Curves ahead

The road to meaning has been a curvy one. I suppose it is never a straight line for anyone. From pursuing my endeavors in the classroom to volunteering at the homeless shelter to finally picking up a guitar, I have searched for peace and a quiet soul. Through all my searching, I have known to some extent the fruitlessness of my search, It is in me and it is all around me. "I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty", Kabir tells us.

Traveling has always been one of the most literal manifestations of this search for meaning. I was bitten by the travel bug early, but probably caught the fever my senior year, when I visited London for the first time. Despite the freezing temperatures, I fell immediately in love with the city, and vowed to return, which I did for the first time last year. There is something so wonderful about putting yourself in a new setting, talking to different people, seeing different things, experiencing different cultures/customs/foods. For me, it's like being shaken awake. Lately, so much of my day to day feels robotic, like I'm on auto pilot. Traveling wakes me up to the real possibilities of life. A soul awakened.

I think you have to break up the monotony when you sense its presence. You don't have to cross oceans to do it. Just remember to keep shaking it up. Try something new. Talk to someone you've never spoken to before. Do something. Do anything. This is your life. Don't miss it.

Wisdom from Dostoevsky

"Listen! I know that talking is wrong: it's better simply to set an example, better simply to begin… I have already begun… and-and is it really possible to be unhappy? Oh, what are my grief and my trouble, if I am able to be happy? You know, I don’t understand how it's possible to pass by a tree and not be happy to see it. To talk with a man and not be happy that you love him! Oh, I only don’t know how to say it… but there are so many things at every step that are so beautiful, that even the most confused person finds beautiful. Look at a child, look at God’s sunrise, look at the grass growing, look into the eyes that are looking at you and love you…"

--Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Idiot"

I'm not going to add anything to this one. Just wanted to share. :)

That Human Connection

The other night, while driving home, my significant other and I were deeply involved in a wonderful conversation. So much so that, when we arrived at the turn-in to his neighborhood, he just kept driving, not wanting to interrupt the flow of it, which (for some reason, with our easily distractable human condition) turning off the car and going inside would have done.

So we just kept driving. And talking. And it was wonderful. We learned new things about one another, shared stories from our youth, talked about this and that.

It made me remember that it's conversations like these that provide us with that human connection, that mental stimulation, that soul-stirring reminder that we are alive, that we are human, that we are all connected through this beautiful communicative experience, this uniquely human thing. 

This is the element of life that I never want to lose touch with. The fusing of souls that happens when a truly wonderful conversation sparks up, and that moment is frozen in time. You may not remember what was discussed, but you always remember the way it made you feel.

Mental Antiperspirant VS the Small Stuff

"I did not want to live what was not life. Living is so dear."-Henry David Thoreau

I love this quote, and it seems to summarize so beautifully how I have been feeling lately. I want so much to breathe each moment, and to enjoy and appreciate everything beautiful and positive around me. Our time here is so precious, and it is so easy to lose sight of the beauty that is all around. We get caught up in our day to day experiences-the jobs we tolerate but that don't satisfy, the day to day chores, the unexpected stresses. It can be difficult to find beauty when we find ourselves feeling stressed out or irritated. But it can be done, and to live a happy life, it must be done. We must not allow ourselves to be dragged down by the negative, but instead must realize that every struggle teaches us something. In every negative there may be a positive we're overlooking. Most importantly, it's important to realize that our REACTION to stress or irritation is really the key to happiness. We can become frustrated when we drop something, or we can simply bend over, pick it up, and keep going. If we allow ourselves to hyper-focus or become emotionally elevated, we are only creating an unnecessary negative situation for ourselves, and we alone will suffer from that. Would you make someone you love suffer unnecessarily?? Why is it so much easier to do it to ourselves?

This is what I hope to continue working on and improving in myself. To rise above the aggravations and continue to pursue the true meaning. After all, as Rumi reminds us, "If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?"