How many of you writers, have felt people equating your creative writing with your life?
As a writer I do know that creativity comes up in the most unexpected moments. It may have or not at all have anything to your own experiences. Much of the creative process can happen in attention to details as a keen observer, in witness mode , in associations of thoughts and feelings and in sensing emotions in empathy, concern or care, that may have or not have any personal connotations.
Writing is the freedom of expression in flights of imagination, its a beautiful art and that is free for interpretation once it has been published. For the writer has chosen to let it go…
How it came to be, is a mystery sometimes to the Author too😉
Sharing a thought provoking forward that came my way…
I was 9.
There was pensive silence at home when days after the happy news of my dads promotion in a nationalised bank he received orders of transfer as a branch manager to a small village in Rajasthan. We were then in Ahmedabad and this also happened to be the time he was building a house next to our ancestral home.
I had seen him struggle with numbers, adding, subtracting, circling staff loans and FDs he would break and putting a question mark against a few empty spaces in the total.
A house is usually a one time in one life effort so everyone goes all out and makes that one room more than what can be afforded and still finds one room less than what was needed. Javed Akhtar puts it beautifully बम्बई में बस एक ही गम हैं, हरेकके पास एक कमरा कम हे.
The joint family home housed 14 of us from age 5 to 95 years.
Today I watch both the houses abandoned and nature taking over the garden my mother used to tend for hours every day. The Jamun, the Drumstick a few Ashok, Neem and Peepal have survived but all beauty is both transient and fragile and the law of entropy powerful. The lovely flowers of myriad colours are all gone. I wonder what happened to the peacock family that came everyday and ate from my moms hand. The Bulbul, the sparrows, the parrots, spotted flycatchers, Cuckoos, a huge troop of monkeys that once in a month would upset the order of the place.
Once people leave, a home becomes a house. Initially I didn’t feel like selling and now I don’t feel like going. Time has taken away ten of its fourteen occupants.
I walk around our neighbourhood and see similar fate of so many homes once full of life now replaced or lying still.
Why do we stretch and stress to build houses? In most cases our kids won’t need it or worse fight over it. What is this human folly of attempting permanent ownership in a leased life with an uncertain tenure given by a landlord whose terms are non-negotiable and there is no court of appeal.
One day all we have built with love and EMIs will either be demolished, fought over, sold or lie in ruins.
Every time I fill a form that asks for ‘permanent address’ I smile at human folly.
There is a Zen story that an old monk walked into a Kings palace demanding he wanted to spend the night in this Inn and the guards told him, “What Inn, can’t you see its a palace?”. The monk said “I came here a few decades back someone was staying there, a few years later someone else took the throne from him, then someone else. Any place where the occupant keeps changing is an Inn.”
George Carlin says “house is just a place where you keep your stuff as you go out and get more stuff”.
As houses get bigger families get smaller. When the house has occupants, we desire privacy and when the nest empties we crave for company.
Birds and Animals must be laughing at us humans that give up living in order to build their dream home and in the end depart the Inn they mistook as a permanent residence.
Your yesterday may have seemed very tough Your entire body may have taken a toll Your head and heart may have felt heavy Your eyes may have welled up in tears Your emotions choking you Your breathing may have been constricted Your muscles may have felt tight. Your steps laboured and dragging Perhaps a sense of resignment may have reigned all through the day…
Yes it may have been more than you could handle But handle you did For you are alive and kicking. Today your heart is lighter And you are breathing easy With a song on your lips And a dance in your steps Your body willing And in enthusiastic spirit Looking forward to another day To put in your very best And make it another great day!
The question is then, what is happening in you, one moment to another And what are you doing to alter the effects of the moment. And what actually alters everything. Simply put, your own thoughts And the power of your choice Choosing one thought over the other.
Trust life to show many colours every day but know you have the choice in how you choose see and perceive it.
Every day can be good or bad day… But it’s in the way you chose see it… That changes the day!
Being you and being true to yourself is the simplest path towards your purpose.
And yet often being you at times can be challenging.
For life can demand much from you and you need to go beyond and bend backwards and forwards to surf through life’s unexpected turns.
But by being true to yourself you are at least sure to have your heart and head in check and balance, where your inner conscience meets your consciousness.
The breath of life From the moment of birth Life begets the breath of air An ignition to life and living in 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 and spirit We can sense the synergy of being We can awaken our true potential. We can become aware of the infinite potential. For all the truth of life, is in the inhale and exhale.
An artist may give a shape to thoughts, its destiny is the result of the bubbles of thoughts in the connected flow.
Creativity is in each of us. We are blessed with much we are yet to understand.
Often we neglect the creative side in each of us and don’t find ourselves expressing it away, but tapping into it can open portals of yet unknown possibilities in each of us. And most of all gives us the courage to explore and embrace the unknown.
Every one faces difficult people in their lives. And for some like service sectors, coaches, consultants and medics, their job has many moments of handling difficult people and tricky situations as well.
There are many types of difficult people
Like the pessimistic ones who always find what won’t work first for anything new. They have nothing positive to say or share. But always play the devils advocate.
Handling them can be extremely difficult in front of a team full of people but it is wise to acknowledge them and then reframe their perspectives with a positive positioning and interpretation to turn it around carefully.
Interestingly there are a lot many in the know it all category, with an attitude & arrogance of knowledge & experience to boot.
An effective way to tackle would be to appreciate them but ask them to share the data and facts associated with what they proclaim to ensure authenticity. It is also challenging but necessary to request for humility in these peer to peer conversations.
There are then those who are two sided who say nothing to your face but are habitual complainers. There is a need to understand the origin of of their doubts and worries and where they are coming from in order to work it out thereby creating a safe and secure atmosphere.
“Think of difficult people as sandpaper They may rub you and scratch you painfully but eventually you end up smooth and the sandpaper worn out… stay happy and enjoy life…” raymund salumbides
Difficult people are difficult to handle. But it’s not impossible or something to shy away from. Simply the handling needs discernment and care. And not everyone can handle difficult people. Tact, diplomacy, confidence, clarity of purpose and vision go a long way in handing difficult people and problems.
Great leaders know… It’s about listening, observing identifying and then empowering & developing middle managers to be great leaders of tommorow.
It’s about rewarding people for the right reasons. And understanding what gets people to work together.
And then creating and sustainable atmosphere for them to work well together.
It’s about finding time to understand the context of what is. And being able to not only envision the big picture but also project it with authenticity and powerfully so.
For in the many small moments of the day there appears many random tests for a leader.
Leadership is not about making everyone like each other. But about making them understand that it takes all of them to be a consistent and collaborative team players.
And most of all getting every one knowing why they are there and clarifying in simple words what the organization is trying to do.
There is a beautiful saying that goes…’ It’s not about having a team of stars But about having a star team’
I listened to my heart Every day As it shares from within And I write them out as words Sometimes as verses At times it’s measured In moderation. Its a zen moment For there is clarity In just a few words shared.
Then there are times They flow like a river A torrent in a current Patterning itself In its own making Words come through me As if it needs to be spoken Sharing the sensitivity Of the moments at hand.
I listen simply with rapt attention. For in the slightest flutter In every movement in the moments Or the depth of silence. There is always something more.
Savvy Raj 
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