The blinding morning sun
shot through the windshield while a radio announcer’s voice filled the car’s
interior chattering a morning program with her on–air guest on the latest
lifestyle trend on mind and spirit. It was a typical morning program
rundown of traffic report and weather forecast for the day. I drove the car
for the last twenty minutes in the light morning rush hour. Something about
morning radio programs made people tuned in the minute they got into their
cars. It was as if people were afraid to miss what went on in the rest of the
world since they went to sleep the night before. Actually all you heard about
is the usual heavy traffic everywhere and the same weather report as the day
before due to the limited option of a two season country which was either hot
and humid or rain with occasional reports on sporadic flood.
It was late November and it has been raining almost daily. Surprisingly the
sun was out that morning creating a shiny face on the still wet road from last
night’s rain. It was funny how traffic seemed slower on wet road as if
illustrating people walking on a slippery surface. My fingers kept pushing on
the memory buttons switching stations without really looking for anything
particular on the radio. As I entered the narrow streets of a trendy
neighborhood light drizzle started to hit the windshield. The sun has taken
shelter behind the now grey cloud. I stared ahead navigating the car through
alley like streets with chic galleries and cafes lined up on both sides. I
noticed other drivers started to have their wipers working as I stared ahead and
watched droplets of water on the windshield.
My thought raced forward to what were waiting for me at work. The millions
things that needed to be done on the newly acquired account and several other
brand communication campaigns that needed to be strategize. Not to mention
to looked after one or two still pending creative and technical executions on
some new web development that needed to be presented to clients. Peculiar as
it was certain trades tended to group together forming an illusion of images and
envious observations to those outside the trade. Superficial as it may seem
but it never failed to attract certain stereotypes. The neighborhood I was
driving through was a good example. I was almost sure that whoever it was that
developed the area didn’t really plan it to turn out the way it was. In the last
few years it has developed into a pleasant area surrounded with a bohemian
flavor where art galleries and cafes mixed together with modest small
proprietor shops and residential for the upper-classes. To further
commercialize the area, high – end retail shops soon followed accompanied
by corporate of the creative trade such as ad agencies, creative boutiques,
photography studios and production houses. “People watching” which was
used to be the favorite past time belonging only to the residents has now became
a commodity for sale especially on the week – ends. Not long after that a new
campus for one of the top university relocated its schools of Architecture
and Art & Design only a stone throw away putting one final touch to what
every trendy neighborhood should have, a laid back but intellectual academic
atmosphere.
Another two blocks and a few more turns will took me to my office. I felt lucky
that driving to work no longer include enduring the stressful busy freeways
and major roads some commuters had to take to get to the central business
district down town. My thoughts were re-winded to the times when I was one of
those commuters several years back being just another one in a million suit and
tie corporate man in the race to climb the corporate ladder. In my case it
was to be in the fast pace investment banking world with cuff links and
suspender dress code. I supposed I should feel grateful then that I was miles
away from the busy freeways and the suit and tie and for being in the trade that
had a free spirited atmosphere. It was almost three years since I have made
partner in a small marketing communication agency. Being one of the first to
go into digital marketing has given the agency the edge it needed when
corporations finally considering shifting into new media for their
communication. Baiting for the big fish clients in the last few years has
finally paid off and has given the agency a nice chunk of retainer fees.
My searched for the unknown finally stopped when Carly Simon’s "Itsy Bitsy
Spider" came over the car speakers. In another ten minutes or so I would
arrived in my destination. It could have been the desire to prolong the
journey that made me all of a sudden decided to walk the rest of the distance. I
started eyeing for empty parking spaces on the street. Being in the retail block
with business’ that mostly opened at ten o’clock I easily found a few empty
spaces to park my car. I parked the car in front of a florist that sells
imported flowers. While getting out of the car I caught a glimpse of the shop
girl carrying imported tulips from Holland and putting them on a display
bucket. That reminded me that I should send some flowers to one of my staff who
has just given birth the day before. I quickly went inside and ordered some sunflowers
to be delivered to the hospital. Pushing the glass door on my way out of the
florist I realized that the rain has stopped. Carrying my worn out leather
back pack over my shoulder I started walking.
As I walked my mind started to wander again to those years of soul searching
or should I said searching for something that was right for my soul. The
struggled between choosing a conventional path and the attraction for
unconventionalities were like the pain of my existence that I had to go
through while growing up. I was still not sure whether it was just naïve
ignorance or simply the lack of confidence to go against conventionality
that had led me later on to conformed to the larger sense of belonging. Surely
I thought it was not because of insecurity as I have always found certain
comfort with my own insecurities. Somehow recognizing my own fears has
helped me to stay focus to my true being. It was like a secret intimacy
that existed deep within me and was my creation of the art of happiness and my
covert sanctuary whenever I was in doubt with my surrounding.
A large
Ukiyo-e
portraying Kiyonaga's art print of "Girl Under a Willow" on the wall
of a fusion Sushi place distracted my thought. This briefly took me away
from what the Buddhist called the sorrowful world to its ironic wordplay, the floating world of a
17th centuries Japan – Edo period with its complicated
philosophies and sense of Samurai chivalry1. I smiled and
thought of my own complexity as comparison. Still staring at the glass covered
poster I saw the reflection of myself, a man in faded grey corduroy Levi’s
wearing a wind breaker over a t – shirt and a Timberland shoes. A far cry
indeed from the drawing of a man in dark colored chalked Armani suit and
cuff linked white shirt with silk tie. I never did find the passion for
suspenders but I did eventually get tiresome of cufflinks and everything else
that came with it. It was never me and neither were the teakwood paneled of a
cigar smoke board room nor the fluctuations of the market index had ever
given me any significant gratification. The agony of waking up one day and
finding myself doing something for the sake of doing it and for self security
turned out to be more frightening than the thought of losing that security.
Suddenly, the art of happiness is merely now just a fiction of my imagination.
Light drizzle has started again and pulling the hood of the wind breaker over my
head I continued my steps on the wet cobble stone pavement in the direction
toward my building.
While abstraction had no real cost, reality did bite. Stepping out of a comfort
zone turned out to be more than just carrying the burden of economic
consequences but also the need to established a new self – identity which
closely resembled the nightmare of an introvert teenager at lost in the
jungle of a new high – school. That same lost feeling was a real challenge
especially in the planet of creative communication filled with over blown
egos that were not only could create legendary campaigns but frequently also
disastrous creative landmines. The supposedly combination of art and science
between business strategy and creative solution could and often easily
mistaken to be the processed to create an award winning fine art project
instead. It was a lethal occupational hazard as well as a chaotic war zone.
Egos were easily bruised or took a nose dive imitating a kamikaze pilot
plunging his plane over the Pacific Ocean into an allied aircraft carrier during
World War II. I sometimes marveled how all these could create envious
observations to those outside the circle.
I stopped at a zebra cross waiting for the green light and looked at the
corner store to watched a visual merchandiser worked on a shoe display for Manolo
Blahnik new arrivals. He artistically placed a pair of red
patent leather sandal against a black steel stand highlighting the gold
metal trim and heel of the sandal. The positioning was in such a way that the
passionate red vintage style sandal with its beautiful curve reminded me of
a sensual Flamenco
dancer. The light switched to green and as I crossed the street I thought
about how an insightful positioning combined with memorable visuals could really
did the job. Those shoes displays certainly have attracted countless loyal long
legged beauties to walked into the store and spent money on shoes that at least
equal to two months salary of a blue collar worker. Nevertheless, I could have
imagined that there were criticisms from those who effortlessly dismissed this
to be just another trivial vanity or worse, a shallow urban chic nonsense.
Approaching my office I realized that the pyramidal needs which set priorities
and petty importance sometime worked against each other which made people see
things from different frame of mind. A product of a free spirited
surroundings often combined with playful childlike thought might seemed
mediocre to the eye of a practical rigid mind who puts value on properness.
Prestigious achievements between the two poles then could only be understood
by how the stars worked the different horoscopes belonging to these souls.
Pushing the door to my building I winked at my receptionist with the pale
faced Gothic make up as she mumbled a soft husky good morning to me. I
stopped by the pantry to make my second cup of coffee for the day. On the
walked up to the duplex section of the office I was greeted with sounds of
Jimmy Durante’s “As Time Goes By” competing with Radio Head’s “Hail to
the Thief” coming from MP3’s blasted from G5 Mac computers. I smiled at
this assemble of the old and new working together creating strange but
harmonious unity. Sipping my coffee at my desk I looked through my glass
walled room and watched others did their morning routine. As I turned to the
window I watched the rain and saw how the window glass stopped the rain from
crashing in and created tiny rivers flowing from gravity.
I liked what I did there and I loved the playful and free spirited environment
represented that morning by Durante and Radio Head. Strange as it may be to another observer but for me it was a representation of "properness"
and "free spirit" working together to formed a character that fitted me
perfectly. Whether or not it portrayed the same thing on the rest of society's
mainstream was entirely a different story as I often considered myself to be a
rather strange character. I did realize that having lived and digested the
past days of my life, taking and learning what they had to offer has taken me to
the duplex office on that rainy November morning. It might or might not have been the
right place for my soul. The prestigious trade award hanged on the wall may
satisfy the soul for the moment but can easily became petty importance the next
day. But I knew then that whatever the searched was, the art of happiness was
about acceptance and understanding. They were no longer about fictions
running around wild but were about learning to understand what I could not
accept and to accept what I could not understand. To lived the day with what I
knew from yesterday and prayed tomorrow will come as only faith has the control
to bring me tomorrow.
There is no
rain today as it is now in the middle of July and the sun has set for the day
bringing a cooler breeze to what has been a hot and humid day. I am looking out
through my window at the street where it is already well lit from the colonial
style light poles. From my window I see an owner of a brand new green
Volkswagen is getting out of her car parked in that exact space where I parked
my car that rainy November morning. Passing my window she goes straight to the
newly opened yoghurt and bakery store next door. I turn around and walk back
to my desk to get ready to close the shop for the day. I ask one of my staff to
call me a cab that will take me to the airport straight from the shop. I am
leaving for Italy tonight before continuing to Malta
for some new carnations and chrysanthemums
adding new inventories to my florist.
-
Ukiyo-e (pronounced
oo-kee-oh-ay) was a style of popular art in Japan during the Edo period,
inexpensive and usually depicting scenes from everyday life.
Ukiyo translates as "floating world" - an ironic wordplay on the
Buddhist name for the earthly plane, "the sorrowful world". Ukiyo was
the name given to the lifestyle in Japan's urban centers - the fashions, the
high life, and the pleasures of the flesh. Ukiyo-e is the art documenting this
era. - Source artcyclopedia.com