My precious readers and dear friends
I have expanded my blogosphere presence
Bored of writing in verse and eager to share
With you my life and things about which I care
I have started a new blog, and would like to invite
You all to stop by, comment or give me insight
circleofmylife.wordpress.com is the address
I shall be grateful if you visit, I confess..
“I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.”- Henry David Thoreau
Most days of my life I am defined
By the roles I play, my path is aligned
With my family, co-workers and patients
They are the ones that give me a sense
Of belonging, of merging seamlessly
Into the multi-layered structure of the society
I am woven in, I cannot extricate
Myself from the social fabric, it would complicate
Lives- my own and those of others around me
Thus, alongside others I continue my life’s journey..
*
There are times when I want to deviate
From this collective path, and initiate
A journey by myself, in blissful solitude
The commitments of society I want to elude
Drown myself in the seductive silence
Of lonely places, just inhale the presence
Of nature and its gifts all around me
Reflect on my life in tranquility
Find inner peace and the precious ability
To converse with my soul, and identify
What would make me happy under the sky
*
Such moments are rare but when found
Have an impact on me profound
My frazzled soul they help calm down
Inner peace wipes out my frown
Solitude and proximity to nature
Both give my creativity a spur
Far from the madding crowd I discover
My true self, let my soul recover
Until it is time to return and be a part
Of the tapestry of life, with a rejuvenated heart
For centuries has mankind
Tried its best to find
A life prolonging elixir
Human beings have lived in fear
Of death, disability, growing old
A long life is more valuable than gold
While modern medicine has allowed
People to live longer without a doubt
There might be something much simpler
That adds years to life as one grows older..
**
For centuries have men and women
In Okinawa ascended to heaven
Later than their counterparts elsewhere
They have a secret that needs to be shared
They all have a purpose in life, an ikigai
That they wake up to, each day under the sky
With a goal in life to strive towards throughout
They have no time to waste, no time to doubt
Their reason for living, that angst existential
Does not plague them as much as the rest of the world
Maybe this is a rule we need to apply
To all our lives, we all need to try
To find that one thing we wake up to
That gives us happiness and fulfillment too.
**
The concept was foreign to me I must say
Until recently, when I stumbled upon it one day
Trying to find ways to live a life of contentment
I found, much to my amazement
That having a purpose in life every day
Could increase your life expectancy unexpectedly
Not being an Okinawa, I am still trying to find
The ikigai that fuels my heart and mind
Maybe it is raising my son to be
As good a human being as he can be
Maybe it is in my role as a healer and physician
Maybe writing something beautiful is my reason
Whatever it is, to find it I shall try
To live a blessed life and prolong my days under the sky!
I remember quite fondly
My first lesson in geography
When to a map I was introduced
A fierce curiosity it had induced
Within me to identify places new
I wanted to explore those places too
Seven continents and oceans five
On the map my dreams came alive
Places with names unpronounceable
I took them all in, glued to my table
Exotic and mysterious they appeared
I might never go there- was what I feared
Unable to realize my dreams of distant travel
Maps of all kinds I continued to unravel
I built my stories around them, as if I had seen
The places to which only my imagination had been..
The greater the obscurity of the place, I must say
The more I dreamt about traveling to it one day.
**
But wishes are wishes, rarely fulfilled
I travel but that yearning has never been filled
To travel to exotic places, as remote as can be
I still study maps, quite longingly
The desire to be footloose is strangely appealing
From time to time I get that restless feeling
Then I study a map and start planning ahead
A vacation, though the concept often stays in my head
Who knows, maybe the next time my post here
Is from the Easter Islands, trembling before the Moai in fear..
Until then I study maps with my five year old
And watch his infectious enthusiasm unfold..
I am restless day in day out
There doesn’t seem much I can do about
My wandering mind, my disquiet soul
I go about searching for my role
In this world, I am trying to find
Somehow, what is it that I am destined
To contribute to the world around me
What is it that would liberate, set me free
From the tyranny of my restlessness
I’m hungry for answers, I must confess..
***
That was me, many moons ago
On the threshold of adulthood, ready to go
After improbable dreams on a limb
Trying to pursue every fancy and whim
Restless was I, but I made progress
In narrow definitions of the term, I tasted success
Life went on, and after a few years
Motherhood blessed me with its rewards and fears
Life’s purpose was partially revealed to me
Through my child I would live my legacy
I was not an inventor or leader who could influence
The world at large, but now it made sense
That regardless of whatever else I could do
I could raise a compassionate, kind person too
I could strive for him to grow up to reflect
The best of me, and improve upon my worst aspects
No matter how my destiny played out, I realized
This was my foremost purpose, my greatest prize
In being a parent, I found the answer that I sought
Bringing me peace and an end to my restless thoughts.
Standing before the mirror and playing
Dress-up, all the while silently praying
For no interruptions from my spouse and son
They are in the family room playing games, having fun
While this is my guilty pleasure, where I try
Every permutation and combination under the sky
Of pieces in my wardrobe, jewelry in my closet
This silly drill calms me down when I am upset
In front of the mirror I feel like a little girl all over
Again, rummaging through mom’s dresser
Surreptitiously looking for adornments forbidden
Cosmetics, lipsticks, jewelry, hair ornaments
The prospect of getting caught gave it a sense
Of adventure, being like mom was my favorite pretense
I’ve grown up and now have my own dresser
Reflective of my style, full of things I prefer
Yet the silly pastime of dressing up for no one but me
Has not lost its charm, though I do feel guilty
Thinking of everything else I could do
Run other errands, be involved in pursuit
Of activities more creative, productive or intellectual
In managing my time, I am being ineffectual
Just one more outfit, one more combination
I tell myself repeatedly, then I am done
But playing dress-up has irresistible appeal
So I keep going on, with unparalleled zeal
Until the inevitable happens and I have to run
Downstairs to deal with an inconvenient situation
(The kind that is common with young kids around,
Where spills, broken toys, and tantrums abound)
And I try to tackle the issue; quite inappropriately
Dressed for the occasion in cocktail attire and jewelry
To my frivolous pastime, this marks the end
From my personal heaven to drab reality I descend.
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children-roots and wings. – Hodding Carter My wide-eyed child I regale With a folk song and a tale From a bygone century Set in an unfamiliar co…
Source: Roots and wings
