Umbrella

There to shelter you from rain. Or would you rather sing in the rain?

Bait

Tantalized, the fish scurries towards the bait as the sunshine streaks down its shiny scales, reflecting its opponents working towards the same goal. Determined, the fish increases its speed, surpasses others, and reaches the prize. Fooled, the fish is hooked, pulled above the ocean, dries, and dies. Like the boring structure and description, many seek for needless shallow desires that gradually segues to death. Until the moment some die, they still do not realize the insignificance of their targets, and live along according to their simple pleasures. An innate luxury? Perhaps so.

Envy

Human beings have a natural tendency to envy others whether for looks, fame, relationships, or etc.. As we feel this certain feeling, we crave and desire strongly for something that we don't have and see in others; we can even feel easily upset or angry because obviously life hasn't treated us unfairly. However, taken back into perspective, this emotion "envy" is actually a glorious form of human race, where we realize that there are people out there better than us in some specific area, and therefore wish to be changed, while subconsciously praising others for their unique qualities. In other words, envy is based on appreciation, but whether we appreciate or not, determines whether it will be transformed into jealously. As complex as this seems, this whole process can take just one second to successfully deprive us of mental "satisfaction".

Face

At some point or another, all of us would have had experienced the concern regarding how others perceive us. This feeling may seem occasional or even frequent; however as a matter of fact, it is always present. We are so accustomed to this, that we do not realize until we carefully reflect our own intentions in each action of ours. Some may deny such logic and express the need just to "be themselves", but when you think about this concept, it is already contradicting itself, since by indirectly stating that by being themselves, they will attract more attention for they're more natural. This is not to debunk such intention, but rather serves as a subtle celebration for human kind as to how proficient we are with making ourselves have the face we want to display.

Expectancy

With every expectancy comes a potential disappointment. Often times when we reflect back at our own memories, the beautiful part about them is the anticipation and waiting rather than getting whatever it is we actually want (which might ultimately be utter disappointment). Right at those moments of waiting, we crave ravenously as we don't recognize this state of being as a form of happiness. Next time you find yourself in this state, stop and enjoy this presumingly irritating stage. 

Another Day

Bringing up Perfume in my previous post  triggered another memory of mine; a once used to be daily routine that remains memorable to me. I used to drop by a convenient store near my house every day to pick up some cold beverages during summer, and yet it wasn't the icy beverages that made me feel delighted, but rather the cheery store keeper. With a white plump face, rosy cheeks, and a school girl bob hair cut, she smiled enthusiastically as each customer approached the counter for check out. This wasn't just for a day, in fact, it lasted until the moment I never saw her again. Where she has gone wonders me, however, what matters is her attitude to others. There she was happily serving strangers she has never met before, without bias or prejudice, while keeping the utmost sunny smile that didn't ever seem to dwindle away. Seeing this every day intrigued me to understand as to how and why some people are able to do so. As of now, I still haven't reached a conclusion, but those precious smiles certainly made my days and warmed my heart.

Perfume - Dream Fighters

top to bottom : A~chan (あ～ちゃん), Kashiyuka ((かしゆか) , Nocchi (のっち)

I refer to my favorite artist of all times, Perfume, as Dream Fighters, not only because it was a single release of theirs, but also represent who they are. For those who don't know them, they are a Japanese techno pop unit formed in 2000 (when they were still middle schoolers) that didn't achieve national fame until their CM song "Polyrhythm" for NHK Recycling campaign in 2007. This song is now also part of the Cars 2 official sound track (indeed a proud moment for us fans.) What I admire most about them is their appreciative attitude towards others helping them; they simply do not take any small achievement of theirs for granted. For each single release, album release to their concerts, they put full effort into creating a beautiful creation of art, music, and performance; the team effort and bond that they have created together have mastered them to become as one, and even perfected them to become part of each stage they perform at. Of course, reaching their techno pop status in Japanese music industry wasn't an easy task, but with their tenacious attitudes, they manged to pull themselves through eight years of low profile and even separation from parents. This perhaps is the reason they drop tears of joy for each major concert they have held. I simply don't take joy in seeing others cry, but seeing the hard work they have put up with, moves my heart as I reach a new level of love for them. I sometimes wonder what it is like to cry tears of joy instead of sadness; I simply have taken too many things for granted in my life, and therefore I look up to them (despite the fact that they're only 22). Artists like them aren't easy to find these days. I truly have to say "Thank you" to them for the inspiration that they have brought to me and all other fans. 

Thank you, Perfume

This is my absolute favorite song of Perfume's: Dream Fighter

Their hit song, Polyrhythm; this performance in Tokyo Dome is simply one of the best yet

Full stop

. The end that leads to a new beginning. So it would never fully stop would it?

Unrecognized Joy

By our instincts, our minds set the definition of joy as a feeling that contains a mixture of positive emotions from certain thoughts or events. However when we come across the word "bored", we can very often ignore the "joy" factor within. The other day after I woke up from a nap, I decided I would simply watch the clock, and let it tick for as long as I could endure. After about 20 minutes of doing so, I reflected upon this time frame, and decided that it was more like 45 minutes; this led to my small thought of the day: being bored makes time "pass slower", and therefore makes our days in comparison longer. So where am I getting to with this? Well, simply the fact that being bored is a potential way to making many people's desire of living a longer life possible. Now, this doesn't necessary mean everyone should just lay there and do nothing all the time, but on special occasions, we should spare some time to ourselves, solely enjoy the feeling of being bored, and indulge in the luxury of living an illusionary "longer life".