Creativity

What is creativity? How and when does it come about? Creativity comes about spontaneously from within a person. It is that which makes you do things you never even imagined or thought of. It brings out your inner talent and capacities. Creativity also comes about when you are pushed/ dragged to the wall. In such situations your mind begins to work faster and you begin to do unimaginable things.

Just imagine a person who is really scared of heights. Such a person is always scared to look down from a high building or any other high place. Climbing stairs that are weak and creaky makes that person shiver. All the more trouble if s/ he looks down after having climbed some good number of stairs. People who have different kinds of phobias are usually tensed when they are asked to do the very thing they are scared of.

However as I said in the beginning, creativity also comes out when one is pushed to the wall. In extreme situations we do the very things we were scared of because of circumstances and situations. In those situations the brain seems to process things faster and psychological aspect of having a phobia or being scared takes a back seat.

There was person who was scared of heights; maybe the phobia was connected to his childhood. He would be scared and would get goose bumps on looking down from a high place or the terrace. He couldn’t manage to climb a tree because after a step he took he would look down and feel scared. He would curse himself for having climbed in the first place.

Once when he was locked inside the hostel dormitory he tried to come out by climbing on the grill. However after having climbed he looked down and got goose bumps. He was shivering as he made his way down. The adventure wasn’t successful. On another occasion when he was purposely locked by another inside the dormitory, he thought that this time he would really climb the grills, make it to the terrace and come out.

On his way to the grills he got some quick insights and intuitions to make a good climb (He realized where he was mistaken the previous time). He climbed for he knew God was with him to help get over his phobia. This time, he never looked back but kept climbing and lo! He reached the terrace. He felt like James Bond! However he had to climb/ jump from where he was to another terrace which was a little higher than the one on which he was. 

He used the same method/ principle of keeping his eyes on the target/ goal. He took the risk and he managed to cross over to the other terrace. He made his way down from the terrace immediately because he never imagined himself in his rarest dreams that he could and would do a thing like that.

There are various ways of looking at a situation at hand. Every event is a learning experience and a golden chance to learn. That opportunity comes only once, if you catch it, you’ll be the better for it. The only thing needed is vigilance and a spirit to grab the opportunity that comes. We also need to learn to deal with situations of crisis. Crisis arouses the best of creativity that is in us. Attitude and vision matters a lot while dealing with any crisis.

Misunderstanding

 

At some point in life I’m sure all of us go through this (Especially those who have friends.) It takes a long time to build good friendships but only a small confusing or tricky situation to break the friendship. It would be foolish to blame God for the wrong things that happen because it is we who do it.

Misunderstandings are an intrinsic part of life. At some point of time, you will be misunderstood or misjudged for what you do. However this doesn’t mean that we stop doing good or carry on the work that we were doing. If we stop doing good or what we are convinced about, then we are merely conforming to a particular set of judgments made by people and giving more importance to peoples opinion rather than doing what is right.

We do good not because we want something from it or because we have some gain but because we are convinced that it is good and needs to be done. However on the other hand if we go according to public opinion we will find that we are confused because each person’s opinion is different from that of the other.

Coming back to misunderstanding in the topic of friendship, I would like to mention two incidences of which I will also give my learning’s from it. The first one goes thus. One friend of mine came to me and asked me for something that I wasn’t sure about or in other words didn’t feel right about. I told him that it wasn’t the right thing to do but he kept on insisting on having his own way. (This is what I feel breaks many marriages where a spouse doesn’t look at a situation from the others point of view and lays his/ her foot down on one’s own viewpoint).

I clearly stated to him that it wasn’t the right thing to do. (In life we need to speak to the point on things that we believe in). The funniest thing according to me was what happened from the next day onwards. He stopped speaking to me. I thought maybe he was sick or something else.

Whenever I used to walk I used to look at him, he had a sad long face and wouldn’t look at me. I said to myself clearly that the issue needs to be settled. I typed out a letter and gave him thinking that after reading it he might have some clarity on what actually happened and why I said what I said.

However, I think that letter had no effect and he hasn’t yet spoken to me. What I can do is only pray or maybe even some fine day take the first step. All this seems very funny to me (Especially not talking to the other person). It is obvious that all of us hold different beliefs and convictions but that doesn’t mean that I stop talking to the other because s/ he clearly states what s/ he believes in. We need to respect persons as persons and accept them as they are.

Never break a friendship for a few faults. Nobody is perfect and affection is always greater than perfection. Imperfections and misunderstanding will be many in our life, the important thing that we need to learn is how to deal with these situations. According to me time is the best medicine to heal all things. Every purpose under heaven has a time.

The second incident that took place is more of a serious type. It was two days since I was reflecting on how particular situations happen in life. When I was reflecting in these two I wasn’t relating much with others or in other words was appearing not so very happy. I was thinking deeply as to why certain people in certain situations behave in a particular way.

After having finished my mini reflection I needed some love or appreciation. The best way to get what you want is to give what you want and hence I was showering one friend of mine with lots of love in the form of fooling, teasing etc. 

At one point he got pissed off and instead of showing signs of affection and love which was what I was looking out for, he told me ‘Go and tell that to your mother.’ Obviously his face had become serious; I told him that if he didn’t like what I said he should tell me directly and not bring my family into the matter.

After that day I didn’t feel like looking at his face. When I finally got over the hurt I wrote a small note and passed it on to him. He returned it back within a second without even reading it. I thought to myself that it would be best to allow time to heal the situation or the person.

After all experiences that I’ve had up to now I thought that it would be better to have a ‘mind your business’ attitude so as to have no relations with anyone which will leave me hurt-free. However when I reflected on this thought that I had, I thought it would be better to be hurt by friends who are imperfect than live like a rock or an island. All are ‘works- in- progress’ including me and hence I need to forgive the wrongs that others do to me just God doesn’t tire of forgiving me for all the times that the sin against Him.

It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

Love

Is love for oneself necessary or important? Yes, definitely it is I would say because of all the experiences that I have had up to now. According to me, self- love is basically the time that you dedicate to loving yourself; respecting and talking to yourself. Loving, respecting or talking to yourself is possible only if you make time for yourself.

Love yourself by appreciating each part of your body, accepting your life and yourself the way you are. If we do this then we won’t need to look out or crave for appreciation from others. We will be so to say self- satisfied.

 Respect yourself by considering yourself as equally important as the others. Treat yourself with respect, hold you head high and have great self- esteem. Respecting others will be possible only if you respect yourself. As it is rightly ‘You can only give to others if you have something.’ Talk to yourself by spending quality time with yourself. Spend time with yourself talking about the current and the future plans, affirm yourself and heal your wounds. For a long time I feel, I didn’t make time for myself and also took myself for granted. I thought if my needs were not met, it was okay. Maybe the thought of being humble was running in my mind then. However now I have come to the realization that humility and low self- esteem/ self- respect are 2 totally different things. A little child is the best example of humility. Low self- esteem/ self- respect/ self- love arises because I don’t give time to myself and think that I’m too busy to do that or there are better things to do than give time to myself.

I had such a scheduled/ time- tabled life that I didn’t even give time to myself to take a look at the wonderful face that God had and has given me. I thought that giving time to myself was a waste of time and that I had to ‘do’ things in order to be successful. Hence I was busy in doing so many things without realizing who I was at the core of my being. I was a robot then, dancing to my own tunes of completing tasks and also a fulfiller of others expectations and beliefs.

These ripples of low self- esteem/ self- respect/ self- love showed itself in non- socialization. Everything had to start and finish on time, if not; my whole plan would be disturbed which I wouldn’t easily allow to happen under ordinary circumstances. I would get irritated if anyone came to talk (disturb) to me out of the stipulated time i. e. during meals. I wasn’t selfish but it was the reflection of how I treated myself that replicated on others.

Lately when I was giving shape to my beard, I felt loved, I felt like an aura of love came over me when I spent time trimming my moustache. When I looked in the mirror, I realized it was I who was loving myself. I felt so good about myself that it felt like a ‘eureka’ moment that I got over trimming my moustache.

It felt like slowly things were falling in place. The corrections given to me by my friends, superiors and others seemed to make sense. Because I wasn’t giving time to myself I ended up in very meager time spending with my friends. The tasks at hand seemed more important than the people around me. I had made a time tabled embryo for myself.

I must say that getting out of it hasn’t been easy, because I had to go against my own grain. It was like going against the current. The Lord helped me to love myself and extend it to others. Now I feel that I am open to listen to anyone at any time. Change is possible only with the Lord’s help. Without Him there is no change that can effectively take place.

Everything seems to fall in place with God’s grace. This growth experience has taught me that I must be humble and approach the Lord to help me solve problems that I face with regard to myself and also in relation to others.

Upbeat music

According to a new study it is said that listening to upbeat music can have an enhancing effect on individuals working in a team. The level of their co- operation in the team will increase. However the type of music being talked about here is happy upbeat music. The participants of the research that was held tended to contribute their token to the groups value when upbeat music was played and kept it to themselves when heavy metal songs by less than well- known bands was played.

However the problem that arises here is that different people have different tastes of music which will definitely differ from that of the others. The upbeat music is termed as pleasant music whereas the heavy metal songs are termed as less pleasant. This problem is solved in the following words said by Kevin Kniffin, researcher at the Cornell University in the USA. ‘Happy music has the power to make the workplace more co-operative and supportive overall.’ The researchers suggested that starting the day with this simple consideration in mind could result in happier employees and more teamwork.

T

Does your name begin with: T

            You are very sensitive, private and sometimes very passive. You like someone who takes lead. You get turned on by music, soft lights and romantic thoughts. You fantasize and tend to fall in and out of love soon. When in love you are romantic, idealistic, mushy and extremely pushy. You enjoy having your senses and your feelings stimulated, titillated and teased. You’re a great flirt. You can make your relationships fit your dreams, all in your own head. Once you put your mind to something you manage to stand by it and see your dreams through. You aren’t very good at expressing your feelings. You like things your own way. You do not like change; you like to hold on to things. This may not always be good because if given an opportunity things may develop into great things. You work your way to the top. Attention must be given to what others say because even though you don’t want to hear it their advice may turn out to save your life!

WALNUT TREE (Oct 24- Nov 11)

            Unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egoistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.