A Lesson from Aunt May

Recently I was reading an article on the success story of a businesswoman in a newsletter. She is an amazing fighter, who never gives up on her dreams and sticks to the fight whatever trouble befalls. In the end she is celebrated as one of the most successful women in Asia.

In the interview she emphasizes that her dream doesn't end with this achievement. There are yet more to come, more achievements to prize, more success plans to fulfill.

As putting down the newsletter, I pondered two things.

The first was how her story motivates others to possess the same spirit for struggle and success as she has. The second, was the question whether or not achieving our dream truly gives us pure satisfaction and happiness in the end.

All of us have dreams.

I believe it is our natural goal to make our dreams come true.

But, what if one day they do come true? What will we feel then?

Will we be satisfied, or will our achievement turns us insatiable, desiring more and more things, setting greater dreams and greater goals?

Will we be content and happy? Will our lives be truly meaningful, then?

I suddenly remembered a scene in the movie Spider-Man 2, a lesson Aunt May - Peter Parker's elderly aunt - taught him when he was at the brink of confusion. As Peter was trying to establish his true identity and shifting between the options of remaining as Peter Parker (the naive, ordinary student) or living out his destiny as Spider-Man (the greatly needed hero, loved and respected by the citizens), Aunt May gave him this encouraging words, “I believe there’s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most – even our dreams.”

I sat down and contemplated.

In the end I realized I'd learned an important lesson.

I thanked God for the success story. And I was glad I kept the above quotation to myself.

Combining the two, I understood that fulfilling our dreams and reaching our goals in life will only bring us contentment and happiness when the things we fight for is not purely dedicated for self-interest, for only in sharing what we've acquired with others can we find true meaning and purpose in living.

Idul Fitri 1430 H

Finally, Ramadhan is over and Idul Fitri has come!

After 30 days of self-evaluation, resisting hunger and thirst, denouncing natural desires and focusing on returning to purity (fitrah), the Moslems all over the world once again celebrate the triumph of Idul Fitri.

A friend of mine made a statement in Facebook earlier on the first week of the fasting month, "Why should we wait for a special season to self-evaluate ourselves and concentrating on doing what is pleasing in the eye of God? Should we not do this every single day of our lives?"

I quite agree. Just as Idul Fitri is a great celebration for the Moslems, Christmas and Easter are of the same value for the Christians. During those holy days we commemorate the birth and death of Christ and the importance of the events in our lives as believers.

But religious festivals are given not only for us to commemorate and celebrate certain events. They are meant to kindle the spirit and importance of the celebrations throughout our lives. As Christians, we need to always remember the reason why Christ was born into this Earth and why He died upon the cross, because that is the essence and core of our faith and entire existence while living in this temporary world.

As it is, Idul Fitri is given so that the Moslems will always remember God's statutes and will for His people to constantly live in purity, always be forgiving, doing good to others and showing mercy to the poor and needy. This is the spirit of Idul Fitri that should be remembered and put into action daily in the lives of the Moslems.

Another year has passed. May the next twelve months we live prudently in constant self-introspection and purity of heart.

Have a wonderful Idul Fitri, my friends...!

PMG Rules!

My husband and I loved Pat Metheny Group. But it was quite some years ago. As we move on with life, we begin liking other kinds of music: impresionnist, contemporary music, chamber orchestra, and loads of others. Jazz comes by once in a while in our music-listening list, and not always PMG.

Yet somehow life turns us around to cherish what we have left behind. It happened as follows: Octavian was introducing different kinds of music to our 2-year-old son, Dharma. He gave him Nat King Cole evergreen songs, Akira Jimbo drum sessions, Mozart Baby Classic records, and Pat Metheny Group albums to listen to. It turns out that our toddler loves the last one more than others.

So we begin giving him Pat Metheny Group videos to watch and search for other - more recent - videos on PMG to add to his music-learning. And to our astonishment, we too start to understand the brilliance we overlooked behind the work of this jazz band. The originality, creativity and fine-touch this group offers their audience is truly remarkable!

There have been changes throughout the years, no doubt. They now have Richard Bona on percussion instead of Armando Marcal, Chuong Vu on trumpet to replace David Blamires and Mark Ledford, and Antonio Sanchez in replacement for Paul Wertico on drums. Aside from these replacements, Pat Metheny (guitar), Lyle Mays (keyboard) and Steve Rodby (bass) maintain their positions since the earliest formation of the group.

But the touch and crystal-like fineness of PMG remains the same throughout decades, despite alteration of personnels. This alone is something worthy of praise, not to mention the even richer quality of their music.

Two-thumbs up for Pat Metheny and his group! They deserve standing ovation in every concert they perform!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both.

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost -- 1874-1963)