Learning from little kiddies, everyday.

There's a reason why I love children so much.

There are a few, actually. One, because they find everything so fascinating. Two, because they just say whatever they want whenever they want. Three, the way food dribbles off their mouth when they start to eat solids. Four, they ask the most innocent questions and see everything so simply. I love that. I'm not about to go all, 'my life is so complicated, I wish I was a kid' on you, but hanging with youngins makes me feel all warm inside. I love them for a thousand reasons, and a thousand more.

On the weekend, after giving her a piano lesson, my beautiful four-year-old cousin Phoebe asked me, in all seriousness, "Do you know your abc's?" Smiling, I answered, "Yes, sweeheart I do." She seemed very surprised and challenged me, "Well, do you know all of them?" I was so tempted to say no, just so she could be happy that she knew so much more than me.

With her sitting on my lap, we talked, and there was nothing more that could have made me happier after a full day of work. We just talked, and laughed, and laughed more. She's the type of girl I would've been proud to call a sister. She's the type of girl that any girl would be happy to have for a friend. She is, time and time again, the type of girl that charms her way into the heart of my heart; with her beautiful, colourful personality, she paints me with such clarity, with all kinds of colours.

Angels-Demons Parade in Melbourne

Right now, if you walk along Swanston Street in Melbourne, you will see these Angels-Demons sculptures displayed. On the day of these shots, some were given the finishing touches (hence the barriers), being unveiled to the Melbourne public for the first time. The imagery these sculptures represent are quite something, aren't they? According to this website I came across, they represent the forces of "light" and "darkness". What do you think? I sure haven't seen anything like this before.

the city is growing on me

I'm not going to lie, I used to dread the every-now-and-then trips to the city. I preferred quiet, and was much happier in my own home more than anything else. But going down to the city once a week for work has somehow opened my eyes to see more. Somewhere along the lines of the gorgeous architecture and lovely parks and children running around and having fun, I'm beginning to wonder why I disliked the city so much once upon a time, because it's growing on me.

Why do people do what they do?

Sometimes it's hard to understand why people do what they do. The only thing we can do and should do is respect it, and find some ground of courage and move on. Some wait patiently for better understanding. And I'm not about to put my hands in the air and say that it's easy. We only want to understand because we care. Because it doesn't make sense. Once upon a time, or even now.

What's important is that sometimes they themselves don't know what they're doing. Yes, that's right. In a world where expectations weigh heavy on our shoulders, where feelings tend to overtake our better judgement, our actions sometimes don't make sense. And I'm finally able to say, "that's perfectly normal". We don't always do the right thing, follow common sense or treat people well. We do the wrong things, go against that part of our brain which spells common sense and take people for granted.

When we happen to be the receiver of the wrong things done, we ask, "What happened to the person I used to know?" Or when we're with a friend who's been hurt, we ask, "What did she do to deserve this?" We, and our friend, have two options: Stick around and wait patiently for the person we used to know to come back or move on. I would say the latter is wiser, but neither is easy, and it has to be done one way or the other.

Incredible two weeks

You know what's incredible?

- Four hours of sleep at a friend's place, a night of movie marathon and not feeling a slight bit tired at all. In fact feeling awesome. (No caffeine, I promise.)

- Having the best laughs with said friend.

- Going to a Lego Exhibition with two lovely girls, reliving one's childhood vicariously through it.

- Treating your mum to a movie (Crazy, Stupid, Love)
- Realising that that is the best joy that comes out of working.

- Finally finishing that book you've never found time to read.

- The sweet sunsets and gorgeous afternoon walks among the crisp spring air.

And that, my friends, happened in the past two weeks.

A few months ago, I came across this quote:

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don't like and like so many things that we don't do?

It's true, and the simple answer is simple "because that's life". What a typical answer, but it's true. However, from then on, I unknowingly decided that I'll try to do things that I like as much as I can.

It's not easy. It's hard, because we only have so much time in a day, where we are supposed to so many things, which leaves little time for much else. Somehow I have found it to be possible, which is why we should treasure all the free time that we get. I really did these two weeks, and may these two weeks become a constant staple in my life.