LIFE'S HERE AND THERE

Source: The Internet

'H' is for history:

For a couple of days, my weekly brainstorming session stared me in the face,   obviously chiding me for dilly dallying and wasting my time. Finally, the inner voice  brought me face to face with the computer and the blank page eyed me invitingly.The ice was broken.

The discourse again would be about some aspects of the incomparable canvas of our life. The way we balance it and direct it to follow the righteous path. Our experiences play an important part in this balancing act.

To achieve even some semblance of success in life, it is imperative to incorporate some order, discipline, and historical perspective to the scheme of things.

Order in life is no less  important than other essentials of life. A chaotic lifestyle is an open invitation to defeat and all sorts of complications. It takes its toll in creating grave problems in domestic and professional arena. In short, it may ruin your life. In this context, we may learn lessons from the impeccable calendar which nature follows. We’re so used to change in seasons, the spontaneity of sunrise and sunset and scores of other precise happenings that we hardly give a thought to the extraordinary discipline of the natural forces, which makes it possible.

Another significant angle to life is its surprise elements, good or bad. Like the sea, life has multiple frames to its credit. For instance, our bumpy journey here is comparable to the frightful shenanigans, which play on the sea surface. There are times when the seawaters are calm and serene and yet they uphold mysterious, awesome grandeur. Sometimes storms rage on its surface signaling anxiety, caution and patience. There are tense hours and often days of this scary phenomenon and then all of a sudden peace and calm returns and soon the event retreats from our consciousness. Our life is also like that. Amidst smugness of normalcy, sometimes, adversity hits us like a bolt from the blue, disrupt our daily lives, test our resilience, and disappear as rapidly. All of us have gone through such testing times in the course of our lifetime.

However, many times we’re so overwhelmed by the severity of unfavorable circumstances that nothing seems to allay our insecurities. It is here that the history comes to our aid to stabilize us. Remembering the horrendous past events and occurrences, how we triumphed over them with objectivity and strength, reassure us to keep going. In the beginning, though these looked daunting and insurmountable.

 History reminds us that we don’t live our lives in isolation. The present  is linked to the past as well  as to the future. History may go back to centuries, yet it sustains a permanent link to the present enabling us to learn lessons from the infinite records of man’s victories and defeats in figuring out the cosmos and its diverse elements.

 Likewise, religious books of all ages written by great scholars are treatises on how to lead our lives with propriety and   justness in our day-to-day dealings.

Life is sum total of frequent high and lows and it is man who gives it meaning by his actions. Its great challenge is to live it.

From TOI's 'SACRED SPACE': Meaning of life

"What is the meaning of life? Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning." Joseph Campbell

Friends, welcome here as always!

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WHITHER HUMAN TIES

F is for Furniture

You must be amused why I chose this starkly material, unimpressive and bland word to seriously deliberate upon.  Oh yes, there is a reason to it. In fact, it just happened without any effort on my part.  I was mulling over some words to kindle the creative fires for the next intellectual exercise to begin shortly. Something weird happened and that chose the word for me. Well, that also became the starting point of an inner debate. The resultant thought process took the shape of musings about human relationships.

 It was actually an ad on the TV about furniture. It concerned “Urban ladder”  a company selling furniture. I’ve even forgotten the channel where it was shown, otherwise I’d have captured it.  At that time, it did not occur to me that it might become the subject of my post. However, it did lead to the awareness of an unpleasant conclusion. How consumerism is belittling our most tender emotional states.  How blatantly and casually it targets the intensity  of our emotions, regarding our sacrosanct ties.

The advertisement shows a passive looking young woman with pursed lips, a strange sadness  enveloping her countenance, moving away from the kitchen counter stirring a mug of tea/coffee and perches on the sofa. Her husband /partner enters with a bag in his hand, or perhaps he is already there. While in the act of zipping the bag he says, “Does it mean that we can’t even talk?” suggests that they are parting ways and the man has come to collect some essentials. The woman says, “Take away the sofa as you brought/bought it. His answer is, “You liked it,” while sitting on the sofa and inching towards her. The message: sofa becomes a point of reconciliation.

This projection of the stability of human ties, needing the crutches of material possessions,  raise some pertinent questions. Have human relationships degenerated into abysmal fickleness that a piece of furniture could make or mar a bond? Folks, where are we heading? How foolish the claims that one’s spouse/partner is one’s soul-mate? How frustrating it is to believe that phrases like understanding, love and care are just so many words and don’t reflect reality. What about the vows we utter sanctimoniously when we forge a union. How come, we behave childishly, throw tantrum, and indulge in prestige fights soon after. The pillars of trust and love  evaporate like soap bubbles and no efforts are undertaken to retrieve the lost ground.  We turn into imbecile, selfish wimps and raise our hands at the slightest discomfiture to our ego.

In the conflict of personalities, we tend to forget that to sustain a relationship, there is a good measure of give and take and above all, tons of patience. The option of second or third try at it does not guarantee stability, peace or loyalty. The second option need to be exercised only when the bond can’t be retrieved at any cost.

Furthermore, in the short journey of ours, we as thinking beings are supposed to enrich others and our lives with clear-cut goals. How can we do that if we spend our valuable time in squabbles, which ultimately solve nothing and only increase the chasm and hatred? Imagine the impact on the overall family structure!

I could not agree more with the words of ANTHONY ROBBINS when he says:

“Most people get into relationship in order to get something. However, the only way a relationship will last is, if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not to take.”

We must understand that experience and observation have proved  that life is not about only song and dance, eating out and splurging on unnecessary travel. It is a holy voyage of self-discovery meant to contribute and give back to society, which has blessed us with opportunities to achieve something every day. Isn't it that every morning is a new day waiting to be explored?

Friends,welcome here as always. 

linked to: 
ABC Wednesday    JOSIE 2 SHOES            WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

LIFE IS A KNOTTY AFFAIR

The eternal truth of human condition is succinctly expressed  by Sophocles in his Greek tragedy ''Oedipus the King."  It's  was staged in 429 BC in Athens.The above riddle was posed to Oedipus by the 'Sphinx' at the entrance of the legendary city of Thebes. Oedipus with his extraordinary wisdom solved it and then was allowed entry to the city. The play is a tragic elucidation of the rise and fall of the great king Oedipus.

Images source: The internet

 E is for equilibrium

You and I envision the idea of noble mores,

That embodies harmony beyond boundaries and shores.

Life’s sailing boat pulls all stops as it goes,

Grappling, traversing the turbulence up, and close.

Chances, incidents, cause and effect, seal life’s tale,

And keep us on the run, to saturate life wholesale.

Dunes of past, present and future are takes, absolute,

Of holistic, divine calendar, that’s stubbornly resolute.

Could sages, saints and thinkers, the mystery of life unfold?

The wonder stands intact and the story remains untold.

The curious human ingenuity digs deep for, some secret potions,

To reveal life’s purpose, meaning or to clarify all our notions.

Well, let’s seek equilibrium, dynamic, come what may,

Stepping on the road less traveled, hoping, it might pay.


Friends,welcome here and thanks for the support.

Linked to      ABC Wednesday       JOSIE 2 SHOES         WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

LIFE IS A ZIGZAG TRACK

ABC Wednesday

'Z' is for ZIGZAG

 

Zigzag road in the midst of hills on Kumarhatti Nahan road. Shot early morning during a walk.

Coupled with its tough exterior, the lexical item ‘zigzag’ refers to a pattern that is irregular, often jagged, sometimes winding, but seldom smooth or straight. Interestingly, it is similar to the nature of our existence on this earth.  With its weird looks and somewhat negative semantics, it can claim to have strong kinship with our complex existence. In fact, ‘Zigzag’ structure of our short odyssey here is integral to us and accepted by us, though grumpily.

Take for example the moment of our birth.  Upheavals, unbeknown to our parents take charge by natural course, the very moment.  Recall that scary but anticipated cry on entry. Separation from the protective fold of the embryo gives the first shock of life. The saga of irritants, which erupt in the first few years, can write a book.

Then our early childhood pure and serene ostensibly, passes through innumerable disturbing phases. Single parent or absentee father or hosts of other issues, leave scars on children’s subconscious, creating insecurities.

Youth with its exuberance is not without heartbreaks, doubts and varied unpleasant crises, on the sidelines of growing up.

Married life is a ceaseless churning of the sea. It is akin to a zigzag maze. Here one longs for consistency- an illusive chimera- instead frequent face off with harsh edges becomes a salty reality.

 Middle age has its own sweet and sour paths to trudge. Mounting family responsibilities and plummeting energies weigh heavily. Fantasies disappear and realism sets in.

There are some streaks of light though, if your children do well and you have a satisfactory job and enjoy material comforts.

 When you are on the threshold of embracing senior years, life shifts gears. You are a lot mellower and introspective. You avoid arguments and try to live by the strength of your inner core.  Energy levels deplete. Aging process takes over stridently.  Confidence gets a beating.

However, there are some joyful sparks too. Bereft of duties, you enjoy more freedom to pursue hobbies, which were held back in your active years.

 May be some zigzag intrusions on the road of life is a blessing as well. The uncertainties and insecurities of life make every day a new adventure, which keeps us on our toes. Our mental faculties go on overdrive to confront the new challenges.

 The sameness of life, with an expected scheme of things, would have turned us into passive rags, prepared to self-destruct due to boredom.    

God rightly gave us a short shelf life to save us from unnecessary decay, depression and morbidity. The cobbled zigzag path is our destiny and we have to train ourselves to walk upon its abrasive trails.

Friends, waiting for your views.