I was at a local thrift store last week, and came across the carved egg below, made of solid black marble.It was selling for a dollar. $1. A good deal for me, I suppose. My dad could not believe the egg was made of actual marble until he held it, felt its weight and coolness,…
Imperfection as Beauty
In a previous piece, I mentioned the role mistakes play in highlighting the beauty of a certain creation or performance. But what of imperfections being beautiful themselves? Contrast, for a moment, the ancient Japanese’s compassionate perspective towards the deepening of patina on aging silver with the Western polishing of silverware and abhorrence of all flaws/sighs…
…Assuming There is a God.
A number of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a friend over potential connections between suffering and brilliance. At one point, I included the following phrase in my response to his argument point: “…assuming there is a God.” (For context, we both claim to be Christians. It makes sense for these four words, so…
The Cutting Room Floor
A small thought: A friend of mine who had worked for some time as an architectural technician decades ago told me, upon hearing of my taking a similar path, to save all my drafts and sketches. Doing so would help, he said, with forming the concepts and design arguments of the project, with finetuning the…
Snapchat
One hundred, one ten, and one. That is how many days it has been since I opened an account on a social platform I remember cringing at the first time I came across it a decade or so ago. The reason I have been on? To connect with an old acquaintance who uses Snapchat for…
When Something Chooses You
One aspect of being me I find frustrating is how directionless my life seems given the hundred-and-one interests I pursue. Opinions differ on that, of course. Some suggest I force said pursuits to take turns, focusing on one or the other in different seasons of life – a car, after all, does not move when…
Mistakes: Incompetency, Fate, or Negative Beauty?
On the morning of December 4, 2024, part of my journal entry looked like this: Last night: I found myself standing on my bed in the middle of the night, mistaking it for a floor. I took a step forward, expecting a hard surface – only to step off the edge; I caught myself just…
Becoming What I Despise
A recent conversation with an acquaintance brought to light dishonest fears and unearned hopes I had been harbouring in my heart. Dishonest, because I have not looked at them for what they are. Unearned, because I had not first done what is necessary to make what I hoped for a possibility. It sent me into…
Smoking
Here is a twist on an old concept: Crafting a lifestyle can be compared to one’s choice of a smoke. Commercial cigarettes come by the pack, are available at every street corner, and tend to be addictive. Mass-produced, each is identical to the other. Chemical compounds conspire to convince you the next cigarette would be…
The Nakedness of the Writer
Writing, when done honestly, strips the writer of everything they put on when “going out into society.” Flaws in their thinking, gaps in logical processes, and blurry understandings become apparent – and if one publishes their writing, publicly so. The clearer one writes, the clearer such shortcomings are; the more concisely a point is communicated,…