THE YEAR IS COMING TO A CLOSE.
YOU MAY BE
PUSHING FOR THE “LAST LAP OF THE RACE” IN YOUR GOALS.
THERE SEEM TO BE MORE LOOSE ENDS
TO TIE THEN YOU CAN IMAGINE.
CHRISTMAS IS DAYS AWAY.
YOUR ADRENALINE IS PUMPING ON A HIGH.
PRESSURE AND INTENSITY BUILDS UP.
ONE FINAL PUSH TO THE FINISH LINE.
CHOOSE TO FINISH THE YEAR WITH PURPOSE.
YOUR CHOICE.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, BELIEVE IT.
WORK FOR IT.
REALLY WORK FOR IT!
GROWTH REQUIRES STEPPING INTO DISCOMFORT.
GUESS WHAT? IT’S WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS!
ACHIEVE IT.
YOU CAN IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
🎵It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas🎄, everywhere we go🎶… and you know how the rest of the song goes. Join in the festivities.
Jeannie (The Batik Influencer) and I (also known by many as the Hatted Writer), together with my cousin and friends; have been on a tour of sorts, or pilgrimage if you may; of some of the major shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur (1) or Kay El (K.L.) and Petaling Jaya or Pee Jay; checking our the level of christmassness each of them had to offer. It was more of the company and building the drama towards the big day and then, being filled with the reason of Christmas.
Though we have not planned, nor it is our intention to cover each and every of the many (there are multiple x many in Subang Jaya, Kay El and Pee Jay) shopping centres or malls, I dare say we have visited quite a few over the last few days.
Our first “official Christmas visit” was Sunway Pyramid, obviously due to it being amongst the closest of all the malls to our house.
Our next was to Bangsar New Village, then Bangsar Shopping Centre, TRX, Pavillion, KLCC and Nu Sentral.
At KLCC, I decided to visit one of Malaysia’s most well known and premier bookstores – Kinokuniya. My book, SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT is available at their store. You can get your copy of the book at Kinokuniya.
Or, you can get it directly from me, whichever best suits your convenience.
I will be at Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya or Pee Jay P.J.), together with the Batik Influencer, my wife, Jeannie; tomorrow (Saturday – December 13th) and Sunday, December 14th. I will be very happy to specially personalise your copy of the book. I am looking forward to meeting all of you.
The Batik Influencer has a whole new range of her JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation with her this weekend. They are, very, very limited number of pieces. Come on over as early as possible to get one, two or more of JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations.
Christmas is just a wee number of days away. So, if you want to bring your guitars, violins, keyboards, trumpets, tubas, triangles to play and sing Christmas carols, the Batik Influencer and I will definitely join in the fun. Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la🎵🎶
It is also getting to be the time when we have to prepare our goals, directions, dreams and aspirations, if we have not done so already (for some of us). I, for one; am grateful for each moment that has not presented itself yet, for the “now” moment and for the one that has just left. I had a traumatic (can I say that?) experienced which began about 48 hours ago and lasted for about a day, until the clearance that all was ok was confirmed. This experience is for another essay, maybe soon.
Now, let the weekend began. Oh, it has already.
Address:
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, ,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: December 13th – December 14th, 2025
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm(can be extended to 7.00pm)
AS THE SAYING GOES: A MAN IS AS GOOD AS HIS WORD.
MIRROR YOUR IMAGE.
KEEP YOURS.
HONOUR COMMITMENTS.
THEY WILL DOUBLE BACK TO HONOUR YOU.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
“EXTRA” IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY.
DO YOU HAVE THE OOMPH TO PUT YOU IN THE EXTRAORDINARY?
NEVER GIVE UP, NO MATTER WHAT.
EVERYONE HAS TOUGH, CHALLENGING DAYS.
IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH ONE OF THESE DAYS,
PICK YOURSELF UP AND KEEP GOING.
IT’S THE OOMPH REQUIRED
TO PUT YOU IN THE EXTRAORDINARY.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
YOU SHOULD NO LONGER ALLOW YOUR PAST
TO RUIN YOUR DAYS OR
BE A MEASUREMENT OF YOUR FUTURE.
LIVE IN THE PRESENT.
EVERY MOMENT NOW, IS THE PRESENT FROM THE FUTURE. LOOK FORWARD TO IT.
ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
THE SPACE BETWEEN
OUR BIRTH (THE BEGINNING) AND DEATH (THE END) IS CALLED LIFE.
WHAT WE DO IN BETWEEN IS CALLED LIVING.
IF SOME PEOPLE ACT LIKE THEY CAN LIVE WITHOUT YOU, HELP THEM DO IT.
NO MATTER WHAT’S GOING ON,
DON’T LET THIS DRAG YOU DOWN.
~ A DECISION YOU HAVE TO MAKE.
KEEP YOUR ENERGY HIGH.
BE THE POSITIVITY FOR OTHERS TO LATCH ON TO.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
Listen… Do you want to know a secret???
Whisper…
LIFE IS A GIFT.
ENJOY EVERY MOMENT.
LIFE IS A JOY.
LIVE IT.
~ Alan Ian Atkinson
Writer, Author, Storyteller
It all started with blue. I love colours, especially those bright shades. I think they speak out “Life” to me. However, all shades of colours have their place in the spectrum of colours.
Before blue, going back several years ago, I wanted to have two or three lines of a sort of an electric green in hair colour, streak across one side of head. Then, I found out that the process to get it done would be a long one. People also advised (said / commented?) that I won’t be portraying a serious enough image for the type of work I was doing (then).
Today, I look at life differently. I look at life through a whole range of lenses, be it normal, wide-angle, telephoto, zoom, macro. It is like as though I found a hidden treasure chest, managed to open it, and was awed with what was inside it. I believe that each and every one of us has a treasure chest, maybe similar to the one I found, but the treasures that each one of these chests hold are different, there are no two treasure chests alike, you cannot peek, look or take someone else’s treasure chest. Likewise, others cannot take your treasure chest away from you. How awesome is that?
There is a caveat. The treasure chest is with each one of us, we may see it, but we may not be curious enough to explore, to see what’s inside of it.
I believe that these treasure chests for each one of us have only great, good, vibrant, happiness, productive – everything needed to add multiple years to our life. So, just in case you may have seen your treasure chest somewhere in the corner of your life and are hesitant to explore it…😁
Blue, light ocean blue, that is; was my first choice of colour. I was gungho to try it out. I Whatsapp-ed (Malaysian for sending text messages via the Whatsapp app) my good friend, Sam; who is from Sam Image Studio (you guessed it – she owns the studio) and told her of my blue – hair plans. I asked how long would this whole process take.
Her reply was, “Haha! You sure you want to do this?”. She said I would have to have my hair bleached first and then add the blue. The whole process would take about 2 and a half hours.
That long? I thought to myself. Never mind, we’ll do “just above ordinary” first. Of course, I stipulated a condition that Sam works on my hair personally, as she had done multiple times in the past.
I was at Sam’s studio just after lunch that day. She showed me a colour chart and I chose a fairly light shade of brown. Then, Sam went to work and did her magic. About an hour and a half later, it was accomplished. I liked the finished job.
I told Sam that I was not completely over the blue…yet. Future…? The future which is a moment away.
One of Life’s greatest lessons is that learning is a continuous process. So much fun…
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.
BUT GREAT THINGS….TIMELESS.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
