Or simply a clarity of illusions in the reflections.
Savvy
Was watching the reflections of sunlight dancing on this patch of water on the window sill of my terrace one evening. I was mesmerized by the fleeting cloud it had captured and its amazing colours that held my fancy for a long while…
Would you spare a thought
For the way your appear
Yes indeed
People spend millions
For the way they look
Beauty is big business
Image consultancy is huge now.
But would you spare a thought
On the way you make another feel
Your words
Be it in written or spoken
Have immense power
To hurt or heal
For words leave lasting impressions.
Tune in to the way you sound
Check your pitch and tone
As you speak to another
Reread the words you write
Remember words live on in eternity
Think twice and check
If what you write can make a difference
To someone somewhere
Spare a thought
As you take a step
Every step leaves a trail
That another may follow
Choose to step well.
Thoughts to action
Words to deeds
Each play a role
For all are significant
In life and living.
Each of us create Circles of being
As our life changes
We create new circles in living
We are constantly recreating
The interpolation of circles
Every circle interconnects
Somewhere somehow.
In these circles of being
Is a sense of community
Creating camaraderie
Creating the ease of flow
Creating confusion and chaos
Of life lived along the edges
Of life lived protected in the core,
Of lives transacted in the transitions
Of lives lost and gained.
Let us know the strength of the circle
Let us respect its flow in the flexibility
We are, but dots in these circles of being
Every dot matters & completes the circle
And can begin a new circle of being.
Savvy
Check out this amazing idea by a woman using the strength of the circles for providing a basic human need for the homeless.
Have always wanted to grow vegetables and fruits in our terrace garden. But not knowing much about gardening we kept putting it off.
But seeing how much pesticides are there in vegetables and fruits that we consume, all of us in the family kept wanting to steer towards growing an organic garden.
Although there are a number of show plants and flowering plants that are already there…growing vegetables was still a challenge. So we decided finally to get a local gardeners advice to help start us off on our mission.
Now having no idea about the right planters for the vegetables we have taken up on his suggestion to get 3 pots for our initial vegetable cultivation trial. If successful we decided we can get more pots .
So next came the choice of vegetables to grow in these pots .Everyone came up with the name of some of their favorite vegetables for starters.
But then it got decided that we must grow vegetables that the gardener advises according to the season.
So now three vegetable seeds are sown in these pots . Time will gradually bring forth them into view . Till then it is a matter of patience in waiting
Week 2
A few shoots have emerged…
Energy in the emerging must be magnanimous for new life life to shoot out in the open. All the potential of possibilities of creative energy emerge with this act.
But each pot has a different seed and hence will take its course in time to shoot out to life. Nature never hurries. All in good time.
Yet humans are prone to impatience There was certainly this little bit of insecurity when we were all waiting, wishing to see the hope of a new life through a sign of some sprouting or shooting of a seed to a plant.
Experiences with gardening are a trial and error.
Watering plants correctly is an important learning for plants to grow well. We made our mistakes and learned along the way .
And then we got it right!
Now all the three plants have started growing in their pots. And it’s truly a lovely feeling to watch them grow!
Can you guess the emerging plants?
Yes they may be a long way from fruiting as yet but it’s nice to watch them grow in the nurturing.
Here are some tips on watering.
Lessons in watering plants
You can apply water to the soil directly not the plants. It’s better not to wet most plants as this can cause problems such as fungal diseases -and much will just evaporate away anyway. Water gently, with a rose (like a shower head) which will damage the soil less than a jet of water and prevent much mud splashing up onto the leaves. Also it’s better to wet the ground really heavily occasionally rather than to just splash a little about more often which can make the soil look damp on top while remaining dry underneath.
The greatest depths is the soul within ….a spark of the divine!
As one deepens the focus inwards in a journey of awareness, greater empathy is felt for the world outside , and when the focus is towards the outer materialistic world the focus turns towards being more self centered than self aware.
A few ways to deepen self awareness
Question your thoughts but try and be nonjudgemental.
Check your actions and deeds in mindfulness
Improve and keep inspiring the self.
Let go the holding back and allow nature to manifest its flow
Own up to a beginner’s mind and keep your sense of wonder alive!
Your intentions in your journey makes your choices along the way. All manifests as your intentions are.
A picture that is open to so many interesting interpretations…
Is this a stairway to heaven
The path that sets you free
Steps that lead the way
To the light of eternal truth
Your life is given to you
A knowing is bestowed upon you
In hope that you will seek
And find the truth of your being.
All answers are within you
To sense and understand
Life is both hell and heaven if you wish.
All it needs is a stairway to the within.
In the rigours of life and living
Find those moments that move you beyond simply existing!
Search not the whole world over
In confusion and chaos over the emerging illusions.
For in all the facade of perceptions
The truth is simple and visible
If you choose to actually notice.
Seek if you must
The truth of your own life.
The purpose of your own being.
Choose to be responsible.
To acknowledge the wonder you are
Make friends with your inner self.
Treat it with care and consideration
Align your thoughts and action.
You will soon find within yourself
The stairway to the heaven in you!
Years of conditioning
May often bring the habit of self criticism
Avoid self sabotaging the self
Often times we try to be too self righteous for our own good!
This makes way for a certain self doubt and self denial that disrupts our growth.
We are human and truly let us be so
We have our foibles and our feats to own up to.
We can accept the applause with dignity of being in a simple thank you!
We have no necessity to act small, helpless or defensive in every moment.
We are best serving ourselves
When we begin to express the potential in our being
Often we cover down in fear of being judged or criticized
Know this world is large enough for us all and more
Each of us must play our part in living here
We are all entitled to a life of dignity and we need to sense that in our being.
So let us change our song
From criticism to approval
And watch the change this single act of deliberation
Can bring about in your own life as well as in others around you
Watch the positive transformations
Through these three simple acts Approve Appreciate and Applaud!
Savvy
To all the women out there… when you see yourself in good light,
Poetry is a joy that cannot be contained
Poetry is in words that get themselves aligned
What makes words flow
So many things I say
The pull of the idea conveyed
The push of the underlying emotions
The interconnects in the thoughts
The interdependence in the choices made.
Some say verses flow only in rhyme and meter
Some like it structured to the tee
And some a bit undone.
But true poetry is a feeling created
A magnet for thoughts imagined
That move to synch in a symphony
In the most unique of ways.
Every poem is a dance of words
In rhythmic flow all its own ….
Touching hearts through those words
Conveying so much more than words can say!
This note above has a true story that happened with me…. I have published it in my earlier article called the Magic of Movements. This is one of those moments when writing and sharing stories from our lives bring us a deep sense of connection… with our readers and ourselves in gratitude for the learnings. And there is that sense of magic through words. This is an old story but to me, but sharing it evokes the same poignant feeling of fond memories of the people that are attached to it
Here is the story if you would like to read.
The Magic of Movements
‘Life is a dance’….A painting by Savvy Raj
As a Dance Educator and a Creative MovementTrainer using Ballroom and Latin dances to improve health and well-being through various Dance for Wellness programs, it has been an enriching experience watching the learners revel in the simple joys of movement.
I have witnessed complete shifts in self esteem, confidence and agility among learners of all ages.But to cite a very recent instance …there is a small group of senior learners at one of my workshops who are gradually changing their mental makeup to being extremely enthusiastic about life and learning to dance. I still remember that Sunday morning about four years ago when I was almost through with teaching a Waltz class and I saw this slender, elderly elegant woman walking in and standing quietly, keenly watching the students who were practicing their steps from the sidelines. She was waiting to speak to me ….In that first moment of contact instinctively I knew there was an instant connection.. I gave her a listening ear and noticed she spoke softly and clearly . She said she was heading a group of Senior citizens she would like me to come over and meet the group and also teach them to dance . Her request seemed just right up my alley as I had been intending to conduct some workshops for seniors myself but hadn’t had the opportunity yet . This seemed as if my intentions were slowly finding a way to fulfillment . We fixed up that I would come over and meet them the following Monday at the local church where they all meet up for their weekly meeting . This I came to know later,was the only activity they had together every week .
Soon enough in a week or so I got a call from the lady who initiated it all saying that they need some time for permissions to use the same space of the church for the dance lessons . And that was that … nothing happened . Meanwhile I continued with my Dance workshops , and facilitated training’s of corporate clients . I would remember that meeting once in a while but left it to time to decide the outcome of that meeting.
A few years passed and I was returning back after finishing a children’s workshop in Chennai when I received her call again . Her clear and determined voice was cheerful and hopeful . She said she had two things to say , the seniors have agreed to join in and the church had given them the space to go ahead with the classes . Fantastic …. I knew in my heart it was no coincidence that it happened at all . After all the connects that we established that day were just moving to affirming itself !Well I got Godspeed on my side this time around … things moved on smoothly and we were well into rolling out the first class of Swing Dancing and more .
When I had first met up with them, I remember them huddled in chairs, quite apprehensive and some of them unsure about their ability to learn dancing . But today they have a spring in their step , glint in their eyes and a smile on their lips as they Swing and Cha Cha to their hearts content . And guess what… they love to dance the Merengue and Bachata too and are waiting to learn some more.So happy to have had the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.
The first time I met them they were a group with lots of concerns. They heard me patiently and asked a lot of questions , ranging from whether they would be able to learn at all as most of them were well over sixties and seventies or so .They also mentioned that though they have danced earlier in their lives, they don’t remember much. Some said they know all there is to know, a few others brought out their health issues which were bothering them so much that they cant possibly exercise let alone dance, some questioned what is the point of learning to dance …
Well to be frank I had an interesting and enjoyable time clearing their doubts and addressing their concerns . I knew most of their concerns were common to most people at their age in India.I spoke to them addressing each of their concerns and finally mentioning instances of my own intention of wanting to work with a group of Seniors.
The initially reluctant let their defenses down and an interactive session followed, where I got some understanding of them and they of me . It was one of those fulfilling days a wonderful memory now which I hold close to my heart .Though at the end all they said was that they will get back to me in some time…. somehow as I drove back home that evening I knew in my heart we were all certainly going to meet again in time .
Today as I write this its been six months and more.Dancing together they say they have realized the values of the human connection and the strength of community . They mention to me how they eagerly wait for their dance workshops .They speak of how dance steps into their lives , in moments of loneliness and makes them positive and alive again. They know dancing now is so much more about valuing that equal partnership between the leader and the follower and that the bonds of the dance floor leaves lasting and empowering impressions in their hearts and lives .
This experience as well as many similar incidents has left me even more confident about my beliefs …C ultivate Patience. Dream selflessly. Positive things are waiting to unfold if only we continue to dream our unique dream and believe in it !All you need is the strength of intention and the dreams realizes itself , just trust in the process!Do what you do with all your heart !Like minded people will arrive somehow and help you actualize it !
In this endeavor I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of appreciation to some of my dear students who assisted me at the workshops who took time out to be with me at these sessions and I know they shared with me equally the joys of making a positive difference in people’s lives.
Savvy Raj 
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