Sunday 24 August 2008

solitude and timelessness, 41 degrees south



sunset by constitution docks, on my walk home from salamanca arts centre this evening. a dusting of white on the peak of Mount Wellington in the background.



at the InFuse workshop today



busy Salamanca market from the window of the Salamanca Arts Centre



"Ladies Purse" - one of the displays at the Conservatory at the Royal Botanical Gardens

I'M BAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Been meaning to update my blog for more than a month now since I quietly left Malaysia, (slipped out of Malaysia) and couldn’t really find an impetus to write up til 20 mins ago when I sent an sms to Noren and Chedd to tell them what a wonderful experience I was encountering, something I missed so much and something I don’t even remember experiencing for a long, long time.

Anyway. The whole long story in sequence will – or may, come on a later date but for now I must gush…before the moment passes.

I have found myself agreeing to live in Tasmania, 41 degrees south of almost everyone else in the world, for 3 months. Up til 2 months ago, I could never have seen this happening, let alone plan for it and allow it to happen, but its one of those serendipitous things you can’t explain and don’t care to know why it happens I guess but I AM HERE.

My MOMENT came as I was walking home from a 2 day seminar and workshop called InFuse, organized by the Salamanca Arts Centre, and for the last 2 days, arts practitioners from all backgrounds – documentary film makers,a digital choreographer, a roboticist, a puppeteer, several introverted artistic people with “extrovert tendencies”, musicians, writers, street art performers and..myself, amongst them, have come together to discuss their work and to share ideas on hybrid, or inter-medium, or cross-disciplinary arts practice. Its been a most exciting 2 days for me and has thankfully, got my creative juices flowing, oozing and bubbling all over again. My notebook is filled with sketches on ideas for set design, new ways of presenting my past work, things I want to try next…I’m re-energized, ready to rock n roll again - it’s wonderful what I got out of it. Its absolutely vital for an artist to engage with his peers, and to interact and share in forums such as this, I feel.

That’s the short version of the long story which will or may come another time.

I left the session earlier than I had planned, and decided to walk home instead of ride in a car. There began that defining moment where I fully understood what this whole elation was about – I had just discovered the meaning of solitude, and timelessness, and never appreciated this luxury ever more than just then. I walked from the Salamanca Arts Centre past the pier with the cool Tasmanian winter wind blowing in my face, loving the fact that I was on my own, and not on any kind of schedule, walking at my own pace, taking my OWN SWEET TIME, for once. It's the most liberating feeling ever, to walk around incognito, without having to worry about my bag being snatched by a psychotic guy on a motorbike, or yelling out to my kids as they glide on their heelies on the sidewalks, and to just be with myself, soaking in the moment and just loving the time and space and loving how at that moment, nothing at all mattered. Bliss.

I have just walked straight into my apartment by the pier and headed straight for my trusty laptop to gush before the feeling passes, but now I realize there’s no real rush at all here for me – I’m living a very different life suddenly, where time doesn’t really matter, the air is the cleanest I've ever breathed, people aren't concerned about appearance and wearing brand-name clothes, conversation is far from being about who's attending what party and which awards show and wearing what, nobody is interested in being judgmental about anyone else, there are no queues at the bank or the cinema ticket counter, people are so genuinely helpful (not because they're after anything from me, for a change!) and I’m loving every moment of it.

Meantime, I’m feeling a little homesick thinking about the family and my friends that I’ve left behind, but it’s probably a good time to be away from the madness that I read about on my reuters and star sms news alerts.

Suddenly, that really feels like a world I’m relieved to be able to leave behind. Good luck to the rest of you, I'm happy in my simple new-found Utopia.

9 comments:

Becky Ng said...

sounds great,have fun!!! if you have the time, please drop by my blog.

saarnheim said...

hey tiara
how nice to see your blog and that you arent all so far away from where i am....let me just jog your memory, we used to go to college together alllll those many many years ago...SHARON WILLIAMS..the name ring any bells for you?? hehe well i am now living in melbourne and it would be great to hear from you.....my email is saarnheim@gmail.com
take care and it is great to see that you are doing so great and contributing to the art/entertainment industry in KL!!!
warmest regards

sharon

mei said...

i search for info on Johan Jaaffar and it brings me here~ u said in ur previous post that he is ur bro~ can i noe more~ cause i'm doing a review about it~

nikki suhaila lee boklund said...

ello darl....
i soooo get what you are saying...
good on you girl!!!! enjoy it & grasp every moment of it....it means tht you r @ the ultimate highest level in your life, being happy with yourself...take that home with you & share it with others....g'luck & take care
love oways
nikki

tiara jacquelina said...

hey there becky, sharon, baby milo and nikki...

wow, suddenly my blog is all active again, after being dormant for so long.

nice to find you again sharon after all these years.

becky, i'll try to check your blog out very soon.

nikki - is that you, nikki, my aida -shada twin? kit kat kklub nikki? just to be certain. sounds like its you.. yes, i'm at a wonderful place in my life right now, i can't believe it myself, being such a big city chic and having been part of such a superficial world for the longest time.

baby milo - dato' johan and i go back a long way as i mentioned in my earlier piece. he's one of the country's best brains as far as i'm concerned, and i'm sure some of that comes from his artistic and creative sensibilities. i don't know him well enough privately to give you any further info as he was always mostly a mentor i looked up to with greatest respect but loved to hang out with back in my distant youth. talk to zakaria ariffin, sabri yunos, wahab hamzah of dewan bahasa, they worked closely with him at DBP and knew him as a boss and buddy. i have heard wonderful things said about how his staff loved working under him as a boss when he headed DBP.

Becky Ng said...

I just want to say thanks for dropping in...

nikki suhaila lee boklund said...

ello darl....yupp it's me orite.....all that in one go...dropped u a few lines b4...probably did not it was me...hehehe aiyo i pun tak story you that it was me!!!!
so happy for u babes

keep in touch
nikki

swit@kon said...

take care...love to hear from you..more please :D

imborntosing said...

Hello Aunt Tiara! Don't you think Tassie is such a nice place? I spent a couple of weeks there just to get away from the stress of uni life in Melbourne and how wonderful it was living in the country surrounded by oak trees, away from internet, and mobile phone signal.... many have thought I won't survive there but I did!

Now I am back in KL pursuing a singing career which is so competitve I find... well you tell me what you think :-)

Visit my links. Maybe you might be interested in using me for anything.

Cheers,
IZ OIAM2
Official Site: www.iz-one.com
Official Blog: www.imborntosingsongs.blogspot.com