As my alarm went off this morning I turned my gaze to the window and lo and behold… sunshine! A glorious light transformed the murky sea into an image straight from a Club Med brochure. As you can gather the weather has been overcast in Hong Kong the past few days. I adore the sun – not in a “hand me a bikini and surfboard” way. Nope. Can’t do the tanning thing (nor surf). Personally I see the sun more as an energy source. It enlivens and inspires me to do and see more. A sunny day super charges me for days to come.
Of course I’m not saying that you won’t find me working on overcast days. On those days I make do with alternative sources of energy. In no order of preference these include chocolate bars, flutes of Champagne and the rather lengthy workouts that follow these sessions.
This entry is dedicated to all kinds of “light” sources. Sunlight, friendship, books, music, secrets, scent, loving touch etc.
On friendship.
Albert Schweitzer puts it so eloquently:
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
On timing.
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose What
On Champagne.
Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!
~ Dom Perignon, at the moment he discovered champagne
…and one for the book club girls.
Champagne and orange juice is a great drink. The orange improves the champagne. The champagne definitely improves the orange. ~ Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
On beauty.
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
~Kahlil Gibran
On Nature’s Prozac.
Of God and energy itself. When my heart is heavy, the sun helps make it light. ~Astrid Alauda
On waking up in strange beds/floors (with a blinding headache).
What is true by lamplight is not always true by sunlight. ~Joseph
On those darn assumptions we love to make.
Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in. ~Alan Alda
On music.
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius
Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings. ~Robert Benchley
He who sings scares away his woes. ~Cervantes
On books…
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. ~Mark Twain
…and image…
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~P.J. O'Rourke
…and the bizarre.
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
I leave you with more wise words from Albert Schweitzer:
“Your life is something opaque, not transparent, as long as you look at it in an ordinary human way. But if you hold it up against the light of God's goodness, it shines and turns transparent, radiant and bright. And then you ask yourself in amazement:
Is this really my own life I see before me?”
Be inspired to shine that light of yours.
