Have the kindness to see the good
Disregard and cast off the negative
There will be much that may cloud
your vision.
There is much we do not know
We all have our own stories
Of trials and tribulations
It’s not easy for any of us.
And for some it may just be
A little extra tough these times.
Truly it takes nothing from you
To choose to stay positive
And stay nice no matter!
Our world is having it rough already
Let’s try and make it better
Each of us one kind gesture in time
Let’s leave imprints of kindness
In hearts and souls
Let us empower our spirit
To be hopeful and happy
All is meant to be well
So be kind and do good!
Life is about to bloom for you
Youth is on your side today
If your goal is to make a difference
Know your road is a long one.
Just a word of caution in care
With thoughts from down the road
Every moment has potential
With possibilities unlimited.
Life is both beautiful and uncertain
It can summon the very best in you
It can challenge your deepest reserve
To stay on course, needs your sensibility.
Be brave for the strongest can tremble
Be stable for the steadiest can tumble
Be humble for pride never wins
Be mindful of the now and tread with care.
Many a person will sing your praises
There will many paths open to explore
There will be many discoveries awaiting
Succumb not to temptation of aiming small.
Choose to think expansive and yet focus
Every thing is on a fine thread of balance.
As you make your choices
You shift and alter your paths ahead.
Sharing a beautiful song by Cliff Richard The Young Ones
So many…
Mountains to climb and achieve
Oceans to cross and discover
Pathways to create your imprints
All this and so much more….
Intentions to manifest and more
Journey to make and understand
Life is just starting for you
Miles to go before you Settle!
Life is what you make of it
Success is in how you see it
Love is how you feel within
Laugh a lot! Live Life Lovingly!
Yes dreams do come alive
Stars will twinkle & sparkle on
Trust your path is in the making
All it needs is you!
Today’s post is a compilation in collaboration, My reader and good friend for many years now Ashok Subbarao and I share our views in a collaborative way. He suggested if we could do a post together. And sent me his article. And I added my contemplations. So his prose and my poetry interweave in these words ahead.
Living on the Edge
Are we the cause of all the suffering We are not only the cause We are the reason For the ‘State of Earth’ today.
We have breached all laws of nature We have plundered and massacred Not only our own But innocent voiceless sentient beings.
Our crimes are heinous Our ways unethical Morality or humanity It is completely missing.
The Plundering Humans
The continuous growth of consumerism and the insatiable hunger for more and more utilities and luxuries to fulfill the simple necessities of life have made countries plunder nature’s precious resources. So much so that humans have grown so selfish to uproot green cover of forests and waste life-giving water that nature started showing signs of decay in the form of various natural calamities. This was not an act of revenge but as an intrinsic part, nature to balance and sustain itself.
Yes, life can be lived with simple food, basic needs, and uncluttered living as the rest was provided by nature itself and that too, totally free.
However, man’s greed knows no bounds. With focussed developments in the era of industrialization and in the present age, the technological advancements to boot, man’s demands kept increasing, and these
are what a human being thinks are his basic needs.
Across the world today. Our acts are turning violent Our actions correlate To the price, we all must pay!
We speak without kindness We act without empathy We are ruthless and hopeless. Without integrity and trust.
Tilting natures precious balance By our callous and self-serving ways. Our earth has taken a toll Bearing patiently in witness mode.
The rising temperatures across the world is a result of felling forests for newer colonies, roads, factories, offices, multiplex and what have you; thereby increasing the need for air conditioners which provide relief inside a house, but the amount of energy and power that is sucked out and throwing of heat in the atmosphere is creating more heat.
I would not be surprised when the day is not far when there would be so much heat that the AC compressors too would burst. What will we do then? But humans are so naive and adamant without care.
Man has broken every law of nature Now nature needs to self-repair Humankind must change their ways Seek ways to maintain and sustain the earth.
Centuries of abuse and neglect Nature has no time to be silent It’s truly now or never. Nature must begin to equalize.
Just being human is not enough We must practice our humanity Else the wrath of nature Can no longer be contained
Our ways had got out of hand Life was getting unbearable And so beyond control And way beyond hope.
The only solution is for countries worldwide to totally ban the destruction of forests in the name of development, introduce more public transport so that people stop buying more and more cars which emit gases in the air and encourage people to plant more trees and reverse materialism. This could be a small beginning in restoring balance, for nature will remedy itself.
Today the earth is revolting in its own sweet way and proving to humankind that if they do not amend their ways to sustain, the planet will render us humans as not just powerless, and perhaps the entire existence of humans can be erased. Nature along with is splendor accompanied by other sentient beings will reclaim their space. It is a simple way of nature saying “Hello Mankind I am alive too!.”
In the madness of being modern The malady of our times Values and ethics were trashed Respect and regard were binned.
Stress and tension Anxiety and panicking Sleeplessness and fatigue Plaguing the world over.
Materialism and indulgence Hitting an all-time high In greed apathy and indifference. We took our world for granted.
And vis-à-vis the present pandemic called Covid-19, I cannot but remember the three monkeys as depicted in the picture. See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil a message given by Mahatma Gandhi the apostle of peace.
And it is so ironic that today, we have to cover all the three with a mask. Can we shed the artificial mask that we have been wearing for so long and promise mother earth to behave more sensibly and wisely? Probably we might be pardoned and some semblance of sanity may return to our lives.
Now nature has put humans in cages Animals and birds roam free Roads are empty, rivers are cleaner Pollution has given way to purer air.
While mankind is locked down Nature is restoring to sustain herself Truth is its the only way left to survive! There is perhaps no other way!
From the age of innocence To the age of advancement From unraveling of the mysteries Of the mind the body and the being Emerging from the depths of darkness To exploration in light & space. Diving into the ocean of life Living in the extreme conditions With just the will to dare And discover the unknown.
We humans have traveled through time Leaving imprints of consciousness Both successful and otherwise Every century has it’s own stories. Yes we are living through troubled times Calling in for tough measures. A subject of huge debate With confusion and chaos. But survive we have and we will Through calamities and war. Inspite of impending darkness We will keep moving towards light
Upholding hope beyond despair Let’s help keep love alive in our hearts. We will overcome the passing storms We will survive the unsurmountable We will persevere and thrive For we are meant to survive.
My artwork . Art of the heart. Created from few drops of water.
When I chose to study arts many years ago I chose it because I loved arts I was drawn to it just as much as I was drawn the physics of artistry or the philosophy of science. I wanted to understand more, I always felt there is so much to contemplate and discover for oneself, to discuss and reflect with one another.
Today having joyful engaged with many professional paths in my career over the years in both mainstream and offbeat tracks, I am voicing what’s in my heart.
Speaking from the Indian perspective
in those days, arts was a stream not taken by the so-called achievers, it was not for those who wanted to study management and have mainstream careers. It was way to become a future teacher or an artist. Not too many career options were thought to be open for the arts graduate. It was often ignorantly assumed that those who did not do well in Math and Science subjects will end up with the arts.
I knew then how wrong it was to segregate people into water tight compartments and more so to differentiate between subjects as unimportant and unnecessary. Unlike the times today, where every field of study has great scope… arts was given a frivolous status.
Thankfully over the years from literature to performance art from entertainment to edutainment, the range and the scope of art and its application grew to encompass a lot more.
Education suddenly realized the holistic approach to education and started integrated methods of education. With awareness came the realization that nothing exists in a vacuum.
There is interdependence in between various subjects and there are areas that are common to two different pathways. And in the intermingling new thoughts emerge and evolve in time.
Truly so, arts is interwoven in the tapestry of life and living. The way we are, the way we move and chose to flow with life everything is part of an artful flow . For life is an art in itself.
Today more than ever this very art is making life bearable.
There is a sudden leaning towards the arts, to poetry, paintings and prose, to dance and music, there are takers for all things’ art.
Perhaps as a means of entertainment, to simply sense the finer things of life in the interim period with nothing else to do. But art and its application has so much more to offer, in every season, to lift us from our banal mundane existence and creatively enrich and empower our hearts and minds with engaging experiences.
Trust art, to always deliver beyond the apparent.
Hello Mother
Hope you’re feeling alright
May the sun shine through the day
And may sky stay blue
May the waves be gentle
May the moon be bright and beautiful
May the stars sparkle & twinkle for you.
Hello mother
Forgive us for we have wronged you
We were too busy being selfish
That we never cared for our mother
You withstood it all & bore so much
I admire your resilience
How do you tolerate us so mother
For mistakes unpardonable?
How forgiving can u get?
You are the great teacher
Yes, you showed us the signs
That we simply chose to ignore
How callous of us to think
We could go on forever
Without mending our foolish ways.
Hello Mother
We hope you can breathe easy
Through the days and nights
As you hear natures sweetest tunes
Of swaying breeze & waltzing waves
Of chirping birds in joy
Of streams gurgling by
Of rivers refreshed in the flow
Life is regenerating in relief.
If only hope, faith and trust prevails
In peace and goodwill
Then our actions can speak
Louder than words!
Hello Mother
On this Mother’s Day
Hope you have a beautiful day
Today and every day!
Remember the five simple rules to be able to thrive in life
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Like the five petals of the flower are connected but they bloom freely in their own way in all their simplicity expecting nothing back but giving so much beauty to the world.
Every thought sets a pattern
In fact in a loop
Of interwoven scenes
Some that seem relatively strange
And some unidentifiable
Every loop jumps and lights up another
In the intersection
Is thought quantifiable at all?
Thoughts come and go
But what if we reflect on our thoughts
Like witnessing our breath, as it goes on
Thoughts may manifest on their own.
When we are mindful of our thoughts.
May be just for a bit of time every now and then
We flow along and cultivate an awareness of its nature
We become gradually mindful of the now.
In time, a sense of connect develops
In conscious awareness of our intentions.
We are creating spaces between our thoughts
And pauses in our reflections.
When shift is known by the mind
And felt in the heart
Then every thing moves
In conscious awareness.
Once, a Junior School teacher asked her students to bring some potatoes in a plastic bag to school. Each potato will be given a name of the person whom that child hates. Like this, the number of potatoes will be equal to the number of persons they hate.
On a decided day, the children brought their potatoes well addressed. Some had two, some had three and some had even five potatoes.
The teacher said they have to carry these potatoes with them everywhere they go for a week.
As the days passed the children started to complain about the spoiled smell that started coming from these potatoes. Also some students who had many potatoes complained that it was very heavy to carry them all around. The children got rid of this assignment after a week, when it got over.
The teacher asked, “How did you feel in this one week?”
The children discussed their problems about the smell and weight.
Then the teacher said, “This situation is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you don’t like some people. This hatred makes your heart unhealthy and you carry that hatred in your heart everywhere you go. If you can’t bear the smell of spoiled potatoes for a week, imagine the impact on your heart of this hatred that you carry throughout your life.”
Our heart is a beautiful garden that needs a regular cleaning of unwanted weeds. Forgive those who have not behaved with you as expected and forget the bad things.
This also makes room available for storing good things…
What an impactful way to mentor...
Stories that touch the inner recesses of our hearts can truly leave us positively inspired in the reflections.
This story means so much and is truly relevant to one and all. The world today needs compassion and love more than ever. It needs to get rid of unwanted accumulation of past years both material or our mental manifestations.
The way you treat yourself in life
The way you treat another being
The way you interact
The words you speak
The deeds you do
The actions you take
All co-relate to the giant plan of
creation.
From the smile you share
To the kindness you show
From the tone of your voice
To the sounds of your steps.
All is circulating energy of pulsating vibrations.
Everything is connected to everything else.
Watch yourself, for you matter
Watch out for others they matter.
Value the life in the living.
Mirroring itself in the dimensions
Of life and living
Every move matters
For life reflects and resonates in the being.
Savvy Raj 
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