24 Apr 2008

exam stress

OK there is more than one way for parents to be stressed by the kids' exams. the normal way is to get all excite-rated, take leave off work and hone the kids' examination skills. the other - my way - is to forget there are exams! haha. yes. my stress is not on the kid's results; but on my actual ability to have forgotten it despite written notes from the school principal etc. Well...perhaps i'm not too keyed into the system?

Overall, we are focused on learning new stuff as a challenge and having lots of fun. i think that's OK till the system squeezes us further. till then...i'll let this blog now what shape emerges ....

1 Apr 2008

break free?

it's with much sadness that i read the story of how a child prodigy finally broke free - only to find herself with licence and the very real burdens of staying afloat...imagine being in one reality for so much of one's life - more than ten years - in a regimented home without much exposure to the world. suddenly, she is in oxbridge and the one who would interpret life for one is not there. it is freedom, opportunity and chaos all at once.
pity the father who does not understand what life, growth, maturity and success truly means. pity even more this poor gal whose unreal world comes crashing down - and she does not know what to construct in its place....
it reminds me of another girl, a Singapore girl who established notoriety-fame by seeking to break the world record for having the most sexual encounters within a day. what would drive any one to do something like this?
i cannot be sure; but i do know this even within my own bosom - we are deeply insecure beings and re-anchoring ourselves regularly is essential to sanity and substantial living.
When we move too fast though; this may not occur at all; and we have many sad tales of the once successful become have-been-theres lose their bearings and their birth-right as essential beings in a inter-connected world. what waste. what travestry.
we hope. it does not happen too much. we hope. it does not happen too close.
but our hope is paper-thin and easily torn asunder. for some, like this gal, all the world she has known holds no hope it seems...
no, hope must come from beyond us. HOPE must be captial H.
we need something/someone stronger, deeper, more permanent and enduring to moor ourselves to. that's Hope. reach for it. write me and i will tell you Hope's name.