FLOW-Lifestyle Magazine

FLOW

LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday’s me is still me. I am who I am today, with all my faults. Tomorrow I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that’s me, too. These faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life. I have come to love myself for who I was, who I am, and who I hope to become.

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Murakami:

What I Talk About

When I Talk About Running

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The Art of Dying

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MURAKAMI Haruki

WRITTER (AND RUNNER)

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his fourmonth preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston.

Funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a must read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Fortunately, these two disciplines — focus and endurance — are different from talent, since they can be acquired and sharpened through training. You’ll naturally learn both concentration and endurance when you sit down every day at your desk and train yourself to focus on one point…

Patience is a must in this process, but I guarantee the results will come… Raymond Chandler once confessed that even if he didn’t write anything, he made sure he sat down at his desk every single day and concentrated… The whole process — sitting at your desk, focusing your mind like a laser beam, imagining something out of a blank horizon, creating a story, selecting the right words, one by one, keeping the whole flow of the story on track —requires far more energy, over a long period, than most people ever imagine.

Writers who are blessed with inborn talent can freely write novels no matter what they do — or don’t do Like water from a natural spring, the sentences just well up, and with little or no effort these writers can complete a work. Occasionally you’ll find someone like that, but, unfortunately, that category wouldn’t include me…

I have to pound the rock with a chisel and dig out a deep hole before I can locate the source of creativity. To write a novel, I have to drive myself hard physically and use a lot of time and effort. Every time I begin a new novel, I have to dredge out another new, deep hole.

The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

I

didn’t start running because somebody asked me to become a runner.

Just like I didn’t become a novelist because someone asked me to. One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel

And one day, out of the blue, I started to runsimply because I wanted to.

I’ve always done whatever I felt like doing in life. People may try to stop me, and convince me I’m wrong, but I won’t change.

The Art of Dying MEMETO MORI

Death is one of the few things that we as humans are guaranteed in life, and this is a reality that unites us all - however, the way one acknowledges this fact is unique to the individual.

In medieval times, the theory and practice of reflecting on the transient nature of earthly life was known as “memento mori”: a Latin phrase translating to “remember that you must die”. This theory is an important aspect of ascetic disciplines - particularly Christianity - providing inspiration to turn ones attention away from the distractions of earthly concerns and desires; bringing the focus instead on the prospect of the afterlife.

Artists have explored the concepts of memento mori in a number of unique ways throughout history, developing a universal language of rich visual symbolism over time. Common elements of this genre include skulls, flowers, or a candle to imply the persistence of time. This exhibition will investigate the many ways in which artists have interpreted human mortality, and how the tradition of the memento mori continues to inspire contemporary artists to this day. By creating a dialogue investigating the ephemeral nature of life, the awareness impermanence heightens appreciation of the present.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason to follow your heart.

— Steve Jobs

The Dance of Death (1493)

by Michael Wolgemut

Michael Wolgemut was a printmaker and painter born in 1434 in Nuremberg, Germany. He is not only remembered for his artwork but also for the huge contribution that his workshops had in producing and developing artistic talent such as Albrecht Dürer.

Wolgemut was a prominent figure among artists that were then reviving the old tradition of German woodcuts. Wolgemut would design the woodcuts which would then be used to print illustrations for book publishers in Nuremberg, and the best of these were sold as artworks separately. In a personal capacity, he was known for his various commissioned artwork done for places such as the Church of St. Mary in Zwickau, the Church of the Augustinian Friars at Nuremberg, and the town hall of Goslar.

The Dance of Death is a sub-genre of memento mori art. It became popular during the Renaissance but had its origins in the late medieval period.

With fatal diseases being a constant threat to the population, the image of death was always in the back of people’s minds, and memento mori artists were able to reflect that grim fascination with death back to the public.

During those early years of the style’s development, death was a common theme in people’s lives as epidemics raged frequently through populations. Wolgemut’s version of this theme, also titled The Dance of Death, is an illustration taken from the 1493 edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle, which documented the contemporary times and lives of those living in Nuremberg.

The picture depicts the dead rising from their graves and engaged in a wild dance. Three skeletons dance hand in hand on the right, while another plays the flute on the left. Another skeleton seems to be moved by the music as it rises out of the grave.

Frans Hels the Elder was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1582. Living mostly in Harlem, he painted mostly portraits and was a Dutch Golden Age painter, renowned for his role in the development of portraiture in the 17th century. Through his paintings, historians can catch a glimpse at the various levels of society that existed in Hals’ time, as he painted everyone from tavern heroes to mayors, fishwives to clerks.

His style became admired and replicated due to its radically free approach to realism. He was able to capture the essence of the character and moment in the expressions and poses of his subjects.

Hals painted Young man with a Skull in 1626, which was for a time thought to portray the skull of Yorick from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is now, however, thought to be a memento mori painting or Vanitas, a reminder of the fleeting and temporary nature of existence. The famous painting of death portrays a youngish man, robed in a cloak and wearing a red feathered bonnet on his head. In his left hand, he holds a skull, and with his right hand, he gestures towards the observer.

Maria van Oosterwijck was born on the 20th of August, 1630 in the Netherlands. At a young age, van Oosterwijck’s father took her to see a still-life painter, the masterful Jan Davidsz de Heem. His work greatly influenced her and she became his student, soon developing her talent as a painter of realistic floral artworks.

Maria van Oosterwijck’s artworks were deeply symbolic and allegorical, a style that was highly sought after in Europe during this era. Unlike many of her contemporaries, her work offered some respite from the gloominess of death by incorporating objects that represented resurrection and rebirth.

Her use of extremely dark backgrounds and vivid foreground colors led to her being regarded as one of the most eminent painters of the Netherlands and surrounding areas. Her use of light and shadow were used to great effect, employing the technique of chiaroscuro – the dramatic interplay between light and dark. By incorporating allegorical elements, her work reflects themes such as impermanence, the vanity of man, and the moral obligation to meditate on one’s devotion to the Divine. Her paintings make use of objects that impart a sense of the transient nature of time, such as wilting flowers, skulls, and hourglasses.

STOICISM The Obstacle Is The Way

This thing in front of you. This issue. This obstacle— this frustrating, unfortunate, problematic, unexpected problem preventing you from doing what you want to do. That thing you dread or secretly hope will never happen. What if it wasn’t so bad? What if embedded inside it or inherent in it were certain benefits— benefits only for you ?

What would you do?

What do you think most people would do?

Probably what they’ve always done, and what you are doing right now: nothing. Let’s be honest: Most of us are paralyzed. Whatever our individual goals, most of us sit frozen before the many obstacles that lie ahead of us. We wish it weren’t true, but it is. What blocks us is clear. Systemic: decaying institutions, rising unemployment, skyrocketing costs of education, and technological disruption.

Individual: too short, too old, too scared, too poor, too stressed, no access, no backers, no confidence. Every obstacle is unique to each of us.

But the responses they elicit are the same: Fear. Frustration. Confusion. Helplessness.Depression. Anger. You know what you want to do but it feels like some invisible enemy has you boxed in, holding you down with pillows.

Perhaps you were injured recently and are stuck in bed recovering. Now you have the time to start your blog or the screenplay you’ve been meaning to write. Maybe you’ve recently lost your job. Now you can teach yourself the skills to get the job you’ve always wanted. You can take a careless employee’s mistake that cost you business and turn it into a chance to teach a lesson that can only be learned from experience. When people question our abilities that means we can exceed their lowered expectations of us that much quicker.

Easier said than done, of course.

In each of the three situations above, the individuals faced real and potentially life-threatening adversity. But instead of despairing at the horrific situation— economic panic, being overrun by the enemy, a catastrophic fire—these men were actually optimistic. You could almost say they were happy about it.

Why? Because it was an opportunity for a different kind of excellence. As Laura Ingalls Wilder put it: “There is good in everything, if only we look for it.”

I’m not Eisenhower. You’re not Rockefeller. Our factory has never burned down, so we don’t know how we would react.

But I don’t think it’s as super-human as it seems at first glance. Because there is a method and a framework for understanding, appreciating, and acting upon the obstacles life throws at us. Like Rockefeller too we can perceive events rationally and find the fortune in downturns. Like Eisenhower, we can disengage from our fears and see the opportunity inside our obstacles. Like Edison we can choose to be energized by the unexpected circumstances we find ourselves in. We know it won’t be easy but we are prepared to give it everything we have regardless.

In our daily lives we forget that the things that seem to be blocking us are small and that the obstacles blocking us are actually providing us answers for where to go next. It’s a timeless formula that can be revisited again and again.

All I can say is that this attitude is something I try to think of always. I try to envision these people facing much more significant problems than me, and seeing it not only as not bad but as an opportunity.

We all face tough situations on a regular basis. But behind the circumstances and events that provoke an immediate negative reaction is something good—some exposed benefit that we can seize mentally and then act upon. We blame outside forces or other people and we write ourselves off as failures or our goals as impossible. But there is only one thing we really control: our attitude and approach.

Which is why the stoics say that what blocks the path is the path. That what seems to impede action can actually advance it. And that everything is a chance to practice some virtue or something different than originally intended. And you never know what good will come of that.

The obstacle is the way.

DAILY STOIC

Live Every Day As If It Were Your Last

Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher. He once said:

“You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.”

Death doesn’t make life pointless, death makes life worth living. The world keeps spinning when you’re gone and so many of us live life with an attitude which represents the arrogant thought that we are destined to live forever.

Your life is in an hour glass and the hole which that sand is pouring through could widen or break at any moment.

Something that also differentiated Stoicism from stereotypical philosophical discourse was the fact that it produces men who did rather than thought.

This was Epictetus’ promise of philosophy. Sometimes the discussion about the meaning of life serves no purpose other than to distract you from the answer, which is found in front of you when you live life.

When you wake up, pretend today is your last day and live life as you would in this circumstance.

Food Is The Best Test Of Self-Control

Food is the best test of self-control and temperance because it’s presented to us every single day and in the modern world at any hour of the day.

Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher who in his two part discourse on food said:

“That God who made man provided him food and drink for the sake of preserving his life and not for giving him pleasure, one can see very well from this: when food is performing its real function, it does not produce pleasure for man, that is in the process of digestion and assimilation.”

Although the pleasure of food is experienced on the tongue, it’s clear that the purpose of food is revealed when it assimilates with the body through digestion.

The lesson here is similar to what Socrates once said which is that we should eat to live rather than live to eat.

To practice this principle one can eat plain foods without sauces or try intermittent fasting.

Failure Is Natural, Regret Is Foolish

Marcus Aurelius was emperor of Rome. His untitled writing, commonly known as Meditations is an important source of Stoic philosophy.

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” He means that everything, no matter whether it is good or bad is an opportunity to practice virtue.

Don’t be surprised by failure, expect it, in fact, embrace it and seek after obstacles in your life which seem uncomfortable.

It is here where your character will be tested and most importantly moulded and developed.

The Stoics called negative visualisations the premeditation of evils. The idea is to envision the worst possible scenario.

An example could be twisting your ankle before you run.

Assimilate this idea into your daily actions and you will be rewarded.

Epictetus is famous for what he called the dichotomy of control which describes what is in our control.

We can apply this to failure.

The moment you start to regret something in the past you’re fundamentally acting against something which is out of your control and so there’s no practical reward from doing so only frustration and anger.

We should learn from the past and our failures, but to regret, to ponder and to revisit our previous attempts and then look at present with disdain is a crime to your character.

Focus On The Small Things

Zeno of Citium was the founder of Stoicism, described as living an ascetic life. He once said that:

“Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.”

The idea is basically that one must never underestimate the small things in life, because who’s to say that the small things don’t define the larger and seemingness more important parts of life? They do.

An example could be twisting your ankle before you run.

Assimilate this idea into your daily actions and you will be rewarded.

Epictetus is famous for what he called the dichotomy of control which describes what is in our control.

We can apply this to failure.

The moment you start to regret something in the past you’re fundamentally acting against something which is out of your control and so there’s no practical reward from doing so only frustration and anger.

We should learn from the past and our failures, but to regret, to ponder and to revisit our previous attempts and then look at present with disdain is a crime to your character.

I collect myself that’s shattered beneath the moonlight

I call you moonchild

We are the children of the moon

I breathe the cold night air

Yes we’re livin’ and dyin’

At the same time

But you can open your eyes for now

Just like that movie, like the line (from the movie)

The entire world is blue inside the moonlight

INDIGO The Shade of Blue in RM

“Yes we’re livin’ and dyin’ the same time”

— RM, 4 O’clock

Are you aware of how true this sentence is?

In so many ways Namjoon is telling us here what we never think about.

Right now in this moment, we all are pretty much alive, but at the same time we are on our ways to our inescapable deaths.

It is something we know from the beginning. We see people die, we hear that people die, we miss people that have died and we know one day the same thing will happen to us.

We live until we die. And that could literally happen any time.

Tomorrow we could have a heart attack, we could be run over by a car, we could get into an accident, anything could happen.

So we should do the best of our lives. We only live once.

“Nothing

lasts forever, you only live once.

So live your life, not any other’s lives. Take chances and never regret, never. Never be late to what you wanna do

Right now.”

We only live once. So we should make the best of it, live like we want to live, don’t let ourselves be held back by society or people that drag us down.

You love someone of the same sex? Go for it.

You want to do a job your family doesn’t appreciate? Go for it.

You want to express yourself? Go for it.

You want to travel? Go for it.

We spend too much time with waiting, with hesitating, because we are afraid or we are too stubborn or we don’t want to make someone uncomfortable with talking about our own desires but seriously?

It is your life, it is what makes you you. Fight for what you want. It will be worth it.

So if you need to be selfish to be the person you want to be then.. go for it. Again only as long as you don’t hurt anyone.

Fight for what you want. It will be worth it.

You want it for a reason. Don’t be stupid and let your life be worse than it has to be. Make it awesome, it’s in your hands.

Fight for what you want. It will be worth it.

Unless you harm someone there is no reason for you to hesitate.

Be selfish from time to time because it is your life and if you know what you want, go get it!

You want it for a reason. Don’t be stupid and let your life be worse than it has to be. Make it awesome, it’s in your hands.

You want it for a reason. Don’t be stupid and let your life be worse than it has to be. Make it awesome, it’s in your hands.

So that next time when someone asks:

“Why are you crying?”,

You look up and answer that you cry out of happiness because you reached your goals, because your life is amazing and you might have never thought it would turn out to be this great to be alive, but now it is and you see it. And it makes you so happy that you shed tears.

While “we are livin’ and dyin’ at the same time” you should make the part of living the best possible for you so that when you come to die you won’t regret anything but be proud of the choices you made and feel like it was worth it to be alive.

This way we will be forever young. Together.

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST