Do you notice that problems we experience in life are like washing machines? They twist, they spin and knock us around, sometimes in imperfect temperature. But in the end, we come out cleaner, brighter and better than before.
We may have been wronged or cheated on but two wrongs don’t make a right. Instead, learn the mistakes and learn the lessons. We just need to remain strong with our head held high.
Or take it easy, when something goes wrong in life, just yell that plot has twisted and move on… 🙂
Completed 3 years ahead of the millennium, this magnificent building made me amazed with its sophisticated grandeur. It is really an architectural marvel I’ve ever seen. No wonder, it needed a well-planned project that spanned over ten years before finally started to build.
Tokyo International Forum is Tokyo’s first convention and art center which consists of a glass atrium and four buildings with a different design for each.
The glass atrium made me jaw-dropped. It showcases a design of a ship supported by grand and tall pillars. Walking inside the building and looking up, cast a surreal experience for me with breathtaking patterns and lines.
The up lighted floor near Tokyo International ForumInside Tokyo International ForumA Wall of Wooden lines in Tokyo International ForumTokyo International Forum
I walked in the Flower Dome of Garden By The Bay, Singapore and found beautiful flowers which I did not know the name but it’s so prolific. As a flower fan, -meaning only enjoying the beauty without knowing further about the flowers LOL-, I had been attracted by the color and the shape of the flowers. oh no, each flower! Sooo beautiful…
Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. – Gerard De Nerval
Let me start with the nice sayings from the famous Persian Sufi mystic,
Why are you knocking at every other door? Go, knock at the door of your own heart – Rumi
So what is Life? Usually people will answer it by saying it is from B to D, from Birth to Death. Yeah, of course it’s not wrong, but is it only that? We can make it more meaningful by questioning the thing between B and D. Well, what is between B and D? We all know it is a ‘C’. But what is actually a ‘C’ for us? It is a CHOICE. Yes, our life is a matter of choices, we should live well and it will never go wrong.
A simple example is Happiness. Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make us happy until we choose to be happy. No person will make us happy unless we decide to be happy. Our happiness will not come TO us, it can only come FROM us.
Undoubtedly, nothing is more compelling than the power of choice. Every time, we are being presented with a choice. We can choose good over evil, right over wrong, evolve over remain. And then if we choose to evolve, we will connect with the strength within us, we will explore what lies outside of our comfort zone. We will be awaken to love, we will become, we will be.
Thus as we are awaken to the power of choice, we are always given the opportunity to start anew. As simple as that.
Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakesWho looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakes
Every sunrise may bring us hope and every sunset may bring us peace.
Standing at the Benoa Beach right in front of the hotel where I stayed, I wished I could see a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, it’s cloudy and even dark clouds was hanging in the sky above me. The sun has arisen some time before and seemed to hide its beauty behind the clouds by letting its light shines through the dark clouds. It seemed to tell all the creatures on earth that the dark clouds will disappear in its time. And it’s true, as the clouds moved slowly, the blue sky started to appear.
It’s perfect as the wise people said,
Behind the dark clouds, the sky is always blue, the sun still shines, the birds always fly…
I got a simple lesson to keep hoping good in that cloudy morning. The appearing blue sky reminds us to give meanings to our own life until the time comes.
Yes, until the sun set to change the face of the day. It seemed to offer us peace into our hearts over all works that had been done well.
That day, the same day I had a cloudy sunrise, I watched the sunset with its all beauties at Kuta Beach, Bali. It seemed to say to me to let bygones be bygones peacefully and be good memories in our hearts.
Frequently I have difficulties to say goodbye to the city when I have to move on to another city during my travelling, especially when the time comes to go back to my home country and I don’t know when I can visit there again. But among those memorable cities, only a few cities on which I totally left my heart. No matter what, I will do my best to make time to visit these cities again, at least once in a year (last year I did twice 🙂 )
Some of you who follow my blog, will know that I have left my heart on the cities of Nepal. I have a lot of unforgettable memories on my first trip to Nepal four years ago which made me falling in love with Nepal.
One of those memories was in Raniban Retreat, in Pokhara, at the hotel’s rooftop where I can see 360 degree panorama view of the snow-capped Annapurna Range, Phewa Lake, the city of Pokhara and the stunning sunrise above the sea of clouds over the hill with the World Peace Pagoda on top of it. The breathtaking view I can see just standing in one spot! Well, that view had changed me, because for the first time, I extended my stay there. I know the hotel’s rooftop will be my favorite place to recharge my energy. It’s the place where I can just do nothing, just enjoying the view like heaven on earth and feel blessed.
Morning has broken – the sun over World Peace Pagoda and sea of cloudsPhewa Lake and City of Pokhara
A Himalayan view from my guesthouse in Chomrong, during trekking in Annapurna, Nepal
There’s no place like home No place like home There’s no place I’d rather be than home
(Beth Hart’s No Place Like Home)
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But what is Home?
Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. It is not where we are from, it is where we belong. Home is where we love… Where our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
Home is where we can look ugly and still enjoy it 🙂 It is where you are loved, no matter what.
Home is where love resides, all memories are created, friends always belong and laughter never ends…
Cerita Riyanti 