An artist, a doer
They say it’s all in your head. But to be more precise, let’s say it’s all in your attention.
Attention is like money, a valuable commodity and should be treated like one of our most important assets.
People, things, events, time, whatever you’re paying attention to, are you paying for what it’s worth, proportionally and appropriately?
Your attention, for better, not worse, invest wisely… Ted Tsai
With no sign of stopping, negative and positive thoughts are two longtime enemies constantly battling in my head.
I admit I’ve been feeding the hungry monster but I know I’m not alone. Maybe it’s time to take a bolder approach, even if it means fake it to make it. I say to myself: Dare to dream big.
To declare your long forgotten passion, what’s better than writing it down? Well, I’m not known as the most popular or the loudest or the most confident person in the room, I suppose I’ve never intended to be one anyway… but give me a pen and a piece of paper, some innate power will start to flow through. What is it like? It’s addictive. You forget to eat, to drink, to go to toilet or to sleep.
I love the moment when the outpouring of creativity and imagination is coming at me. It’s like opening the floodgates, I can write as if there’s no tomorrow. Different from the pack, writing to an introvert like me is a way of expressing confidence. However, over the years I’ve allowed the harshest critic to ridicule it. As a notorious perfectionist, no surprise I’m that critic.
Part of me knows the passion is still in my blood and tonight I don’t why or what’s “right” with me, I’m letting my thoughts run as freely as possible. Perhaps I’ve reached the tipping point. You realize the way to mute the negative voice is to keep doing what the critic wants you to stop doing.
I can see this is only a beginning. Nothing is tangible yet. Hope it’s not a passing fad or some short-lived adrenalin-driven enthusiasm. I shall be watching this space with interest. 🔍❤️🌏
So, what is this all about? In my wildest dreams, I have this book written by me, then adapted, made into a blockbuster movie and most importantly, directed by Ang Lee, a two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director. I’ve been talking big here, now I need to act big. Very keen to review this post in 5 to 10 years time to see what stage of life I’ll be at… 📽🎞📷 PS: I’ve edited this post several times before I feel comfortable posting it. It goes to show practice makes perfect. It’s especially important for someone from an non English speaking background trying to get his message across and hoping to make a mark globally.
One of reasons why I admire Ang Lee and his works so much is his “silliness” to challenge and reinvent himself. He doesn’t shy away from the “reality” or the “status quo”. He continues to explore the impossibles in the face of unknown even it means carrying the anxiety 24/7. I remember he said in an interview that he carried the anxiety every day for 4 years when making the movie Life of Pi.
Of course Hollywood doesn’t speak his mother tongue but the journey he’s taken to get him where he is today, the respect he’s earned from people within the industry and the stories he’s told to entertain and educate us around the world, if you are lucky enough to get a call from him one day, trust me, you’d love to speak the same language as his…
As a writer, like you, sometimes I have a good day, sometimes I have a bad day.
On a good day, I walk the walk. I do all the legwork required to get things done. A day like this just flows.
On a bad day, I talk the talk. I pay lip service to myself, ignore the writing bug. Only later do I find myself feeling lifeless, worse than the day started.
On a typical day – consisting of both a good day AND a bad day, I write the write. Whatever it means. It’s the day I embrace my larger than life character and write as if the whole world is reading it.
A writer’s life is not a life in a fast lane as many have envisioned. It goes deeper and further than that. A writer’s life is a life creating a fast lane.
On becoming a good writer, one may ask, what’s the difference between an average writer and a badass writer? I can boldly say the difference is in the “day”:
An average writer writes like there’s a tomorrow.
A badass writer writes like there’s NO tomorrow.
Before you set out to reach your writing goals, it’s important to know what makes up a good writer’s mind. In order of priority:
To just write comes first, to be right comes second, to feel right comes third…
A good day, a bad day, a typical day, whatever day it pans out, there’ll never be a right day to write. Might as well just write, right now…
Ted Tsai
Whatever life throws at you, the ball is in your court.
Game on!
Just cut to the chase, withstand it and bounce back… Ted Tsai
Risks are everywhere. Places we often regard as the most safe, secure and comfortable in the world – our homes, aren’t necessarily a risk-free zone.
Like it or not, we take risks all the time. Sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly. Even risk avoidance in itself is another form of risk-taking. Funny huh?
Fears come in all shapes and sizes. For some people, simple things like going out and about, can prove to be overwhelming and challenging.
Every one is different. A person who is afraid of heights, doesn’t mean he or she is scared of flying. Another person who is afraid of crowds, doesn’t mean he or she is scared of public speaking. It doesn’t have to make sense as long as it feels real – that’s what people care about.
I remember quite clearly, one Sunday afternoon I ventured into Manly Dam in Sydney and did a bush walk there, regardless the weather forecast said it was going to be unpredictable. I gnored, I still went, I didn’t care.
Well, it was very stubborn of me. I tempted fate, got what I deserved – rain! Silly me.
If you’ve ever been in a similar situation, then you’d know being in a bush under cold, wet and dark conditions can be a very unpleasant experience. It didn’t take long before I realised I was covered in mud and dirt.
For someone who is a clean freak and has some form of OCD, it’s a big deal. Admittedly, sometimes I do put on a brave face and act like it doesn’t bother me. But on the inside my fear of contamination and fear of germs can go through the roof. Anyway, I should write a new post about it one day.
No fuss. I wasn’t the only guy in the bush. Still, there were a few crazy people around, joggers and dog walkers alike. Knowing I wasn’t alone, motivated me.
Of course, I had other choices. The easiest thing for me to do would’ve been staying at home, putting my feet up, lying on my couch and having some comfort food.
Why didn’t I do that?
Well, I put myself in this position for a reason. I wanted to face my fears and find ways of building strengths again, of course also to keep a promise to my dog Jamie.
I can’t lie to you about the fact that I often relapse into an old mindset or a bad habit altogether. Just go around in circles: Fight, flight, fight, flight, fight, flight, repeat and repeat again. But that’s OK. At least every Sunday cycle, I do get out and get back on my feet again… literally speaking!
Let’s set the record straight and do a bit stocktaking.
All the goodies we want out of life – health, wealth, success, love, happiness etc, need look no further than the too hard basket… Ted Tsai
Taking a dog out means sometimes we’re restricted to several public places. No hard feelings, I understand.
On a very rare occasion both Jamie (my dog) and I were allowed in an audience area, but we were at popular dog friendly Manly (Sydney) beach anyway.
We enjoyed watching Cheerleading Championships with family on Sunday afternoon exactly 3 years ago. These young people were truly amazing. To push the body beyond its limits like that, they must’ve done lots of hard work behind scenes.
What struck me most is a good mix of male and female competitors among the groups. It was a refreshing change. After all, cheerleading had been one of the female dominated sports for as long as I could remember. Of course, to this day, it’s still the case.
Wait! Before I go on any further, have I just heard someone say cheerleading isn’t a sport?
Well, my position is anything that’ll help break male stereotypes, count me in!
It’s funny, way before we were born, we had already been conditioned to and moulded into some certain types by our carers. They included the colours of clothing chosen by our parents, the kinds of toys we were given to play with and the roles we were expected to grow into in the family, at school, at work and in the society in later years.
Generation after generation, stereotypes about people were formed and passed down. Ideas about gender were generalised and portrayed in the media, in our head and in all corners of the world.
Under this framework, spoken or unspoken, written or unwritten, if you are someone who fits in with a particular group, you are welcome as part of the tribe, but if you are someone who doesn’t fit in with the group, you are seen as a black sheep at best or at worst as an outcast. Whichever happens, it can be a very lonely place to be.
The question is, how do you to break stereotypes and free yourself from it?
To bring the under-represented self to the table, my take is: It’s your niche, keep on doing what you’ve been doing.
If you’re someone who loves cooking and you want to be a master chief instead of a doctor as perceived by others, go and put on your favourite apron, keep on polishing your signature dishes and learning new skills required to be a top cook like no others.
If you’re someone who loves playing a musical instrument and you want to be a music producer instead of an engineer as perceived by others, go and practice, practice and practice necessary skills required to be at the helm and write as many musical notes as possible to shout out the noises, gossips and critics from the outside world.
Others can form as many stereotypes about you as they like, but realistically you don’t have time to break them all. So, don’t waste your time on that.
Conversely, do not stereotype stereotypes. It may sound a bit abstract, but I think you get the idea. Fight fire with fire may backfire. When a stereotype is created out of the norm, it’s an indication we simply don’t know any better at a given time.
One last thing to note, breaking stereotypes is about proving yourself right, not about proving others wrong. Now, that’s my type…
Got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Me too! ⏰
To be in the right head space for the rest of the day, I told myself: At least I have a bed… Ted Tsai
This is The Spit Bridge in Mosman, one of the most beautiful suburbs in Sydney Australia. No joke. It’s got a split personality. Every now and then it splits into half and half, one end opens in an upright position to allow boats taller than its height to go from one side to the other.
Of course, when it’s open, the traffic on the bridge has to stop and stand still until the bridge closes again which can take a while.
If you don’t mind waiting, you can simply enjoy the wonderful water view around. But if you are in hurry, you’d better pray that you don’t come across the red traffic light there as the wait can be painfully long. Once you get stuck in there, you can’t turn back. The only option is wait.
What about in life or in business, what would you do if you’re sick and tired of waiting? They say patience is a virtue, unfortunately it’s just not one of my strongest points.
2 weeks? What?! I reacted in disbelief. Well, that’s what the bookstore staff told me when I asked her how long it’ll take for this particular book to arrive. Slightly disappointed, I still went ahead and placed an order.
Once again, my patience was put to the test. Clearly I was being too overly optimistic about my capability to wait.
Well into the fifth day, I started to show a sign of impatience. No longer could I hold it, so out of desperation I rang the bookstore to find out the status of my order. You can imagine how eager I must’ve been. It was driving me wild. Not getting a satisfying answer, I thought perhaps I should try on-line.
I did. Within minutes I found a reputable on-line book retailer selling the same book. Best of all, it was “in stock”, available for shipping next day, even at a cheaper price. No time to waste, I went straight to make an order. What’s next? The book and other 2 titles arrived in just 3 days.
I know it’s still a long way away before I become a patient person. However, I can certainly do something to keep a balance.
While I’m a keen supporter of bricks and mortar stores and really want to see them survive and thrive in the ever changing market, I’ll continue turning to on-line retailers to buy items that aren’t readily available in store. With this mind, I have the best of both worlds.
Wait no more. Since patience isn’t my department, I might as well use impatience to my advantage…
What comes to your mind when you hear the word mediocre?
Average? Below average? Not too good? Not too bad? So so? Just OK? 50 50?
All in all, there’s a negative connotation attached to it. That’s no surprise. Why? If you look it up in an English dictionary, you’ll see why.
In terms of word origin, derives from French via the Latin, mediocre literally means halfway up the mountain.
For the sake of argument, if you reached the midpoint of the world highest mountain Himalaya, would you call yourself an average achiever? That’s whopping over 4000 km above sea level! Mediocre in this context, in any language is no average at all. In fact, for that kind of height, it’s considered to be a peak in many countries no matter what yardsticks you use.
Let’s face it, whatever goals we set out to achieve, big or small, the size doesn’t matter, we’ll always feel a mountain of work in front of us anyway. If the first step is hard enough, let alone finish midway.
Funny we often celebrate for having taken the very first step, but we disapprove of ourselves for getting there halfway? Shouldn’t we even have a bigger celebration to mark the effort?
Mediocrity, whichever angle we look at it from, it’s an accomplishment in itself. It may not be something you want to rave about, but at the “core” of it, lies in your ability to get to the top. You’re already halfway! Congrats!
Next time I hear the word mediocre again? I’ll take it as a compliment…
Ted Tsai 