I welcome a brand New Year of 2013

A sketch of Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia.

The year of 2013 started on a mystical note, it seems. The message seems to be asking me to make time to slow down.

On the first day of the year, I was excited for a day out in Nature to cycle along East Coast Park. My friends were wonderful to make time for me. Then, barely less than ten minutes of cycling, when I was want to get down the bicycle to stop for a moment, I sprained my ankle. I had sprained that ankle more than a decade ago. Thankfully, I had made the decisions not to continue cycling. My friends were very accommodating, and one of them helped me to return the bicycle. Then I made my way to see a Chinese physician who specializes in sprains and injuries of the bones & muscles. Thankfully, this Chinese physician who specializes in sprains was available on a New Year's Day to attend to me!

Two weeks from New Year's Day, I am thankful that I could still make time to check out some places in Singapore. At the same time, I had to slow down physically. It was painful to race especially when I was told to wear an ankle guard until the pain at the ankle totally subside.

Over the past months, I was undergoing several treatments of Traditional Chinese Medicine medication and acupuncture. I was rather amazed how acupuncture could so amazingly help facilitate the body to work on healing itself. While I was healing from the sprain, I tried to get a few acupuncture treatments for the foot and the leg too. The treatments helped to relieve the muscle aches.

A few days ago, I had managed to get myself a simple copy of a handbook on acupuncture from one of the book-stores at Bras Basah Complex. The task at hand is to make time to read it.

I have a number of other books to read. Maybe the message is to slow down on some other aspects of my life so that I could free up time to read and to learn actively. Life has a lot to offer and for us to learn. It seems like I have started the year 2013 with a message that shall bless me.

One of the outcomes of slowing down was that I had the time to sketch, from a newspapers advertisement, an image of Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia. I felt a sense of inner peace during the process of sketching this. It is a blessing to appreciate the joy of sketching and making good art.

Year 2013: I shall learn to slow down a bit, to appreciate the present moments more and to make good art!