Missing Pieces

Words by Siangling Tan
Additional writing by Terence Wang


Inspiration comes at the most unconventional and unexpected of times. Sometimes the search for it takes weeks, months, and sometimes every ounce of effort is for naught. And sometimes, it is painfully obvious, unexpected, and comes in the most unguarded moments.

Every single person who has tried creating anything - be it a piece of writing, like this very article, or a music composition, a painting, any piece of art, a dance - will undoubtedly agree.

For example, today, I suddenly started singing Bohemian Rhapsody. A search on Youtube led to a compilation of Beatles Hits, which I started listening to and singing along to like a maniac. Seriously, though, you don't want to hear me sing. And suddenly, I was overwhelmed by an enormous tsunami of inspiration.



I was supposed to be redesigning the [redacted] for this very website, and I'd been struggling with it for a day or two. At that particular moment, though, coerced by the nonchalant vocals of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, images flooded my mind and soon, I was staring at a piece of paper filled with doodles and sketches.

Some time later, after drawing some of the designs digitally, I couldn't help feeling really good about myself, coming up with pretty decent stuff without ample tools. I looked down at that sheet full of designs and couldn't help but lament that I could not turn some of those designs into digital reality, simply because I do not have the 'right' apparatus, i.e.: a graphics tablet.

How many times in our short, relatively inexperienced lives, have we been struck with extraordinarily brilliant ideas, only to give up on them, simply because we do not have the means or the tools to turn them into reality?

I dabble in a little bit of everything. I write, I compose, I choreograph, I dance - I've been keeping this secret from a lot of you for many years, and now I've finally found the courage to admit it, simply because I don't want to ruin my reputation of being a tomboy. It's stupid. I know- and I draw. And often, I find myself unable to translate every ounce of brilliance, at least, my own perception of personal brilliance. I don't have the musicians to play compositions I write; I don't have dancers and the skills to perform my choreographs; I've been slacking off and getting kinda out of shape; I don't have the tools and the meticulous attention to detail needed to draw decent pieces of artwork; and I don't have the sufficient language skills to be a good writer.

Some naturally-born talent cannot be acquired through hard work. I love art, I love dance, but I will never be able to dabble in them fully simply because of the way my brain is hardwired, or my body proportions and physicality. Or perhaps, I just haven't tried hard enough. There are things you can do, and things you can't do. The lines between them are sometimes smoke and sometimes crystal. But whatever it is, I refuse to stop appreciating things of such beauty because of my personal lack of ability.

Creativity has no boundaries, and although there are limitations in real life, there is none for imagination. I write music, I enjoy writing music, and I know that most of my work will never be performed. But at least, at the very least, a figment of my imagination and creativity is documented. I'm inspired, I create, I learn. Such is the simple joy of creating and the fulfillment it brings is indescribable. They are, in the end, fragments of the past for me to refer back in the future, to chart my growth as an artist, a musician, a person and a human being.

Yet, sometimes, perhaps it's inevitable that we find ourselves wanting more. We want to share our works and our triumphs, not merely to glorify ourselves but because we believe that they can amaze and entertain others, too, as much as they have amazed and entertained us through the mere process of being created. We feel that the world should be able to share the joy brought by our creations, thus it can be painful to know that simply due to circumstance, or because we lack one thing or another, those creations may never even see the light of the day.

It truly shows the world as it is today, a world where individuals and societies are encouraged and urged to collaborate and complement the missing pieces of skill and talent for each other. It is, for the most part, a great thing - with how interconnected we are today, collaboration has only become easier. And this means that complementing pieces are becoming increasingly common day by day, allowing for the creation of even more elaborate puzzles.

But like any good jigsaw puzzle, having complementing pieces doesn't mean that they're any less difficult to find. Sometimes we just have to dig and dig within the pile, not knowing when we can finally come across what we need and continue the road to completion. Until then, I guess we can only hope; however, I have no doubt that there is indeed hope in finding the pieces we need......just like this article, no?


Picture credit to: http://v-imagine-l.deviantart.com/art/Imagine-182031730