Blog Marathon Post 9. Space - where is it?

Yesterday I saw this story about a minimalist house called "Diogene", designed by an ace Italian architect. It is vey small, but packs a punch.

Gizmag says this about this house:

"Italian architect Renzo Piano has gone from building Europe’s tallest building (the Shard in London) to one of its smallest. Finally completing his career-long dream of building a micro house that only measures 7.5 sq m (81 sq ft), Piano’s single-occupancy unit has been added to the gardens of the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Dubbed “Diogene,” the small structure is named in honor of the Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, who was said to have abandoned all worldly luxuries and conventions for the simplicity of living in a large ceramic jar. 

While it’s hard to imagine how a unit that measures 3 by 2.5 meters (9.8 by 8.2 ft) can be big enough to be called a home, the Diogene model provides the simplest of comforts for one person without leaving anything out. The micro home features a living area which comes equipped with a foldaway desk and chair, sofa bed and recessed storage boxes. A separated utilities space features a composting toilet, shower plate and a small kitchen unit with built-in sink and refrigerator."

See more pictures here and know more here. 

This got me thinking, if I stay in this house, how will I feel, will I move around and feel as is I have hardly any space and slowly a consciousness of having less space will start settling in me...or not?

I love the concept, and would really like to have a cabin like this, but out in the open. I cannot stay in this in a city. But then, that is how it has been designed for "off-the-grid tiny living". I would love to go there to write, and minimise distractions and feel secure and go in. Then I would love to step out in the open, and feel as if the world is in me and I am in it. 

I feel as the excesses are increasing, so is the need among people to go towards less. So that when there is less clutter outside, there is less clutter inside as well, and thus the 'space' that we all need, gets created in the inside. 

This is specially significant with the world population growing exponentially. But I have full trust in our adoptive nature. We are not perfect, but we are creative. There need not be any race against others to survive in the long run, because we do not need to compete. 

There is space enough for everyone. Inside we carry so much of it. So why hanker for it outside. 

As within, so without. 

Blog Marathon Post 8. A photo post: My beautiful terrace garden in the rains

I am very grateful for my great terrace and all the beautiful flowers there, which are mostly courtesy my mother, who is an avid and exceptionally talented gardner. Whenever she is here, our flower collections blooms in numbers :).

Today the Sun was out and the flowers were just too happy soaking in the sunshine :)

Then it rained in the afternoon and the flowers and plants were glistening and still so happy! Good day for them :)

Blog Marathon Post 7. The Myth of Superman

Today I watched "Man of Steel". Loved the movie. Primarily because it is about Superman's conflict, his burden and how it handles it all, and not about how he is superior to the human race, as it was in all earlier Superman movies.

The focus is still on how he is different from the people of his adoptive planet, but they have told the story well enough to show his confusions and frustations. They have also made the character of Lois Lane more robust and really important rather than just being Superman's damsel in distress.

Though I did feel that his intensity of values about truth, justice and everyone deserves an equal chance to be good, which form the core of his mythology, were not properly highlighted. But then it was a reboot of the series and was about showing how Superman became Superman. He still does not know himself well enough, so I guess those values will get highlighted in the next movie of the series (I am assuming this, as trilogies have become the norm for all superhero movies).

In this movie, the deeper lessons for me were the themes of pre-defined purpose, choice, destiny and control issues.

Control issues: Superman says that he understands why people are afraid of him. Its not just because he different and too powerful, but because he cannot be controlled. The people and the Government will have to trust him, there is no other way. Now we all know the paranoid nature of politicians in general, so this was something.

Pre-defined purpose: The planet Krypton stopped leaving anything to chance by 'growing' new citizens to fill pre-defined roles, like warriors, leaders etc. Due to this pre-determination, General Zod is unable to let go of his design as a protector of his people. He feels that his soul is destroyed when there are no people left for him to save. His purpose was dependent on others.

Choice: Jor-El and Lara make a choice to conceive a child through natural birth. This choice makes Kal-El or Superman already different even on his own planet. Later Superman chooses to let go of his birth planet's legacy to save his adoptive planet. General Zod had had no idea of choice, and his purpose never evolved.

Destiny: Superman's destiny was always to be different. he was born different. So his soul's journey unfolded in the same manner, no matter where he grew up. General Zod's destiny was to experience a soul loss and frustation and die thousands of miles away from all that he cared for, alone, in pain and emptiness.

I would love it if they make a "World's Finest" movie with Superman and Batman, and of course, Lois Lane and Selena Kyle (Catwoman). I would love to see the conversations between Sups and Bats, in fact among all four of these, to come alive on the screen as it does on the comics pages or even in the JLA animated series.

Both these superheros have almost opposite mythologies and yet they have a friendship which is based on mutual trust and respect. They do not approve of each other's methods (Superman finds Batman way of dealing with criminals too brutal) or sentiments (Batman calls Superman 'Boy Scout'). They are still friends because of their deep desire to really help people, their heightened sense of justice and a shared dream of a peaceful world.

I always thought Superman to be a misguided optimist and a hero so powerful but so obsessed with or even fearful of never attracting the blame of misusing his powers, that he often loses touch with what is necessary and gets lost in conversations of how he will be judged by people, God, himself and of course his Kryptonian father, Jor-El (who is dead, but is always present as a shadow inside Superman's mind).

Batman and his myth are way cooler and more dramatic. He brings with him an edge, a darkness, which is very alluring. Superman, though so powerful, is not-so-easy to relate to as people often think, "Oh man! I would love to have his problems!". Though his feeling of being alone is something which touches a core with many, his perfection of character is resented just as much.

His issues with Kryptonite are also simply too frustrating for me as a reader. Here is this limitlessly powerful man, who can be brought to his knees by the tiniest of shards of a stone, from his own planet no less, and every supervillian worth their money seems to be able to get their hands on it way too easily! I mean, c'mon! Figure out a way to beat it already! In one comic, he collects every piece of Kryptonite from the entire Earth, with the help of Batman, and disposes of it all by throwing the lot into the Sun. That's not good enough! At least I thought so at one point of time.

But I came to rethink about his myth when I read the more evolved works from DC comics, especially, One Million and some more JLA titles. I understood that being that steadfast and obsessed with never crossing the line with anyone, he won friends among enemies, and became a deserving leader of many groups of superheros. He became a beacon of hope and trust.

I will not get into various story arc and versions of Superman as that is an unending discussion, but I came to accept this superhero an not so totally uncool. This acceptance was a part of my journey too where the usual and cliched things also had space and due importance. I started respecting the day-to-day, the ordinary, and usual things.

I enjoyed this movie, though I was expecting a deeper look into Superman's psyche, I guess it was too much to ask for form this movie.

I am also a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino's understanding of Superman's myth in Kill Bill Vol 2. The view that Clark Kent is a parody of the entire human race by Superman, the 'superior man' was quite...awesome, and maybe a little chilling as well.

Blog Marathon Post 6. What happens when the rain stops?

It has been very beautiful and cool and nice all around Pune with the ongoing rains these past 3-4 days. Everything looks as if it is sort of drunk and happy, as if the quest is finally over.

Will post some pictures of my flowers too soon. As of now, they are just relishing the shower.

In this weather, I cannot help but muse over the various sounds that are produced when the rain shower hits various surfaces. Its like a symphony that needs to conductor, no beginning and no end; it doesn't even pick up where it left off the next day.

It doesn't need to.

For the participants in this symphony, only now is real. Yesterday doesn't matter - it is past, gone. No longer relevant. Whether the yesterday was glorious or disappointing, it is all the same now, as it is gone. Dead. Just a memory. Future has not arrived, so no question of getting that part involved. So only the now remains. When this now settles inside me, all I can at times feel is nothing.

At other times, I have this gripping fear that what will happen when this now ends and no new 'now' is left to arrive. I mean it's all out there, right? Coming and going - like ants marching one after the another to some point, from some point. This feeling lasts for not even a second. Then I wake up; and realise that the perception of movement is an illusion.

Nothing is actually moving. Its all just flux which appears as movement. In reality, we keep appearing and disappearing like fireflies. The thing that twinkles is the light of the firefly and not the firefly itself. So the firefly is always there, but the light keeps appearing and disappearing. It's there, but keeps changing forms. When the firefly goes, the light goes too, returning to where they came from. So there is no question of arrival of next moment, is there?

But what happens when the rain is gone?

Even after the rain stops, the sounds of rain falling remain behind inside walls, plants, trees, us, the pathways, benches...

If you can sometime go near a soaked tree which is still wet around the trunk, maybe you can hear the soft drumming of rain drops that fell on it and then disappeared deep inside of it.

The reverberations of this soft music can still be heard within and around the tree. The rain drop can be felt on the trunk and through it maybe you can touch the roots and the soil around it. And maybe, just maybe, if you are lucky, the tree and the rain drops and the earth's scent will come together to show you their rainbow symphony.

Blog Marathon Post 5. How to co-create miracles all the time

Yesterday was a day for removing all things that are no longer needed. So I decided to get to the roots of it :). My discoveries were, well, quite miraculous.

Of late, I have been thinking of the gaps between what I have and what I desire, and today I realised, that even though all my vibrations are right and my detachment is also good, on the conscious level, I am unconsciously resisting big changes.

Now before I get into the intricacies of my discovery, I will briefly clarify what I mean by the Conscious, the Subconscious and the Unconscious.

(c) Created by: Prerna Kumar

Conscious: What we see and understand, where our 'will' is active.

Subconscious: The part of consciousness that is not currently in focal awareness. Its a composite of everything one sees, hears and any information the mind collects, which is available for later retrieval, as and when needed.

Unconscious: Consists of the processes in the mind that occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memory, affect, and motivation. According to Freud, the unconscious mind has a will and purpose of its own that cannot be known to the conscious mind (hence the reason why it is called the "unconscious") and is a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of psychological repression.

This basic information on Subconscious and Unconscious is taken from Wikipedia.

If you want to read more, see this link here and of course, use Google.

Now we all know how powerful the unconscious and the subconscious really are. It is difficult for the conscious to communicate with the subconscious directly, because language, which is the conscious method for communication, is not recognised by the subconscious; it only knows images and impressions. If you think this is bad, wait till you hear this - it is totally impossible for the conscious to communicate with the unconscious, because the unconscious has no language. Yes, you heard it. None. Nada. Zip.

It only collects and stores things. So when a pattern gets activated, it simply follows the program. The only way to make any changes in the unconscious, is via the unconscious. Confusing? It has not even started to get tricky yet, just the tip of the iceberg ;).

I have been working on shifting a lot of things internally for a long time now, and I can see loads of changes in and around me. I am also witnessing small, but significant, instant results, or miracles, if you may. But in certain areas, there is no change whatsoever. Now, the universe or whatever you want to call it, does not differentiate between small or big shifts. If it has happened inside, it shows on the outside. It's that simple.

As within, so without.

So I decided to crack this mystery, couple of weeks back, a la Sherlock Holmes. I made a wish to see my unconscious manifest as conscious. And we all know what they say about being careful about making wishes, don't we? So is it a miracle that the wish came true? And how.

I said in the previous post that this month has not been good, and there is a restlessness - this is it. I got it finally. I was becoming aware of the gaps between what I have and what I desire and the reason for this was making me uncomfortable.

So what was the reason?

Take from here

Simply this: I was resisting my own shifts according to pre-programmed definitions of what is acceptable to me as "possible" shifts. Whatever changes my subconscious and unconscious feel as being "too big" or "needing a miracle", are simply not considered "possible", and are hence discarded or filtered.

Now this sucks!

I feel like a fool (which is a very usual state for me, trust me).

It was a simple, yet very deep belief.

So what did I do? I just saw this. Realised it, that's all.

In hindsight, I can see clearly this had been brewing on a deeper level for some time now. In fact, it had already been understood and assimilated as well on those levels (there is no time lag there, as there no time there), which is why I came across the following video by Brad Yates three days back, which is about "Allowing Miracles".


[Brad is an EFT expert and I visit his videos from time to time to tap with him. He's fun, and his approach is simple.]

So what do you think I did with the video? Watched it right away and expressed heartfelt gratitude to the divine? Oh no no no no no. We don't want to make things too easy now, do we? Long story short, it took my conscious mind three days to catch up with this understanding, and I watched it yesterday at 11.30 pm.

And I even know why!

I had decided some time in the last week that maximum by this date (17th Jun), I will be out of the funk or whatever I am in, and while thinking this, I was also aware that I am unnecessarily putting a time limit on something that can happen anytime, even instantly. Go figure! I totally hate it when I make things complex for myself, unnecessarily.

Is it a wonder I feel like this:

So you see what happened? Just by realising something, the solution automatically happened. With the understanding of the issue, came the understanding of the solution. On its own. Effortlessly. No working on anything required. No need to go through psychoanalysis to see:

- why this resistance became ingrained, 

- who is to be blamed (mom and dad, pesky auntijis, friendly neighbourhood Spider Man, Sharma Uncle's dog, my unborn child, blah blah), or 

- how to drop the resistance: training the mind to see these shifts as normal things and make a gradual plan for achieving these shifts (sounds tiring even as I type this!)

Simple and direct - dissolve the issue altogether. Just allow miracles. How? By realising that I am a miracle, that every breath I take is a miracle, everyday I live is a miracle. 

Now these things are already in my system as a part of my inherent Trust and Gratitude. So where was the conflict? The conflict was with the belief about my ability to handle these changes. There was an earlier program that said that I am comfortable only with "small changes" and do not want to "create war with my system" to induce bigger changes. I had developed this 'process' to deal with a certain relationship situation, where tact was needed and not confrontation, around 3 years ago. The situation was dealt with in a year, and I no longer needed this belief. But the Unconscious did not know that. It kept on running the program, and applied it whenever "big changes" came in the picture. Till a few hours back - for 2 extra years. 

Scary. 

But now that I have seen it, I feel empowered. In the end, it was just a conflicting belief, which once seen, got dissolved. I actually feel light, and can see light coming on in my brain at previously inexperienced places :). 

I realised these as I tapped and am now making them a part of my daily affirmations: 

1. I CHOOSE TO ALLOW MIRACLES IN MY LIFE. 

2. I CAN HANDLE THESE MIRACLES.

3. NOTHING IS TOO GOOD FOR ME, I DESERVE THE BEST.

I created this reminder for myself today:

(c) Created by: Prerna Kumar

And this I have taken from the Internet as my daily inspiration:

All you need to do to co-create a miracle everyday is to allow them to happen. Get out of your own way! 

Now.

Blog Marathon Post 4. Things I have learned in my ride down the rabbit hole

This month of June has not been good for me. In any aspect whatsoever. To think I was expecting more out of my birthday month ;)...Oh well, there's few days left still.

As the days go by, everyday my realisation of where I am deepens. Now it should be a good thing, and it is. But you know what? It is also a little...unsettling. I see a lot of things in me and around me very clearly and very deeply, without any facades or sugarcoating. And it is nice, to see things in their full honesty, including myself. My mirror doesn't lie, better still, it doesn't need to lie, and I feel good about it. But there is also a little restlessness. I am not sure why.

In my attempt to sort out my restlessness, I came upon certain 'stuff' that seemed important to me. The last three posts  describe the core beliefs and values of my system, and I needed to put them in writing. Along with these, some 'understandings' have also come upon me. Some of them that have made their way to the top of everything else in my head are these:

1. Let lose, let go and enjoy the ride. It is absolutely alright to break rules, even self-made, and to lose control. We anyway do not control much in our lives, so why fight for gaining it? Some people even try to re-gain it! I mean, really? You never had it in the first place!

The trick here is figuring out what kind of ride your are on and then brace yourself when you see a collision coming, scream when going up and down, feel the wind in your hair, share rides with other riders, and in between eat a little ice cream.

2. Get involved in 'Living', that's the right job. Participate in life. Especially yours. You cannot put it on hold for marriage (to the perfect guy/gal), the perfect job, your bestseller, a pay package limit (once I start making X amount per month, I can start vacationing every weekend! *SNAP* No, you won't. Who will work 60-80 hrs a week to make that money, huh? Not me!), the right house, and so forth and so on.

You will never be all caught up. It's impossible. Hell, you cannot even catch up on all the notifications buzzing in on your smartphone, how can you be caught up on all your desired accomplishments?

Here is where we can use our super power of being muti-dimensional beings. We have the power to live our lives

as it comes to us from the inside and side-by-side keep on achieving these big accomplishments. At the end of the day, you need to feel enriched and satisfied, not somebody else. The best part is you can always start any moment. Just turn your attention inward. There you go! Say 'Hi' to your Self.

3. Listen more, talk less, but don't keep quite all the time. It is true that we all learn more if we listen more actively - to everything around us - to people, birds, even traffic. But please also express. When things go inside as knowledge, and then come out as experience, it is wisdom. And that is always good to share. Someone may get helped, or not. Doesn't matter.

When you share, in a blog, video, conference, among friends, at dinner with family, you also understand better your own experience and wisdom. Share, and let it go. Don't get attached to the impact.

So these are the few things that seem important to me right now. In a few months, who knows? But for now, these are real to me, and important too. I am grateful for every second of the journey so far. The end of the rabbit hole is nowhere in sight and probably never will be. Love  this fact.

Disclaimer: All image from the Internet. No copyright infringement intended.

Blog Marathon Post 3. Peace and Harmony

The less said about this state the better. So I will today just share a small experiment that has helped me find peace whenever there has been any disturbance in my energy system.

Issue: Too many thoughts, mind feels like a traffic signal.
Solution: Follow these simple steps:

1. Sit in a comfortable position. 
2. Take a few deep breaths to get your breathing even and deep.
3. Now look at your thoughts and start numbering them; the way you would do in a notebook or on your computer.
4. Do this for 1-2 min.
5. Let go and relax.
6. Check if you are feeling more comfortable and relaxed. 

Disclaimer: All image from the Internet. No copyright infringement intended.