Savvy Raj

Live Life Lovingly!


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Retrouvaille

Meeting an old friend
A kindered spirit
Or a loved one …

The joy of uniting
After being afar 
Speaks of interconnections…
Where time and space
Evaporates without a trace
In the moments together.

Its often said
Absence makes the heart
Grow fonder…
So is it the distance
That makes reunion sweeter?
Gibran wisely said…
Let there be spaces
In your togetherness

So whatever the relationship
With another or with the self ,  the very act of reconnecting  with an old hobby, that you  were once passionate about,  makes it truly memorable.
For what is truly meaningful, is never lost … it’s simply awaiting a return.

Savvy

PS: The word Retourvaille (often spelled Retrouvailles in French) is a beautiful, untranslatable French word that perfectly captures a specific, deeply felt human experience.
Literally translated, it means “rediscovery” or “the finding of something again.”


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Making sense of it all… 

Experience eats degrees for breakfast.

Technology tosses experience and degrees topsy turvy.

Al turns skills redundant and age immaterial.


Wisdom turns knowledge into learning.

For learning never stops.

Humility allows for growth…

Making sense of it all.


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Art lives on…

An artist leaves much more
than creativity in the artwork.

There is a voice in every frame,
speaking deeply if you care to listen.

That voice carries the artist’s choices
of color and composition,
of style and strokes,
of moods and feelings
breathed into the birth of art.

The artist speaks through the work.
The energy of the artist is embedded
in words, in lines, in shapes and forms.

When a piece feels complete,
the artist releases it to the world.
And yet, the energy lives on,
transforming itself through time
and the spaces it inhabits.

Art is transformed again
in translation and interpretation,
reshaped by those who encounter it.

As creators, whether of images or words,
our work continues to live,
each viewer or reader sensing its energy uniquely.
And so it flows…
transforming itself in time.

Savvy Raj


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The Game Changer

Often it is in the adversity,

you meet your true strengths.

In the tests of life,

you find your true self.

That which you discover

in these challenges,

arrives in the journey

to steer you on your path.

So hold on, in trust & faith.

For no matter what,

all in not lost.

You will find it in you,

to begin anew. 

In experiences of adversity, 

you meet yourself.

And that’s the gamechanger.

A question to my reader…

If you were to think of the past challenges,what comes to mind as a strength you uncovered about your self that you wouldn’t  have found any other way ?

Savvy Raj


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On Dancing Ten Dances

 

I wrote this piece earlier but it was in my drafts as I missed posting it. Better late than never they say and I hope the movie is still streaming on Netflix.

As a lover of dance and as  a ballroom and latin dance educator for two decades and more,  I have always been delighted to watch any good dance related movies, especially those  centered on partner dancing. Having enjoyed wonderful movies like’ Shall we dance’ and ‘Dance with me’ and so many more, I  eagerly await such rare kind of movies. As the love of movements runs in my blood and passion for dance in my spirit and soul. 

They are truly far and few good movies  in this genre. So in these holiday times while  exploring Netflix , I stumbled upon 10 dances as a movie to watch and immediately set a reminder for it .

The film depicts all the Ten dances that are danced in the Ballroom & Latin dancing repertoire. I have been teaching them socially over the years. So from the first poetic sequence I was hooked.

Though the movie is set in the backdrop of the world dance competitions, at its heart is  partner dancing which is my favorite of dancing forms.  It captures, the sheer joy and thrill of dancing with another, matching move to move… I loved the beginning of the movie, the introduction to the dances and also the way it brought out  the distinctive difference in both styles.

The movie at its core is based on competitiveness and the complexity of human emotions. The entanglement of love & rivalry  in personal relationships & most of all the importance trust in and between one another. Though at times  I did feel the narrative steered too much into their personal stories, that I felt it diluted the dance essence.

Yet the movie also revealed the truth of how much adaptability is the key and how challenging, it can be for different personalities who are dancing together, be it as a learner or a teacher and how difficult it is to unlearn to learn…

Someone trained in structured forms finds it so challenging to let go and dance from the heart. Whereas someone who dances with all their heart may feel stifled by excessive  structures.

Over all, it was compelling to watch the changing dynamics portrayed at times, so very poetically in a dance movie to say the least. Do watch if you love dancing and especially so the magic of partner dancing.

Savvy Raj


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The Power of Calm

There is charisma in calm

It’s the power of calm

In life’s highs and lows.

In calm lies confidence

Invoking assurance

Being calm in a conversation

Evokes the energy of stillness

Emits vibrancy devoid of agitation.

In the calm there is depth of  awareness

In the center of calm

Is potential  to assimilate

No matter the chaos

You find equilibrium.

When was the last time you felt the charismatic power of calm?

What does calm feel like to you in this now?

What is the distance  between you and your sense of calm?

Where & how do you think you can find your calm?

The morning moments

My morning  moments have the preciousness of calm for me.I choose dawn to intend the calm for the day ahead. In the quiet moments of dawn where the world is still sleeping, I find my creative state of flow. Although I have been able to connect  with my calm through the day, the vibes of this part of the day resonate so much. The early morning  sets the tone of the day for me.

How do you relate to the calm of dawn?

How do you sense the power of calm?

Savvy Raj

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The Gift Of Change

Here I share one of my own paintings and a personal  favorite fron my collection.
Savvy Raj

In the vortex of life

arrives the gift of changes;

the breaking of the bubbles,

Of long held beliefs,

Of false ego and resistance

Of fear that limits.

Like the wind that’s too fierce  to contain…

Cleaning the cobwebs of confusion.

And life transforms for the better.

Savvy Raj


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All in time

Every thought has its own flow
Every word finds its own space
Every space has its own synchrony
Every sound its own frequency
Every element, its own energy
Lets enjoy the space between the steps.
And acknowledge the  harmony in the synergy…

All in time.

Savvy


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Meet me in the middle

This poem will resonate with those in strong relationships  that stands the test of time and yet may find themselves challenged and at crossroads with differences in thoughts and opinions. Pretty much most who have experienced life together will find themselves in such predicaments time and time again.

In relationships when you are unable to see eye to eye, where past misses surfaces or future  expectations sideline the precious present, perhaps this poem can be a reminder of how far you have traveled  together to reach here.

All is not lost just yet… if you could only meet in the middle. For the strongest relationships survive in empathic understanding of each other through the thick & thin.

Meet me in the middle,
With an open mind,
Set aside differences,
We’re the same kind…

Today we may be at crossroads
looking with a different lens
But our hearts beat as one
Like it used to, years ago.
The feelings just the same…

So dearest one, sense it all
Memories are meant
To be revisited in time.
Think of how far we have come
And meet me not in the past
Nor in the the future
But right here in the middle
Of this present now.

© Savvy Raj


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What kind of reader are you ?

Are you the kind who travels back in time,
Rereading pages you’ve already turned?
Sensing memories and vivid imagery
Reflected in the lines.


Do you leave a bookmark behind,
Making your presence felt and remembered?


Or are you the kind who reads on the go,
Welcoming whatever comes your way?
The kind who leaves yesterday in its place,
Eager to explore new horizons…
Aspiring to look ahead, to move forward,
And experience so much more of life.

Sometimes we turn back the pages to honor the words that shaped us.

And sometimes we choose to look forward at the horizon ahead…

Whatever the way, simply know,

We have within us,the words and this now.

Reading is a mirror to living.

Savvy


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Truth of love

The truth of love is acceptance…
The kind that is unconditional.
It asks not another
To change and fit a mold,
Nor expects you to compromise your values.


The truth of love is realization
Of your heart’s expansion,
And seeing the possibilities
Amidst life’s myriad challenges.


The truth of love is freedom
From control and suppression.
True love breathes free
And lives life lovingly.


In reflection…
Ultimately, love is not a destination or a demand; it is a quiet, daily momentum. It is the conscious choice to move through a complex world and simply live life lovingly.


Love is not a bond that ties us down, but an expansion that sets us free…

If love is an expansion rather than a bond, what is one unspoken demand you can release today to let your relationships breathe freer?

The inspiration for these verses in flow arrived in the moment I started  commenting on this interesting poem and its take on love.

Live life lovingly.

Savvy

 


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Fleeting memoirs

I was walking by the Seine

When the evening shadows

Danced on the water

The dusk folding in the flow

Giving in to the night.

I watched the shimmering

Of the Cresent moon

Beaming its presence

Now and then…

In this dance of light

I sense the beauty of life

The interconnects of elements

The interplay of illusions 

The tango of light & dark

The magnificence

The insignificance

I continue on my pathway

Allowing the vision

To find its purpose…

Reminiscing in the awareness

Of fleeting memoirs of time

Savvy

Fleeting Memoirs:  Reflections on Live LifeLovingly podcast.


Have you ever had a moment where time seemed to slow down, and a simple walk transformed into a profound conversation with the universe?

In this episode, let me take you on a quiet, late-night walk along the banks of the River Seine in Paris. Under the gentle glow of a dancing crescent moon, I share my poem in free-verses Fleeting Memoirs, and dive into a soulful reflection on the beautiful contrasts of existence.

Tune in and lets explore:

​The delicate “tango of light and dark” in our daily lives.

Finding a sense of peace in our own magnificence and insignificance…


How to slow down, build a deeper internal awareness, and honor the fleeting moments that shape our journey.

Listen now to step away from the chatter, find your center, and learn to live life lovingly.

If this episode brought you a moment of clarity, please leave a review, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs a breath of mindful presence today.

Savvy Raj


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Dancing with Chaos


An ocean is not always calm waves
Its true nature is full of powerful currents.
It’s not about resistance of errant waves
It is in surfing in the midst of it.


When you find your anchor,
You realize it’s not anywhere but within you.
Your deepest truth is your stillness in the movements;
In it lies your strength of flexibility.
That’s true resilience.


And remembering movements are unique in themselves,
Like one tide to the next,
Each carries its energy waves differently.
Every storm is meant to teach a new lesson:
To dance with chaos,
You realize, is to yield and adapt to the flow.

Listen

Contemplations on the Flow


When I look back at the past few years, it really feels like we have all been learning a brand-new dance right in the middle of complete chaos. There were moments when the waves felt so massive and came so fast that it was incredibly easy to feel totally overwhelmed.
But there is a simple, beautiful truth about being in deep water: you have to swim. If you stop moving, you drown.
And that is exactly what you have been doing. Think about it…even on the days when you felt like you had absolutely no energy left, or when you couldn’t see the shore anywhere on the horizon, you still kept moving. You kept breathing. You didn’t give up.


When you are right in the thick of a storm, something incredible happens inside you. You find a way to move not just in spite of the chaos, but entirely beyond it. You discover an inner rhythm you didn’t even know you had. You realize that the storm might be incredibly loud, but it doesn’t get to decide who you are.
Real strength isn’t about being tough like a brick wall. If a wall faces a strong enough force, it eventually cracks and breaks. True resilience is much softer and more fluid than that. It’s the ability to look at the messiness of life and say, “Okay, this is what is happening right now. How do I move with it?”


Every struggle we’ve faced over these last few years hasn’t just been difficult. It has been a teacher. It showed us that we are far more flexible, far more capable, and so much stronger than we ever gave ourselves credit for.
Each day brings a slightly different kind of challenge. No two storms feel exactly the same. One day it’s a sudden setback, the next it’s just a wave of heavy exhaustion. Each one carries its own unique energy, and each one is trying to show us something new about our own capacity.


When you find that quiet space inside your own mind…that beautiful bit of stillness that stays calm no matter how loud the world gets…you stop drowning. Adapting to the flow isn’t giving up or surrendering. It is actually the truest alignment of your power. It’s choosing to surf the wave instead of letting it crash over you.


So if you are feeling tired today, or if the water feels a bit rough around you right now, take a deep breath. Remember how far you have already come. You are already swimming. You are already dancing. Trust that inner stillness, keep moving with the flow, and know that you have everything you need inside you to make it to the other side.

Savvy


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The Power of Faith

Awareness that you are searching  for…the deliverance from all the so called inflictions and challenging circumstances  you are experiencing…

Its all in the Space that you occupy. If  the Earth element catches  fire, its remains become ash.  If water engulfs earth everything decays.

The more you resist and pull the greater is the entanglement.
True liberation is from the clutches of ego in ignorance.


What does it take to the awareness of letting go completely? The ability to see beyond the temporary illusions of attachment takes profound faith.

For faith is all there is.Without it nothing is.

Interestingly I wrote this  contemplation  while reading  ‘Gajendra Moksham story & Stotram .

Here is the story below

Gajendra Moksham is one of most spiritually significant stories in the Srimad Bhagavatam A story of divine  intervention and  total surrender.

The story is set in Mount Trikuta, where Gajendra, the majestic king of the elephant herd went to drink water from the lake and pick up the lotus for worship. There Makara a powerful  crocodile clasped his leg… it’s said for 1000 years a fierce tug of war ensued . Inspite of Gajendras strength as he was in the water  which was the crocodiles element  he began to lose his strength.

The Realization

While family and friends  tried their best to help  in time they too couldn’t release him . As he grew exhausted trying Gajendra  realised that his physical  might nor his kin could save him.

And then in total surrender in faith he lifted a lotus flower towards heaven and offered a soul stirring  prayer to God Vishnu. But instead of asking for life he asked for ultimate  liberation from the clutches of ignorance.

God Vishnu hears sincere plea and with his (divine discus) Sudarshana Chakra swiftly  severes the crocodiles head and pulls Gajendra  to safety and grants him Moksha (salvation)

This  is a story of complete trust in the power of faith and divine grace.


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Un expect

In letting go of expectations

You step closer to yourself

Your truths are awaiting you

Everything around you

Is also in you

Everything in you

Is also around you.

Synchronize with your breath

Open yourself to sense

The immense possibilities

Allow insights to appear

On your wants & desires.

Enjoy every now of life

In this gift that is yours

Lies the path of salvation

Discover yourself

As the paths unfold.

Simply choose to unexpect

Stay patient and observe

Your strengths along the way

Learn from your experiences

Steer yourself to implement,

And apply it to a better life.

Savvy