Do you sense love for yourself Do you feel respect for yourself Do you feel your sense of self esteem
Do you feel a sense of self worth
What is your self worth tied to? Is it your education Your fancy degrees Your knowledge Your partner? Or your beauty? Your abilities? Is it to your achievements? Your skills? Your bank balance? Or is it to your designation Your children Your home? Your cars? Your phone?
If you have answered yes honestly to any of the above please think again Work on your independence Free your mind free your heart Free yourself from chains Practice unshackling Try to detach your self worth From material things. Others cannot always be around We are born as unique beings We are complete in every way No one can latch on to us Nor should we latch on to another Self awareness is crucial For true self confidence Self Confidence creates self esteem Self esteem develops self worth Value the life you have Understand your truth Explore your potential You are worthy.
Unconference, the word piqued my curiosity for a while until I checked it up on the internet, only to find that the idea has gained tremendous momentum across the globe.
The idea of un-structuring the ingrained structure seemed interesting to say the least, in creating spaces and possibilities to honour the learning.
Suffice to say recently, when I came across an Unconference event in the local newspaper I decided I must make a visit.
The venue of this Unconference was the well known Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts in Pune. I reached just in time for the proceedings to untold.
A customary registration ensued and I was greeted by a few volunteers with a relaxed warm and welcoming attitude. Clearly, the Unconference had started right there.
The word Conference kind of stiffens people up. There is a formal attitude, a thick air of competition to perform at their very best. There are fees and strict rules to adhere to. There are super busy organisers scurrying through and tension is writ large on their faces and their bodies as well are stressed out with expectations of the outcome of the event. Suited men and women whizz through looking super important. And yes there would be a Chief Guest of honour and a coterie of important people who need VIP handling… Adherence to their whims and fancies and most importantly their speeches which may or may not be of interest to any. But all must endure as to get up and leave is an offence to the speaker.
On the contrary here, there was a prevalent free-spirited feeling in the first place that all were in it together. The sense of community always takes time to build so I stood in that room with a small group of people waiting for the (informal introductory practice,) the opening circle.
The Opening Circle :
Someone from the group had taken an initiative to design a pretty pattern made of flowers in the centre of the space and light a lamp there.
A few introductory rounds later which turned out to be icebreakers with a few games to let loose and get into the flow.
There was a board set up with a mention of few rooms and a time slot to boot. The participants were encouraged to choose to attend or conduct workshops or just wander around and network.
A few people got up to mention their workshops and claim their slot. On a moment’s impulse although I was not exactly in the right attire for a dance workshop I simply decided to go with the flow and offered a Dance connection workshop by me.
Encouraged by a decent number of participants I let the moment take the lead. As I began teaching I witnessed the flow of the energy in the exchange.
I spoke about the dance, hold, frame and positioning and started introducing them to partner dancing and some basic steps. Bit by bit people shed inhibitions as they were getting tuned into the moves.
The moment strangers began to hold hands and face one another… for many, there was harmony to be found in the mirror imaging. For after all the lead and follow were simply an extension of each other dancing as one unit.
The energy in the room turned up a notch with the Achy Breaky Heart country cha sounds of Billy Ray Cyrus for company.
All started sensing the tuning in to the rhthymic expression of music & movement with their partners at that moment.
After the dance workshop I asked what they felt in that moment and here is what they shared immediately…
1. Acknowledging another as they are 2. Being mindful of boundaries 2. Caring to confirm 3. Listening with Attention 4. Having patience 5. Sharing in authenticity 6. Allowing space for curiosity & growth 7. Behaving respectively 8. Being present & available 9. Respecting personal space 10.Valuing emotions in resonance 11.Holding space for perspectives 12. Showing care and offering comfort to another.
You may find a few empathic faces coming up in front of you after reading this… People who have been showing some or almost all of these signs.
Hold on to them. Learn from them Respect their ways… They have understood much about life and living and valuing the strength of the interconnects.
An ignition to life and living this world No matter what form or species And its the breath that is left Behind that signifies the exit.
How important is this breath. That we all take for granted Gratitude and thankfulness To this driving force of life To nature for the air we breathe.
How important is this breath For in the way of the breath Lies the way of our health. For in the depth of breathing We can integrate our body, mind & spirit We can sense the synergy of being We can awaken our true potential. We can become aware of the infinite potential. For the truths of life, is in the inhale and exhale.
Pablo Picasso was born in Spain. And lived in France for most of his adult life. He is a prolific artist with varied interests, his early naturalistic painting gave way to his famous modern art in his adult years. He is known for his ‘Artistic Versatility’ and also for painting from imagination. He is renowned for his unconventional & radical life & art and is influential for his development of Cubist style.
A few musings…
On Art & Acceptance
If Picasso was born in the east Perhaps he would have had it tougher to touch the height of success. For he was best born in the west And live in the heart of liberalism Where his technique was acknowledged and given wings. He passionately painted his spirits strokes in freedom.
The eastern world has always been more traditional Conservative & restrained in art and life Somewhere it took a long time Catching up with the possibilities of creativity Where chaos becomes art.
In chaos there is disorder But in disorder is the arising of new creative possibilities Envisioning in the unconventional a restructuring in the flow Every stroke of the brush or ink on paper Is indicative of thoughts and emotions in the brain behind the brush. Of the development of hand eye brain integration That creates art out of simply anything and everything. And then, there is the viewer critic and the art dealer who see hope & possibilities in both the artist & his art.
Art is born in the mind of the artist
Art channels itself in the flow
Art is honed in the perspectives of critique
But art is realised and enjoyed in the acceptance of a patron
In the bowing is a prayer answered
In the kneeling to the cosmic connects
Acknowledge the grace that’s revered
And the blessings that protects
Sense the touch of the angels around
Feel the flow of divinity in the haloed healing light abound…
Embrace the moments in silence and serenity.
Savvy
Artwork Titled- ‘Blessings’ Painting by Savvy Raj
My painting ‘Blessings’, came to me almost as a flow… It spoke much to me as I brushed in serenity-of-silence with the colours it was as if it was meant to manifest itself and all along I sensed I was simply a channel.
Did something happen? Did you get hurt? Are you in pain? Do you keep hurting Time and time again Still thinking of it Is it the circumstances That repeat itself? Or is it you who has to change?
Are you ready? To work on your own self?
Cultivate your inner strength Release let go pain Let go slights & insults Step by step Bit by bit Acknowledge the hurt But overcome it In practice learn to flow over it And once you do You move over it Care to ask yourself What is the hurt all about? Where is it hurting the most? Whatever your answer Release it consciously Let it go… For the now is meant to change Such is the truth of nature.
Its your life You are responsible To create a garden of your life Make sure you strengthen The walls with gratitude for life Value the life in every now Bloom some more Be the best you can be!
Create a space of calm Inviting you to a journey Alluding you in subtlety Through natural authenticity Keeping it simple & minimal With intriguing unintentionality Allowing a space for austerity Sparking divine connectivity Evoking movements in the stillness. Invoking stillness in the movements.
Once there came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha a dancer and her musicians. And she was admitted to the court. And she danced to the music of the flute, the lute, and the zither. She danced the dance of flames and fire, and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space, and then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.
When she had finished, she approached the prince and bowed her body before him. The price bade her to come nearer, and said unto her, “Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?”
And the dancer came near and bowed her body again and said, “Gracious majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: The philosopher soul dwells within his head, the poets soul dwells within his heart, the singers soul dwells about his throat, but the soul of the dancer abides in all her body.
There is a dance of divinity in every cell of life.
There is the interconnectedness of life in every being.
Be conscious of the universe in you. As well as in others Be empathic be humane Sense answers within Find the light within Feel the abundance of Love Sense the divinity in you
Savvy Raj 
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