A Perfect Combo: A Balanced Mind + An Unbalanced Life

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I am on a year long leave from work to search for something. I don’t know what I’m looking for but I know I want a life that grows my heart and mind. What I am doing now is not the norm. Am I looking for a balanced life? Is this the answer and is it my purpose to figure a way to get this while I’m on my one-year vacation?

Many times I hear self-help gurus and other people spew the importance of being balanced in our lives. I also spew this line of thought to others and yet, when I come to think of it, I don’t really know the meaning of it. Without this understanding, how can I use this principle effectively? I don’t want to blindly accept this wisdom and apply it in a way that may actually limits me to grow as a person. It’s time to shut my trap and reflect on it a little bit.

There are two levels of balanced that I can think of: Balanced of the mind and balanced of one’s life. Each level takes on a different meaning for me.

Balanced of the Mind

A balanced of the mind is an important quality for person to obtain. It shows the mastery over the mind. The mind becomes the servant and not the master. The mind is like a wild animal. If it’s not trained, it’ll consume the owner and the owner will be powerless. The owner will act out its impulses. If I observe my monkey mind, it’s a scary thought to let it have its ways.

The good news is that the mind can be trained through building up the awareness of it. What is awareness? According to Wikipedidia, “Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns.” When a person shines his awareness on his mind, he trains it and he gains insight into the nature it. The power of the mind can then be focused to do productive work.

Without awareness, a mind runs wild. For example, an opposite of a well-trained mind is a person walking down the street talking incoherently out loud. Blah blah blah. We have witnessed this kind of behaviour before from a person. We then call this person crazy. The awareness of this person has left the building and the person’s mind is now the master. His monkey mind is jumping from one thought to another. Frankly, without my awareness, I will act like that too. Kinda of scary how thin the line is between sane and insanity.

It’s good to have a balanced mind so that I can focus on the kind of experience I want in life.

Balanced of Life

What does this mean? I don’t know. When I reflect on the people I admire, the Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi and etc, they went all out to achieve their innate destinies. Their lives were very unbalanced.  Buddha left everything to obtain enlightenment, Jesus died for the sake of human, Gandhi went on a hunger strike and yet, their minds are so balanced and focused towards their objectives. And look at what they have done for humanity! So, is saying “I want a balanced life” is another way to say “I don’t want to take risk”? Here’s a quote I like to share with you and for you to reflect.

“The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.” – Leo F. Buscaglia

Summary

I think I want to be balanced in mind and be unbalanced in life so that I can grow my heart and mind. I like this combo. Oh yeah, may I have it super sized?

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Happy New Year! Lao Music Talent

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Laos is a sleepy little country known for its easy going nature. This year, I saw another side of Laos.

I spent some time in Vientiane and had a chance to listen to some excellent musical talent during the New Year’s eve bash. If you go to Khop Chai Deu, a must go place to eat in Vientiane, take in the live music. You may listen to one of the following artists.

A live performance at Khop Chai Deu Restaurant in Vientiane Laos, 2011. This is the first night of a two night party. Yes, Khop Chai Deu party for two days to welcome 2012! Puna is an extremely talented young singer from Laos. She will only get better!

New Year’s Eve bash at Khop Chai Deu, Vientiane Laos, 2011/12. Deep Heart is a high energy and talented Lao band that loves to rock!

For more videos, you can visit my YouTube channel.

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The Impact of USA Bombing in Laos

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The Numbers

The USA military dropped 260 million bombies in Laos during the Vietnam War. That’s about 86 bombies per person. When I visited the province of Xieng Khouang UXO (Unexploded Ordinance) office, they showed me where the bombs were dropped. Each red dot, in the photo below, represents a bombing site. The data came from the US military’s bombing logs and they were fed into Google Earth. Enough red dots for you? It gets better. Only 40% of bombing logs have been processed and the remainder 60% of the data has yet to be processed. Only 0.02% of UXOs have been processed in 16 years. It’ll take 2 to 3000 years to clear at this current rate.

Each red dot represents a bombing site in the province of Xieng Khouang - Laos

A Face Behind the Numbers

Meet Mr. Lee. He lives in Yodt Phaer Village. He was clearing land to grow food for his family when a bombie blew off his legs and some of his fingers. It took over three hours for his fellow villagers to bring him back to the village — it’s normal for a Hmong person to travel for hours if not days to where he farms. It took another 10 hours to get him to the hospital. It’s impossible for me imagine the pain and the fear that this man had to endure.

His spirit is crushed. A Hmong man’s pride is to be able to provide food for his family. How can he prosper if the land he depends on is a death trap? The US has taken his rights to grow food for his family and to lead a productive life.

The responsibility of growing rice and finding food is left to his wife. She weighs less than 90 pounds and her hard life has made her look like a 50 year old woman. In reality, she’s in her early 30s. This year, she couldn’t grow enough rice for the family. She could only plant and harvest 2/3rd of the rice they need for the year. The family will need to supplement the rest with casava. When I asked her if the area she is growing the casava has been cleared of UXOs. “No” she said flatly, “I just dig softly.” A rational we would never dream of making but she does it everyday. Death by starvation or death by a bomb.

Mr. Lee and his family (five children) live in an uneven dirt floor house no bigger than most western home's master bedroom. The wheelchair is useless given the terrain of his village.

Facts of Moral (Ir)responsibility

In today’s dollar, the USA spent $17 million a day to bomb Laos. During Iraq war, the USA spent $275 million a day. In 2010, the USA spent less than $14,000 a day to remove UXOs in Laos.

If you’re moved by this, please share it with your friends and family. Learn more about it and let your political representatives know of this issue.

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Lao Talent: “Home” cover of Michael Bublé

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Meet Bob. A very talented soulful singer in Vientiane Laos. You can find Bob at Wind West Bar in Vientiane. All the musicians in this video are very talented. They came together this night to play and sing in my brother’s backyard. No rehearsal and yet the are tight together.

To make the video more visually interesting, I’ve added film clips throughout the video to support the story of a man yearning to go home — a journey of the heart.

I got the photo of the girl from the Internet. Her eyes make the video work.

Technical: Samsung Galaxy S and Canon T3i for the video cameras. The clips of the airplane and of the airport interior are from Samsung Galaxy S. The rest are from Canon T3i.

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Finding Agility At The Farmer’s Market

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I went to the Sacramento California farmer’s market with my aunt and uncle. People were walking around and mingling with each other. Farmers and the customers were talking and joking with each other. It was a vibrant and uplifting place place to be.

One reason why many people come to the market is the connection they make with the farmers. People refer to the farmers by their names and vise versa. The customers get direct access to the people who are feeding them and on the flip side, the farmers get to talk to the people who eat their food. This creates a powerful connection and understanding. Both support each other to grow the right kind of fruits and vegetables for the community.

The same can be said about why Agile is successful — connecting with the customers directly. In essence, Agile creates the developer’s market for their customers so that the application a development team produced is what the customers want. Does your organization have a vibrant developer’s market?

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Success! A New Agile Front Has Been Established.

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Success! With this flag,  a new Agile front has now been established in Dawson City Yukon — the most north westerly city in Canada. This flag is my way to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Agile Manifesto. The flag’s location symbolizes the pioneering spirit of the manifesto when it was created by a passionate group of software experts.

 

The flag hangs on a mountain’s ledge that is directly across the river to Dawson City. Dawsonites and tourists can see the flag from the town’s main street (if they have a binocular :) as a constant reminder to Agile’s new frontier.

 

My look is intentional. I am trying to fit into with the environment. Three days staying at a place with no electricity, with outhouses, with constant rain and with single digit temperature days help out a lot. I was into the wild :)

More stuff to come. Up in the Yukon, Internet is not as good as down south.

Next up, I am heading to Juneau to see the glacier. I am hoping to see part of the glacier falling into the ocean (seeing the waterfall process in solid form).

Thanks for a great ride Agile! I’m looking forward to more adventure with you. Onward and upward.

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