Take up the challenge to expand your interests this year

I think most of us have certain interests/hobbies/pastimes right? Reading, music, star gazing, gaming, photography, and so on. And what most of the passionate ones have likely done is, say music lovers, bought and downloaded music online, bought records from shops, attended every gig in cafes in their city, attended the city’s annual music fest, and maybe attended a concert of an international artist or DJ if they happen to live in one of those cultural cities.

What next?

Now challenge yourself to take your interest a step further. For the passionate music lover bloke we just talked about above, look beyond your city and experience your interest someplace else. No city or country is like the other. Even the same thing can be perceived differently by your friend. The thing about art, music, literature or anything for that matter is that everything is open to interpretation, which manifests in change, resulting in a certain unique outcome to a particular group of people, or region.

Art, music, and literature are also a form of expression of a region and its people, reflecting the way of life, sociopolitical scenarios, and issues plaguing society.

My pastime is reading books. I either buy them online or borrow them from libraries. I generally read books whose synopsis interests me, is a literary prize-winner, or maybe a bestseller. I have been recently pondering over how I could take my reading interest further this year. Read 100 books this year? Join a book club? Choose one author and read all their works? Or save up to attend a literary fest?

I’ve decided to do none of them now thanks to a TED talk I heard yesterday by writer Ann Morgan on “My reading a book from every country in the world.” Her inspiration for this project came from the realization that she mainly possessed books from English-speaking countries. I love her ambition and project, so I’m going to follow in baby footsteps; set the goal to read a few books this year from different parts of the world.

If any of you are interested in charting Ann’s journey or looking for recommendations, you can take help from the interactive maps provided on go.ted.com/readtheworld. You can find book recommendations from 196 countries along with a short review from the writer.

Follow your heart, your interests, and let them take you to wonderful places and new experiences.

What would you ask for if you were the child of a king?

I was attending our church’s weekly prayer session yesterday and after the service my husband and I were casually chatting with our pastor, sharing  each other’s plans and aspirations for the new year, and then our pastor said something which took me by surprise because I never really thought deep about it. He said, “I say dream big because our God is a king. Why ask for something small when nothing is impossible for Him?”

He is right! If we were friends with a king, say the king of Brunei, and he told us to ask for anything we wanted, wouldn’t we get all excited and ask for something which is so much beyond our means? Such as a ginormous beautiful piece of land, or a palatial mansion, or lots of money.

We are sons and daughters of a heavenly king who tells us to just ask and we shall receive. Do not underestimate His power for He is our creator. He has entitled us to riches both on Earth and in heaven.

So dream big this year, place your plans before the Lord, and wait patiently. The Lord will make paths to fulfill your desires and show His glory.

Hope for the best

A brand new year is just around the corner and most of us are looking forward to the New Year’s Eve bash with friends while the serious ones are contemplating on coming up with a new year’s resolutions list.

I’ve made a list of my own; lemme add serious/fun-loving ones.

I’m not very good at keeping any so I’m going to share my list with my sister who I know is going to be very annoying in reminding me every waking second but I’m hoping it’ll help me stay focused.

I recommend that everyone make a new year’s resolutions list only because it will equip you to be better person than what you were the previous year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 EVERYONE!