Avatar

I just got hold of the Avatar DVD (finally.........!!!). I did see it the cinema in 3D but I think I was down with a flu then so I could hardly remember what I saw besides all the fighting and warring scenes towards the end. Anyone would be wide eyed with all the pyro works.

I am not going to blog about the show because most of you would have already seen it. The movie is definitely great with its plot and computer graphic works but the thing about the movie that captured my attention was the concept of a mind and body switch, taking you into another realm.

I can't help but see a great resemblance to what we are doing these days with the advent of the internet and the plethora of applications like Facebook, Friendster and a huge range of instant messengers. I mean we create our avatar using all these e-tools - we can have our own animated personification or even theme song. Some applications even let us lead our own e-lives build your own e-household, do e-groceries, have an e-pet.

My point is this, we dive deeper and deeper into this e-world and although the Internet does provide us with a humongous load of information when it comes to researching for even the simplest item to purchase, we cannot deny that the e-world can take us further and further away from our real world. Just like how the characters in the movie transfer their minds into a makeshift being to live in a different world. Isn't all too familiar?

I hate to admit it but I sometimes shy away from the real world and choose to dive into my own e-world, hiding behind an instant messenger to get to know people on the pretext it is more secure or comfortable when you are behind a blue screen hiding your facial expression. It funny how someone can be very friendly and talkative online and when you finally meet them in person you just get this blank silence not knowing how to communicate face to face. I am sure it happens because it happened to me once! When that happens, you know you have been hiding behind the online veil for too long. Behind the 'avatar' created with all the online social applications.

I am not saying that the internet has made us anti social but what I am trying to imply is that although socializing over a network can be extremely fun given that you are probably in an air conditioned room having a coffee while chatting and building your e-network, but most of us forget that there is also an e-barrier between you and the person you are communicating with.

Nothing beats face to face interactions especially when it comes to meetings. Don't believe me? Then try explaining why people find it easier to understand something when you explain to them face to face as opposed to explaining it over an e-mail?

Think about it....... =)

Looking ahead isn't the only way you should be looking

It was never for him, constantly looking ahead chasing after his goal for richness. An ultimately goal probably shared by most of us if not by all of us. It was never easy for Jim, having to grow up in a broken family and having to take care of his little sister when his mother was perpetually intoxicated. It was a life he hated and he swore that he will bring himself out of this sad situation to make sure he saw his sister through university.

Dropping his sister off to school everyday was one of the best feelings Jim could ever feel knowing that he could see to his sister's needs. If it was anything or anyone he hated most, it would be his parents, having left him and his sister to fend for themselves.

Slugging things out having left secondary school to practice articleship in a small accounting firm was a tough road Jim had to endure. It was simply difficult to find any average paying job that could help him finance his sister's education. Jim was audit clerk by day and a fast food chain waiter by night before taking into account weekend classes to get his accounting certificate!

It was tiring but Jim persisted knowing he had to see his sister through. His to-do list for everyday's work had one phrase written right at the bottom of the list. It spelled out "whatever it takes!". He worked himself out so hard that by the time he got home every night, he'd simply fall asleep from exhaustion without any energy to even worry about anything.

Even years after he saw through his sister's medical degree, he continued to work hard albeit in different circumstances. Jim was now a partner of the firm he first started as an audit clerk racking in close to a million in annual gross income. Financials are now a non-issue for Jim considering on top his partnership income, he had other passive source income from investments he held across the region. But despite all the wealth, Jim was missing something in life's balance sheet - a life's companion. Having sank himself in work to bring up his sister, he never really had the opportunity to meet anyone or even if he did had the opportunity he'd probably not think about it since he was three quarters of the time too tired to think about anything besides making sure he had enough dough to finance his sister.

One night while looking out the balcony of his fancy service apartment with a glass of whiskey in his hand, he suddenly remembered a phrase his grandfather always told him - "you can live on the street, you can rule the world but it won't mean one damn thing if you ain't got love kid". He shook his head reluctantly telling himself he granddad was right on that note.

Rewinding back to the time when Jim was struggling as a day audit clerk and night fast food chain waiter, there was someone always secretly admiring his resolve of steel but at the same time felt if there was any way she could help him. That someone was Kym, a timid girl who worked in the same fast food chain as Jim during those times. She was always secretly looking for him. Every night before going off duty at the chain, he'd find a bottle of cold water by his locker with a packet of sweet buns. He never knew who placed it there the entire time he was working there.

This day and time we find many young working adults pursuing their careers with the only intention of making money so much so that a lot of life's aspects are left out. We find more and more broken families, stress related diseases, social problems and the list goes on. With eyes set solely on career grow, the only path they look at is the path upwards the career ladder. One important thing we forget is that when one is focused on one point ahead of them, the view becomes a tunneled vision and everything else around it is left in the blind spot. Looking ahead isn't the only way you should be looking if you want to grow because for one to grow, the surroundings make a different - its the people around you that provide support, the environment that motivates you or simply having someone by your side in times of need.