The third place

In the last entry, I pondered upon the place that ‘earthes’ you. However, the place of course depends on the individual. One place does not serve everyone. Here is some more ramble of my mind.

During the Christmas break, I had a chance to visit Paris. Before leaving London, one of my classmates told me I would like Monmartre described as an artsy district, so there I was.

Knowing nothing about Paris as always when I travel,,, after shaking off shady street kids (who literally grabbed my arm) and climbing up the hill, what I found was something different than only the artistic streets.

It was Sacré-Cœur Basilica, towering and looking over the town, radiant even under a cloudy sky. In reminiscence of St. Paul’s, I walked in. I found a place to sit for a while – a while as long as I wanted. With eyes closed, I reflected upon the last term, friends always in my heart, and felt the very moment.

Then something came through my mind. Among others who are also deep in their prayers, my thoughts perched on this idea: ‘the purpose of the place.’ Come to think of it, most of the places seem to have their own purposes, and religious sights are a clear epitome. They have been there (often for a long while in the history), serving as a space for people to pray or to congregate with the community of the same values. When my thread of thoughts reached this point, I realised a familiar feeling. It was not long before I remembered the notion of ‘the third place,’ which I came to know about through Gretchen before. As opposed to the first place being home, the second workplace, the third place is an informal environment where you can find a place in the community.

We choose the third place according to the purpose, and it provides the space where we meet people in a context different from other places, probably in a more comfortable way. Why do we find it cozy in the third place then?

Though it sounds that the trick lies in the place itself, it begins in our own psyche. We first have our mindsets ready for the place, and as you already know that everyone shares the same values (although they might be temporary ones), it becomes much easier to mingle at the venue. ‘The purpose’ does not belong to the place but ourselves.

I also remembered that in a discussion during the GIST travel, Gretchen (sorry not to put you on the spot…) mentioned about the moments/places where people become more open than they normally are. I think it applies to traveling itself.

On a travel, I feel my senses are more open trying to feel the unknown, and if that occurs to all, sharing the same psychological moments, why not call travels our cathedral?

Cathedral

Happy New Year.

I am honoured to host this special month to start the year 2014.

As you are aware, I am in London pursuing a master's degree since last October. Life has literally been a whirlwind here, inundated by lots of coursework.

While every week passes by at such a high velocity, it at times becomes a challenge to pace myself. Under circumstances like these, you need something that anchors you to what is important in life. What is it for you? Sports, hobbies, axioms by philosophers?

For me, it has always been tennis, running, reading, photo shooting, and training at the gym (including my pathetic attempt to swim in the pool). However, what if I could not find time (or more precisely, cognitive space) for them? It was a quest that I had in mind at the beginning of the term, which was partly philosophical, partly pragmatic (not to say being philosophical is not pragmatic..).

Walking in the path to school, I found an answer: a cathedral.

Although it indeed is rhetoric, where it could be anything else such as temple, shrine, mosque, home, etc., I was fortunate enough to live close enough to see the magnificent architecture with a roof of the beautiful blue, St. Paul’s.

Though not being so pious myself, I would go to church as a kid at times, and ever since, I have always had fondness to the Christian community, which might be why I was particularly drawn to the consecrated atmosphere here. As I pass by it on a daily basis, its colossal and monolithic presence provides me with a certain sense of reassurance.

The grand existence of it is strongly associated with the ideal exterior of me, which withstands storms, the cold, and anything that challenges. The magnificent inside relates to my interior, or what is of essential value at heart. Among all are friendship, sincerity, and dignity.

This view of what entails life’s significance seems to have been with me since a long time ago, but it was rather floating without forming a particular shape. Or put in a more poetic APLP way, I was holding the holy grail in hands, seeking where to place it.

Once I passed the entrance one day, I was immediately mesmerised by the tranquility that absorbed footsteps, the clatter of people and even the priest. Any noise that otherwise would be heard with annoyance became tamed inside the holy walls of Anglican. I was in a parallel world, shielded from the external terrene that had now transformed minuscule. I felt that the place anchored me, letting myself assimilated with the serenity in the midst of a metropolitan city.

I walked about inside for a while, perceiving what the ambience had to offer, and listening to myself like a person introspective, which I am. Gradually, I veered my attention outward, to the people around. People from different nationalities and cultures. Not many were talking too much or loud. There seemed to be one thing in common. Feeling of sanctity? To me, it was more like respect to this place special to many.

Looking back, I have visited places that possess significance to the local. An instance would be temples and shrines in Japan; another would be the ruins from the past dynasties in Cambodia, and the Tibetan Buddhist temple on top of the hill in Shangri-La old town, Yunnan Province, China, just to name a few. They are all open to the general public (that is why I could visit), and have the power that is stupefying in a way to engross their visitors regardless of where they come from, literally and figuratively. In such places, we tend to look back on ourselves and be more mindful of our own behaviours, quite naturally.

(However, on the other hand, we do hear about contaminations of touristic places by their visitors. It seems to be true that there unfortunately are those who are obtuse enough to be careless. This contamination is also an occurrence in the minds of people in general as in the potency of the place is being diluted.)

When I was in Cambodia, I found a little cool quiet place in a ruin surrounded by mossed stone walls with a ray of the afternoon light for a self-reflection and contemplation upon the course of journey in Asia so far and ahead. Having secluded myself from other tourists in a personal space, my cognisance started to swim more freely, perfect for delving into the inner universe and examine each slate of experiences.

It is amazing how difficult it is to find a quiet place in our daily lives. Even in your room, you would hear some noise, maybe even in the middle of the night. Or the noise might be a silent one that sneaks into your mind and clouds your thoughts.

Putting yourself in a new, special place might help.

- Will try to develop a bit more on this thought in the next entry.

Happy New Year!

As we wrap up 2013, I wish to thank the G12 bloggers of the first year - Rangimarie, Sam, Alisha, Nam, Mami, Aiying, Amir, Hafiz (in absentia), Dina, Loan and Emily, for participating.

While the blogging guidelines were shared in the first year, I feel that it is important to include a couple of simple, mandatory rules for this blog to continue to be meaningful for all of us over the coming years.

So, here are a couple of minimum requirements for the G12 bloggers:
(1) The host of the blog for the month will ensure that they post at least once every month. More is welcomed as that month, the blog is your platform to share your voice with us and the rest of the world.
(2) The blogger of the month will introduce the blogger for the next month on the last day of their month (e.g. Jan 31) or the morning of the first day of the next month (e.g. Feb 1).

To start off 2014, we will meet up with Taku Jindo. With a double Bachelor's degree from Waseda university in computer engineering and from Washington and Lee university in business administration and management, Taku worked as a senior financial data analyst at Bloomberg for five years. He is currently undertaking his Master's studies in Economics at the London School of Economics.