Today, I found myself.. (Day 124)

Today, I found myself adhering to a dirty little secret at the end of the day’s joyride.

Packages of Happiness

A couple of significant events happened ever since I last posted here on metallic-stains.

For one, school has finally started after a long break (of 2 months) and year 2 is gradually set in motion. A new year often means new modules and with that, naturally new challenges surface, which interestingly, is much anticipated.

On a personal level, the pass week saw happiness in the air.

Packets of Significance.

I like it when events as such occur in my life, I mean don't you? Everyone strives to be happy and for the people around them to be happy as well, and I think family events are good examples of such happiness.

A smile can mean many things. The human expression is vast and often not as simple as it seems. We might smile to accommodate, or even to mask our true feelings so when do we know when we're truly happy in our lives?

Happiness is an underrated emotion.

From young, we've been bred to "be happy". The first emotive word which is taught to children is often the word "happy", ie. "I am happy". So much so that as we grow and develop as human beings, we avoid using "Happy" as it is simply too simple and over used.

We tend to look for more profound ways of expressing ourselves as we feel that the things we perceive are complicated and a simple word would not be able to convey its true essence.

But herein lies the question; whoever decreed that emotions and perceptions are to be complex?

Personally, I feel that emotions, though complex in nature, need not necessarily be expressed in a complicated fashion. Often, we find ourselves in a position where it becomes hard for us to express how we feel, so why not try something simple?

This is the reason why I like family events. What I see at these events isn't complex beyond human comprehension, nor is it rocket science; I see emotion being expressed freely and simply.

We often do not realize that simplicity at these events as we are often very much immersed in the atmosphere and the emotion of the event.

For me, happiness is an emotion I would like persist throughout my life. I mean if you had a nice happy way to live your life, why would you want to choose otherwise?

Happiness isn't hard to find; just look around you.

Anyone of significance, I believe, will be able to instill this simplistic emotion into you.

Dusk.

So yea, that's that I guess. After a short mini hiatus, I guess I finally found time to update this space, so watch out for more stuff to come.

Evidently, I've been preoccupied with day to day activities and more prominently, events and the such.

However, though updates may be very much restricted as per my schedule, feel free to check out some of the other social networking sites I've been on, to the right of this post (ie, facebook, Twitter, flickr).

On a side note, I think more people should start using twitter, and those who are using it, should update frequently. Just saying.

Twitter's pretty interesting and all so I urge you social networking junkies out there to go take a look and who knows, you might be twittering even more than I am!

In all, check back soon and till then.

*the pictures you see in this post belong to metallic-stains and its respective owner and any uncredited or uninformed use of materials or excerpts from the blog's content will be liable for further action. This sounds all serious and stuff.

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Now playing: Brand New - The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
via FoxyTunes

Would your Life be complete if...

Alright, time for a little update and a short insight session before returning to the monotony of factual written well... facts.

I've been rather, well, distracted of late partly due to certain emotive aspects swimming in my head and probably also due to the influx of various social issues. Blame the stress from exams or what not but yea, I guess thats the way life works out.

Interesting Stuff.

And I'm sure whats even more interesting, to the masses at least, at the moment is the Olympics and more importantly, records being broken and medals being awarded.

This is yet another turning point in the development of not only the sporting world but also civilization and society itself. It is also an awesome indication of movement and of achievement for mankind and the human mind.

There has been much talk around the town about Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and even the attainment of medals for Team Singapore's Table Tennis Team (Female). Indeed we are stepping into a new era though oblivious to some, for there is a time of change, especially in the minds of people.

Sports isn't all about winning and this is substantiated by the fact that even participating in these games is considered an honor in itself.

Indeed. To these dedicated professionals, attaining a medal is a symbol of achievement and a symbol of completing something in their lives, which incidentally, is a very interesting detail to note.

Amidst my shower, I pondered upon this issue after watching telecast after telecast of Phelps' amazing swim, Bolt's breathtaking dash and articles of Singapore ending the 48 year medal drought.

So what is it that makes my life (so far) complete?

I drafted the following list;

- Being "one of a kind", with no one in existance exactly like me
- Being able to wake up every morning and sleep peacefully every night
- Having the spur to achieve what I was set to
- Having the ability to sense and feel for others
- Having emotions within me
- Having a place where I can go to which I can truly call my own
- Being able to be in the presence of people who appreciate life (ie. Family members, Friends)
- Being able to abide my intented day's plan
- Having total and complete control of my actions and consequences
- Being able to think critically
- Knowing how to apply appropriate emotions to certain situations
- Having the ability to judge and decide
- Having the freedom of preference
- The existance of past memories (good or bad)
- The ability to remember, record and most importantly...
- The ability to Dream

however, after coming with this list, I realised that my life wouldn't be half as decent if;

- I didn't have everything I needed to start my day
- Starbucks and Subway were never founded (the horror)
- I didn't have social skills
- I give in easily to temptation
- I don't learn from previous mistakes
- There is no one left on Earth (ie. I Am Legend)
- Everything was so clear cut and one way
- There were no goals to attain, nothing to work towards
- Life was just spending 80 or 90 (human) years on Earth

And a couple of buddies and I had a conversation over lunch about the movie "I Am Legend", bascially revolving around the fact that what if you were the last person on Earth.

The general reply I got was basically in this format:

"I'll (insert an activity that would be impossible to do normally) and die."

Well I guess I would do something along those lines as well. But then again, let us take a step back and look at the underlying meaning of this little statement; we cannot live without social interaction.

The thought of being alone on Earth is really horrible, though for the first week or maybe for the first month, it'll seem like the best time of your life, but gradually, the pleasure will rot away and in my opinion, it'll be a huge, massive torture.

This leaves thought that there is more to life that doing what you would want to achieve and dying. I guess its the little things in between that makes life complete and I guess that's why some say that "Life is a Journey".

Really interesting stuff.

So yea, I would like to gain a more in-depth feedback;

what makes your life, so far (whether you're 6, 17 or even 76) complete?

Just a little food for thought for you guys to ponder over and remember to check back for articles and updates, and I'm as always, looking forward to your comments and feedback on this issue.

Feel free to post a full length response on your blogs but be sure to link them via my comments when you're done.

Cya'll later.

The Price of Emotions; How much are you willing to give?

Price and financial stability has often been of issue during the recent decades of mankind. Probably due to the rising costs of living (as I'm sure all of us are relatively familiar with) or even due to the vast and complex advancements in the societal context.

It is assuring to find out that yes, our society is improving and moving towards the future; who knows what it'll hold for mankind. But are somethings compromised in the process of such "advancements"?

To have the society move forward is one thing while the psychological development of its citizens, is another issue altogether. An issue that is often overlooked by the sociologist of this century.

A slight irony if I may say so, but naturally, it is had to foresee the developments of the human mind, as with the study of psychology; it is a field of mysteries even more complex then logic itself.

So is the human mind evolving as a result of all this?

Certainly, for the mind is designed to evolve as that is the way of nature. It is impossible for mankind to remain stagnant in evolution as that would deem void in the order of survival.

But has this evolution deteriorated our evolution to such an extend that we are purely based off currency and finance? And that our lives are basically circled around what we call, the "Greens"?

A couple of weeks ago before I started my first lesson with my student, my employer (my student's parents, who coincidentally was my ex-table tennis coach) approached me for advice about his child's progress.

I thought to myself, hey I mean this kid's just in primary one (first grade) surely there wouldn't be a need for such intensive materials just yet?

Well I guess this is where the term people coin "parental instincts" come about and my employer appeared rather anxious about his child's academic performance (especially in the English Language).

I suggested the purchase of an English dictionary (largely due to the fact that it would not only be substantial to the child's education but also a long term investment) in response to his enquiry nevertheless as I felt that there was no significant need for "additional materials? aside from the such.

The following week, I came for my routine with the newly bought dictionary, eager to impart what I know about the uses for this "$12.79 heavy-weight" to my student, as well as his parents.

It was really interesting to me personally that my employers would so readily invest in educational gains for their child and this really set me thinking (though I've had been in similar situations in the past with my own parents sparing no expense at my education); I see it in a different viewpoint now.

This may be a natural occurrence, of parents spending and investing what they can into their child's education, but from this derives a precious lesson and leaves much room for thought.

Since our society nowadays revolves around currency and finance, I presume it must be natural that the psychological aspect of mankind overlaps with such "logical entities". But to what extent have our mental state of mind depend on such physical factors?

As seen in the example I've quoted, emotions are shown through gifts and investments. My employer cares for his child and thus entrusted me with the responsibility of purchasing the dictionary.

However, this is where the delicate cradle of balance comes into play; are we over-relying on such physical objects to articulate our emotions?

When it comes to gifts, I'm pretty sure one would often link it to the annually occurrence of one's day of birth, or even the festive event of Christmas, where people exchange presents and the such.

But are physical gifts a good indication of one's emotion to the other?

I personally feel that we live in a materialistic society in itself, where everything circles around money, thus giving existence to terms such as "money is power" or "money makes the world go round" or even "time is money".

It is quite sad that our society has turned towards such a direction where everything is so material based and our human rooted emotions get affected as a result.

I find the term "diamonds are a girl's best friend" disturbing to a certain degree (though I understand that term is a metaphoric statement, depending on the situation) especially in a relationship context. If diamonds are a girl's "best friend" then what does her partner stand for? Hopefully not her "piggy bank" I hope.

Some people of our modern dive straight into material pleasures and are enticed by them, especially the younger generation. Take a quick walk down the streets of the busiest shopping districts and I'm sure you'll see teenagers by the truckload, browsing through the various "material indulgences" up for grabs.

But is a physical gift the best form to emphasize your emotions? Must we really purchase that elusive diamond necklace or that expensive bag just to show that we care?

I surely hope not, for I feel that emotions yield no stable logic but yet, flows in the human mind as free as water. Nobody can put a price on emotions such as care, concern, sacrifice and most importantly, love.

Embrace emotions to people or vice versa, for only in its purest form, will its true meaning surface and take purpose.

However, do not misunderstand me. Like how a parent is willing to spend and invest for his child's education, spending is justified, only to a certain extend. Overdoing it however, will deem superficial and in truth, pointless.

Emotions come from your heart and soul and not from your wallet. Even if you're not able to afford a simple gift due to financial constrains, a little action is not only the best way to express but is also the most apporiate one, in my opinion.

They say that "its the thought that counts" and I for one, am in favour of that statement as to convey your emotion, it is what you think and the "thought"; the physical object being a substantive.

So as we speak, is our society plunging deeper and deeper into the depths of the cold and harsh reality that is in the figures of our bank account?

I sure hope not. From the latest fashion trends to the complex gizmos of the future, society is going further and further into development.

But let us not forget what keeps us sane, our emotions, for it is what keeps us human and intact (refer to article, "Emotions; A Flaw in the Human Design?").

No one can put a price tag on emotions and no matter how much our society moves ahead of us, let us hope that some primitive traits in the human design will remain the same for a long time to come as I do not see an alternative to our current predicament.

So the next time when you're pondering about what to get for a friend, your children, your family members or that special someone, always put in retrospect that no matter how much one spends, the thing that will be remembered isn't that unique "only one in the world" jewelry or that custom made music player that has 200GB of storage space, but the "thought" that was considered when making the decision to purchase and doing it.

To actually give thought to a particular event and to take action for it is the greatest form to demonstrate the inner emotions.

Emotions are priceless, treasure and savour them.

The Human Mind; A Powerful Tool or just a Voice Inside Us?

I think about issues and matters all the time. Be it on the bus, standing in the middle of a huge crowd or even when I'm eating. However, I realise my mind sets into an automatic "wander mode" in two particular durations; when I bath and when I'm on the bed about to sleep.

Queer isn't it? I mean those two durations aren't exactly the most interactive and social periods of my life but it is during then when my mind is the most active as I think about personal issues (commonly) as well as a myriad of other topics. Thus it is no wonder or astonishment that I often fabricate my ideas (weird ones) and thoughts about certain aspects of my life.

The human mind works in ways unknown.

For years or even since the dawn of time, people have been trying to put a definite solution or answer as to how the mind works largely to no avail. All due to the simple fact that the human mind holds no boundaries.

I'll not endeavour the task of defining how the mind works but more rather, share my two cents on the complexity of the human mind and insights into using your mind to your advantage rather then the contrary.

From a scientific viewpoint, the epicenter of the human mind is commonly perceived at the brain of a particular individual. It is the brain that controls the entire nervous system in the human body and to put it simply, it is the "command center"; it controls the major functions of the body.

However, I personally feel that the human is not only restricted to the brain. To me, there is no central location where the human mind is located. The entire body functions and constitutes to the mind itself. The five senses especially plays a vital role in influencing the decisions and the way the mind works.

Why is this so?

The senses are in a way, how the body perceives and comes in contact with the outside world. They are the "windows" and the medium used for external interaction. Be it Touch, Smell, Taste, Sight or Hear, these are how we as humans, communicate with our surroundings and respond to stimulus.

These senses (as mentioned earlier) influence the way our mind works and its thus proven on many grounds in the field of psychology, which is the intensive study of the human mind and behaviour.

Ever heard of the "Forbidden Toy Study" carried out by Elliot Aronson and Merrill Carlsmith who were social psychologists about Cognitive Dissonance? Or W.S.Small's experiment with rats in a maze? These are fine examples of how the senses affect the psychological aspect of human beings.

Another aspect we have to consider in relation to the human mind is the human Emotion. As elaborated in one of my previous blog articles (Emotions; A Flaw In The Human Design?), emotions can affect the behaviour and the mind of a particular individual adversely.

Naturally, the human mind is influenced by emotions too as we as living organisms have feeling. Certain decisions might be affected and influenced depending on the emotion and I'm sure this is evident in our daily lives.

So is the human mind just a powerful tool that can be manipulated if used properly or is it just a part of the "entire human package"?

As mentioned, the human mind and emotion works hand in hand. Personally to me, the human emotion defines the soul of a person and in contrast, the human mind is the engine and processor that runs the soul and gives it life. We're exposed and accustomed to images of mindless zombies in horror films; an image of what we as humans, will be like without the soul, engine and processor.

So can we use the human mind to its fullest potential? Is it possible for one to manipulate another person purely based on the use of the mind?

I'm sure many of you would have watched or at least heard of this character from the comic book series (and recently a series of movies) X-men, called Professor X who is renown for his "amazing mind controlling abilities".

No, I'm not referring to abilities of that sought but more rather, manipulating via actions. We may not realise it but in fact, many of us are already applying these techniques to a certain extent. On a more subtle level, something called PR (people relation) skills are actually part of this so called manipulation. Other aspects are also involved, but I shan't elaborate (due to various reasons).

If one is able to master and learn the techniques of mind control and persuasion, it is no doubt that the individual will be one up in society. The power of super persuasion is incredible and in a sense, fearful.

To conclude, the mind is subjective and to some, it may be just a voice inside but I choose to think otherwise. To me, its both a tool and a part of existence. The mind might differentiate right from wrong, truth or lie, but is it, as always, up to the individual to decide how he or she wants to use it.

Personally, I use my mind for various reasons, a source of infinite inspiration, a place where no one but myself can go to, a reasoning department and of course, a place where I find my perspective of the world.

I'm sure everyone has different purposes in life and their minds are thus structured differently.

So let us work to perfect the strength of our minds and attain a one up in our lives.

Emotions; A Flaw in the Human Design?

I've been pretty occupied these few days and thus explains my inconsistent blog articles. I'll try my best to produce consistent articles over a set duration, for those of you who are interested in the content posted on this blog.

I was somehow or another, subjected to a huge (understatement) myriad of different feelings and emotions over the past week and thus decided to dedicate an article entirely to the topic of human Emotions.
The change in learning environment, the new people, the change in style of learning, the freedom and of course, the 18th; varying events that chronicles my own emotions for the past week or so.

I won't elaborate further about the events that took place as certain details are highly personal, emotionally speaking.
I'll tackle the subject of human emotion as a whole and from my viewpoint and perception, establish a stand on the subject.

What is Emotion? Can it be defined as, "A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes"(As cited from dictionary.com)? The word Emotion, I feel, is vague and somehow or rather, suggestible; it has no fix definition.
Through my careful observation, the most common "definition" people often use to describe emotion is the word "feeling".

Why is this so?
Are they trying to say that your emotion is what you feel?

There is a certain extend of logic to that claim. But let us take a step back and think about the word feelings. Unlike emotions, the word points to a much more subdue and more rather, physical sense. Probably because feelings are somehow or rather, more sensory as it plays on the five senses.
Emotions however, are much more psychological in a sense. Mainly due to the fact that, from what I see, emotions are fabricated from events and happenings that affect the person.

That being said and established, we now move on to the main gist of the topic; are emotions flaws in the human design.

Emotions as mentioned earlier, is a vague term. When one is happy, is that an emotion? I believe so. Emotions are what you think or how you feel about something that's affected you in some way or another. Like for instance when one watches a touching scene in a particular movie, I'm pretty sure emotions come into play for that person will have a certain degree of subconscious attachment (or detachment, depending) to that particular scene for its content, speech or other factors.

There's a figure of speech, "Emotions got the better of me". It is true that quite often in life, we'll find ourselves in a difficult position, a position where having emotions will mess things up instead of helping. It is in this sense that emotions are classified as a supplement for disaster, something that will affect your chances of survival and success, depending on which.
A common example I observed is when one is forced to talk or face a large audience; nervy emotions are bound to pile up, especially if you're introverted by nature or have no prior experience.

I admit that I'm guilty to such a condition and often I'd blame emotions on certain incidents like that of mentioned. But is that really a bad thing?

I'd like to think otherwise.

To me, the emotions that are within us is actually something that keeps us sane and keeps us human. It may sound illogical but lets imagine ourselves without emotions in our lives. Can we still call ourselves living beings if without emotions? I like to think not.

Every living being, even plants and trees which we take for granted, has emotions by far for it is part of the universal logic of how life works.

Emotions, I feel, constitutes to part of one's soul. There has been a interesting and rather spiritual quest to find out or define the soul of a person. I'd like to think that emotion is the closest subject in relation to the soul of the person.

Yes, emotions can go out of control at times, for when people lose control of their emotions, they lose control of their lives in a way. And I'm sure that's not what most people will want to achieve.

Emotion is a powerful thing, it can either make you, or break you and its always up to the individual to control it, rather then vice-versa, from what I believe. Therefore, I feel that it isn't a flaw, but more rather, a "feature" in the design, a feature that can be mastered and used in advantage rather then to harm.

So let us gain control of this "feature" in our designs and master it. Only then, will we develop a much more enriching and wholesome experience while we're still in existence.