Every day, we leave a trace of ourselves behind without even noticing. It is the soft evidence of our daily lives—the lingering scent of a meal, a fingerprint on a window, or the low battery warning at the end of a long day. These are the quiet threads that remain when we move from one moment to the next. What marks are you leaving behind today?
Presence in Relationship
Ricky Sim (Artistic Director)
Presence… is something I’m still learning. I used to think it simply meant being there — showing up, sitting across from someone, nodding at the right moments. But as I grow older, I’ve realised that presence is much quieter and also much harder. It asks for a kind of honesty that doesn’t always come naturally.
There are days when my mind races ahead of my body and I’m with someone in the room but drifting somewhere else entirely. I can feel that disconnect, that moment when I know I’m not fully tuning in. It isn’t because I don’t care. It’s just that life pulls in many directions at once. Still, I’ve started to notice how much it means when I choose to pause and give someone my full attention. Not to fix anything. Not to offer the perfect answer. Just to listen, honestly and openly.
Ferns & Herbs
Matthew Goh (Company Dancer)
My recent love for gardening has prompted me to slow down, observe and appreciate. Growing plants takes patience, understanding them takes time and seeing them bloom brings a quiet feeling of joy.
It has been a surprise to encounter this experience! As I work my hands into the soil, prune the plants and silently “speak” to them. It feels as though we are sharing a collective presence of time, breathing and living.
“The truth is, nature doesn’t speak in words — it teaches through presence, patience, and quiet observation.”
– Mathees Asinsha
Source: Medium.com
Thinking threads
Audrey Desmond (Marketing Lead)
Thoughts that linger within consume me
Recalibrate… breathe…
Actively shifting away from procrastination and the weight of the day
Connecting the endless thinking threads
Exploring how these traces can be interesting, rather than overwhelming
Photo by Valentin Ivantsov
Faint Lines, Lingering Light
Esther Ong (Company Manager)
What remains is not the path itself, but the feeling of it. A subtle shift in how space might be entered, how attention might be held. Long after it is gone, the impression persists, soft, unresolved and difficult to name.
This is how Hideo Kobayashi’s photographic works linger in my memory. The light in his work does not follow a predictable path. It bends and drifts around what it meets. Watching it, the world feels slightly altered, as if the space itself remembers the line that once passed through. It leaves no fixed route, yet it edges quietly into perception, shaping how we move, notice and hold a moment in mind.
I notice my own traces in the spaces I pass through: the glow that lingers on pavement after a streetlight flickers off in my neighbourhood, the brief reflection along a windowpane, the way sunlight shifts quietly across a clearing. These fleeting marks may never form a road, yet they linger in subtle ways, shaping the landscapes around me and the moments I touch without knowing.
“Interrupted Place/trace” Emon Photo Gallery, Tokyo Filming “Streetlight”
In Hindsight
Charlene Lim (Admin Executive)
Traces of ourselves feels like something we only notice in hindsight. It feels so minute across your life but yet it could also hold great significance. Sometimes, people are so caught up with achieving larger goals in their work, school or family, that they miss the smaller moments in life. The smallest ripple can have a large effect, evident from trends and traditions. This prompts me to relieve the pressure I have on myself to only chase and hyperfixate on larger goals and instead be intentional and authentic at every moment. At any moment, you never know when you alter a place, people or object.