Signs I Look For that Energize and Delight Everyday

Are you looking out for these, too?

Dear readers, I do not advocate the above sign as I don’t drink. I cannot tolerate alcohol well.

But I love the creativity — this is taken outside of a pub in San Francisco. Take the word solution in 2 ways, right? What a way to sell their drinks!

The following is my take on Anne Bonfert’s lovely January prompt in Globetrotters: Signs.

Signs Everywhere

Every day and everywhere, we come across signage — traffic, street, store, number, vital signs, and signs from the above!

Why are signs essential in our society?

Imagine there are no signs on the road or in a supermarket. It will be chaos. We will not be able to find anything.

Signs are for communicating meanings and feelings, setting directions, organizing people, giving orders, making suggestions, and enabling us to live a convenient and orderly life.

Signs are often non-verbal, and a picture is a thousand words. Think of the zebra crossing on the road — no one needs to tell the drivers this is a sign to stop and let the pedestrians walk.

When we are writing emails or texting, do you use emojis to represent your feelings? Sometimes, I admit something embarrassing in my email and immediately put in the flushed face emoji 😳. According to Emojipedia, it goes well with a drooling face 🤤 or a see-no-evil monkey face 🙈 (now I see how this is used.)

Or, look at my friend and artist Yiying Lu’s take on Johannes Vermeer's famous painting with her boba tea creation (yes, Yiying is the one who creates the boba emoji and many other food emojis!) Isn’t it fun?

Signs do not need to be about certain things and can be about us and our lives.

This is an answer I like when one asks others on Quora: what’s the most important sign of life?

The enthusiasm to live, to cherish every moment and live in the now, not the before or the after. A dull person is equal to the dead. The undying energy, liveliness and the vigorous person constitute life. Seizing every moment. The will to live, to fly, to soar, and to fall is surely a sign of life (if you may…)~Anavi Kothari

The best sign of life to me is being able to sense a world of opportunities in front of us, to want to live life fully, to love and be loved.

It is not always easy to achieve that, so I look for motivation and little reminders that delight and energize us every little moment.

I have developed a habit of looking for motivational and cheerful signs wherever I go.

They can be found in front of a cafe, a pub, a store, on top of a cup holder, on a building, in a window, or on the ground.

I will share some of them in this piece and divide them into the categories of food, health and Pandemic, Christmas, and life.

Delightful Signs that Motivate and Give Us Joy

Food and Drinks

When I walk by stores and restaurants, I look for the colourful storefront signs.

They highlight the store’s varieties of offerings and its specialities (often with an enticing price) and beckon us to come in and consume more!

Sometimes, signs can be motivational to make your drinking experience more delightful!

This one was snapped in Hong Kong where the term “this, this rice” was popularized by the US Consulate Gregory May when he tasted the “two-entrée” dish in Hong Kong in 2022. You point to the entree displayed in front of you and say I want this, this, and this, and a bento box will be prepared for you within a minute.

The sign said two-entree with rice costs HKD30 (just under USD4) and two-entree without rice costs HKD40 (about USD5). This is cheaper than a McDonald's meal!

Health and Pandemic

During the Pandemic, restaurant staff were few and far between. Delivery took care of everything. There was no better way than a cute sign to show how to order food from the restaurant.

When people could not get together during the Pandemic, artists drew pictures and signs and motivated people to keep together as a community and fight the Pandemic as a community. We are not alone, and we need to look after each other.

Christmas

Every night starting at 8 pm, the Hong Kong harbourfront buildings transform into a coordinated display of lights dancing to the music exuberating delight and glamour along the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon waterfronts.

This “Symphony of Lights” delighted everyone and was designed to represent the dynamic energy and cultural contrast of Hong Kong.

When I visited Hong Kong before Christmas last year, these lights took on a particular meaning to me. They were illuminating and spreading love to the world.

Christmas lights are the best things about Christmas. In Fremont in a cul-de-sac called Zacate Place, rows of houses lit up, and in front of the houses, there was a mailbox that asked the people to write letters to Santa and make a donation to Sister John Marie’s Pantry to feed the homeless.

Life

Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in little things.

~ Charles Simmons

When I ponder how we can be happy without relying on materials in possessions, I believe we need to treasure the small things in life.

We can aim for greatness in life but cannot be looking for it all the time because this is unrealistic. The crux of life is acknowledging the good things we already have, hold on to them, and be grateful for them.

The following photo was taken in a three-wheel car when we travelled in Chiuchow City, China. In this small car, we had this huge sign staring at us all the time — special sale — two pieces of clothing for RMB99 (about USD14).

When I was hiking in the Muir Woods in California, I was especially mesmerized by the Cathedral Grove where all guests are invited to be quiet. The Cathedral Grove is the quietest and most pristine grove of all, and the tall redwood trees there are between 600 and 800 years old (they live up to 2,200 years). It was a time for retrospection as we appreciated these national monuments.

As life's hustle and bustle takes over, it is good to be reminded to take a break. This is part of the drawings in the waterfront promenade of Hong Kong painted by local artists.

Before Closing

Thank you for taking a tour with me and viewing the signs I uncover as life moves along.

Signs are there to guide us, always when we most need them.

Be open to them whether or not they are physical or spiritual, or they are there to entertain!

And as a reminder by “a friend” of the Family Cafe, “the best thing you can do is be the best person you can be.”

Here are other delightful fellow Globetrotters' stories on Signs —

Read about distance signposts (or not) by Scott-Ryan Abt:

Learn about the signage system in England and Wales by Simon Whaley — it is more complicated than I thought!

Thanks so much for reading. Let me know what is your most important sign of life in the comments section.