Passion…unbridled

I lament that artificial intelligence can stunning images generate

Write elegant poetry and prose, soul-stirring music create

Can a mere human being have the audacity

To compete with AI’s limitless capacity

To master a new art form without the effort required

Of a human being to achieve the excellence desired?

*

AI has access to resources limitless

More than we humans are able to process

But the best art produced by humankind

Comes from an interplay of the soul and the mind

Human creativity is spurred by emotions intense

AI creates by analyzing data immense

Art borne from the depths of misery we have known

Understanding suffering is the domain of humans alone

That AI would not be able to capture in its entirety

Therefore the best art would still come from humanity..

*

AI is too perfect, perhaps we humans should not strive

Towards perfecting our craft, if we are to thrive

In competition with AI in the years ahead

Let us proudly display our imperfections instead

*

With this parting thought let me leave you

“Creative” AI is a product of human creativity too

This is something

I just realized

I over-explain

I over-apologize

*

Of past trauma

These are signs

But no traumatic event

Comes to my mind

*

Over-anxious

Hyper-vigilant

This is the way

My days are spent

Classic fawn response

A net search tells me

If there was trauma

I have no memory

*

I have to dig deep

Past trauma exorcize

To move forward without fear

It is no surprise

That I am stuck

I cannot move

From my position

I cannot improve..

*

If I don’t remember

Should I try to retrieve

Memories that are repressed

Let sleeping dogs lie, I believe

I cannot erase the past

But I can make

My present more peaceful

For my own sake..

*

Let me catch myself the next time

I explain too much or profusely apologize

By stopping right there my demons

I shall be able to exorcise

I just learnt that our ancestors would make

Around 2500 decisions in a day, give or take

While in our technology-fueled world now

We take 35000 decisions in a day, which does not allow

Adequate rest and rejuvenation for our overworked brains

It is a miracle that most of us still stay sane!

*

Each time we pick up our devices to browse content

We make decisions without active intent

What to read, watch, listen to or scroll past

These micro-decisions are taken fast

To our cognitive overload they contribute

We are overwhelmed even when this fact we refute

*

The answer is simple in concept but difficult to implement

From our devices we need to practice detachment

To not reach for the phone when bored

Other avenues for enjoyment try to explore

Simply getting comfortable with boredom

Would decrease our sense of overwhelm to an extent some

For constant stimulation there is no need

Humankind has done without it for millennia indeed

I start with great ideas, thinking the enthusiasm would last

And get stuck in the murky middle just as fast…

*

So many projects come to my mind every day

I embark upon some but invariably along the way

I end up abandoning them because time I lack

Or they seem so complicated that I turn back

Or the novelty wears off, and I realize

Trying to go on half-heartedly is unwise

Worse still, I get stuck in the middle in such a way

That in a tricky place I have to stay..

*

That has become a pattern I’ve come to dread

I would rather not start any projects instead

Of going through the anguish of being stuck

In the middle and bemoaning my luck

*

Sometimes I just skip ahead and pretend

That I have actually reached the end

Of my project, this visualization of a positive outcome

A lifeline for my impacted position becomes..

*

I should remember this the next time I feel clamped

In the middle of a project, by visualizing the end I can revamp

My strategy and let my project come to fruition

Hopefully more endeavors I start shall see completion

At a fair I came across a method of divination unknown to me

There was a stall full of cheeses, devoted to tyromancy..

*

I entered the stall, looking for an edible treat

But the cheeses on display one could not eat

A wide variety of cheeses you could find

But the purpose behind them just blew away my mind…

The dairy equivalent of tea leaves they were supposed to be

The future in their holes and textures a divinator was supposed to see

*

Coming from a culture where many dabble in astrology

By examining the pattern of lines on palms, the future foresee

This form of fortune-telling was intriguing to me

I decided to try it for fun, for a reasonable fee..

*

The shapes visible in the cheeses were used to proclaim

The future, the predictions were quite general and sounded the same

As one might find elsewhere, but I was impressed

By the divinator’s imaginative prowess

*

I don’t even remember what was predicted for me

But the experience made me wonder again why we

Rational human beings are so prone to being hoodwinked

By the promise of knowing an unseen future, one would think

That having had enough personal and collective experience to know

That the future is unpredictable, we would not go

Down the rabbit-holes of astrological predictions

But to get reassurance in an uncertain world we all have a predilection..

One day, one moment, one decision

Based on a nebulous, imperfect vision

Took the road I was not planning to take

Did not make the choice I thought I would make

Two decades ago a decision I made

To an alternate life goodbye I bade

Never looked back, stashed the whole episode away

In a corner of my memory, until it surfaced one day..

*

If I had chosen the alternative path, where would I be?

The question came to haunt me suddenly

There are two sides of a coin, did the side I chose

Lead to a better life, or did it inadvertently close

Further avenues that would have been open to me

Had I made my choice differently?

*

I made a life-changing decision

Guided purely by my intuition

The road less traveled by I did not take

Hopefully the best decision I did make

(Today, April 26 is the Independent Bookstores Day)

I get a frisson of excitement every time I walk through the doors

Of a treasure house of unique books, an independent bookstore

Those who sell books in their stores in this day and age have to be

Guided by strong conviction and a sense of duty

To guard the written word and ensure wide-ranging books accessible remain

To avid readers who return to these bookstores again and again..

*

I can order online with a single click and receive

A book on my device within minutes, but I believe

That browsing books in print in a bookstore

Draws me into reading much more

Who knows what gem of a book my fancy would find

Who knows which obscure author would captivate my mind?

*

We must as a society let independent bookstores thrive

Let readers lose themselves in books, let the magic of reading come alive

(

My writing feels insipid, uninspired

A jaded tone my writing voice has acquired

The reasons behind it I am trying to explore

Knowing that this has happened before..

*

The state of the world is chaotic at best

Uncertainties loom large, my mind cannot rest

Amid a heightened sense of anxiety, I am not

Able to generate coherent creative thoughts..

*

There are days when work expands to fill

Every available minute, and I cannot will

My overworked brain to brainstorm and ideate

With the result that good writing I cannot create

*

There is a story inside me that longs to be shared

But I cannot bring myself to do it, I am scared

Of exposing to the world my vulnerability

And that is extremely difficult for me

My writing is uninspired because I am trying to hide

The raw, authentic story that lives inside…

There are many blueprints that one can follow

To be successful, but to me such advice rings hollow

Because you are advised to behave in a certain way

To say what others would like you to say

To follow in the footsteps of those who have attained success-

I beg to differ- where is your unique self in this process?

*

Just like anyone else, I crave success too

But following advice blindly is something I don’t care to do

Success on my own terms I want to achieve

In achieving success at the cost of authenticity I do not believe

Maybe this is the rebel in me talking, the one that has been

Silenced by expectations of conformity, remained unseen

*

In a world that tries to change who you are

The ability to stay true to yourself is the best measure of success by far

We combed through tourist traps all day

Where reality did not meet expectations in any way

Overrun by crowds with similar visions in mind

Who were, just like us, disappointed to find

That the sights bore a faint resemblance, if any

To the artificially enhanced internet images many..

*

Exhausted by our travels thus far

Disillusioned by sights subpar

We drove around without expectation

And found ourselves in an area that was beautiful beyond imagination

Where towering cliffs and ocean azure blue

Came together to create some stunning views

We stopped to admire this place that had found no mention

In guidebooks and travel videos, but had arrested our attention

*

When I travel, this is a common theme

The hyped-up places rarely spectacular seem

But unadvertised places in the vicinity

Offer more interesting things to see

Therefore each time I travel, myself I remind

To go off the beaten path at least once, and hidden treasures find

The world in general profits from your self-doubt

Billion-dollar industries would sink without

Keeping you perpetually insecure

About your self-image and more..

*

So if self-assured you stay

You make a powerful statement in a way

Liking yourself becomes, in fact

A tongue-in-cheek reply, a rebellious act..

*

Let the world not profit at the cost

Of your self-doubt, don’t let your self-worth get lost

By liking yourself, show your defiance

To those who expect your compliance

A lot seems hard and my mind

Tries hard to avoid the inconvenience, it finds

Every excuse in the book to discourage me

But the guilt of not doing hard stuff hangs tenaciously

Over my head, until for my peace of mind I decide

To take the plunge, to no longer hide

Behind my excuses innumerable,

To discover whether or not I am capable

Of facing challenges, doing things that appear

Remarkably difficult, things that I fear

*

Things that are hard by definition

Do not become easy just by grit or ambition

But the courage to do hard stuff, once found

Changes you for the better, in a manner profound

Each time I do something hard, myself I remind

To do it more often, not pay attention to my mind.