DLJ Year in Review 2016

 In Ornamentation, Photography, Travelscapes

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! DLJ is officially going into its third year. I can’t believe that I have shared my works for two years straight. Just like the year before, I thought I would do a little review before the year comes to an end.

Firstly, I would like to thank my readers here for following me all the way from social media. It means a lot to me. It is one thing to just hang out in social media, and another to actually come check out the blog because you are interested to find out more about my work. I always refer to the blog as my home where I can invite close friends over. Social media are like pubs and its cool to hang out there for a bit to get to know more people, but it is difficult to connect when there is so much noise. Being here shows that you care and it inspires me to want to share more with you. For that I am deeply grateful.

This year, apart from shooting and improving my photographic style, I have been focusing on two main areas. One of them is to establish and share more consistently on my social media platforms. As I am doing everything myself, I can only limit myself to a few platforms. Currently my main platforms are Google Plus and Instagram, so do join me if you happen to be there.

The other area is being a Dad. It is easy to just be a father, but it is an entirely different thing to be fully present as a father. As much as I would like to work on my craft more, I wouldn’t sacrifice the chance of cherishing the only moments of my son’s childhood. Children are only young once, if you lose these moments, you lose it forever. It is always a challenge to balance what is important in your life. The fact is that if you want something, you always have to forgo something else.

Life is a constant choice of choosing what to gain and what to lose in every moment.

“Choice by choice, moment by moment, I build the necklace of my day, stringing together the choices that form artful living.”

Julia Cameron

I am not a born writer, when I write, I just write from my heart. Writing from the heart requires being truthful, at least the truth that I know of. Truth though, doesn’t garner much attention from most people because it is usually the truth that causes most people to escape from. For me it is always the truthful words that have the most value, especially those that are timeless. To speak one’s truth takes a lot of courage because you have to first deal with your own ego.

The best words usually come from the wisest people whom have shattered the idea of who they are. They speak from a source of silence, a source of nothingness. When the mind is not speaking, truth presents itself, without any flowery disguise or any prejudice. It is just what it is.

The problem for me though is that the more aware I am, the lesser words I have. It doesn’t really help when I am trying to write and I need all the words I can muster. Luckily though, there is still the creative and artistic side that I can use and is expressed through my photography. For some reason, art has always comes naturally for me. I have always been dabbling in one form of art or another as a child…at the very least it is easier to me than writing.

DLifeJourney is very much about these two aspects: the inner world and the outer world. There is always an inner journey and an outer journey that we need to take in life to be whole. Most of us are so lost in the outer world that we fail to find ourselves within. The outside world seems so real because we can touch and feel it. Does that mean that what we cannot touch and see is anything less real? We can’t see the air that we breathe and yet our lives depend on it. We can’t see electromagnetic waves and yet energy is all around us. Frequencies can even be captured as radio waves and broadcasted by devices. There is so much that we don’t see that is happening within us, most of us don’t even know it’s there.

The main reason I write here is not only for me to discover the reality of the inner self, but also to inspire you to seek out the truth for yourself. It is the only way to live to your fullest potential.

“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

Chuang-Tzu

As an artist, I hope to discover the inner realms with you through my writings and the beauty of the outer world through photography. I like to think that I can do magic wherever I go, the results are the images that you see here. In a world of duality, there are always two sides to a coin. With beauty, ugliness is not far behind. I just choose to see the beauty in everything with my art. It is like in this moment there is a beautiful bloom and in the next, the flower withers. I would prefer to show you the precious peak of the bloom but also to let you know that the withering is not far behind. This is just my way of expressing my truth. At the same time I wish for you that you can collect as many beautiful moments as possible.

Bearing this attitude towards life, I hope to bring more of the beauty that I see in the coming year.

Till then my friends.

See you next year!

Love,

 

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