Taken while walking along the shopping streets somewhere in Europe when it caught my attention….
The first three words that came to me was, interesting, intriguing, ingenious.
There was also a certain simplicity that was striking.
Would are your thoughts when you see this photo?
I caption this ‘Cupclock’
Care to caption this capture ?
Savvy
Travelling in Creativity
Travelling light
Flowing free
Musings in the mulling
Limitless abundance
Unparalleled potential
Beyond bars, timeless
Harmony in syñchromy
Unassuming uniqueness
Unrelated ubiquitous
Savvy
Some of you might have read this before but I have posted it as it’s worth reading again and again 😊
Motivational Story – The Bamboo Tree
A man got frustrated with life. Despite all the hard work and effort, failure was all that he learnt. Feeling defeated with life, he left everything and exiled himself in the woods. There he met a Hermit. The disappointed man shared is failure with the hermit. “Give me one good reason not to quit?”- He pleaded the Hermit
“Look”, the hermit said, pointing towards two plants. “Do you see that fern and bamboo there?
“Yes”, the man nodded.
“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them water, light and fertilizer. Within a short period of time the fern quickly grew from the earth”, the hermit continued.
“But despite the Bamboo seed being watered and nurtured for years, it did not outwardly grow as much as an inch. In fact, nothing at all happened in the first year. There was no sign of growth. But, I did not give up on the Bamboo seed and continued to water and nurture it. By the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”
“So, did the bamboo tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth?” the hermit asked. Baffled by the question the man kept quiet. “The answer is quite obvious. The little tree was growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond. Had the tree not developed a strong foundation, it would not have sustained its life as it grew.”
“Did you know that all the time you had been struggling, you were growing strong roots”, remarked the hermit
The man learned his lesson that day. He learnt the value of persistence and hard work. The fern and the bamboo stood right in front of him as he walked towards his life to continue to work on his dreams
Yesterday afternoon I visited the local Crosswords book shop and spent time browsing through some amazing books.
I was so enjoying my Sunday me time that I hardly realized how the day had turned to late evening as I stepped out.
Walking down an aisle of steps my eyes fell on a very poignant sight. There was this little boy with a little basket, sitting by a busy street selling the very colorful & delicious Java/blackplum called Jamun in India.
He looked no older than 6 or 7 years. But there he was confidently telling me a price. I went near him, to pick up some myself, but realized his entire basket was really ripe and ready. I watched how he had a little steel glass by which he measured and gave me the quantity I asked for.
I watched his tiny hands at work and I thought to myself this little boy should be holding a book to read or write and here was this child ,selling fruits.
I struck a little conversation asking him if he goes to school, he said the last few years there has been no school, although he likes to study but now he is helping him family this way and this is fun too! There was something in the way he said it, that my heart warmed up to him.
Yes he is right, the school of life has a lesson for each of us at every turn.
If we choose to see it so.
Although fate has ordained his life to be so in this now, I blessed him silently from my heart for a better life in time.
I salute the little boy’s budding entrepreneurial spirit.
💙🙏💙
Savvy
▪️
Informative share
Interestingly , 50% of a person’s bones & 50% of the muscles, are in the two legs.
Do walk
▪️The largest & strongest joints & bones of the human body are also in the legs.
3-7k steps / day
▪️Strong bones, strong muscles and flexible joints form the Iron Triangle that carries the most important load i.e. the human body.”
▪️70% of human activity and burning of energy in one’s life is done by the two feet.
▪️Do you know this ? When a person is young, his/ her thighs have enough strength , to lift a small car of 800 kg !
▪️The foot is the center of body locomotion.
▪️Both the legs together have 50% of the nerves of the human body, 50% of the blood vessels and 50% of the blood is flowing through them.
▪️ It is the largest circulatory network that connects the body.
So walk daily.
▪️Only when the feet are healthy then the convention current of blood flows , smoothly, so people who have strong leg muscles will definitely have a strong heart. Walk.
▪️Aging starts from the feet upwards
▪️As a person gets older, the accuracy & speed of transmission of instructions between the brain and the legs decreases, unlike when a person is young. Please walk
▪️In addition, the so-called Bone Fertilizer Calcium will sooner or later be lost with the passage of time, making the elderly more prone to bone fractures. WALK.
▪️Bone fractures in the elderly can easily trigger a series of complications, especially fatal diseases such as brain thrombosis.
▪️Do you know that 15% of elderly patients generally, will die max. within a year of a thigh-bone fracture !! Walk daily without fail
▪️ Exercising the legs, is never too late, even after the age of 60 years.
▪️Although our feet/legs will gradually age with time, exercising our feet/ legs is a life-long task.
Walk 3000-7000 steps
▪️Only by regular strengthening the legs, one can prevent or reduce further aging. Walk 365 days
▪️ Please walk for at least 30-40 minutes daily to ensure that your legs receive sufficient exercise and to ensure that your leg muscles remain healthy.
Do share this valuable information with all your friends & family members, as everyone is ageing on a daily basis…
_
To me…
Painting is an iterative journey
Full of surprises in the flow
Something to stumble upon
To follow on & find meaning.
In letting go of the control
You begin to see the guidance
Forming in the impressions
Sometimes subtle or strong
As the brush moves on canvas
Leaving imprints of colours
Patterning itself in a narrative
Creating a purpose for itself.
Painting is a tool in trusting
In faith, in the discovery
Shaping itself through you
Bridging beyond in the now.
Savvy
Today I came across this interesting proverb.
If a man fools me once, shame on him. If he fools me twice, shame on me. ~ Chinese Proverb
It makes me think a little more…
How much of experiences does one need to help learn from making mistakes?
Till we use our mistakes as stepping stones to success.
If there is a surefire way to surf through life without issues…
It is in the ability to take the self lightly!
To realise what seems like a big issue today may seem very insignificant in time.
How much does one depend on the armour of God to help in tiding through lifes crisis?
In sensing that faith is all there is…
There is a knowing that there is always hope beyond despair.
How can we learn to see through the facades?
In understanding that there is more to seeing beyond the looking.
How can we protect ourselves from being conned?
In trusting the self before all else!
Does loneliness or loss and the ensuing vulnerability make one a target or a victim?
It depends on ones perspective of life .
For in the loneliness there is a opportunity for self awareness
And our strengths can emanate from our vulnerabilities.
How to keep the spirit calm, collected & contented ?
In witnessing the world while breathing deeply and bringing our awareness to the now…
And how can we learn to take responsibility for our errors of judgment?
In knowing we have the power of choice with us! And remember to think well and choose equally well!.
Savvy
Acknowledgement of the good starts with you
And how you act on it…
Everyday make sure to walk and laugh , sing and dance and see the beauty in every beat of a living heart and that’s a step to tuning yourself to loving this world a little more.
All is in the acknowledgement in hope and positivity.
Savvy
In being proved wrong
We learn something new
What if we celebrate the learning
Than criticize making mistakes
For mistakes are an error of judgement.
It is already happened, in the past
What matters is what we make of it
Are we ready to accept our mistakes?
Are we ready to learn from it to move on?
After all instead of fussing over mistakes,
Let’s be receptive to being wrong.
And care to imbibe a new perspective
For then we can be a little less wrong now🙏
Savvy
Our world is not so perfect
Yet it must go on
And Ants know it best
They work as a team to solve their own set of problems.
All fingers of a hand are different
All are meant to be for a purpose that is not yet visible.
Yet much can happen in coordination & collaboration.
When one that is weak is supported by the stronger.
There is a semblance of balance
In this ball of blue.
Savvy
Creativity flourishes in moving beyond the box stepping out of the emerging collages in the interpretation, time and time again.
Every creative endeavour is rooted in a dance of the energy within and around us … the dynamics of integration embodies the creative output.
Savvy
If only we could realize how valuable it is to be appreciated and supported .
If we could only know how important it is to feel inclusive in our diverse ways.
We must understand that love and kindness is the only way besides adopting a non-judgmental approach.
We must realise how vulnerable life is, but beyond feeling victimized and create further suffering due to negative thoughts
We need to respond with empathy, show unity through kindness and compassionate deeds.
The power of kindness is truly infinite.
KINDNESS IS THE PRAYER IN ACTION.
Savvy
Image Credits: painting by Savvy Raj.
Titled: Interconnectedness
Life reflects itself through the things you do, the people you meet as well as in your passions and perseverances, in so many intriguing yet enthralling ways.
One such beautiful reflection I experienced in my travels earlier in France.
A sense of deja vu, a throwback to the fond memories of teaching dances to people in the different places, all thanks to the Dance & the magic of movements.
While visiting France I met my colleague from the world of dance, Celine Maheo who resides in Rennes
Celine is a practicing clinical psychologist and an Argentine tango dancer.
What’s beautiful is that she is a dedicated professional who uses the dance therapy for helping Parkinson’s patients with their movements through Tango dance sessions.
My interest was piqued, as earlier I had been conducting very similar dance sessions as well, especially remembered our Seniors Dance for Wellness workshops back in India.
So over a beautiful meet and greet sipping cups of hot herbal tea at the Les Grands Gamin at the heart of Rennes, ensued a free flowing conversation where we exchanged notes on each others life. Our passion for dancing was the visible to see as we hardly knew how moments passed by.
To dance is to sense connections beyond the dancing bodies.
To dance is to honour life and its unique expressions in the movements.
Savvy Raj
And when Celine invited me to her next Tango Therapy Workshop, it was an offer I could not refuse. I was actually keen to understand whether and how the cultural differences change the way of conducting and experiencing workshops here.
Dancing can improve the mobility and balance in senior adults.
Adapting the dance to suit the requirements of the group, like simplifying the steps, the placement of the feet, improves their coordination, mobility and balance.
The dance session was deeply engrossing & truly inspiring to witness and participate as well. The music played that day stayed with me well after the session.
So the next step turned out to be me conducting a Chacha session for them. The challenges of language barriers were surrmounted easily as Celine offered to translate my teaching from English to French.
Everything fell in place beautifully and voila time flew again.We danced a bit of Chacha that day and also some more in the next few sessions as well. I was told later by the learners how much they enjoyed it!
It was an amazing experience sharing the joys of movements and I thank Celine for her inclusivity in requesting me to conduct the dance sessions as well. And I deeply appreciate all her beautiful learners that I met,connected and danced with. It was a truly warm and wonderful time spent with them all.
After the sessions we would gather together and discuss opening many facets of the learning and imbibing. It was a beautiful way of empathising and understanding each other.
Some of the beautiful souls I got to interact with in the few months I was there.
Dance has a way of soothing your entire being and bringing forth and connecting you with the depth of who you are. That is when dance begins to feel meaningful and transforms life.
The dance connects established, in those sessions is a beautiful memory etched in my heart, that I will cherish forever.
I chanced on these beautiful moments again as I found the photos I clicked back then and I decided to give them a little artistic effect.
All across the world April 29th every year is celebrated as International Dance Day, although every day is a great day to dance!
I dedicate this post to all my dance friends and colleagues and all the dance educators in the world who are making the world a better place, with every step in time.
Savvy Raj
These inspiring words are by William Martin The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents 🙂
The ordinary can be a gift in disguise 🙂
Savvy Raj 