Month: August 2020

Right vs Right

Posted on by Seung Chan Lim 0

There are times
when we cannot reconcile
the conflict between
what is right
for us
and what is right
for them.

A paradox.

This is a place,
where we may recognize
what is right for others,
but feel stuck
because what is right for us
seems negated
by their’s.

Let us learn the choice
to give and receive support
in this place.

A place
of struggle.

Support
that can help us all realize empathy
so we can finally see
where it is
we previously did not look
and respect it
so as to let
the paradox dissolve
and give rise
to a new way
of being
together.

Presence

Posted on by Seung Chan Lim 0

“Can you hear the time?”
asked the art teacher.

“What??”
he responded,
bewildered.

“The time.
Can you hear it?”
she asked again.

“What the hell
are you talking about?!”
he asked,
now annoyed.

“…”
she paused.

“Can you tell me what time it is
without looking at your watch.”
she eventually spoke again.

“No.
I can’t.”
he replied,
indignantly.

“Just a few moments ago,
the church bell rang
to indicate noon.
If you want to make art,
I want you to learn
to be present enough
to hear that.”
she replied.

Hampered Responsibility

Posted on by Seung Chan Lim 3

If responsibility
is response + ability —
as in our ability to respond
to a given situation —
then
it is only human
that when we experience too much tension,
our responsibility
gets hampered,
the range of our responsibility
gets diminished.

Others
may wish to hold us accountable
or our own sense of duty and obligation
may haunt us,
but neither
helps us recover
our hampered
responsibility
or restore
our range
of responsibility.

To take responsibility
back,
our tension
has to be released.

Creating vs Manufacturing

Posted on by Seung Chan Lim 0

You didn’t create
unless the form of the output
was unexpected.

If it was,
then you were manufacturing.

Nothing wrong with either,
but it can be frustrating
if you enter the manufacturing process,
with the desire to create
or if you enter the creative process,
with the desire to manufacture.

Luck vs Luck

Posted on by Seung Chan Lim 0

It’s easy to acknowledge luck
when its credit
is not tied
to our self-worth.

It’s hard to acknowledge luck
when its credit
is tied
to our self-worth.