When Silence Speaks...

Today was a bright and beautiful day, so I chose to hit a close by trail with a friend. After about couple of hours of hiking, we found a peaceful spot in a shade by the lake. We were sitting and chatting away when a lady walked to us.   I had seen her standing and watching the horizon of the lake holding a bottle of water and her stance had not changed for quite a while. When she walked over I gave a friendly wave and started the conversation. That’s when I realized she wasn’t acting normal. She wasn’t speaking clearly and kept looking at my backpack asking “What have you got in there?”  Although it was a bit creepy, I did not feel threatened. I said it’s just my backpack here. She repeated the same question like 3-4 times “What’s in there?” So I humoured her, I said here’s my bottle, here’s my notebook and then thought maybe she was hungry. I dug in to retrieve a chocolate croissant (individually wrapped) and held it up saying “I’ve got this, interested?” She immediately re...

After ages of procrastination, I finally decided to try formal art classes. I had always feared that rules would take the fun out of my art. Art is where I go to unwind and let my mind wander, and the idea of placing boundaries in that safe space never sat well with me. But this year, I signed up for weekend spring classes; telling myself to keep an open mind and take in only what resonated. I was intimidated - I didn't know if this would draw me deeper into art or push me away. To my surprise, it was overwhelming, but in the best possible way.  The reason for this post is however not to cover my art journey ( I have just started so I will give it some time to settle in ); but instead to capture my thoughts upon observing a profession in real life that I have only watched on screen -  Live nude models. And the quiet power of their bare form.  I spent an entire day observing nude male and female body for figure drawing, and it blew my mind in ways I had not expected. ...

 There's this excerpt from a book (The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater) I read last year -  “ This is a war about collective will. What do we do with the power of the many? Are we better or worse when we all move together? Do we wield justice? Do we wield vengeance?” It had pulled me deep into thoughts and I remember reigning myself back to the book, noting to get back to it later. And that later seems to be today, with all that’s going on right now. This particular novel’s plot was based on WWII events (so you get the original context), but it made me think in terms of current times.  My mind was stuck on what " will " means in today’s world. Back in the day, up until about the early 2000s, information we processed was gained with an effort and targeted to our interests. There was no algorithm continuously feeding our brains like today (except our parents nagging. That was constant and had a standard algorithm in all households.) It was really hard to form an opinio...

I don't know why I stopped writing.  It was my respite from the usual chaos of life. I realized last week that it’s been over 2 years since I have written anything at all.  It made me wonder why the very things that help keep us grounded are the first things we cut ourselves off from when we are lost. I am lost.  Here let me admit to the universe out there. I am lost and I am writing it here in black and white; so I have no way of lying to myself anymore. You can be doing everything right, going through a perfect routine and still be lost.  Most people are too busy getting through the routine, they usually become numb to general curiosity or casual pondering, which probably is good for them. Because mind is a wild wild thing and hard to tame when set loose.  I go through this phase every now and then, it’s not new to me. It’s a weird restlessness. There’s no sadness there. Just badly wanting to do something, but not knowing exactly what. That urge to find someth...