Tag: thoughts

Miscellaneous, My Digital Universe

Rock Vs. Water

Cheran Ratnam

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!

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Poems

Writing right

Cheran Ratnam

When words spoken, often alter,
Unspoken, they are left to wonder.
Thoughts are better off to ponder,
Than feelings they produce, to harbor.

Why can’t we discuss without a faulter?
Listen, converse and be much broader?
If love is truly greater than the marauder,
Being right doesn’t have to be the deriver.

Better left alone than a survivor,
Of a battle fought for vain cadaver.
Feeling with intended desire,
Allows thought to quickly transpire.

Miscellaneous, My Digital Universe

Inside, looking out

Cheran Ratnam

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?

Poems

Over the moon

Cheran Ratnam

I wrote you poems,
Thought you’d notice.
I showed up,
Thought you’d speak.

I sent you thoughts,
Hoping you’ll catch them.
Then I got over you —
Just like that!
Nothing drastic,
No mind altering tactics.

I’m not a waiter.
My heart’s not a restaurant.
I waited long enough.

There’s only one moon,
In this galaxy, that is.
I’m not a fighter,
I’m only a writer.
There are other galaxies,
Different possibilities.
I let my mind wander,
To the distant galaxies yonder,
Maybe they too have bumble and tinder?
New moons are new, when found.
But they existed, all bright and round.

Poems

Morning rain

Cheran Ratnam

Rain drops in the sky,
Slowly pouring while,
Early morning smiles;
Everything worth while.

Through the gentle tides,
You whisper gentle plights,
There’s a warmth deep inside,
No ladder left to climb.

As the flowers bud in time,
So the grass holds its right.
Just to lay down and ride,
The waves of this light!

And it’s raining down,
So deep inside,
Not a worry left in sight,
Dreams revived, with light.

And the sun will shine,
For the wandering heart,
With the rain in sight,
It’s blooming time!

Poems

Life before

Cheran Ratnam

Frolicking through gore,
While bleed turns to pour.
Hoping there’s something more,
You bear it right to your core.

Daring you enter through the door,
Staring to figure what you came for.
Tearing is what makes you score,
Blaring insides will take you ashore.

Glances, numerous you’ll store,
Whispers, spurious just ignore.
Splinters, with oil, will surely floor,
Tricksters, fade, with time, poorly wore.

Trajectory favors worn out decor,
Contradictory, yet prevails the sore.
Rudimentary, yet withstanding for more,
Multi-sensory, will not hide anymore.

Poems

Devil in Blue

Cheran Ratnam

The devil met me dressed in Blue,
Guess I was next in line, in his cue.
Must be fate, he hates my dark hue,
So he pressed me down pretending to subdue.

Breath was gone, my words were true,
So now I lay in plain view.
Videos repeated, the talk of a few,
Even a painting that someone drew.

But the devil will keep hunting in blue,
Because the people … well there’s not much they will do,
Than say a prayer in some church pew! 😡🤬

My Digital Universe, Portfolio

On the mind

Cheran Ratnam

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.”

My Digital Universe, Poems, Portfolio

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela

Cheran Ratnam

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

 

 

My Digital Universe, Portfolio

The mind reader

Cheran Ratnam

There was a man that could read minds.

At first, he thought, wow this is an amazing skill to have. So, he went into restaurants and started listening to conversations. It was quite entertaining at first. Then, he started using his skill for his advantage. He patted himself in the back when he got what he wanted. He thought, “Huh, they have no clue that I know what they think”.

A few years passed by. He had now gotten tired of using his skill for his benefit. Now he was simply observing others. He started diving deep into his interactions. He analyzed the thoughts that were going through someone’s head when they were speaking to him. He tried to give them what they wanted or what they wished for.

One day, he was hanging around some friends and felt extremely uncomfortable. He could no longer just enjoy life. He was constantly concerned about what someone else was thinking; what they were going to say to another person about him or someone else. His life was suddenly filled with other people’s thoughts. His own thoughts were now drowning.

For the first time since his realization, he felt burdened. What once felt like a blessing now weighed him down like a curse. He looked around him and saw thousands of people that couldn’t read minds. They were just happy to live based on what they saw and heard. They had no clue that sometimes their loved ones were not being honest.

Then he wished that he couldn’t read minds. He wanted to be normal. Years passed by. He found himself getting farther and farther away from civilization. He just couldn’t deal with the make believe comments and conversations anymore. One day, he met an old man. He asked him “Son, how are you?” He realized that this man was sincerely interested to know how he was doing. He shared his experience with the man and explained why he was living in the outskirts of civilization.

The old man smiled and said “I was like you once. I too got tired of reading other peoples’ minds.” The mind reader was excited. He wanted to know how to deal with it. The old man said that he simply decided to not read other peoples’ minds one day. He said that he realized even when he read someone’s mind; he still enjoyed listening to what the other person had to say. Words, he said have power. It still takes effort to make a thought into audible, comprehendible sounds. He left the man with the poem below and said “Go back to the city if you want. It’s not as bad as you think. You have two ears. Keep them clean. Don’t let what you don’t like stick in between. Listen from one and let it go from the other.”

“Opinions are like onions,

They are tasty when cooked.

But if you peel one out in bed,

You will wake up stinking like one”