The need to do what I "must" do

I came across this interesting article that spoke to me today. Called 'The difference between what you "should" do and what you "must" do', the article reaffirms life's priorities and segregates the differences between what is internally important versus what others in general view is important. 

A refreshing article, it states that "must" is... The writer states that, "must" is "who we are, what we believe, and what we do when we are alone with our truest, most authentic self." Reading this section, it reignites a flame in me that seems to have died or put off by the "shoulds" of what society thinks.At the end of the day, it is what we "must" do to fulfill our own goals, dreams and ideals. After all, we are all living our own lives. We have to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of others.

So if I ask myself, "how do I connect to my own life?" In order to do that, we must know and reflect deeply on what we really want. Something that can be difficult these days with so many distractions and with social media influencing us on a daily basis, it is hard to focus on our true calling.

Hence it is rather important to realise that we must choose "must" daily, to live our lives fully, and start creating ourselves in our own light. Go forth, push forward, and strive to be true authentic beings of our own goals and dreams.

A sight of nature

Flowers and huge ants usually do not go together, but I saw both today at very close proximity. Some adorable small yellow flowers caught my attention and thankfully just in time, I saw a trail of huge fire ants just next to it and stopped in time before I got too near. Nonetheless, I took a shot of the line of countless ants before I moved away.

Sun was setting and sunlight was peeking in between the trees. Such a lovely and comforting sight.

Then I saw some gorgeous shades of green from the trees at the opposite side.

Just a sense of calmness by looking at these trees. I am so thankful to be able to experience these sights daily.

Discovery of a beautiful green

Playing with acrylics and discovering mixes is quite an experience. It leaves your mind pondering more about what other colour mixes can come out of my other tubes.

I mixed acrylic paints Winsor and Newton's 'Burnt Sienna' with Liquitex's 'Light Blue Permanent' and got a very nice dark sap/olive mix type of green. It was a nice surprise how beautiful this green is. It got me thinking of starting this color mixing project and discovering what other colours I can achieve.

Aside from the experiments planned ahead for acrylics, I will also be exploring on watercolours. I am so grateful to myself for delving deeper into the art world and discovering watercolours. Something I touched upon when I was a kid but never really played much with unfortunately. It's not too late to start something, and I hope to learn much more from what I have started to know.

Guardians of the Galaxy - A review (spoiler alert)

Guardians Of The Galaxy opened in cinemas yesterday night and I managed to catch the night show. I was glad I did, as it was quite a treat.

Forget the sophistication and glorious superhero-type music like The Avengers. This was something way cooler. At least for me. Plus critics have also mentioned that this could be the best Marvel movie they've had so far.

The show starts out with the history of the young "Star-Lord"/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and what brought him to the movie's dystopian sci-fi present day situation. I was immediately drawn into the movie when the opening scene started with 10cc's "I'm not in love". This was one of my favourite songs in the 80s that I used to listen to in my primary school days on early mornings while I was in my school bus.

Anyway, the movie continued to bring joy and laughter to the audience with its upbeat script (well done to James Gunn, Nicole Perlman and the comic book writers) and engaging characters. What kept the movie interesting and energetic were the slapstick humour and clever one-liners and a good selection of songs in its retro themed soundtrack.

The main five characters - Peter, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Drax the destroyer (professional wrestler Dave Bautista) and a very cute Rocket (a talking racoon voiced by Bradley Cooper) - were fun to watch and exhibited good chemistry with one another. The visual effects were also very impressive.

I love the story's plot and characters. I love the witty script. I love the music. I just love everything about the movie.

Indeed, I can safely say it's one of the best movies I've watched this year.

Learning to manage my everyday

I have been reading a small but powerful book that is hugely needed for procrastinators (like me). The subject matter is basically about managing time more efficiently and having a routine set everyday.

Here are some key takeaways regarding building a "rock-solid routine" which are from "Manage your day-to-day: Build your routine, find your focus and sharpen your creative mind". The below are quoted from the book.

1. Great work before everything else.
>> Do your most meaningful creative work at the beginning of your day, and leave "reactive work" - like responding to email or other messages - for later.

2. Jump-start  your creativity
>> Establish "associative triggers" - such as listening to the same music or arranging your desk in a certain way - that tell your mind it's time to get down to work.

3. Feel the Frequency
>> Commit to working on your project at consistent intervals - ideally everyday - to build creative muscle and momentum over time.

4. Pulse and Pause
>> Move rhythmically between spending and renewing your energy by working in ninety-minute bursts and then taking a break.

5. Get lonely
>> Make a point of spending time alone each day (which I do a lot of but not really reflective). It's a way to observe unproductive habits and thought processes, and to calm your mind.

6. Don't wait for moods
>> Show up, whether you feel inspired or not.

Things that I'm grateful of today - 6th January 2014

1. That I manage to get the Lack TV bench at Ikea Alexandra after it was sold out earlier.

2. That I got to pay bills and buy BBQ meat for the mom...as per requested...

3. That I found a cool and ergonomic red Hershel shoulder bag at half price! It was on sale and I love it! (The bag is quite light and very useful for carrying my laptop)

Well, I haven't really done anything artful today except for the fact that I got myself a nice looking bag (pics to be shown later). I suppose that counts... :P

More to be done tomorrow! I will probably be trying out new cosmetics and reviewing them later this week. Cheers.