The Good Fight

I've been meaning to write about this for some time, and perhaps I can now that I've returned from my solo backpacking trip. While in India, Sandeep picked up The Pilgrimage which I feel changed both of our lives significantly. So many wonderful passages but the one that continues to resonate more deeply with every day and adventure is the one regarding the good fight:

The Good fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams. When we’re young our dreams first explode inside us with all of their force, we are very courageous, but we haven’t yet learned how to fight. With great effort, we learn how to fight, but by then we no longer have the courage to go into combat. So we turn against ourselves and do battle within. We become our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, or too difficult to realize, or the result or our not having known enough about life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid to fight the good fight.

The first symptom of the process of killing our dreams is lack of time… The Busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The Truth is, they are afraid to fight the good fight…

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the good fight.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams-we have refused to fight the good fight.

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves…What we sought to avoid in combat-disappointment and defeat-came upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breath, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from out certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of Sunday afternoons.

I have met so many travelers and find that there is one similarity flowing deeply within: we all fight the good fight. So many have quit their jobs, left their lives for months at a time against the advice of their friends and family, spending what little money they've saved to pursue living. It feels wonderful to have found a community of fighters.

My time at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand introduced me to a whole new approach to fighting the good fight. Seeing the project and devoting my entire being to it for one solid week... I just see how love and passion can fuel a project, and be all you ever need in life. Most of the workers at the park don't have families or kids... they don't need any. The park, each other, the incoming volunteers and the elephants are. And that's all they need! Living their lives for a week allowed me to see what it means to truly love and devote yourself to what you do.

So that's what I'm going to do. And since I've made that pact with myself, I can feel a change in my art and how it flows from my fingers. I've learn to trust my art without thought or expectation. Just presence, openness and love. The drawing above is the first drawing I did after leaving the park, and by far the piece I am most proud of. Enjoy :)

elephant nature park part 2

Sketches galore! Never have I drawn so much! Everywhere I turned there was an elephant so naturally, I had my sketchbooks within reach always. They're such beautiful creatures... so wrinkly & surprisingly fuzzy (especially the babies!). I felt like a Disney animator for the Lion King practicing for the opening sequence.

more to be uploaded later! (yes, there's more)

elephant nature park part 1

I think I said it in an earlier post, but to reiterate: Elephant Nature Park = best week of my life. Not exaggerating one bit.
I mean, just look at how much I laughed with one of the elephants. She was really funny. Clearly.

did anyone else just hear that? no? just me? :)

Food & Art from Thailand :)

best drawing desk ever :)
constantly eating, constantly drawing

So many sketchbooks!

I went through four in the one month traveling. Kiiiinda ridiculous! I do double them up as diaries but still that's a lot of content. Sooo many feelings & thoughts!

I'm back from touring SE Asia!

For 6 weeks I'm staying put in the Philippines until I hop on a jetplane for Japan & Singapore in April. Tough life, right? The month solo backpacking trip was amazing and I finally have pictures to prove it! What better way to kick off the sharing than with food & art ;)

Malaysia:

roti & teh tarik

abc (their shaved ice)

chicken & rice

roti bom

cendol (with a floating person for garnish)

Chang Chang Chaaaaang

I've returned from the Elephant Nature Park! I can't describe how amazing the experience was... so I'll just share what I wrote in my journal:

mae kham kaew, the friendliest!
(photo borrowed from ENP)

Train Station, Chiang Mai
31/01/10

I'm very sad... The reality of the experience is hitting me just now. I loved my time in ENP. From the bonfire to hopping on the back of a truck filled with corn, digging around to find a cob to eat as we drove through the jungle, villages and farmland. I loved quoting 10 things I hate about you with Tori while de-husking corn, and all the volunteers and mahouts gathering around me to watch me draw. And the variety of people here... I shoveled elephant poo with the scifi writer who gave one of my favorite children's book illustrator/writers his big break (SHAUN TAN). I love this town and how the people joke and laugh. I can feel that there is a reason for each person I've met on this trip, that their stories and influences are important, some more than others but significant nevertheless.

And waking up to hear a choir of dogs, roosters and elephants every morning, retiring to bed with dirty feet from the dust, tired from the labor, full from the delicious food (pad siew everydayyyyyy!!) and happy because I accomplished something grand. Seriously, the sand task was the most tiring... Trekking to the beach, shoveling sand into giant sacks (10 volunteers filled about 200 bags of sand), loading them on to the truck bed, then emptying them into the elephant pens. We made two big mounds for the babies to enjoy. We weren't even done loading all the sand but had to escape because the babies were RUNNING to get to the sand. And they doooove trunk first, kicking and trumpeting. Seeing our 3 hours worth of work demolished and destroyed in a matter of seconds was worth it. Then to linger by their pens, watching them play and Lek (the beautiful soul responsible for the park) sing que sera to lull them to sleep...!!! Once the baby was asleep, Justine and I were invited in. The world felt so small in that moment, like it all fit in that little elephant. Oh, and how she snored! SO LOUD! I rested my hands on her stomach as she slept and gave her all the love I could possibly summon.

the baby, pha mai
(photo borrowed from ENP. My own photos to come soon!)