The Game of Numbers

Ask a child what he or she wants to be when he grows up, and you’ll probably hear answers like “ Fireman ! “ , “ Policeman ! “ , “ Teacher ! “ , “ Doctor “, and the odd superhero thrown in here and there. If you look closely, these occupations deal with noble intentions of saving lives, passing knowledge, being an asset to society.

Unfortunately, as children grow up, they lose these notions , or innocence, if you may. Instead, what starts as a relentless pursuit of what is right, slowly turns into an endless pursuit of meaningless knowledge. A ceaseless paper chase, so to speak.

Look around you, and you see people trying to climb the rungs of a ladder that leads to infinity, some start to realize the listlessness of their efforts, but yet continue climbing up the ladder, perhaps they know not how to do anything else, or perhaps they’re forced up by the crowds pushing them from below.

We are a society bound by numbers, ranks, and figures.  Have you ever sat down, and truly thought about how incredibly sad it is that we measure success based on how someone else is doing better than you are ? And in doing so, we forget to look back at how far we ourselves have come. Is that what self worth has been whittled down to ?

Perhaps it’s time to let go of the rungs of that ladder. Who knows, you may learn that you have wings that already know how to fly. You’ve just been allowing the voices of someone else’s discontent drown out the flutter all this while.

A wise young girl once said, “ you may tell  me you can do a lot of things, you have top grades, you are a high achiever, you hit all your goals, but tell me instead, what have you done with those results, and achievements, numbers, ranks and figures you’ve amassed ? How many lives have you touched  ? How many people have you influenced? “, because, what use is talent, and knowledge, if it doesn’t have an appreciable impact on social good ?  

I think it is a question we should all struggle to answer ... 

Pic credits

I dreamed a dream

You can’t always get what you want.

So goes the saying.

The thing is, everything you dream of, is remarkably possible. This doesn’t mean that dreams don’t come with a price tag, they often do, and the people who are living their dreams paid the price that came along with those figments of visions they had. They ignored the well meaning advice to “ play it safe, you’re comfortable now, why change ? “, they ignored the sleepless nights and the voice of doubt, they put in the hours needed to nurture their dreams, the same way a mother spends countless hours nurturing her child, they fed their dreams the fuel of ambition and the pure grit of hardwork. More importantly, they never ever quit every time Life chose to trip them up in her little tests.

If you want something, you need to want it so much so, that the fear of not ever achieving that something drowns out the words of The Others, the naysayers and non believers. After all, before you’re able to make someone else believe in your dreams, you need to first believe in them.

" If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs " - Tony Gaskins 

The Inner Voice

Say Something

And so it comes to this. The close of an entire chapter, and the start of a fresh new page. And whilst  you’ll convince yourself that resolutions can be made at any day, any time, there is always something more significant in the changing of a calendar year.

As you reflect on the ups and downs of the rollercoaster ride that 2013 has been, I hope you remember this story still.

A clock ticked 12, you turned a page and wrote down your dreams.

I watched the intensity at which you wrote. Each heartfelt wish delicately wrapped in the curl of ‘j’s and ‘g’s, dotted in the ‘i’s and ceaseless in the infinities of the ‘s’s. You wrote in a chapter in the book of Life, and you dreamt.

And yes, there were times when you fell. The bruised heart, and the skinned knees may have hurt, but what is a canvas without a touch of red, the very colour of life. There were also the grey heavy clouds of unfulfilled desires, and wishes put on hold. But love, if anything at all, did you look back and see how things have turned out not the way you wanted them to, but the way they were always meant to be ? Life is not a book with a definite ending, it is chapter upon chapter of journeys, discoveries and hidden adventures.

May 2014 bring gifts tied up with the anticipation of the unknown and dreams made true by sheer determination to always look for silver linings. I know you have it in you to unwrap the surprises, and brave through the let-downs.

The clock ticked 12, turn the page and live your dreams.

Happy New Year.

" For last year's words belongs to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.. "
- T. S. Elliot

-       The Inner Voice

Lilac Wine

Why do opposites attract ?

This is why in darkness, you reach out for the twinkling taunt of stars although dying embers of dead suns will singe, and no matter how hard you try to hang on to the edge of sensibility, you are but metal to its magnetic inevitability.

Because you need a voice that syncs unspoken thoughts. Because the antidote to caution can only be administered by one not yet infected by second-guesses and sound reason.  Because the breath of life has to be lived, and cannot be taught. The way that cold hearts need warm hands to hold, beautiful things are uncaged when logic wars with abstract feelings.

Why do opposites attract ?

Because raw edges complement soft curves, and bravado is empty without the strength of vulnerability. Because the flutter of soaring dreams need anchors of reality and in the way that forbidden fruits are sweeter, there is a sparkling allure in the things that are difficult, even impossible.

Why do opposites, attract ? 

“If you will look about you (which most people won't do)," says Sergeant Cuff, "you will see that the nature of a man's tastes is, most times, as opposite as possible to the nature of a man's business.” - Wilkie Collins

Photo Collaboration : Scenes de Rue 

- Inner Voice

Gimme Love

Stop questioning, stop second-guessing, and for Pete’s sake stop worrying about things that have not happened and might never happen. Instead, allow yourself to fall in love with everything. It’ll take courage for you to step off the ledge of Playing it Safe and leap unto the roller coaster with your name emblazoned on that seat upfront and center. Please believe me when I tell you you’re capable of doing it and so much more.

Let it turn you inside out and upside down. Let it swish inside you from side to side, head to toe because when you do, it will show. This passion and lust for life will seep out in the spring of your step, it will be heard in the lilt of your voice, the song of your laugh, and you will be contagious.

You’ll realize how passionate and beautiful a lover Life is. You will revel in wonder as she blooms and shows you her core, you will touch and feel the different textures in her many layers. You will listen, really listen to the way life whispers her secrets and you will marvel at the complex tastes of her kisses. Let go of the things weighing you down because you will need both arms to fully embrace life and fall, unbridled, head over heels in love.

If you must flirt, flirt with life in its entirety. If you must fight, fight all the things that are coming between you, and love. Because when you learn to fall in love with everything, then, and only then will you start living.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” - Rumi

Ride, Picture Collaboration : Scenes de Rue

- Inner Voice