To Be or Not To Be

A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
~ Louisa May Alcott

...that more or less describes my situation!

~A Wise Man Said~

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
~ Aristotle

Sunday, January 22, 2012
 
All beauty is what
But an imposture
Cruelty hidden behind
Every act of nature
Kindness, gentility, honesty
We all claim like masks
Carrying on our frightful farce
Teach me, O God,
To know your ways
Like an innocent child
Let me not fall prey
To words uttered but never meant
To emotions expressed but never felt
Teach me to distinguish the true from false
That I may live among the corrupt
But never to corruption fall.

One of those times when I feel overwhelmed and deeply jolted by how low human nature can stoop, how selfish it can be, how its own ends it can seek without one little whit of thought for another. We seem to live in a world full of superficialities and the only tools to survive are the superficial, the sophisticated, the suave and the trivial ones. Simplicity, honesty, and other core values have become a relic of the past. They are fashionable, yes, but only as a surface cosmetic. Any more deeper and they seem a nuisance.

We no more judge of people by the ‘substance’ they possess — the form, the outward, the veneer has become all important. We place so much emphasis on cultivating the exterior in today’s world, while the interior, the heart, the soul remains forgotten and unattended.

How I wish we had the capacity to look into the heart of things and the wisdom to know that only what we find there, is really worth possessing.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
 
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies

-- Shakespeare
Thursday, January 05, 2012
 
Okayyy. Let me get the wishes out of the way first.

Happy Christmas.
Happy New Year.
Happy 10th blog anniversary (to me).

I had meant to do all these wishes at the right time, if not in advance, but a LOT has been happening. A ‘first’ wedding in my family. My sister’s to be specific. On New Year’s eve, no less. And the preamble to the wedding, as is usual in all such cases, started many months ago. I’m glad we’re over the wedding and into the marriage… that which really counts :)

It always strikes me how much we plan and prepare and anticipate and deliberate over the wedding ceremony. We want it to be perfect and lovely and want the guests to have a good time and have good things to say about how well it was organised and how much they were taken care of. We stress over every little thing till the last minute — the decorations, the food, the dress, the toast, the invites and what not… sometimes I wonder if we pay equal attention to ‘after’ the wedding or we prepare as much for life after the wedding, the beginning of which we actually celebrate with all the song and dance. I also wonder if we get to really, really think about and prepare in our hearts and minds for the life we are about to enter, because we are so busy planning and plotting over the frilly and unnecessary details… I sometimes wish weddings could be done differently… if it could be a celebration in the real sense of the word for only the two people who have found each other, who have decided to pledge their life to each other, who wish to spend the rest of their lives together, and who want to celebrate that moment, that journey, that first step together…