24/30-1.1 [City Ventures]

Last month has been Wild Wild Wild! The year’s half done and there’s been so many ups and downs in life. It’s officially been 3 months since I moved to Toronto and an eternity since I updated my blog.

What I’ve been thinking on has always been super simple — clear out emotions, relax my body and win at life. Work’s getting interesting — researching new products, learning to set boundaries and having the checklists in. I’m going out exploring new places, eating new food (albeit within more control now), meeting people in person, hanging out at the office more, going to events and playing table tennis and adventures at the range (more to that later!) and overall, suffering.

Doing new things is hard, starting feels like climbing a huge wall in front of me, rolling is much easier once you decide to jump from the top. And finishing definitely feels exhilarating. And it’s been a while since things flowed out this easily! Maybe rather than relaxation, I need stimulation to get things running and being tired is the way to get some great results in… I spent this entire week at the office or watching something after work — nothing much where I actually put some effort into anything. And I’m going to bed by 9-10 PM. I wonder does getting the extra sleep in is making any difference. If there’s anything I know, it’s that I’ve definitely gotten my 10k+ steps in this week since I’ve just been pacing around so much. And I went to a Vietnamese and a Filipino and an Indian fest right outside my office. It’s nice when you can spend sometime outside your head — thoughts are tiring, especially when it’s hard or negative. so, TAKE REGULAR BREAKS! AND GO OUT!! PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY!!!

In regard to “doing new things is hard”, what about doing “hard tasks”? For me, going to the archery range and shooting feels like that. Going to the range itself is an adventure of its own. First, I have to hike with my ultra heavy kit till the subway station. Then take the subway in the dark for a while and switch over to the bus for half an hour. Then after hanging on to the handles on the bus, I have to trek down a hill and then navigate through a jungle before I’m presented with a range. And the morning dew fills your shoes. with targets having holes in the center. This is a new style of archery — you hit everywhere but the target! And on top of that, the morning sun shines right into your eyes (through the hole of course) as the humidity rises from the yesternight’s rain. The moist soil eats up any stray arrow, so if you shoot right at your target’s center, good luck finding your arrow! And not to mention the backache and the worry of a potential string slap (yeah, it’s a thing). After an hour (or two) of baking and burning in the sun and becoming an oven baked, salt coated potato chip, I make my way back. Climbing up the hill at 50º, one step away from falling on my back and shaking my limbs like a helpless inverted turtle, almost wanting to lie down on my kit like a lifeless cockroach, fighting the evening infestation on the bad breaking bus and then on to the signal-less subway. Staring at my own face in the train’s window, I start to wonder “What am I even doing? Is this even worth the effort and danger?”. And it was a valid question — what am I gaining by struggling so much? I don’t get a promotion or a raise, it’s neither convenient nor directly impacting my health in a positive way (if anything, I must say it drops it by a solid 10 points) and overall, it’s not even fun! Well… Is it?

日本語のStoryTime

I’ve been lately getting into writing again, and I thought why not spice things up by introducing new madness! So, I’m going to write one every week, with select words, not in English, but in Japanese. God save my brain…

この物語は人々についてでらう。一人、二人、三人… 数えた!人口が大きいな言葉だよ!もう一度数えた… 今回は物事。一、二、三…七、八、九、十。一つ、二つ、三つ… 七つ、八つ、七つ… 力がない!

私はふじ山を思い出す。富士山は大した山だ。口がある… いや、入り口だ。下は川だった。その入り口から川が出る。その時、一人の大人を見た。あの女は来た。人工石があった。私は彼女に「人工石を下さい」と言った。彼女彼女はそれのそれをくれた。力いっぱいそれを持ち上げ、私の前に下ろした。私も彼女と一緒両手に上げ、そして下げた。