Life, Death and Love

Have been playing around with photoshop and thought I'd try something different with today's photo. Am not sure how well it will work, but I'll give it a go anyway. I took this photo in Galle and really like the contrast between the guys in the foreground and the ocean and whitewashed buildings in the background. The building on the left is actually a mosque - apparently it was originally a church built by the Portuguese, hence the non-mosque like architecture.

There was the possiblity of work today as someone at work thought she might have to take the day off work. I didn't hear from her last night though, so am assuming I have the day off. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful spring day, so I think I'm going to make the most of it and go for a walk somewhere - perhaps out to Watson's Bay. I have work tomorrow and Friday and although I'm still upset about what's happening I'm not going to waste too much energy on getting worked up about what's going on.

Saw an amazing new Australian film called 'Look Both Ways' with Judith yesterday afternoon. I'd heard good things about it and am glad that it lived up to the reviews. It was a very simple film in many ways - about how we, as humans, cope with life, death and love - and very moving. Waiting for a train to get home I found myself thinking about my own life and my own mortality. Death is not something we often think about in the West and often it seems like we try to ignore or pretend that death doesn't exist. Buddhism encourages us to think about death every day. By being aware of the fragility and impermanence of life only then can we truly appreciate our own existence.

There's another good Australian film out at the moment as well called 'Little Fish' that I really want to see. It's great seeing Australia on the big screen and I always find it interesting how I can relate so much more easily with what is familiar. It's also great to see urban Australia portrayed on the bog screen as for most Australians urban life is what we know - I think more than 80% of Australians live in urban areas and apparently Australia is the most highly urbanised country in the world. Very different from the stereotypical image of Australia.