My Life’s Symbols…

This is the article I wrote that I applied for Copyright protection as part of TM255.

I am a wanderer, my mind often drifts and pondered on many different things. In my head there are multiple conversations going on, always going on and on about things, overthinking and overanalyzing. The little voices in my head’s favorite subject would always include philosophy, principle and expectation in life. I could not help it that on several occassion I caught myself thinking out loud. I assure you, I am not on drugs nor on the brink of insanity. I simply like to muse.

I believe that in life there is always two opposing factor, the natural tendency of one thing with reference to another. There will never be a world where only good or bad people exist, a class where only the strong will survive and the weak will perish or a race where everyone is an alpha dog. There will always be some degree of the opposite placed within anything that exists, no matter how extreme the degree is. It is a condition for the existence of anything. It is what keeps the balance.

This opposite factor does not only exist in the society, it is also present in each one of us. None of us can claim that he is 100% strong physically, emotionally or intellectually and not an ounce of weakness in his mind and body. No matter how hard he train, supress his emotion or study, at some point he will still have some thing that will make him weak. It is what makes us human.

The opposing factors in life does not antagonize but rather complement each other. Day and Night; Rain and Shine; Man and Woman; Happy and Sad; Tears and Laughter; Success and Failure; To keep a balance, functional and durable existence of everything in nature, each must depend on the mutual and beneficial interaction of opposite forces. After a hard day’s work, one would embrace the night to rest and recuperate for tomorrow’s activity. On the other hand, trees and plants need rain and sunlight for photosynthesis. Sunlight gives most plants and trees the energy to make food in order to survive, while water helps transport mineral nutrients from the soil, both enriching the life of the plant. In the same way that, man and woman are fundamentally programmed to co-exist with one another. Even though, man and woman have earned complete independence from each other, they still need the comfort each one can offer.

Likewise, our happy and sad experiences decorates our life. We can never appreciate the happiness if we have never been sad. Laughter is sweet after shedding some tears. The euphoric state of success can be accounted from the failures we went through in life. Birth is always eventually followed by death. Truly, opposites hold each other in balance with mutual control.

The message is simple, there is no absolute in the ways of the universe. Everything in the physical world has an opposite. Wherever there is light, there will also be darkness; there is no positive without the negative; there are no advantages without disadvantages. Each thing depends upon it’s opposite in order to exist; Yin creates Yang and Yang creates Yin.

It is these two opposing forces that makes life an enigma. Anything can happen to a certain person at a certain point in time. But it is also these two opposing forces that makes life an even more challenging journey and at the same time a sacred pilgrimage. Life is beautiful even on its ups and downs. Just like a rose, beautiful and yet thorny. Imagine how rose’s thorns can hurt people and yet people is not afraid to pick a rose despite the fact that the thorns can prick them, just as people should not be afraid to take risk in life because they might be hurt. Yes, life can be difficult ofcourse, but depending on how you look at it. A metaphor I found helpful in my own life is that of a speed bump. Rather than labeling the issues that come into my life as problems, I think of them as a speed bump. An actual speed bumps as you know, is a low bump in a road designed to get your attention and for you to slow down. If you step on the gas and speed up, you will hit the bump with a loud thump! Your car maybe damaged, you can even injure yourself and worst it may hamper your journey. If however, you approach the bump softly and wisely, you will be over with it no time. You will suffer no adverse effects, your car will will be unaffected and you are on your way. When I started to think of my problems as speed bumps, I began to look at it differently and lightly.

These are what I believe in, and these are depicted in my tattoos. A symbol representing my significant feeling towards life in general. I have experienced a lot of storms in my life. During the experience I felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and endured a lot of physical pain. I look so frail but you would be amazed how tough I can handle my ground. These tattoos will provide me with the constant reminder of who I am.

Tattoo 1: Yin Yang symbolizes the balance in the universe. The Gemini twin inside represents myself. It is a constant reminder that I have my own strenghts and weaknesses, happiness and sadness, failures and success. It also indicates the Gemini's ability to look at both situations and be sympathetic.

Tattoo 2: Life is like a rose, beautiful but thorny.

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