Experience life as a dance
A joyful one more so
In all ways you can
And if by chance the music changes,and you feel overwhelmed,
know time only moves on….
Trust time to deliver
So acknowledge the tunes
And time your steps and tune in.
Enjoy your dance!
Savvy
We are but mirrors in reflection
Across dimensions of space and time
Such is the eternal truth of our being.
We construct and deconstruct
In our imagined cosmos
The truth of our own existence.
We bounce and reflect our perspectives
In and on to each other.
We shine our brilliance.
We mirror perceptions.
We are vulnerable and yet volatile beings
Beaming energies boundlessly.
The task is to recognize the strength of our souls.
Savvy
Laugh as much as you breathe
For laughter is a great healer
Laughter strengthens and protects you
For laughter is a stress buster.
Laughter can diminish & relieve pain
And renews the spirit with energy.
Laugh to lighten the day’s worries
Laugh to relax the muscles.
Laugh to infuse good energies
Laugh as much as you can….
For laughter can shift perspective
Make the moods lighter
When you laugh you brighten this now.
So keep smiling ,find your inner child
Every breath every day!
Savvy
“
Love is the way
For all of us
As each of us matter.
Somehow, somewhere,
We are all connected
In the infinite plan.
And each of us
Need to become responsible
To make a meaningful difference.
For life to thrive than just survive,
We need to be respectful
Towards each other.
To gain and sustain trust and faith
That make the world
A better place to live in
For all of us,
Love is the way!
Savvy
Some positive takes in an accidental spill…
To keep calm and address the lesson in the spill.
To turnover a spill to evolve for better
To sense a pattern of possibilities in a spill.
To challenge the statuesque through a spill.
To test skillsets learned from a spill
To move beyond in a dare with a spill
To spill some more and align the pattern formations
To envision hope beyond the accidental spill.
To create artworks from the potential in a spillover
To empathize with the spiller across the learning curve…
Spills become art and art spills over.
Savvy
Dinner under a lemon tree Capri
I saw this picture and paused…
For it spoke of abundance of being.
Of Sight, sense and smell.
Emoting in the sensing
Evoking in freshness of fragrance
Nature is abundance personified
Rewards aplenty, with fruits to share
The little joys of dining together
Socializing seem like a dream
With the world in its now from here.
Yet the picture paints cheer & hope.
Of giving and living generously.
Happiness is in the sensing
Have a wonderful weekend 😀
Savvy
Take nothing for granted
There is always a reason
For things to be, where they are
As they are, however they are…
Let your heart be ever grateful
For things that you have in this now.
And for that which passed you by…
All is well …in this now.
Stay thankful
And take nothing for granted!
Savvy
The world may seem to revolve around you
But you revolve along with the world.
So to be in balance is to take a hold
Of the space you are in
To find your bearing, before you react.
To optimize your response
Begin to understand and discern
Where another is in space, in thoughts
In actions and deeds.
To listen actively
To empathize with their needs and wants…
To be able to see the ‘Us beyond the I’
To shift the ‘Me to the We’
This is what will truly help
Us to understand where we are.
Life is like that,
Its meant to evolve and grow
Along in the flow!
Savvy
Sometimes art simply shapes up in the nuances of expression.
Every artistic expression
Speaks of a certain experience
Of a narrative from a perspective
That can both personal or impersonal.
Yet it deeply connects the art & artist.
In those unique circumstances
That may birth the flow & the shaping.
And when the art becomes a spectacle.
The spectator interpretations
Can be equally enigmatic
As much as deeply interconnected.
All in the nuances of the artistic expression.
Savvy
Mental /Emotional abuse in relationships:
Domestic abuse happens and it need not be only physical abuse.
In my career as a dance educator and teacher spanning two decades now, I have come across many situations of mental abuse that some of my female students experienced and shared with me in the course of time. Believe me, it is a lot more rampant than we choose to accept. Some time ago I had written an article extensively on the Dignity of the being
Back then I had brought forward a true story of my own poor house help and how she stood strong in spite of continued physical torture in the hands of an abusive alcoholic husband.
Consider this a continuation of the exercise to bring up another much undercover and consciously veiled topic… of the shades and degrees of mental and emotional harassment in the name of relationships.
Age, education, class or culture does not seem to matter. It could happen to just about anyone. In fact, some very educated women, students who were affected by such partners cut a very sorry and disheartening figure, privately after the class.
Hoping however best I could use abilities in my capacity would help, I used to hold some space and time free for them to share and express what is going on in their lives. And to make them realise the power of positive expression, in helping them know that they are not alone and helpless.
We as dance educators can be if need be and when required, a great source of support to our learners in our understanding of movement. For the body never lies, we can probably be tuned in to see which of our students needs our gentle guidance and support as well from time to time.
It hurts to see a seemingly brilliant and confident woman breakdown under the weight of abuse and harassment at home. Often they would break down to share their issues with me for want of support. In the course of listening and understanding of their frustration my abilities to counsel strengthened as I started offering supported listening for their unique predicament.
I ended up realising how no two situations are the same. And besides a dominating and subjugating nature of an individual, how alcohol or substance abuse ( even chewing tobacco)are often factors that cause aggressive behaviour other than work stress and financial worries.
Often the woman finds herself in a predicament when the aggressor’s behaviour differs like chalk and cheese between day and night. There may be mental torture inflicted under the influence of a few drinks. The reasons no matter but when words and tempers spew, unfiltered and uncontrolled especially at the fag end of the day, the victim often is clueless as to how to deal with the situation.
Often drained by sporadic and incessant attacks they end up weakened by sleeping less, tossing and turning through the night wondering what they did to hear so much insinuating words. Health issues crop up in time as the body cannot cope with the confusion. And probably without any physical evidence to show, mental torture is difficult to prove. There are not many readily accessible support groups she could go here in India as yet and for the fear of judgements she prefers to suppress her hurt.
For example…
A dominating husband has a bad day at work. He gathers up all the rage and is seething inside.
His vent becomes his wife and family and often he comes home late night in a foul mood and spews venomous hate over his loved ones. Often it may be a time when all at home are asleep at night.
The reasons or the trigger to get angry could be just about anything.
It could be about a deal that did not come through at office… which he may carry forth on the home front… it first converts to deep-rooted rage and lack of patience and tolerance in general. It could be about anything …like, not picking up the phone when he calls, it could be about the lunch sent from home, which he found had less salt, it could be about not opening the door on time, it could be about a credit card swipe at a supermarket which irks him.
After such attacks especially at night most often there is regret in the morning for the words said, but it cannot be taken back.. And pride and ego stops him from feeling or saying sorry and taking help for amending his ways. The patterns continue. Cold silence ensues on both ends for want of peace. Until things settle in the course of time only to rise again another day.
The victim is often clueless about how to help in such a situation as she is continually bombarded with her weaknesses and told that all problems arise because of her. She often takes recourse to silence as there may be extended family members staying with them or for the fear that the children would hear and get hurt further.
Dealing with anger and rage and temper tantrums.
If you are ever at the receiving end of unforeseen anger you need to brace yourself from getting hurt and affected due to sensitivity.
Especially when you are confronted with a situation where you are taken aback by someone spewing anger all over you, showering you with mean and unnecessary words and raining abuses over you for something you did not do, as well as creating a ruckus about silly things… remember your best weapon is non-retaliation.
Try as they might to get you to say something by provoking with crude words … do not engage.
There is nothing like nonengagement for handling mental and emotionally abusive relationships.
It does not mean that you accept the pain and hurt rather you are aware of what works and how it is a more sensible way to tackle such a circumstance.
Also, it helps to understand that the aggressor is perhaps suffering and doesn’t know to channel and deal with the issues at hand and perhaps takes the path of bullying, manipulating, attacking by verbally insinuating and insulting to counter the situation. Know and accept they need help too. If they have any sense left they ought to get it for their own self. Remember the saying, you can only take the horse to the water but it has to drink on its own. So accept that you are doing your best and let go of worries.
Yes, it amounts to a great degree of emotional maturity to be silent and not succumb to such provocation.
A few tips…
If you find yourself identifying with any such predicament, allow yourself to express yourself.
Take help, speak to an emotionally mature member of your immediate family
Do not suppress in the morning for you know deep inside that this can and will happen again. It is just a matter of time.
Let them know there is so much that you are going through and that you need help.
Sleep as much as you can for you might often be sleep deprived.
Take interest in what you are feeding your body, avoid junk for you might just be nutritionally deficient with all the mental tensions and conflicts.
The body needs a vent to release the contracted pain, exercise well as much as you can.
Breathing consciously deeper with awareness can calm the agitated mind.
If you can write, regularly try to maintain a journal of gratitude for all the good things that are happening with you.
Look around and notice your blessings. They will be in the form of children, friends, pets, your skills, your faith, your inner resilience or your never say die attitude.
Realise you are meant to live not just exist.
Remember there is always a way!
Remember you are full of inner strength that you can harness even in your vulnerability.
Trust that this faith in yourself will take you through!
Because you are enough for you!
Savvy
Contd.
Dynamics of Power
Came across my earlier painting capturing the dance of the Northern lights Aura Borealis at night from the seashore and it lead me to pen a few reflections on the dance of the sky…
Gratefulness is a gift of realization of the infinite.
It is an attitude worth cultivating
It is a a breakthrough towards transcendence
It is the ability to change the difficult to bearable.
It is a positive step in the transition
It is a sensing of faith trust and belief
It is a relief from hatred.
It is a pause to allow the hurt to heal.
It is a inner transformation.
It is a breathe in awareness
It is a creator of infinite abundance.
It is a move from the heart.
It is an awareness of potential flow
It is an acceptance of the almighty
It is a conscious awakening of the heart
It is an expression in thankfulness.
Savvy
In a place where the ego rests
At ease with nothing to prove
Where learning flows along
With nothing to suppress.
Where movements arise
In the grace of energy
Where time moves on it’s own pace
Without no hurry and worry.
When understanding manifests
With nothing to lose or gain
When every moment is lived in the now
With no reservations and notions.
Where there is no place for fear or favour
There is no clamour for success and fame
Knowing change is the only constant
And all is fleeting through in time.
In this journey of life and living
In learning and unlearning
In doing to nondoing
When dedication and discipline
Create the way for itself.
Without pride and vanity
Without assumptions and judging
Without claiming and complaining
Without imposing and refuting.
Life evolves in such focus.
Where wants reduce in reflections
Then desire sublimes itself
To nothingness in time.
Where wisdom rests in subtlety
Where there is no seeking
With no questions to ask
All the answers manifests unto itself.
Savvy
Discernment is a spiritual gift
As humanity stands perplexed
At times in the paradoxes of life
Confounded by challenges.
In the throes of confusion.
An ability to figure things out.
A clarity of purpose and reason.
An act of perception of the obscure.
An ability to be insighted and comprehend.
A sifting through to make sense of it all
Acknowledging the spirit of the soul
Meeting through both the head and the heart.
Discernment is a wonderful tool
In intervention than in criticism.
For the gift is an ability to distinguish
The truth, in the facades that may appear.
In understanding the real and unreal
The truths and the untruths
And everything in between.
When seen with dispassionate eyes
Beyond the mirrored existence
Shifting perspectives in the making.
Yet knowing simply all as parts of the same source.
Savvy
As love conquers you it blesses you in the knowing.
Make not a mockery of love
Serenade love and allow it to speak truth
Love surfaces from the depth of emotions
To mend you and this world to a better place.
As true love is eternal
Free as bird in flights of oblivion
Travelling in the abandon
Of the wilderness of the spirit
Yet bonded in the boundless infinity
Endless love a gift of grace
Acknowledge this treasure
Blending two souls in one
As a life loved is well lived… such a rare sight!
What a blessing it truly is….A love like that!
In realising the many miracles of life is knowing a love that can move the soul of our being. We can consider ourselves lucky to even have been touched by a love like that!
Savvy
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my friends and readers!!!
Savvy Raj 