5/17/2023 0 Comments Actio sequitur esse![]() In the story, a colonial policeman was asked by his colonial masters to kill an elephant without hesitation or remorse. It was a gift to me of understanding, and from that understanding, the ability to address my ontological and existential realities. Though the story’s intent was meant as political satire on colonialism in Burma, one line stood out to me that seemed to define the essence of my particular situation. George Orwell wrote a short story, “Shooting an Elephant”. I looked in the mirror the next day and didn’t recognise the image staring back at me. ![]() It was as if my life had hit a particularly strong whirlpool (in this case self-created), and I was sucked beneath the churning, dark waters. Everything that was my identity, everything I owned (literally), was lost beneath the turbulence, in one defining moment. Some years ago, my raft/life capsized and I found myself submerged beneath the water, struggling to survive, to keep my head above the water to keep from drowning. What do we do at times like these? How do we navigate the turbulence when the raft/life, is in danger of careening out of control and flipping over, submerging us? Whirlpools and eddies churn the water and leave us feeling a loss of control as the whitewater tosses our raft, our life as it were. However, we inevitably run into rapids at some points. If our journey in life is analogous to a river with the contours and the different terrain reflecting reality, then at times it is serene, and we can enjoy the sun on our faces and the breeze on our backs. That’s what earth is for!” This statement, that sounds at the same time funny and yet not, reflects what some of us feel in moments when the journey of life is bone-crushing and soul-sapping. Soul 22 turns to Joe and says, “You can’t crush a soul here. ![]() In the Disney Pixar movie, “Soul”, the main characters, Joe and Soul 22 are engaged in dialogue in the fantastical place called The Great Before. ![]() (Article by timothy khoo, published in August 2021 in the Law Gazette, the official publication of the Law Society of Singapore) ![]()
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