It has been a rather depressing Christmas. I did not go to church at all. I just stayed at home and looked at the photos that my friends who played in the church orchestra sent to me from church. Except for very rare occasions, every Christmas has seen me in church since my earliest childhood. And I'm always the one who takes the most number of pics and I would post them online or send them to my WhatsApp groups. You may not realise this but church musicians have a lot of time to take photos and selfies and we are at a vantage point for photo-taking. But this time, all I did on Christmas morning was to lie in bed and look at the photos taken by my friends.
There was a time when the Christmas Eucharist would have been brought to me when I was too ill to go to church on Christmas day. But I'm no longer a religious person and I now think it's a bad thing to trouble the clergy over such a small thing.. Like most people, I grew out of my childhood faith but unlike many people, I have continued to serve in the church.
A few of my readers have asked me some questions about my personal religious faith after I posted this blog post: Did Mary know? I'm not a private person and I've always found it amusing when people insist on their privacy over almost everything. So, I don't think it's rude to ask me such questions and I'm not averse to answering them. But it's very hard for me to explain in detail what my religious position is. What I can say briefly is everyone, from the most religious to the least, has to solve the internal conflict in him between fact and religious myth. Most adult Christians will say that 'the wise men from Orient land' who were 'led by a star sweetly beaming' is a myth. But to most children and a handful of adults, this is fact. As one Bible scholar puts it succinctly, that Jesus preached to his disciples is probably a historical fact but that he worked miracles is a myth. People of course differ as to what constitutes 'myth' to them. What is myth to one Christian may be fact to another. In my view, it would be wrong to conclude that the more myths a person believes as factual, the more religious he is. If anything, a case may be made out that believing in myth as fact is more an indication of gullibility than piety.
But at the same time, I'm reluctant to give more examples of myth and fact. What is myth to me may be fact to another and if the person is a fundamentalist (like my own brother), he can be offended if he hears me describe as myth what to him is sacred truth. People aren't just amusing in their strange need for privacy; they can also be touchy on subjects which one would have thought would naturally invite a hugely diverse range of opinions.
OK. Since you are not adverse to answering questions, I am curious, I will ask a couple. Of course I have no expectation that you will answer them. I have never read anything in you blog that would indicate that you wanted certain answers revealed to the public. Nonetheless, I will ask. Like I said, I'm curious. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteHow in the world can you afford to take all those trips, go to those no doubt expensive places, just to run around nude for a few days? Who does that! Are you independently wealthy? You never mention work. I'm not poor by some standards, but I certainly can't afford to be jumping off on vacation every other week. I'm good if I can get away for a week once a year. Then again, I'm not big on going places. I enjoy being at home, in my studio, working. You could say I am somewhat of a recluse. I don't know if I ever mentioned that I am an artist, author, poet, and monologist. Doing all those things keeps me busy! What with making Art, writing fiction and non-fiction, mostly commentary in the form of monologues on the human condition, and making conceptual Art, books, etc., I have a full life. And, there is Joy in it all.
I've imagined what it is you do for a living. I have a very fertile imagination. It comes in handy writing stories, fiction, novels, and coming up with interesting "visuals", like paintings. Anyway, I imagine you being a very successful business man. Is there such a thing as the Asian Mafia? LOL.
The fact that you have a family that doesn't seem to mind that you go off to be nude on some mountainside resort, alone, that is without them, does arouse my curiosity. I don't think any of my wives [I don't mean that I have more than one wife at a time, ;o)] would ever approve of such a thing. I think my current wife would be highly suspicious of such behavior, even though she is quite open-minded [and allegedly trusts me completely]. I think there is a question in there somewhere.
Well, here is a question. How do your children feel about your nudism? Are they at all interested in being nude, I mean being nudists? Are they comfortable with you being nude around the house? These sort of details interest me, and to be honest, help me in my writings, especially in my fiction writings about the human condition. One never knows when such information about real people will come in handy when creating a fictional story about people.
OK, I will wait and see if you answer. Like I said, I have no expectations. I can see reasons why you would not want to reveal certain information about your personal life. And, I can respect that.
Curiously sincere,
De
I don't see why I shouldn't answer your questions although nobody has ever asked me this before in such a direct manner. For reasons I can't understand, a lot of people think I'm wealthy. But I'm not. Funnily, in my own country, a lot of people think I'm impecunious, which is perhaps closer to the truth. Haha. I mean if I have to tick an answer and it's a choice between 'wealthy' and 'poor', I'll most definitely tick 'poor'. But if you use the definition of the UN for 'rich', then all of us are super-rich. I can't remember the precise figures but if you can comfortably eat three meals a day, you are rich by UN standard. The fact is I don't travel as much as you think. A lot of people I know travel many times more. But I do take a lot of photos and if I post two photos, people may think I've been to two different places when they could both be photos taken at the same place two seconds apart. Also, the cost of living in my country is much higher than what most people think. I've seen different rankings for the cost of living in major cities all over the world but the ranking in my country is usually among the highest. That's what the Economist says: https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=WCOL2017 See also Forbes:
Deletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/jwebb/2017/11/30/singapore-is-still-the-most-expensive-city-in-the-world/#2305b81cc5e9. Hong Kong is No. 2 and Zurich (the most expensive European city) is 3rd. Naturally, I find everything in other European cities incredibly cheaper than in my own country. You must take that into account. Most people in the West don't know this. They think everything in Asia must cheap. Of course if you go to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia or just about any Asian country (except my country), you will be astounded to see how low the cost of living is. Hong Kong and Tokyo are expensive but if the Economist is anything to go by, they are still cheaper than in my country. In short, your assumption is wrong. I am far from being wealthy unless you use UN definition in which case all of us are wealthy - by UN definition, anyone who can access the Internet is very rich.
I forgot to answer your next question. My kids don't mind seeing me naked. They are quite used to it. But they aren't interested in naturism. All of us in the family travel on our own quite often but we also have family holidays together. Sometimes, we travel in smaller groups - a lot depends on our own schedules. For example, early this year, my son and I travelled together to the Faroe Islands (a most delightful collection of islands south of Iceland). My wife had to go to Shanghai and daughter was in Australia so they didn't come along. The next month, I travelled with my wife and daughter to Switzerland but my son couldn't make it. Of course in the summer, I went for my nude activities in Austria and Germany by myself. Just before that, I went with my kids to Thailand but my wife was in the US. Last month, my wife and I travelled with our son but our daughter was busy. Nobody is suspicious of anyone else. It would be impossible to live with anyone who is so petty as to be suspicious of lone travels. Every one of us travels alone all the time. Of course if I were the suspicious kind, I could have cancelled my Faroe Islands trip with my son and accompanied my wife on her Shanghai trip. But come on, I'd rather go to the Faroe Islands (which I had not been to before) than Shanghai (which I have been to many times). Every one of us in the family is perfectly honest and we have never given cause for distrust. It would be impossible to live with a wife who is suspicious and distrustful as I am sure it would be impossible for my wife to live with a man who is similarly suspicious. I enjoy travelling but not everyone has the same free time. Hence it's important to be able to travel on your own. You said you didn't think any one of your wives would have approved of your solitary travels. Might I suggest that perhaps that is one reason the marriages didn't last? Trust is very important in a marriage and a party who objects to the other person's travels cannot possibly be considered reasonable. It's nothing unusual in my country. All the friends I know and all my relatives travel on their own as well as with the family. I don't know of anyone who treats solitary travels as something to be suspicious of.
DeleteI don't think that was the reason. Don't assume that I engaged in solitary travels, long range or local. One of my marriages lasted for 18 years. I spent EVERY single night of those 18 years with my wife, except for a short business trip I was required to take by the company I worked for at the time. This was early in the marriage so it was difficult for both of us, being apart for a week. It was the only time. I even spent the nights with her when she was in the hospital having our two sons. So, no, it wasn't that.
DeleteCome to think about it, it wasn't a factor in any of my marriages. Perhaps my marriages might have lasted longer if I had traveled a bit more. [wink]
My current wife and I just celebrated our 12th anniversary on Christmas Eve. We've been together for 173 months. Yes, we still count the months! And I stay in the hospital with her too when she has to stay for some medical reason.
I'm no saint, but she knows that. At this point, at our age, it would just be a waste of a good time to be suspicious of each other. After all, when would I have time to do anything... suspicious? ;o)
Glad you are feeling better, holidays are not a time to be under the weather. Thanks for the glimpse into your private life, but I personally feel it is your and your business alone.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays
Thanks. I'm OK with personal questions. It's also good to clear the air. It won't do if people get the mistaken notion that I'm wealthy when I really am not. Once I was in Jakarta and an Australian woman discovered that her handbag had been stolen. She became a little hysterical. The man selling food at a stall laughed. I asked him why he laughed. He replied in Bahasa Indonesia (which I'm fluent in) that 'these Caucasians are wealthy' and the theft meant nothing to them. They didn't look rich at all and I told him he was wrong to assume they were rich. And even if they were rich, nobody wanted their handbag stolen. But he was not sympathetic. To him, anyone who looked distinctly foreign had to be rich. I think the same wrong assumption applies to me. I've had remarks made to me quite a few times by Europeans that I'm wealthy. But my fellow Asians are never under that delusion. I suppose they can tell that I haven't got the usual appurtenances of wealth, whereas Europeans and presumably Americans can't see all that because of the cultural differences. It's always good to explain everything logically. Imagine if I get kidnapped because people think I'm rich. I don't want to be killed because my family can't raise the ransom. Haha. My own people won't ever kidnap me because it's obvious to them I'm poor. Cultural differences can be hilarious. My friends will all be in stitches if they hear that I'm thought of as rich.
Delete;o)
Delete