Substantively sparse
Why is my blog page so empty? And for so long?
Well, the default answer is that life is so busy and that I have no time to post. Truthfully, I just haven't made the time to post, as life has been indeed very busy. This week, I've just come out of an intense month of furiously working away preparing for the UNDP Asia-Pacific Cluster meeting and the Knowledge Fair which happened concurrently, probably one of the most intense month of my professional career to date.
Well, let me start correcting my wayward ways. Life has progressed quite markedly since my more substantive posts. I suppose that much of my thoughts have been internalized instead of blogged for all. Of course there are more aspects that I can bring to these pages: relationships (yes, I've been dating Art, my girlfriend, quite seriously for almost 6 months now), work and life in UNDP [although I believe the UN generally frowned upon three UN staffers for publishing their autobiographical accounts of working in the UN in various crises around the world in Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures) - and no, that book barely mentions sex!], in addition to my "regular" themes of emergent Christian spirituality and other social justice-related topics.
I'm also serving with the leadership in new LIFT (Living in Fellowship Together - for 20 and 30 somethings) group, formerly known as the YP's (Young Professionals) at ECB (Evangelical Church of Bangkok), my "home" church. Additionally, I sit on the Governing Board, representing the 20 and 30 somethings, serving as the Board's secretary. These responsibilities now give me a different perspective on emergent Christian spirituality.
Even with all these changes in my life, I feel - most importantly - very blessed, and that these changes have been very natural. For example, I never thought I'd be comfortable to write a phrase such as "my girlfriend". For many, writing about (or even mentioning) romantic relationships is a tricky matter, as the power of Google (and its caching of pages) is not a match made in digital-heaven with the reality that many relationships are not usually long-term affairs. In some ways I'm compelled to get on the soapbox and pontificate on relationships and love, which I have in private even prior to dating Art, although now I believe I have more wisdom and experience, which actually reinforce my prior beliefs and thoughts about life, love, and relationships. I feel that I've changed in a very gradual yet marked way - for the better.
Conversations about emergent Christianity have largely lapsed, as busy-ness took over. However, chats with Art about larger issues of faith and spirituality, in the Thai context have been filling in that void. Many of my friends who have traded ideas (and occasional gripes) about Christianity have left Thailand, and the rest of us have become engrossed in our work.
Along with my work in development, in UNDP RCB, I feel that my thoughts and reflections are now less (harshly) critical, less clinical, and perhaps warmer as God has weaved my life over the last 6-12 months. I definitely feel wiser, although still young-looking - I still have the requisite number of people still mistaking me for a high-school kid!
I probably will not be doing too much retrospection over the next couple of posts, not that there isn't a ton of thoughts to recount, but that I'm interested in thinking and looking forward. I'll definitely fill in the blanks for closer friends, but I want to get back on pushing the envelope of the here-and-now and of the future. Perhaps a catalyst for motivating me to post is a recent mini-deluge of update emails from several close friends of mine. That and the fear that my quality of (blog) English is getting shoddy from lack of practice. Just kidding.
Anyhow, I've only started re-visiting my brain feeds (blogs and other sites, marked in my RSS reader) recently. I have several thoughts brewing in my mind - including a long-awaited mega-thought on "settling down" as life gets more manageable. Perhaps that will be posted sooner than later.