“I dreamed a thousand new paths. I woke and walked my old one.”- Proverb, unknown
Way to the past- at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, India (historic site)
Let’s go the observatory- near Reykjavik, Iceland
The corridor of illusions-at Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway
Sidewalk in Oslo, Norway with quotes by the famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen- leading to his house
Path to the Akershus fortress, Oslo, Norway
Exposed to various cultures I have been
Myriad performing arts I have seen
Yet when I think of unparalleled grace,
The image that I conjure is the face
Of a classical dancer from India immersed
Into the very soul of her dance, well-versed
In fluid movements and facial expressions
Recounting tales from an ancient nation
Epitomizing years of practice, discipline and poise
With every performance, she gives Indian culture a voice
Showcasing thousands of years of tradition
Blending rhythmic movements and drama in equal combination
Using her eyes to express complex emotions
Moving her limbs to the beat of music in flowing motion
She combines various elements in her art
Dance, theater and storytelling each a part
Of her performance, making her art unique
Years of instruction are needed to master the technique
Of classical dance, and every time she performs
She breathes new life into an ancient art form.
So my inner voice has been talking to me quite a bit-here’s another dialogue that we had when I felt (unreasonably) tied down to daily life…
To this tyrannical life I am chained,
I lamented one day in a voice pained-
Caught in the endless web of life’s daily woes
Between home and work, I find myself in throes
Of an insipid life where freedom there is none
To laze around, travel, or in a meadow run
Like clockwork my life works on a schedule
Within constraints, following too many rules
I live in a free country, laws cannot stop me
From doing what I want, then why can’t I break free?
Take a vacation spontaneous, go out on a limb
Leave the chaos of daily life on a whim..
But myriad little details come in my way
Responsibilities I need to fulfil each day
I think this is unfair, life keeps me chained-
Frustrated, this is how I complained and complained..
**
When I was done wallowing in self-pity
My inner voice decided to challenge me-
Do you know your extent of freedom
Might almost appear vulgar to some?
You are fortunate to inhabit the land of the free
Your education and career give you discretionary
Income and power to choose quite freely-
You want the freedom to break free, really?
If you broke free from the life that you lead
How do you propose your desires you’d feed?
For absolute freedom is a concept absurd,
Chained to the sky is every “free” bird
There is a fine line between escape and freedom-
You probably feel the urge to escape the humdrum
Of daily life once in a while-do not confuse
It with lack of freedom, you have the freedom to choose
How you want to live life each day recognizing
That sometimes events in your life might be agonizing
You still have the ability to live with gratitude
You have the freedom to choose your attitude..
“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”-Joseph Chilton Pierce
Conform, blend in, behave- so goes the litany
Of commands handed out freely
To children, by adults who are anxious
To mould them into citizens conscious
Of the unwritten laws of the society
To make them abide by rules of propriety-
So within lines they learn to color
Their curious nature becomes duller
The fear of being wrong is a deterrent
From trying to swim against the current
Even though we would like them to be creative
We want it within parameters that we give
To them, not realizing the creative process
Needs some freedom to bring success…
**
As a parent, I have been guilty, it’s true
Of expecting my child to conform too
But when I try to be creative, I know
I just need to go with the flow
Of my thoughts, uninterrupted
I do not want my project disrupted
By the demands of practicality
How can I then in reality
Expect my child to draw and paint
The way “it should be”, within that constraint
I should let his imagination run wild
I should hear stories concocted by my child
Without interruption, so that he does not learn
To fear being wrong, he does not turn
Away from his ideas that outlandish seem
He should have the opportunity to dream-
I hope I shall keep this in mind
Such that his creative side he can find
For creativity should a way of life be
Unhindered by rules of the society.
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life”- Omar Khayyam
What would it take, my inner voice whispered to me
For you to be content, be happy-
Let’s make a list and some items cross out
For instance, money it is not, without a doubt,
Is it your career, focused that you are?
No, I said, I could keep advancing but never get far
Enough to satisfy my ambition, that would not be
Conducive to finding contentment and happiness, really
Is it recognition in the society that you desire
Are fame and applause to which you aspire?
I thought hard, being renowned did sound great
But the glory of fame would be a temporary state
Lasting happiness would not be possible
On the basis of something that ephemeral
So I shook my head again, prompting that voice
To come up with alternatives, a better choice-
Is it good health and vigor that would be
The key to your happiness and prosperity?
While good health is important, life might not
Be free from illness throughout, then what?
How about having unlimited freedom, asked she
That should make one happy, certainly
That sounds attractive, but lack of restraint
Might leave me spoilt, I am no saint..
**
So our discourse continued, on and on
Many desirable things in life were touched upon
While everything had the power to give me
Short-lived contentment, being happy
In the long run required something less tangible
Perhaps, something that was indestructible…
She ventured to include friends and family
If they were with me, would I be happy?
Now we seemed to be getting closer, I thought
Close relationships are what I have always sought
Yet I felt a pressing need to further explore
The answer to this question, there was something more-
Exasperated, she asked me if I would be happy
If I could just live fully in the moment and not be
Bothered about the dead past or future unseen?
“Eureka” I cried, never before I had been
As overjoyed as now, finally I knew
What would make me happy, it was true
That being fully present in each life’s moment
Was the way I would find lasting contentment!
Road to the waterfall- Skogafoss, Iceland
Pathways and bridges, Thingvellir National Park, Iceland
Walkway to a majestic tomb, Agra, India
Cobblestoned pathway outside the Norwegian parliament, Oslo, Norway
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”
-Alan Cohen
Running through life at a maddening pace
Sleep-deprived, spending days in a haze
With ample assistance from caffeine
And stress pumping out adrenaline
I sashayed from one project to another
Juggling my career and being a mother
And a liberated woman of this millennium
Who wants the moon and stars, and then some
Caught in the trappings that screamed I’d arrived
In a society where all gestures seemed contrived
When distressed, I tricked myself with the reminder
Compared to many, life to me had been kinder
I had no objective reason to complain
Nothing is ever achieved without pain..
**
I did not see it coming, did not realize
Until I was staring at it with my eyes
A burnout hurtling towards me
With amazing speed and ferocity
A crisis I barely managed to avert
From all the stress I barely escaped unhurt
I did not collapse but one thing I knew
Life at this dizzying pace could not continue
For the first time in years, I decided then
I needed a break to explore inner zen.
**
I took a vacation, planned a no-frills getaway
A far cry from my usual instagrammable holiday
Retreated into a quiet village, with little to do
Except heal myself, bond with my son too
Lazy days with no excursions on the schedule
I rediscovered my most powerful tool-
My mind, that had become an automaton
Conforming to social norms and obligations
Now well-rested could think once again
And plan my next steps in a manner more sane
I rediscovered how nourishing sleep could be
For my soul, my mind and my body..
**
Rejuvenated, I came back with a vow
To not exceed stress that my body would allow
How far this would work remains to be seen
For now, I am less stressed than I had been
The break did wonders for me, that is true
If stress levels climb, I’d do it again too
Life does need a pause button to evaluate
Your priorities, before it is too late!
“The ego is not master in its own house.”
Sigmund Freud
Arguments over matters trivial
Instantly changing an atmosphere convivial
Snowballing into resentment profound
Creating barriers hard to maneuver around
Egos enormous creating mountain-like obstacles
Larger than the issue at hand, they spread their tentacles
Until animosity pervades through the air
Promoting more stress, that for no one is fair…
*
When you look back, scenarios of this kind
At home or at workplace, might come to your mind
Looking back, you might see clearly how inconsequential
Were such altercations in your life, how trivial
Were those issues over which you had stressed yourself out
Raising your blood pressure, bad hormones, without any doubt
When egos are involved, every disagreement is magnified
In the heat of the moment, it is impossible to decide
How much effect does such a situation have after all
On the grand scheme of things, likely none at all…
*
We have a tendency to complicate life in many ways
We seem to be adding stress to our days
We forget what is really important and what is not
Collegiality is desirable, a conflict of egos is not
Let me end here with, reminding all of us again
To forego ego squabbles, lessen stress and pain.
I really was having a bad day- my poem disappeared! Enjoy the beautiful Gulfoss waterfall in Iceland!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”- Neale Donald Walsch
It’s quite easy, is it not
To go with the flow, without a thought
Live your life in a fashion predictable
Following a routine is practical
Saves time in a world fast-paced
Helps you stay ahead in the race
You are most productive in your comfort zone
Where you can handle your life alone
Being too comfortable is a thing dangerous
Life tends to throw curve balls at all of us
There will be times when you are taken by utter surprise
Forced to do things on a limb, and improvise
We are all resourceful, there’s usually a way
To get through the unexpected, any place, any day
I must confess I like my days to proceed
In a smooth fashion, it gives me the control that I need
To keep multitasking, maximizing efficiency
Keeps me confident, maintains my self-sufficiency
But every now and then, when I get too comfortable
I crave for some action, a little something to enable
My fight or flight skills to rise from dormancy
And challenge my sense of passive complacency
Then I try to reach outside my zone of comfort
My adaptability to something new I try to assert
(No, I do not bungee-jump or sky dive,
I do not need such thrills to make me feel alive)
I break my routine and try to explore
A new form of creative expression, not tried before..
I don’t push my boundaries but do step out
Of my comfort zone into the realm of self-doubt
And when I do that, my zone of comfort expands
I acquire an extra skill for my hands
If you think life is smooth, but a bit too smooth
A new target might be worthwhile to shoot
Getting out of your comfort zone should help you, I say
Get something more out of an ordinary day…
I’ve observed a growing trend
Among my acquaintances and friends
Of sharing on social media every day
Inspirational quotes with clever word play
Superimposed on a backdrop spectacular
Of natural beauty, of vistas singular
Thoughts for the day meant to inspire
Soak in positive energy, before the world can conspire
To derail your plans and bring disenchantment
Feel hopeful, before sets in disappointment..
*
Of course I reach out for my phone once awake
I’m hungry for stimulation before I can shake
Sleep from my body and my foggy mind
I am greeted with messages of the motivational kind-
Telling me to take the first step, or be
The change in the world I wish to see
Or do one thing every day that is scary
Or not to be lonely, the universe lies in me..
When this first started, I used to smile
Pause and ponder on the quote for a while
Then the quotes began to blur into each other
Rumi, Gandhi, Buddha- everything seemed scattered
Words I would still read, without any emotion
Scrolling through them was just going through the motions
Artistic photography I still would admire
To explore those places, I did desire
Until the photoshopped images too lost their lustre
Such quotes keep mushrooming, I cannot register
Any longer what they are trying to say
I might look at just one to start my day
Usually it shaves off some time precious
From my morning, delaying me thus..
*
Writing this poem, I migrate in my mind
Back to school days, where you could find
Neatly written below the date on the board
A “Thought for the Day” by the teacher- I adored
This practice, reading a quotation that inspired
Lifted my spirits, fueled my desire
To change myself and improve my ways
But those were my impressionable days..
*
I am still a believer ( I use quotes liberally
In my posts) but this is inspiration overload literally
In the midst of a bad hair day, I rarely get
The appropriate message to make me forget
About everything bad, that is the moment crucial
When I need the power of a message motivational-
Until then I shall continue to largely ignore
Such messages, please do not send me more!
The Edge of the Opera House at Oslo, Norway, making it appear as if it is arising from the ocean
Edge of the Solheimajokull glacier in Iceland, tainted with volcanic ash
Cliffs in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland- at the fissure zone, part of mid-Atlantic ridge
Passion...unbridled 