Post Bodhi Nite Thank You Dinner

Last night was the Thank You Dinner, which was for the Bodhi Nite Organising Committee to thank the helpers for all their efforts. Department heads and assistants had a chance to give a speech to say thank you to everyone. I actually abandoned my original planned speech seeing how no-one else had notes! So I just got straight to the point and thanked everyone from the heart. But for those who may be interested, the following is the original speech that I was going to give...

Thank You Dinner Speech

For those of you who may not know me... Hi, I’m Amy. I’m in my final semester of my Master of Org Psych, and… I like long walks on the beach, candle-lit dinners… No, no, no. I’m not here to talk about that. =p

So my experience… It all started when I was approached by Ming De one time after Chinese Dhamma Talk. *Clear throat for MD voice*

MD: *MD Grinning* Hi Amy, how are you?

Do you know about Bodhi Nite? *Me nods*

Would you like to help out? *Me nods ok*

Would you like to be the Head of the Decoration Department?

Me: Whaaaaaat?!

I’ve watched the show in the past two years and I always meant to help out since I joined Unibuds this year but honestly, I didn’t expect to play a big part in it at all. I had my concerns about the time commitment since I’m writing a thesis this year and juggling a few things already – so more responsibility sounded like a swear word to me. But obviously, in the end I said yes and here I am now. =)

My Bodhi Nite Involvement

So a little background on my involvement: I was first and foremost the Head of Deco. But I also played a small role in the Sketch – yes, I was one of the Trees. Rock on Trees!! – yeah Rosie! I also took up the role of Pianist for the Finale Song and the Unibuds Song.

I’ll tell you a bit about each of my roles.

1. Organising Committee

Firstly, as a member of the OC, I had to attend meetings. The first OC meeting that I went to – I had no idea what to expect. I’ve never been on the Organising Committee for anything before and I also didn’t know what I was doing. What does the Deco Head do? Make things pretty? *Shrug* The first meeting – I thought it was pretty full-on and serious: meeting agendas, department updates and sometimes heated discussions… Very intimidating for a n00b like me.

It was such a great experience to be part of the OC though – one of the perks of being the “Head” is that I get an Assistant (Hi Emily), which I thought was really cool. It was awesome to get an insight into all the “behind the scenes” organising and planning of one of the biggest shows on campus. So… thank you OCs!

2. Head of Decoration Department

As the Head of Deco – it was my opportunity to be a leader. As I learnt more about my responsibilities, it was clear that it will take a lot of planning and hard work to do it well. Speaking of hard work, I have to thank my Deco team.

Thank you for helping me along the way by giving up your precious time to do some slave labour. Like making the Activity Posters and name tags, polishing the Buddha statue and packing Deco stuff into boxes in preparation for BN. And let’s not forget the actual setting up on the day – the Activity Board in the reception area, the stage & Green Room altar, flower arrangements and other important stuff… I couldn’t have done all that by myself – so thank you Deco team! Also, thank you to Linus for helping me with Deco and everything else.

I really enjoyed being Deco Head – it was a challenge but I have learned so much from doing it. I was constantly adding things into my Deco Report instead of writing my thesis, cos I thought that was more fun. But now that it’s over; I don’t have any more excuses to not write my thesis! Bugger.

Proud Deco Head with Awesome Activity Board

3. Sketch

So now a bit about me as a Tree… Hm… There’s really not that much to tell except that I was a Tree with spunk? No, really – it was a lot of fun being a part of sketch – however small my role was! Thank you to Khai Yi and Chris, the script writers and the Sketch team for the wonderful Sketch! And thank you to the Backstage Boys for preparing the Tree props for me and Rosie. We looked very attractive in it. *Thumbs up* Ha ha.

Me and Rosie - Tree 1 & Tree 2!

4. Pianist – Program Master Department & Choir Department

And finally – my role as a Pianist. I’ve always wanted to perform on the piano on stage in front of a huge audience – so this was my dream come true. I always tell my piano students “you have to make all your movements really big so the audience sitting right at the back of the auditorium can see what you’re doing!!” But it was all talk – cos I have never actually experienced it myself. So now I can tell them from experience.

I was terrified of playing on stage. I’ve never considered myself as a performer. I’ve certainly never accompanied singers or a choir for that matter. I was so stressed out about performing the week leading up to the show and the whole day during BN as well. Add that on to the stress of being a department head. Some of you probably would have noticed how stressed out I was.

But you know what? I got through it! I was so touched by everyone’s support – I really felt the lyrics of both the Finale Song and the Unibuds Song; especially the choruses. The choir was awesome – you guys did really well. It was also an amazing experience working with the Finale Song guys – I’ve never been involved in the process of creating a song – especially a song that is so meaningful. So I’m really honoured to be a part of that.

Accompanying for the Finale Song "Blossoms of Life"

Accompanying the Choir for the Unibuds Song

Conclusion

I still remember back in the May Pot Luck, when the department heads were being introduced, I had to get up here in front of everyone to talk briefly about Deco – which I knew practically nothing about at the time. I don’t think anyone noticed, but my legs were shaking because I was that nervous.

Before this experience, I never saw myself as a leader or a performer. I didn’t even think I was all that creative either. But this experienced has proved that I am all those things and more. I’m really proud of what I have achieved through this event. I’ve done things in the past that I’m proud of too, but I can honestly say that Bodhi Nite 2008 is the greatest achievement of my life so far.

Thank you to everyone who played a part – one thing that I’ve learnt being in Unibuds is that amazing things can happen when everyone works together towards a common goal. Look how much happiness we brought to the audience and ourselves.

Before I stop ranting, I want to say BN 2008 was an unforgettable journey. All the wonderful friends I’ve made; all the things I’ve learnt; and how much I’ve grown. I’ll never forget it.

So… Sadhu~ Sadhu~ Sadhu~

Things Fall into Place

Things don't always go as I expect,

But they seem to fall into place -

Often in ways better than I hoped.

The common saying goes -

"When one door closes, another opens".

Doors I have closed,

I have not looked back at.

Doors I have opened,

I walk through with a new sense of joy.

End of an Era

A sickening, yet familiar feeling of fear washes over me. Although smaller battles have already been fought and won a few months past, the thought of facing my most dreaded enemy yet again is too frightening. I have put off this major battle for as long as I could - distracting myself with other, more manageable battles. Which by the way, have also been victorious.

Why should I be scared? I have fought a much bigger, more monstrous version of this enemy two years ago. That battle was brilliant - so many struggles and obstacles along the way to victory. But I won it. I won it...

Today is the day. There is no more excuses, no more hiding, no more running away. I must be brave. I must.

So today marks the end of an Era. The Era of Procrastination.

I shall now take a stab at my most dreaded Masters thesis. *Haaaaaii-YAAA!!!*

Grateful

I didn't expect much this year... unlike past years. But the less I expected, the more I received. My world has changed - it looks very different from where I am now. And I couldn't have done it without everyone's help.

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes! It really made my day that much more special. =)

~Much love to all~

Credit to Life's Teachers

Everyone that comes into your life teaches you something - about people, about the world, and about yourself. Some people who enter your life encourage your growth through a positive relationship with you - mentoring and guiding you through good and bad times, sharing your successes and failures. These people are easily classified into the "good" category and they have important places in our hearts. It's very easy to love these people and to speak well of them.

Other people, however, speed up your growth through having a negative relationship with you. Perhaps you have never gotten along with these people. Or perhaps it began positively but then the relationship sours by circumstances or misunderstandings. These people are easily classified into the "bad" category and often you'd just rather forget that these people even exist. It's very easy to hate these people and to speak ill of them.

What is it about the latter category of people that are so difficult? Whereas the former category of people do things with good intentions towards you, those in the latter category may not have intentions quite so pure. Sometimes even with intentions to harm. These people challenge your beliefs and self-perceptions. Perhaps they accuse you of things that you wouldn't in a million years agree with. Or perhaps they spread their ill-will towards you on to others. Whatever it is, it's never easy to deal with.

What is one's natural reaction towards these people? To defend oneself, to retaliate, and even to hate.

Why is this the case? What is there to protect?

Everyone has a sense of ego - a sense of self. We all have an image of who we are, what we represent. When our sense of 'self' is under attack, we want to protect this 'self'.

A couple of things to think about though...

• Why are they attacking in the first place? Do they have any basis for their attacks? First of all, reflect on your own actions. Put yourself in their shoes - would you react the same way if you were them? Most of the time people don't start attacking for no reason - there has to be better things to do in life than making random attacks. If that is the case, there are lessons to be learnt. What could you have done differently? This is by no means an easy feat - taking a good look at yourself is challenging at the best of times. But this must be done in order to move forward and become a better person for it.
  

• Why is this sense of self so important to us? And why must others agree with our sense of self? Sometimes people go too far and attack just for the hell of it after a while. They can attack all they want but as long as you know who you are and what you are doing - it does not matter what their opinions are if you do not believe them to be true. Often these people can teach you how not to act.
  

Many people come and go in one's lifetime. For better or worse, these people will teach you something. Your experiences shape you into who you are today.

So here's paying credit where credit is due - thank you for the experience.