Musings and self reflection during the lockdown
Life is a funny condition. You pop into this world out of no choice of your own. You don’t get to choose your family or the circumstances around your birth but there you are, full of promise, brimming with untapped potential knowing nothing but love. Bright-eyed and unscathed. Completely untethered by prejudices and doubts. Is this a blessing or a curse? who is to say.
Growing up, I moved around a lot. I changed schools 3–4 time’s just in grade school. So, my best friends have always been books. You could put them in a box and take them with you.
I would spend hours, days on end buried in a book without a care in the world. Not even the slightest attention spared to the chaos that is the world. Is it weird that as one grows they lose the ability to lose themselves in a book like that? Is humanity churning out shoddy books? Or am I just growing up? I have sometimes fantasized about becoming a big time writer ,going where inspiration took me. Not being grounded to one place and transmuting magic through my words.
Somewhere down the line,growing up, I got conditioned to believing that any work that did not include Math or Science was inconsequential. (Have you met an Indian parent?). I blame that on the Indian education system I was brought up in with of course some generous moulding from well-meaning parents and teachers who were a consequence of this very system. But, I digress.
For now, I just want to plant a little seed in the minds of anyone who has stuck through these sporadic ramblings of an existential mind.
If you’re still with me. Here is something to ponder upon. Have you ever had moments of intense deep reflection? Moments of articulate but sporadic musings about life , your journey thus far and everything in between? Perhaps while you were in the shower? Or maybe when you zone out into the distance as you unconsciously puff away on a cigarette, the world blurring into oblivion as your consciousness disappears into your thoughts?
Often these musings unravel in a series of vivid slide shows of past memories, playing in a loop. Pumping you with that familiar bittersweet rush of emotions, thoughts, smells that were identical to the ones you felt during these seemingly unimportant moments of your past.
Often these powerful “reflective revelations” quietly leave behind a message for the person. Lessons that need only to be realized. Not explained, not overanalyzed. Just… realized. Writing about them can be therapeutic. Aiding in decrypting these cryptic, yet simply profound messages your subconscious leaves you.
Sharing them with others can be even better, enabling others to benefit from this “divine guidance” of sorts. At the very least it can be a fun uplifting read for someone, a completely raw, organic representation of mental chatter. An outlet for a man or a woman on a pensive day. And…that’s the end of my cigarette. (Pun intended)
This excerpt is my attempt to prototype an idea for a publication (Name TBD) A publication for writers (nay..people!) to just speak their mind. Ruminate over their mental chatter. And share their thoughts with the masses. A safe space , without judgment where we can collectively observe our minds and learn from them.
Penny for your thoughts?
