The Veil of Gloom Lifted

in my earliest days in camb, i had wondered whether i would ever be fond of this place. it would be a place to which stress- loads of it, and the loneliness and discomfort of being in a foreign place would be associated, just like how spore was associated to these before.

even in the holidays, the 'glorious' 5 week easter holidays when the weather is just brilliant for any kind of outdoor actvity, the tension of the portending tripos is building up. people start to shut themselves in their rooms, libraries to brace themselves for the battle in easter term.

i feel obliged to do the same. but every morning as i walk out of basing, i see this:


the serenity of river cam, and trees bursting with cherry pink and blossom white.

and from the library, i noticed this tree which i had not noticed before:


a cherry blossom fluorishing with all the newly-gained energy of spring after dormancy in winter.

then, i took a step back and wondered in awe at the creation of the Creator, and wondered how i could be so parochial to be weighed down by the burden of work. isn't it said in ecclesiastes that work done under the sun is meaningless, a chasing after the wind? "What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.- Ecclesiastes 2:22-23".

i don't mean there is no need to work at all. instead, it is unnecessary to augment the importance of it to a level that causes undue distress. what is most important, God will provide, and we have peace in that.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. -Luke 12:25-27"

so is camb still a place of stress? yes- but it is not going to (and shouldn't) stop me from rejoicing every day.