The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. - Henry David Thoreau, poet and philosopher
Nope, not Pay Day.
The start of our wedding preparations also marks the end of Bi.focally's 1-year hiatus. I'm glad to announce that we're coming back with a (vengeance) force of positivity so strong that you won't be able to hold back from reading each Monday morning post in order to be updated with the latest happenings. I kid, I know how much readership we actually get.
Well, it's great to get back to writing.
Somehow, in the last one-point-five years of full mask-wearing and social distancing measures being ingrained (enforced, a-hem) into our minds, mounting social tensions and division seemed to surface, albeit gradually but surely. It was a rude awakening to young and old alike, and those of us caught in the middle.
Let's just say that for the little red dot, unheard-of and unthinkable damage had been done over the course of this COVID-19 endemic that we hoped to never have to report in The Straits Times. Social fabrics which are delicate are constantly put to the litmus paper test, threatening to dissolve the litmus slip altogether at times it seemed. It certainly did not spare the directly involved parties immense media scrutiny and citizen commentary.
While the horrors that have occurred will always paint a nightmarish and morose picture of institutions (educational, religious, familial, etc.) for years to come, what should not be denied is their ability to also foster strength and belief in people that good will triumph over evil. For those of us who have wandered, came close to the edge, or even played with fire -- know that the more pertinent matter at hand is whether we realise when the limit has been pushed and return to where light and hope prevail.
Never did I intend for the first post after a long time to be about such serious topics or for the effect of raising social awareness, but I think these had been weighing on my mind for a duration unbeknownst to even myself. Given the recent audience attention on Squid Game it is heartening to see portrayals of what humane interaction and life on Earth should, would, could be like, carefully constructed in drama and suspense of a Netflix title.
The week ahead wherever you are, be it at work (WFH or not), Home-Based Learning for school-goers, or just going about your daily lives, does not have to be just a passing of time. Make each day count by striving to live out your purpose and shine bright to sprinkle a tad of pixie dust and spread kindness.
I for one can attest to the positive spillover it can result in.