Tag Archives: Musings

Metaphorical thinking

Boolean doesn’t work in the world all the time. It does work in many aspects of life: for e.g. whether you want tea or coffee. Even in that case, you might want neither. So there are three values, right? Tea, Coffee, or None. Nevertheless, the world often has multiple shades of grey that are not always exactly quantized accurately for every individual observer. How do you handle that world? How do you learn to live in the world? It is here where I believe that metaphorical thinking helps.

Art is an important part of life. I truly wish no matter what somebody’s profession is, that everybody pursues some art. The power of art is that it plays to the element of the heart, and teaches us the way to look at life as poetry.

Now, why is poetry interesting? Poetry is important because the language of poetry is not the language in which it is written but the underlying symbols: similes and metaphors that it portrays. That kind of thinking opens up certain portions of the brain that give a relief from Boolean thinking. Boolean thinking is important in the world of science and science is important for progress in life. However, when we temper science with art it helps us learn to live in this world no matter what our circumstances are. If we learn to understand or imbibe some sense of metaphorical thinking then we can learn to dance along with the dance of life. We might all not be able to break into tango or salsa or whatever it is that some of our friends might be good at, but most importantly if we get in tune with the art that excites us that will bring in us a sort of feeling that cannot always be expressed in words. It could be a poem, photo or video that we like. It could be dance. It could be instrumental music. It could be simply taking a walk in a trail, a place of architectural marvel, or in the wilderness and observing the beauty around us. No matter what it is, it is something that opens up the heart elements in the brain.

Our world will be calmer and more peaceful if more people spend time studying art and something that opens up the metaphorical third eye.

#metaphor #thirdeye #art #metaphoricalthinking

Our New Year-Hour

I often wonder why there is a flurry of excited activity around major festivals and events, especially around the New Year. The earth goes around the sun approximately every 365 and a quarter days. So every day is the start of a new cycle depending on where the earth is relative to the sun. The earth is going to be at the spot it was at the previous year that day, the next year. So why do we take a day in a calendar and get all fired up about it?

I too participate in wishing people on New Year’s especially and have had my share of staying awake till midnight to augur the next year and to celebrate with friends and family and so, I wonder about this human phenomenon.

We don’t see the rest of the animal kingdom do this. They, however, do celebrate in their own ways. Bears hibernate in winter. When spring is up, they step out and feast on the berries and whatever food they can eat out there. Every animal is in tune with nature. Humans, while starting with festivals that are in tune with nature also seem to have a penchant for creating new festivals.

It looks like we are all tuned to looking at cycles. We understand that the past has goods and bads, and we just want to look ahead for something new. We typically mourn the loss of people that are close to us, and yet we get excited when we see a newborn baby. I think this looking forward to something fresh, no matter what the past is, is what keeps life going in us. I feel like this is why we rejoice and get together to look ahead at the next year.

In an ideal world, every day should be… every moment should be a new year’s moment. Every second should be looked forward to as if it’s the first, because it is the first among the rest of our seconds in our life. Perhaps, we try our own ways to rejoice at the start of these cycles to jump start such a process internally. We are a species that is always looking ahead. The jolt of energy that it gives us to move forth for another 365 days and join our planet in its revolution around the sun is probably what we are trying to do.

In the Indian culture, years get names and every sixty years, the name of the years are repeated. I read that many South Asian cultures have a similar theme. I told somebody a few years ago who turned 60 that they get to start from age one now, based on the 60-year cycle! What if we treat a 60-cycle like a 60-minute cycle? We will then treat a year in our life like an hour. And every second of our year-hour is precious to live.

I wish all of my friends, all of my family, everybody that I know, and everybody that I don’t know, a great new beginning – to look ahead and forward to something new and find ways to find joy in your lives.

The power of perspective…

Where larger objects farther away appear smaller than smaller objects close by.

Just like events in the immediate future sometimes look much larger than they probably could be when looked at many years from now.

Murrell Park, Flower Mound, TX

#murrellpark #perspective #musings #sunset

Autobiography

Everyone has an autobiography. The autobiography of an individual is etched in the space-time fabric of the universe. It cannot be fully written on paper or any human electronic media!

The term “tell all” is famous. How can someone tell all about their lives? Will they share their deepest secrets? Their barest thoughts? Their most embarrassing moments?

What about their own fears, pains, and insecurities?

Perhaps, they would portray the good aspects. Perhaps, some of the earlier mentioned aspects. But tell all?! Who remembers all? For, to remember each moment and recount them, is to relive them… relive an entire life!

#Autobiography

– Narayan Srinivasan

Celebrating the harvest and harvesting the celebrations

I remember as a child celebrating Pongal. I was given a metal plate and a spoon and happily beat it as I watched the milk from the cauldron boil over, while my mother deftly dropped rice onto the rising milk!

Then my siblings and I went to the rooftop, sat on the walls, biting into juicy sugarcane stalks; sucking the juice and seeing who can spit the fibrous mass farthest away!

As a celebration of harvest, Pongal is perhaps one of the oldest celebrations. An agrarian society which toiled in tune with the rolling seasonal changes, must have had a great sense of relief when the bounty was harvested in time. For it meant, that the rains came at the time they should and that the rain did not show up when it should not have. It meant, the animals that helped in the growth of the rice paddy were well and the farmers who tended them were well. And that the Sun, that celestial entity worked like a clock not only in providing the nourishing light for plants to thrive, animals and humans to live; but also the heat needed to dry out the rice stalks; making it easier to thresh out the crop crested on top. And the gushing of the boiling milk represented the joy that comes out of a deed that had fruition; tempered by the rice dropped on it after that; which was an affirmation of the thankfulness.

So the ancients thanked the elements, the animals, the farmers, the crops and the fact that they had a harvest. They celebrated their harvest and the tradition remains till date in India; in the South called as Pongal.

In today’s instant everything world, perhaps we need to harvest our celebrations as well. We go through life with its own ups and downs. On a daily basis we read of great things around us and also news of unpalatable happenings. While it is human nature to respond to both, perhaps our internal affirmations should also have a little counter for celebrating the good harvest each day. Not necessarily with beating of a drum or a metal plate, but with an internal joy of thankfulness; that is tempered with the knowledge that many factors came together to make the harvest fruitful. It could be a personal success moment, the first step of a child, a smile from reading a good article or any moment that felt good.

As I reflect on the multitude of “Happy Pongal” notes from my friends and family and respond in kind; I made a note to work on harvesting celebrations each day, like a micro-Pongal moment.

Happy Pongal!

#Pongal #Harvest #Celebration #Gratitude
– Narayan Srinivasan

Jan 14, 2017

Life is like a flower

Life is like a flower, with its relentless resurgence; dying one day and bringing forth another day… in multitudes, in many places, many times over.

Life is ephemeral, yet in its ability to appear where conditions exist for its appearance, it is eternal.

Life cannot be understood fully, but perhaps can be lived as fully as we can attempt it to be.

#Musings #hike #flower #dedication

Ephemera

The fragility of the crown,
wearer beware!
A gale or storm,
can upset that crest.

PS: This shot of dandelions and their “manes”, motivated this musing. A gentle breeze and drizzle dismantled their crests (which are equivalent to a gale and rainstorm to these plants!). Later, I remembered the poem in High School, by Shelley named, “Ozymandias”.

#rainyday #musings #dandelions #natureinduced #lessonsfromnature