My phone is a job. I have a hate and love relationship with it.
It’s like carrying a pocket TV with my favorite channels in my pocket. Except that these channels are social media and the shows are my friends.
I love them, but it’s not worth being bombarded with drama and news all the time. With 24 hours of attention at my leisure, I’ll always feel like crap when I spend it going down the YouTube rabbit hole or liking puppy photos on Facebook.
So, let’s use social media to my advantage:
As a Sufi, I had been trained to accept the thorn with the rose, the difficulties with the beauties of life. Hence followed another rule: The midwife knows that when there is no pain, the way for the baby cannot be opened and the mother cannot give birth. Likewise, for a new Self to be born, hardship is necessary.
Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love
We have those days when we are down. The loss of a family member, poor exam results, you didn’t get the job you wanted, and many other bad situations. It feels like life likes to punch us in the face.
But when things get better, it can be due to two main forces:
There’s a limit to how much we can control number one. The most that I can think of is to move to a nearby jungle, away from civilisation, and if that is a good change for you then go for it. But I’d like to focus on number two: giving ourselves the chance to grow.
But hardship is necessary. It’s like exercise, training
Creativity differs according to each individual.
Either way, how we express ourselves can be scary at times. No matter how creative we can get, there will always be jabs at us.
Some people find this overwhelming, and choose to conform their creativity to acceptable levels. Others go the opposite direction: they strive to improve their craft.
This post is about the latter, and how a movie reminds us of just how creative we can truly be. That is, creativity through other people.
The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence. -Gertrude Stein
The concept of expression is a strange one. It differs with each individual.
We are free to do whatever we want.
Write what we want, dance, play: live a life however we want.
While some may be able to express themselves better through painting, others express themselves better on the rugby field, speaking on stage, or performing complex calculations for experiments.
All of these are expressions of the inner character: We share what we are most passionate about through expression.
But, were we taught to express ourselves? Do we have the freedom to do this around the world?
It is fun to express: we learn as we grow older that we have this need to do so.
We want to prove that we are the best artists. We want to shout that we are the best in our fields: Talking with the right people, by expressing humility and grace. Showing we want to learn more, by expressing a willingness to be a student of life.
How was it taught in education?
I was afraid to share my secrets.
Here we are at the usual coffee shop near Town Hall, and my friend asks me.
“Could you tell me what’s wrong?”
I couldn’t. I didn’t want to be seen as weak.
I bottle my problems up so that I don’t bother others. Yet, I felt his sympathy.
“Well…”
…
15 minutes of silence after, I told him.
I didn’t want him to know, but I was at a loss. No one was there to help me. I couldn’t make sense of the thoughts in my head. I didn’t want my best friend to see me in such a poor state.
Have you ever had a time when you were uncomfortable with sharing something due to who you are?
It could be this notion I have in my head. Whatever my problems were, it doesn’t seem right to share. He might be uncomfortable hearing about it. He may judge me.
He won’t. He’s my friend. I know him that well.
Yet, I felt unattracted to the idea. I am at my ugliest when I’m most vulnerable.
When I realized that, I started crying. He already had his hand on my shoulder.
He knew I was suffering. We all need help sometimes.
I had the epiphany to turn this blog into a home for the Polymath: one who knows a broad range of things.
Would it be about philosophy, its inner workings and how it empowers us as individuals? Or, would it be about money, and how it plays such a big part in our lives?
But first, a definition!
People are golden to me.
They can be unrefined, found in the deepest of mines. Some are greater in quality than others. In order to put a value to it though, a piece of gold must be refined by human hands.
I came to this realization earlier this year as I was going through a hard time. A mental breakdown, questioning my own purpose in life. No one had the answer to my question.
Calling a friend that night though, saved me.
You bought a handbag recently. It looks nice.
It sits beside your 20 others.
While window-shopping, you see a BUY 1 FREE 1 sale happening.
It’s an amazing deal, you think to yourself.
You fumble through your wallet full of cards. You wonder which ones have not maxed out yet. You forgot. It doesn’t matter.
Now you think.
Time is like a goldmine within us: we mine at it every day, to trade what we earned for food on the table. Or experiences. Even if this mine is a part of us, we give away part of ourselves for only one reason: to live.
Don’t trade it away so easily. Here is a way for you to track your time.