Category: My Digital Universe
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? NO!
Thou art more than a summer’s day!
Not too hot or cold, just deliberate:
Rough winds does make your hair sway,
Thy Summer has no start or ending date:
Sometime too bright the heaven shines,
With golden rays that can’t be dimmed;
And your beauty stays forever, and never declines,
Not a chance, that your radiance, ever trimmed:
For in the heavens were thou made,
Divinely crafted, no need for me to boast,
Even death is driven away, just how you were made,
When in radiant smiles your love only grow’st:
Not for all, but for my eyes to see,
Inexplicable thou are, and the light I see in thee.
The Calm Fury
Observe patiently,
Let them swarm rapidly— celebrate victory.
Listen to the flies buzzing— endure the mockery,
Withhold reactions to misplaced glory.
When emotions rise like a tsunami,
Pull them back, eliminate the worry.
Calmness is your fury,
You must control your story.
Stabs will poke holes, might get gory,
Hold the strike, for time is eerie.
Soon their horses will turn to ponies,
Let the dust divulge those cronies.
Rock Vs. Water
Determination requires discipline and discipline requires consistency. Do the best you can and do your best to do it for the right reasons.
We can be a leaf in a stream and get taken wherever the water flows. We can also be a rock in the stream. But it’s better to be the stream.
The stream will flow where it needs to flow. It will go around the rocks or over the rocks to get there.
Consistency has power that a stale rock doesn’t. A rock can only resist. But water can overcome resistance.
A rock, that’s too heavy, cannot move. Though strong, it can only experience decay. Water sustains life. It is refreshing. It flows. It can carry. It can be useful. It can transform. If it is stored for too long, it will evaporate or seep into the soil and nourish the earth. When it is too cold, it can be hard enough to destroy the Titanic. If you boil it enough it will disinfect and get rid of the germs.
Be like water. Strength is not only what we can see or do. It is also what we can become!
Inside, looking out
The eyes reflect what the heart tries to hide,
Your thoughts won’t contain, although you fight,
Your concern for how I should fly my kite,
Is eating up the moments before your eyes.
Life is but a moment depleted,
So why focus on someone else’s misses?
Time is only moving forward,
Why not focus on your journey?
There are no secrets in life. A sincere smile shows a sincere heart. It reflects that a person has no qualms about what someone did or ought to do.
The words spoken behind someone’s back, a negative thought or dislikes cannot be hidden with a smile or a gesture.
It all shows.
There’s no magic about it. What you think of someone will show with your smile. What you told of someone will show through the one that you told it to.
Call it energy, vibes, juju … These are all ways that someone’s perception of another manifests and how the receptor experiences it.
Perhaps one solution is to not concern so much about other people’s lived experiences. Curiosity has a place. When curiosity becomes an obsession over what someone else is doing, you forget to live the very short life you have. Now you are not only meddling with the limited moments another has to experience life, but also wasting your own, on futile analysis’.
Ever wonder why faith causes so many problems in the world? It’s not so much the teachings of a faith but the application and interpretation of that faith that cause issues. Often times the application of faith is blatantly hypocritical when compared to the teachings.
Devotees are so concerned of how someone else is living their life that they feel the need to take on the role of a deity. Or, do they feel as if everyone must agree with exactly what they perceive to be correct in their minds? I don’t see an issue with someone’s firm belief that what they believe is right. However, when you impose that onto people and derive moral authority, it becomes a problem. Spiritual practices do not have measurements or evaluation procedures. For better or for worse, that leaves room for all sorts of things. If you can’t accept another human being based on their merits, I don’t mean the standards that you uphold to be worthy, but simply for who they are, perhaps you need to reevaluate your faith.
Is it a spiritual practice at that point? Or is it a crutch that you need to define who you are in terms of who someone else is?
Part of the issue lies in hierarchical view points that dominate our society. Whether we like to admit or not, modern society in general, still operates under the pretense of importance that people attach to professions, qualifications and achievements. So instead of seeing the most obvious oneness, we are programmed to compare, dissect and position ourselves in relation to those we meet.
Ever thought what a human would look like to an alien? At a glance, an extra terrestrial would categorize animals based on their common characteristics. And all humans, regardless of color, race, gender or qualifications will be categorized under one generic umbrella.
If we need faith to feel good about ourselves in relation to another, to me there’s little value in that belief. A spiritual practice, first and foremost should nourish and sustain the individual practitioner. Next, it should create harmony and unity with everything around them. It should dissolve and dismantle illogical untruths that one accumulate as they grow up in a world with conflicting opinions and ideas.
At the end, truth shouldn’t require any justification. If it requires persuasion, think twice. If something is so true, wouldn’t it be undeniable obvious? Wouldn’t it be inescapably comprehensible? Is it fair for some individuals to understand it and not others, if something is true? Or is truth like mathematics? If so, wouldn’t it be math and not the truth? Can truth be relative? If that’s the case, what’s the point of enforcing laws?
Beyond The Mirage
Love beyond compare,
Where the lilies bloom and birds nest,
Liberated stars lay in adoration.
Every moment has en eternity,
Encapsulated with majestic splendor.
For the eyes to see and the ears to hear,
For sorrow has long passed,
Left behind the remnants of a life of bewilderment.
Distance shores call me now,
Yet the mind is still, to ponder.
Nothing to add or subtract,
Yet time passes by with this addition and subtraction.
The greater the mountain, nicer the view,
Yet, to get there one needs strength and valor,
Good friends, courage and a bit of hope.
Once conquered, spend each day gazing,
At wondrous sunsets over glorious horizons.
On the mind
Hearing is involuntary but listening is a choice. You don’t have to listen to all the voices that you hear. Exercise control when it comes to who and what you authorize to influence your mind.
Yes, you are the gatekeeper of your mind.
The senses are mere receptacles. Your mind has the power to decide whether to push play or pause. What about the involuntary noises? Exercise control and selectivity. In order to do this effectively and consistently, one must come to the realization that the soul itself is the controller of your life.
The soul is not a control freak, it’s there for a purpose but it won’t execute that purpose without willingness. If the purpose of the soul is to create, it will wait till the vessel (you) are ready both in your mind and body. You hold the key to your soul, mind and body.
Mind and perception
Perhaps we forget that we are not our body, we are not our mind, we are not our soul … we are but one and all. What you can comprehend is what you will perceive. From what you perceive you will derive your filtered version of comprehension and from that comprehension you will execute actions that will create your experiences. Not a single piece of the universe is out of place. If it was, life will not be sustainable. So, be selective. Life is infinite. Possibilities are endless.
“Make your dreams out of rubber balls, they won’t drown.
If you throw it away, it will bounce back!
Rubber balls are fun, not just for you but for others too.”
Table Nomad: A Wanderer’s Collection
We live in a world full of connotations. The way you comb your hair to a metaphor you use when you write, will be interpreted by someone according to the lenses they wear when they view the world.
I enjoy poetry for this very reason!
Writing a poem gives you the freedom to express freely. How someone will interpret what you write is not really of concern, at least for me. As I mentioned above, we live in a world of connotations. So, it is expected that readers will interpret a line of poetry depending on what each word and image represent (to them) according to their worldview.
About the poems
The poems come from my personal experiences. Some, are reactions to situations that I never expressed while others capture the feelings of fleeting moments. As readers flip through the pages, I hope they will be able to relate to certain feelings and appreciate varying perspectives.
When I started my backpacking trip to Nepal, I had no plan whatsoever. I decided to goto Nepal on the same day I took the flight. It was a decision I made on the spur of the moment. I was definitely not prepared to trek the Annapurna circuit when I packed my bags. If anything, I wanted to have spontaneous experiences.
And that’s exactly what I found for the next year!
The decision to collect various pieces of writing I had produced over the years came to mind when I was in Munnar, India. Even then, I wanted to stay true to my motto: “I have no agenda”. So I simply collected poems that were stacked away and put together a collection. Initially, I wanted the book to be a photo / poetry book. I thought it would be fitting to find images that compliment my writing. It was delightful to find a picture that resonated with a poem. Especially, since the images were taken at random without the intention of including in the book!
The digital version, which can be found here, has accompanying images that I captured from an iPhone 6s during my travels in South East Asia.
The paperback version is a poetry only version. You can get it here.
I hope you enjoy the poems and the accompanying images. Originally, I envisioned the book as something that will compliment one’s living room by taking the place of a coffee table book.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela
I recently published my first poetry book: Table Nomad: A Wanderer’s Collection on Amazon. Writing poetry is something very personal. Self-publishing, designing and creating the layout myself, made it a bit more intimate.
I learnt a lot of new skills and polished up on existing ones during this process. Adobe InDesign was completely new to me when I first started to layout my book. I was in Munnar, India at that time, taking a break from extensive traveling. While taking a few days to relax, I suddenly felt the urge to finally put together this book. I had most of the content written already. I also had over 10,000 images from my travels. So, it was a matter of putting it all together.
“It’s not about doing everything alone. It’s more about learning something new and applying that knowledge in the practical world.”
Here are three lessons I learned from the writing and publishing process:
Lesson 1: To make an idea come into reality, one must take action
I’ve thought about it. Talked about it. Dreamed about it. One day I finally realized that what’s left is, to simply do it. The hardest part of an extensive project is getting things going. Over the years, I’ve found that whenever I get myself to start something, I tend to follow through. There’s something in me that doesn’t want to back down once I start something. So, I started by subscribing to InDesign. Now it was serious, I have made an investment in a tool that I had no clue how to operate! My brain figured out what needed to happen next and soon I had gathered my pieces of writing that were stored on websites, Instagram and my notes.
Lesson 2: Getting different perspectives and opinions are good, but at the end you must decide
When I started arranging the poems and images, I asked a couple of friends for their opinions. It was good to know what others were seeing and understand whether your creation is communicating the right message. However, the ultimate decision to decide on which font to use and how to format an image was up to me. There were times that I doubted myself. It can be frustrating when you can’t decide on something. But, in order to make progress, we must make a decision and stick with it. Yes, sometimes it’s risky. Yes, we must live with the consequences of our decisions. But, it’s also all about your outlook. We can always learn from a mistake. The good thing in the digital age is that we can change things easily. Which leads to my next lesson …
Lesson 3: Be open to change and don’t settle
I first got a taste for making corrections and revisions during my master’s thesis. I am thankful for my thesis chair for pushing me to revise, re-write and redo. It can be extremely frustrating to find an error right when you think it’s ready to go live. But finding errors and having the ability to correct them is a blessing in disguise. Yes, it can take a toll on you after the 10th time, but it teaches you to become more careful and pay attention to detail. In the beginning, I wanted to publish around 50 poems and sayings with images. When I realized that the cost was too high to do color images, I was disappointed. I felt as if all my efforts had come to a standstill.
Determination is a fascinating quality. Couple that with the ability to make compromises, it’s not too hard to find win-wins. I had to change my book to meet the practical aspects of publishing. So, I made the photography and poetry (color) version available digitally and created a poetry only paperback version. I didn’t get everything I wanted. But then again, I did.
Digital version: http://bit.ly/tablenomad
Paperback version: http://bit.ly/buywanderer
When expectations fetter away
At the end of the day, one must do what’s best for themselves without becoming a thorn for anothers’ possibilities and expressions. Those who demand you to meet their expectations will never change to meet yours. So, why waste time trying to meet the expectations of those who are concerned with propagating their version of life on to your reality?
Expectations create dependancies
If all expectations were to be fulfilled, the world might end up in chaos. To expect is to wait for something. You are now dependent on something else to find fulfillment. Like a mighty pit bull, salivating and kneeling before his feeble master for a treat. I love dogs, but I am not too fond of training them to beg for treats. The loyalty of a dog is more valuable than manipulative obedience.
Or, to expect is to project your perception of ideal outcomes onto other people’s lived experiences and expressions. They are not meeting YOUR expectations that YOU made up in YOUR head with YOUR self-interests at the forefront.
Water is fluid. Most of everything around us consists of it. The same element that we consume to hydrate can drown us. Just like that, that which goes up, must come down. That which stays up must one day land. There’s nothing wrong with going up or staying up as long as one remembers where it started from. Born naked with the imminent reality of joining the dust, some get too caught up in their self-proclaimed status on the planet. This self-proclaimed superiority complex then starts to ooze out like poisonous gas in the form of expectations. If you were a bird, your innate dispositions would tell you when to land. But you aren’t a bird. You are just a skeleton with a suit with nothing but expectations.
Expectations are not universal laws
Tell your mind to guard its entrance from unwelcomed expectations. No matter how high and mighty they present themselves as, they are nothing but expectations of dust. The deeply rooted fear of uncertainty is only a facade when you are not afraid to take bold steps. Not all steps are taken to go forward. There’s no loss in taking a step back to avoid an imminent threat and change directions. The forces that work behind closed doors are not powerful. They are just fear mongers that needs a hand to hold when it’s dark at night. With light, each and every plot will be revealed. Such a revelation can only become a reality by the hand of the absolute truth. Oil and water will get separated then and there won’t be any more doubts.
In the meantime, it’s better to show less than what you know. Don’t worry about anothers’ perception of yourself. When you are able to free yourself from the false notion of external acceptance, freedom will take you ashore with powerful waves. Till then, ride the waves and enjoy the sunsets. Expect nothing and know when to give it all and when to give sparingly. When we expect nothing, we are not controlled by that idea. When you free yourself from your own shackles, you will find the strength to remain free.
About the photo: These waves in Nusa Lembongan Island in Indonesia are simply breathtaking. Its shear power keeps the mighty rocks that keep the island afloat in check.
Ever wan·der 