Hope & Fears

HOPE AND FEARS..

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself." - Benjamin Disraeli 

Since childhood, we've all read and heard our share of stories regarding the struggle of mankind, their highs and lows. We've our religious texts filled with such beautiful & encouraging stories. Perhaps, that is one of the reasons they're referred to repeatedly, especially during testing times. Humanity is a fascinating aspect of life - we can/'t be motivated & discouraged fairly easily. It is in such a situation in which a person questions, his/her fighting spirit & something else is lost besides the obvious.

We require little to almost no stimulus to react. The struggle to survive is the biggest one. A person in today's era thrives to survive the day. The sun sets to rise tomorrow- but what happens in between is what is never emphasized upon! Similarly one struggles to balance one's life while facing the world. Every new day brings its share of excitement and a new challenge. There comes a time in life where the person finally gives in to the pressure of the world crashing on it's shoulders. 

To put on a fire we need oxygen, which is obligatory for survival of humans. Isn't that a tad too ironical? Hope is a funny thing, give a person the delusion of hope & watch him dance! S/he'll burn in passion to attain it, at least try to. Men can go to any extent to achieve things that hope bears with it. It is said that any living entity moves against a gradient- towards the pole that benefits the organism. We do what we can with what we have- in the time that we have. In Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead", the aspect of the consequences of shattering ones reasoning skills are discussed at length. Without any order there's chaos & there cannot be order without proper reasoning in a society. With every minute passing, time takes its toll over the persons psyche. Of all the living organisms, human beings are obliged to don different faces in order to survive in the world. Even the shores get vanished with every coming ebb. Hope serves as a pseudo-alternative to aim, it shows what the person wishes to achieve. It fills the spirit with a fire that brings warmth to the body, encourages soul to put in 'that' extra ounce of energy into achieving the goal that hope 'shows' us. 

A candle in the wind cannot fight the gust of wind alone, it needs support just as we do during testing times. And at the end of the day, the spirit that one possessed - subsides. No two war's can be the same. We fear what we do not know & we hope that one day our fear goes away. In an already intermingled world, one of the threads that coincide are those of Hope & Fear. There is a part of us that assumes the worst, probably, that leads to the birth of hope. Not ready to accept the 'worst', we like to think that, "No, what if this were to happen instead." Such 'what if's' serve as messengers to Hope. Balance of probability, when fails us, we like to overpower the balance. Someone correctly said, "Sometime's the way to the top is to grease the pole behind you." Who doesn't want to reach the top, eh? But once at the top, the way ahead is down, usually!

A child has a fear of monsters & other supernatural beings but is full of hope that it's parent's are well enough to protect him/her. As the child grows, the fear changes its course and migrates towards the mortal end of the spectrum, making it afraid of men himself. The color of the lens decides how one sees the world. There dwells an unsure allocation in the mind of the person that dictates the mortality of one's abilities, probably that is how fear enters into one's mind. If we are the captain of our soul then it is us that are responsible for our fears too. Cross a black lane by yourself and describe your thought process to yourself in third person! The eerie-ness, the 'unknown' is what crosses our minds- even for a split second. Fear is usually of the unknown- that we had never encountered, but there is also a flip side to fear. KNOWING- we know that if we burn ourselves it will pain and lead to our own demise, this is the fear! Of course, the fear of pain is greater than the pain itself. But dare I say, fear is also a state of mind. One cannot help but acknowledge the circle of hope and fear. Any one of them brings along with it the other, with a resounding sense of the fragility of our minds. We spend a huge chunk of our energy in anticipating a distant consequence. What we forget is, today is a result of yesterday and that one day, tomorrow will be today. We somehow stretch that future and churn it into today and cry over it- spoiling both: today and tomorrow! Here, it is our choice to be in apathy.

One of the results of Hope or Fear is the aqua tears, that flow down one's cheeks. It is a reflection of the extent to which an intuition of a fore-saken tragedy, that might have been. Agree or disagree, don't deny that there came a point in life (several, actually) when the chips were down & the mind asked to give up (Fear) but it's counterpart opposed and made way for Hope. So as a whole, we can be consensual about one thing, that the power of Hope & Fears can not be undermined - for they are the pillars of my own writings!

I conclude this post with a personal favorite quote, one that served as a catalyst and inspired for me to write.

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul and sings a tune without words, and, never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson

Melody: A Peace of Harmony

MELODY

A PEACE OF HARMONY

"Peace is its own reward." - Mahatma Gandhi

Peace & Harmony seem like the two sides of the same coin. Every nation want's "peace" and "harmony", so is the need of other's in the world. 'Tis essential for a prolonged sustainability & development. But recently, I wanted to dig deep into the words, to know what difference lies in the seemingly synonymous & analogous words - or are they?

Peace, to me meant, the ability to remain calm and not account to actions (or words) that may disturb the rhythm of those around me. In the larger picture, peace means not only the ability to control ourselves, but to divert the destructive energy present within us into some sort of a divine or a holistic act. Philanthropy, I believe is a result of men in search of peace. Often it is said that 'Peace is a state of mind'. Challenging it is a double-edged sword. For eg., imagine a bird sitting on a bark of a tree. Now supposedly, the bird is at peace and if we were to throw a stone at it or even clap in front of it, the bird would move or atleast it shall not be able to maintain it's stature. So, the bird is now not at 'peace'? Some people say that when a person dies, s/he is at peace. Now, is death the absolute truth or the absolute answer? Should a person always 'die' in order to achieve peace? Well, for that we need to know a lot about death and I think I shall reserve that discussion for later. Coming back to the core, in totality we can say that the person who is not at 'peace' is 'disturbed'? It is like an arrow with no target. But an arrow must have a target else it might backfire! So, holistically, as we are the vessels of energy- it should mean that in order to channelize our energies constructively we must be able to have an aim, a target for our arrows. To focus on a particular task, physical or mental, we must be at peace. The brain must see what the eye can't. Try looking at the flame of a candle, with a constant stare and a linear thought process. We need a vision and not a sight to achieve. This is a cyclic process as peace brings focus and vice versa. Ancient practices, such as yoga, emphasizes on the relaxation that brings peace. It makes use of the breaths (air) to nullify or evict negative energy. 

"Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay." - Sallust

UNITY IN DIVERSITY:

Harmony is when more than one kind's of beings (even of same species) live together. Sure there's always a conflict when more than two minds meet together, but it is how we deal with those conflicts that define our harmony. People must be in sync with their surrounding beings, other people, animals, birds etc. The great philosophy of 'Don't harm if you can't help' must be taken seriously for establishing harmony. It is one of the best reasons that beings have survived over the course of time. Unity is what binds us, you can't break a bunch with same intensity as you can break an iota of something. The greatest example of harmony is the orchestra. Can we get a soothing tune without harmony? What if one of the instruments play in a tune, different to what is written? The outcome might not be 'peace-ful', I reckon! Another example is driving. In traffic, people from various families, jobs, various places come through to a single road. No matter how their day went thus far, they must be in a good rapport with their surrounding vehicles. Hence, a rhythm is created. The speed, velocity of one vehicle must match that of others. Any change in this rhythm shall lead to an unpleasant accident. So harmony does, save us and help us carry ourselves forward. Unity is that element of a society that can make or break the morals, question the authority for the just and the right cause. And just as focus & peace are a cyclic phenomena; unity & harmony are also cyclic - so much as to being synonymous! Complicating things a little, harmony is when both the eyes look at the same object, ergo - when eyes & the brain are in harmony that we see what we really see! So in simple words, harmony leads to focus which, in turn, leads to peace!

The conclusion of this post must contain the word 'Melody'. Just as the (momentarily) 'peace'ful musicians / instrumentalists play in 'harmony', we get a melody, for a healthy soul / spirit too peace & harmony is necessary. Melody in pure musical sense refers to a specific motif, such as a flute or a piano playing a 'center-tune', more popularly a 'solo'. Musically again, melody is deep while harmony is about being 'one'. Either way, these concepts are created by us so I am sure we can extend it's principle for our well-being. We are, after all, the most selfish of creatures on the planet!

“The limbo of life is like a song, a melody that comes around occasionally but that sticks in your head and never goes away.” - Leigh Hershkovich

The Chimes At Midnight

THE CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." - Bill Vaughan

Often I tend to turn my posts into Self-Improvement distance course, I'd take note to avoid it in this one. When we were in school we were periodically asked if we woke up early in the morning or not. Of the hands raised some woke up as early as 5 o'clock, some as late as 9, what was interesting is that a few of nosey kids too held their cute chubby little hands high just to get noticed by the teacher, cookie times! The day belongs to the workers, the doers. The productivity is its highest in the day than at night.

We tend to overlook the most mundane yet crucial aspects of our lives, a case of misplaced priorities perhaps! Take the famous Sherlock Holmes for example, the man has no extensive super power other than his ability to observe things minutely. The objectivity of the mind is extremely crucial for our decisions and in our day-to-day life. It is important that our heads get proper rest & apt mental exercises to let the 'juices flowing'. Seeing things as they are is a deceptive notion, one which many believe they do yet they do not. Sometimes we widen our fat lips, cluck the thick tongue yet so delicately that the gravity of the words lose their mass.

"There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light." - N.P. Willis 

Getting up early meant sleeping early at night which at that age was quite difficult. Lying down on the bed waiting for sleep to come, the mind is such a fascinating thing that all the novel and grave thoughts popped up in the middle of the night, how did life originate?, why do we think?, what are stars? Curiously enough though, none of the single question was related to money or economics. You close your eyes for 5 minutes and it felt like a blink where all the physical world collapsed and we embarked on a journey to explore the secrets of life, the universe and of course - the Self. What was amazing at night was the serenity that a person experiences, the rush of blood into the head which we neglect so callously. Every breath sounds like a gust of wind, the blinking like a hammer; the only solace was the train of thoughts in the mind. The silence on the same yet estranged streets call out for a different You. Then you hear things that are not even remotely closed to you, with the defences down you wander in the Mind Palace i.e. a mnemonic, a trick widely used by Romans as The Roman Room, The Journey- Method of Loci.  The human mind is most creative at both extremes of the day- morning or night. Night is a little difficult for some as they tend to emphasize more on the day's activities rather than emancipating new ones. Man is the least himself when he talks in his own person, give him a mask and you'll hear the truth! Night needs no mask for the man is himself no matter the situation. Perhaps his mind is a little tired of all the hiding in the day that he makes the night to himself. For some, the night is their Mind Palace. The bed, the streets, the blank wall, the drab sheets and even the person himself is a part of the Mind Palace.

Some are kept awake beyond midnight because the pain of their sorrow is too much to fall asleep, giving them nightmares. For some the night is more colourful than the day, the spectra of the light lies in the eyes of the beholder. Night shows us how wonderfully our earth is well self-lit, under the same yellow-fusion bulb. Some say Night is a sculpture, an institution unto itself. The crazy, innovative ideas come at the most unconventional time and place. As the person goes deep into thinking, unmasking himself while doing so, he tends to see things from a different perspective. The choir in the mind tunes a fine concerto, or a sonata- if you may. The mind transcends time and space, the beauty of the night that even the most astute ones bow down to. The stars themselves tell a story taking the Traveller into the true self, looking for the most basic of questions. Because the mind is less crowded it gives more objective results. The horizon becomes more clearer, those able to look at all the corners of their minds can utilize this to its fullest. Closing the eyes too help elevate the moment. It helps blocking the visual quietness of things around us. For many, night is a blotting paper for their sorrows. All shadows disappear in the dark of the night as one becomes a shadow himself. No sight is more provocative of awe than is the night sky!

We walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses the idle details, just as our memory. These are the precious Mayfly moments -the beauty of whom lasts only to be blinded by the rising sun, a short lived sort of never-existing moments. All the ideas are yours for everyone else is asleep. These are the Chimes at Midnight.!

"The day has eyes, the night has ears." - David Fergusson