without expecting to receive something back. that usually makes us happy.
But we always forget, I always forget.
so, I’m gonna go out and do it today. will try to be kinder to everyone around me.
[1] Note: she didn’t actually quote statistics, I added that to make her sound smart
[2] http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/05/100-benefits-of-meditation/
Traveling: part 2
So my students ask how much does it costs to travel abroad and visit many countries, but there’s not really an objective answer to that question.
Any country you go to you can spend a million dollars or spend no money at all, it’s up to you.
And it was interesting to learn how each new generation has different goals than the previous ones. and this generation’s dream seems to be to travel around.
Why is that? Maybe it’s because traveling raises your awareness level somehow, and that makes you happier, to put it very vaguely.
An aesthetic experience, that forces you to be aware of every minute that passes, of every sensation, and gives you the chance of meeting people and seeing different places every day.
Instead of the usual anesthetic experience of our daily routines, where we turn on the autopilot in order to not being aware of what’s going on around us or inside us, not having any new sensation, not having the chance of meeting new people nor seeing different places every day.
I’ve met people who have only 7 to 14 days holidays a year and they spend the other 351 to 359 days thinking or preparing for those holidays.
So, it seems evident that in the society we live on, our freedoms have been taken away, including the freedom to travel, they’ve done that by limiting the resources we have access to, based on the amount of money we have. We are limited to where we can travel throughout the world based on a number of restrictions, borders, immigration laws and the policy of passports. And last but not least, we are limited on the time we have as we’ve been forced to compete for good and services. And trying to make enough money to cover our costs of living + traveling. Which kind of eats up all our time.
And yet, most people think that’s ok and that’s just the way it is, and we shouldn’t do anything about it, because yeah, that’s how it is, you know.
And yet, most people think they are free while struggling to get as much travel time as possible.
So what to do?
Option 1: stay in the system while making the most of it and try to be happy in it. Learn to love what you do instead of doing what you love, train yourself to enjoy every moment a bit more, maybe do something new every day and try to enjoy it and live it as if you were on a lifetime holiday.
Option 2: Find a way out of the system and play by your own rules, you can use phrases like “I’m between jobs” or “I’m taking a gap year.”
Option 3: create a new system that renders the previous one obsolete, for that you gotta make sure you understand what was flawed in the old one to make sure of not making the same mistakes again!