Skip to main content

How Do You Like Your Cage?

Was sitting in front of the computer, looking at the monitor. So early in the morning, so quiet outside... and I thought of two friends from the past... a brother-n-sister pair, long out of touch. They belonged to a time when I needed nonjudgemental company, company to soothe and yet poke fun at my straitjacket conventionality. I was in turmoil then, under pressure to conform and yet desperately rebelling. But all around me were the trappings of demanding society; my job, my family, my relatives... The nonstop mantra was 'Conform Conform Conform..' My only escape was the night. But even then I only really let myself go when I was with them. And even then... not really. Control was such an issue with me. And they were so much younger than I was. And as I was about to fly off away from my 'cage', Defere came into my life. And so I traded my potential freedom for a different sort of freedom within a cage I wanted. That cage, this cage I am in now, put me squarely in the 'normal + 'conventional' world I was so desperate to escape. But Defere made it all worthwhile. And now Dylan too...

Now I realise that whatever cages we are in, what matters in what's in our minds. For we are never truly free and outside cages. The cages can be monochrome blacknwhite, psychedelic strobes whatever... but still cages all.

So I suppose the question for anyone would be "How do you like your cage?".
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Royal Commonwealth Essay Competition 2009

Another great opportunity for our young people to show what they can do! The Royal Commonwealth Essay Competition has four different age bands, 'Classes'. Each Class offers five topics, plus the Commonwealth Question and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust Question. As we hope to reach a diverse student body across the Commonwealth, there are options for both academic and creative minds.  The Competition deadline is 1st March 2009   CLASS A - Born 1990-1992  1400-1750 words  All questions can be answered by writing an essay or a story which explores the topic in an interesting and relevant way.   Can I help you?  Bullying is an issue which concerns young people throughout the Commonwealth. Why does it matter and what can be done about it?   It is 200 years since Charles Darwin was born and 150 years since the publication of "On the origin of Species". In your view, what evolutionary developments are neede...
24 comments
Read more

Friends That Last The Mile

I have friends who have been with me from schooldays or campus days.... we've been through happy times, stressful moments... even anger and long silences. But when I think of them, I feel a warmth deep inside my heart for they have lasted the mile.  After all these years, they still want to be my friends :)  I told a friend once that when you put your trust in a friend, you are giving that person a knife, which he can choose to put away and never use.  Or stab you in the back.  But I didn't tell that friend that it is possible to survive stabs in the back and still remain friends with the other.  It takes time for the wound to stop bleeding and the heart to forgive, but it is possible. --------------------- There's X, who shared many adventures with me, even though there were points of friction between the two of us.  But I would like to think that deep inside, both of us see beyond those points of conflict.  I appreciate her for being willing to share many enterprises ...
8 comments
Read more

How Challenging Teaching In Sabah Can Be

As a teacher, I have had many memorable experiences but one of the most fascinating has got to be observing my colleagues from other states as they deal with their first days in Sabah. Born and bred in Sabah, I never really had much reason or opportunity to question what sort of image Sabah presented to the outside world (which includes other states in Malaysia) until I went to university in Kuala Lumpur.  And, of course, when I began working as a teacher. My first inkling of how 'scary' Sabah can be to outsiders came during my third year in university.  I had coursemates who quickly got married ... it was the first time I had ever heard of 'nikah gantung'.  Apparently, they could get married but it was a sort of 'marriage on hold' (if such a thing exists..).  What mattered was that they could get a marriage certificate that would help 'save' them from the jungles of Sabah and Sarawak.  Then, during the briefing I attended to receive my first posti...
7 comments
Read more