Standing the test of time

The greatest thing a human soul ever does
in this world is to see something
and tell what he saw in a plain way.
To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion all in one.
~John Ruskin

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

Hundreds of thousands of impressions
from the invisible are wanting to come through you!

I get dizzy with the abundance. When life
is this dear, it means the source is pulling us.

Freshness comes from there. We're given the gift
of continuously dying and being resurrected.

catmaSutra cat art exhibition, From the Depths of My Lullaby:
Lotus Lullaby

He was an elderly fellow, tanned, sporting an earring, and carrying two bags, each sling across the shoulders. He walked with a limp towards us, but stopped half way as he spied a black and white cat in the furniture shop before the eatery. He made eye-contact with the cat and with his body gestures, which must be a language in itself to the cat, he strained to bend over, and putting his hand into one bag like a magician, he released a handful of dry colorful cat food pellets into a plastic bowl (seems like these two are already acquainted). Breaking into a little smile, he proceeded towards the eatery where I was eating my prawn noodle, and he started gesturing to the people in the eatery that he needed some money to feed himself. He went from table to table and met with the usual response. People averted their eyes and shook their heads. I've prepared a two dollar note and that would be my gift to him if he came by but he didn't. Randomly, he moved from table to table and before long, limped away...

I've "met" a few cats in my time (especially as i started when I was a kid), in some alley or by the road side. It is a language without words, an understanding of our inherent natures, almost. There are, of course, cats who are afraid and ran off the minute you catch their attention. One can only imagine how the fear got into them. Then, there are those who recognize the language, and like many similar instances, I find myself sitting on the pavement by the roadside stroking a purring stray cat. I would then run off to some 7-11 and buy a packet of cat food. That was my chance meeting with a cat, and by this chance, the cat was going to get a tasty meal. What is interesting is that some of these cats are already quite well-fed and it was there spending time with you simply because it wanted to.There was one black and white cat at Empress place that I remember quite fondly as it loves to sit on the lap... It's hard to leave them once you made the connection.

Our street cats

I have no name for what

purrs so perfectly

from out of our urban wild...

The elderly man was begging for food
and he feeds a stray on the street.

There is an understanding of
what it's like to be on your own,

or what it's like to be alone,

or what it's like to be poor and old

Take your pick

the one that purrs on the street

purrs straight into

the poor little heart.

And only the ones with

the heart can see.

My colleague and I were walking back from lunch one day when we almost bump into an old lady. She was trying to sell tissue packets to passers-by. We walked past her but turned around. We gave her $2 each and asked her to go have a good meal. We didn't need the tissue so we didn't take any. She was surprised and stood motionless for a while before saying her thank yous. That was our chance meeting with the old lady, and by this chance, she was going to at least get a decent meal.

Reason has no way to say

its love. Only love opens

that secret.

If you want

to be more alive, love

is the truest health.

~Rumi

;)

Freedom to choose

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Do we treat our animals well? How does our government view animals? If  I were to venture an answer, the answer would be they have no views. They are not significant enough unless they're the cause (or suspected of being the cause) of an epidemic, or there are complaints from the 'majority of Singaporeans' (one of the favourite phrases that you'll hear ... We have grown a lot as a nation, and yet in many ways, we have not grown at all... Sometimes you wonder... A woman feeds a group of stray cats, and the most common comments you'll hear is "Is this hygienic? Should we call the authorities?" There're so many hit-and-run cases regarding cats that you wonder about the nature of people.

Ever occur to you why some of us can be
this much concerned with animals suffering? 
Because government is not.  Why not? 
Animals don't vote.  ~Paul Harvey

Sat on my Ikea stool at the yard at 3 am, listening to music from my Ipod, eating sesame moon cake and drinking green tea, and talking philosophy (not much point with regard to politics). I think this phrase is true, '90% of what we feel is only our own interpretation', meaning that we are all addicted or attached to something, and finding means and reasons to justify them. We are all addicts, one way or another, and it's difficult to let go - to change one habit for another. It's hard because we normally try to replace a bad habit with a good one. Makes you wonder how we pick up all these bad habits in the first place; it's as if we are being subconsciously hypnotized (which may be true in more ways than one). Finished another painting today. It's rather an experimental one, called the "color of yellow". Slowing life down to exacting beauty. It's a beautiful way to live when the present is all you have.

 Angel, my blue Russian has taken an instant liking to a key-chain teddy bear that I brought home, and as we adjourned into the yard, he has taken upon himself to carry the teddy bear to near where we sat, half-looking at us, hoping that we'll play catch again. Haha, he's looking for it now although I have hid it before he pulls out the limbs...

peace ;)

catmaSutra Artees
10% goes to Cat Welfare Society

With animals,
we have the freedom to choose...
to love, protect, care  OR to fear, hate, abuse

How we choose

determines the kind of person that we are.

Nothing goes away,

we get better or we get worse.

;)