How to live IN TIME

IN time, not chasing time.
That is something that I am learning. I have the tendency to live in the past or worries for the future, never in time. As a result, I am bad at the art of contentment because I am always wishing for something that could have been or something better to happen in my life. As I near the end of my twenties, I become anxious and grabby about time. The time lost, the time that should have been, the time I could've used better... Living out of time kills the joy.

To escape time though, is a different thing and we need it:
When you make music or engage yourself as a listener in music, you can escape time--until the piece of music is finished. As I play a piece on the piano, I no longer think about the passage of time but I escape from the dictation of the ticking seconds. My thoughts and being flow with the music's flow and I am IN the music. That is the beauty about music and art. You can get transported into another world that is in the room next to Time.
Same thing as prayer. When you pray, you enter into communion with God--the Eternal One where the constraint of time is broken down. There is a sweet communion with Him and you soar above the creatureliness of this world, while transcending the world paradoxically because when we are with God, He makes us rise on eagle's wings.

So let us redeem time, to count our days so we can live for God, while remembering to take time to escape time, and to commune with the One who is eternal.

I can have more philosophical musings about this, but I will stop here.

First time on the Eurostar train, Paris-bound

Back to blogging

Here I am back to blogging for two reasons...
1. I want to learn to write more
2. Instagram is getting too overwhelming and I feel like I am just fighting for a space there whereas this blog feels like my own space, where I don't have to compete with anyone to give a voice. What a breath of fresh air

So about writing--I always have these outlines of points and sentences that form themselves as I lay in bed trying to get some sleep at night. By morning, I have forgotten all that I wanted to write and lost the motivation to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard if you may).

Blogging is where I get the space to be creative and get things out, it's my creative outlet.
Particularly, I need to move away from simply lifestyle/what I see in my daily life and travels to writing more about musicology-theology related things, and more culture. A bit more research, if you will.

Coffee--I have become one of those social media sinkers who "like" every pretty coffee photos that come out. I am not much of a shopping person, so the cafe-coffee experience is my weak spot. It gives me a sense of enjoyment which I relate to time spent having meaningful conversations with people (because a cup of coffee is meant to be sipped slowly over the course of at least an hour and that is how conversations can go beyond the 'Have you eaten today?' brevity), and to spending time with a good book or working on a paper. In reality, a fraction of my coffee time is spent trying to take photos of the moment to make it somehow last.

Exploring places--why do I go? what do I want to see? what kind of photos do I want to share?
I've been quite random, always imitating others' styles in different seasons. Consistency is something I lack. I don't know, I can't seem to stay with a thing long enough and I never get satisfied. I don't know how to restrict myself to one style, not that we have to resist change. However, I do need to sit down long enough to develop something out of persistence doing one thing well--maybe not very well at first, but with time, surely something will come out of the amateur beginnings.

So yea, back to blogging.
Please pardon the random musings, inaccuracy in words and information, and stay with me if you wish. It's not easy to craft a niche out in this world wide web.

xo
Phebe

11.1.2018 婚姻註冊日

感謝主，給了我們陽光燦爛的大藍天。當天最擔心的其實是化妝和見敬恩的親人，但神派了一位能幹的好友來幫我 ，親戚們都特別友善。在尖沙咀的麥當勞裡化妝吃第二輪早餐後（早餐特別好吃），我們便趕點走過去香港文化中心前的交通燈會合敬恩的爸爸，然後一起進到婚姻註冊處。到了樓下，見到好多親戚已經陸續到達了，在走廊坐著、站著聊天。敬恩的媽咪更是穿地好美，已經在那裏等我們了。媽媽也被Smiley化妝得好漂亮。9:15am，我和敬恩到櫃檯窗那裏確定我們的個人資料，政府人員也講解一些細節；我們也交了費用。

我開始 greet 來見證我們婚姻註冊的二姨、姨丈、表妹、三姨、姨丈、四姨、姨丈、六姨、姨丈、公公、婆婆、舅母，三叔、三嬸、堂弟、還有敬愛的嬤嬤。大家都面帶笑容，為我們開心。一一稱呼長輩們和握手過後，我們就在註冊廳外等我們的時間。恩愛牧師也來了，好久沒見到他了。
9：45am 我們倆入座，是那種英國式有扶手的高背椅，感覺有點像王和皇后坐的。爸爸和爹地也坐在我們的對面，準備當我們的見證人。
有兩位政府officer，都是年輕的女生。主持的那位坐在桌子的中間一端，開始時很快地再次提醒婚姻註冊的有效和莊嚴，就叫我們交換戒指（我心想，好快哦！有點驚訝）、宣讀寫在牌上的vows（一面是中文的，另一面是英文的）。Nick先宣誓，用粵語，我說了英文的版本，taking each other as spouse。好了後就簽名，先是Nick，然後到我。爹地和爸爸也陸續簽名。
主持的officer便頒發證書給我們，結束啦。We are now legally married.

Officers出去後，嬤嬤、公公、婆婆就來送我們倆紅包。Smiley當臨時攝影師很快的幫我們和不同組合的親戚朋友拍照，趕在15分鐘的時限內拍完。他們讓我們兩位就不用動了，今天我們是主角，就好好坐在椅子上，等換不同的人來配合我們一起拍照。二姨也特別懂得幫我們指導如何拍的更美。

從小禮堂出去後又拍了一些照，也在新娘房拍了一些。

嬤嬤當天也笑地好燦爛。原本她是要去游泳課的，但看到她開心的面容，就知道她對孫子娶老婆的事有支持啦～

過後，大家一起走到文化中心外面的樓梯前拍集體照，也是有不同的組合。由於是冬天，我穿著Joyce借給我的外套。看著在眼前和創意sculptures拍照開心的家人，我不禁露出了笑容。

這兩張是一位好心的過路uncle主動offer幫我們全體拍一張的。他身上帶有單反相機，還特地退後幾步，取了這個景，好貼心。

我們也到sculptures那裏拍了一張。

感謝天父給我們有個美好的ROM（Registration of Marriage）。其實ROM這個詞是好友Michelle講了過後我才知道的。感謝主賜我愛我的家人、朋友們，無論是在身邊或在遠方。

Wisdom 2

"My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you."

Proverbs 2

Lately, I've often asked God to show me His will and what is the right path I should take, but actually I haven't really sought for His wisdom seriously and earnestly--look at all these verbs from verses 1-4! What is beautiful about this is God's promise to give us wisdom and understanding, and that He will guide us so we can walk on the good path and understand what is right and just and fair.

He is worthy

Psalm 95

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

³ For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
⁷ for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
⁸ “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”