Goodness of fathers

I know "Father's Day" is long gone but at this moment I'm strongly thinking about my dad and his virtues. Its a feeling of unveiling a new dimension to your relationship with your father. I just owe almost everything to my dad. And you realize this even more when you grow up, leave him to start an entirely new chapter in your life - its only then that you can measure the greatness and fully appreciate it. "Pride reinforces love". Someone who was always striving to make me a little woman. Line of gold thread running through a man's words when he talks to me. My dad or should I say all Father's: a role model who gives the gifts of guidance and wisdom while learning how to stretch his ability to love beyond what he knew was possible. A relationship which is like a brief nuggets of gold describing the tremendous influence of a father upon his children. Particularly they convey the importance of a loving spirit and how mutually beneficial a father-child relationship is. Through the years we must be wiling to learn much more from our children, to grow with them, and give them the unconditional love and support needed to foster their trust and courage and sense of personal responsibility.

"Dad you made a huge difference in my life and in profound ways and you've build an unconditional and unbreakable connection which cannot be unmade" is what I convey to my dad. I think fatherly influence reaches many parts of a child's life. They show ways to navigate the world outside the family, are role models of independence and competency, and are a moral anchor. Its a unique and powerful contribution.

On that note I would conclude with this one liner "Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever" Author Unknown

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday Folks!

Hope you enjoy the picture.

Dream On

This often happens to me and to everybody else of course...a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep...a state of mind characterized by abstraction and release from reality.....something wonderful!....Yes I'm talking about "Dreams".....though the content and purpose of dreams is not fully understood....however they can link to actual sensations, and for some it can be concluded as the "real world" could be or is an illusion...but the recall of dreams is extremely unreliable. Dreams are so compelling, and they often seem so weird and strange- surely they must have a "purpose" in the maintenance of our psychological health.

We are all thinking creatures and thinking is a valuable adaptation but this doesn't mean that dreams have no meaning or that they make no sense. To the contrary dreams correlate with age, gender and personal preoccupations. Furthermore, they are very "revealing" of what is in our minds. And yes dreams have their "Uses". In more technical terms, dreams have an "emergent" function that develops through culture. Dreams let you process "unfinished business" from your daily life, as well as providing recreation and a creative outlet. No effort is required here, but you only get the minimum benefit. It's like appreciating the beauty of the ocean without realizing its immense depth or the boggling variety of ecosystems it supports, or, its formative role in earth, all of which are just waiting to be explored.

Regardless of what I say "the best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is a reality, and it really happened"

On that note "Happy Long Weekend" Folks!

Addiction to Possessiveness!

Relationships of all kinds are like sand held in your hands. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. You may hold on to some of it, but most will be spilled. A relationship is like that. Held loosely, with respect and freedom for the other person, it is likely to remain intact. But hold too tightly, too possessively, and the relationship slips away and is lost. This always made me pause and reflect. In our attempts to discover and reinvent life, many have been tugged by this emotion of possessiveness sometime. And to add to it there are certain lessons and learnings in life, that demand conscious effort from our side to put them to practice. Difficult to internalize, but awareness always helps in defining our perspective.

Possessiveness either chokes or a more serious outcome would be branching out into other disturbing elements like embroilment thereby contributing in compounding the existing pressures. It is a pretty hard task to be pliable with possessiveness for a long time as it may give in for eruption of the bottled up grievances at an unguarded moment. When life presents many challenges the desire to control can seem natural. There is the illusion that if we control events, ourselves and others we will be successful and secure. Unfortunately the opposite is true. The tighter we grip, hold on, the more out of control we become. Especially in relationships where people feel vulnerable, emotions are high and a great deal is at stake, the wish to control arises. Possessiveness often intensifies.

Therefore according to Osho "Why be possessive? The possessiveness shows simply one thing - that you cannot trust existence. You have to arrange separate security for yourself, safety for yourself"

Summertime Sayings!

Ah summer, what power you have...ever since the weather started getting better I decided that this summer I'm going to make the most of it...be it gardening which is a matter of faith, grounded, on experience that it would bring the right result... taking the kids out to play, swimming or any activities for that matter...have been hardly at home...making the most of it( I mean summertime).....and I'm glad the kids are enjoying it too...just about 5 more weeks left before I head to work....looks like I took a complete 180 degrees turn...therefore June-time of perfect young summer....fulfillment of the promise of earlier months...and that its fresh young beauty will ever fade...air filled with dreamy magical light..landscape lay as if new created in the freshness of childhood...the memories and associations that our flowers gives us are independent of seasons or age though....yet no price is set on the lavish summer...beautiful sunny morning, makes you happy to be alive, doesn't it? I can confidently say that "summer has set in with its usual severity"

Reminds me of William Carlos Williams quote "It is summer, its the solstice, the crowd is cheering, the crowd is laughing in detail permanently, seriously without a thought"....Summer has always been considered to be the most romantic of the four seasons. The clear skies, blazing sun, the gentle summer breeze and the lazy afternoons flavor the season with passion and warm love...

Having said all of the above "Summer, fall, winter, spring, the seasons rotate as each brings its special beauty to this earth of ours. Winter's sow and summer's flowers frozen rivers will flow come spring. There is a renewal of everything" as quoted by Edna Frohock.

Under the weather!

Patrick Young was right when he said that "The trouble with weather forecasting is that its right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it" ....Agreed weather is a great metaphor for life-sometimes good, sometimes bad and there is nothing we can do about it....but can the weather affect our mood...this has always been an intriguing subject...like when the days are bright and sunny, one feels happy and energetic, and when it is cold you feel sad, melancholy or even depressed...probably most people feel a little more blue in the winter and better in the spring but you can't quite put your finger on it. The question rises if there's any evidence to substantiate these seemingly bizarre occurances? Phenomenon? .....Guess changing season is a happier state of mind...one of the secrets of Nature lies in its mood of mockery...fine weather lays heavier weight on mind and hearts of the depressed....but no doubt that there is a muscular energy in sunlight and being outside in pleasant weather really offers a way to re-set your mind set, keeping moods upbeat and cheerful and that's what I'm waiting for....it is the sun that affects the aura.... not that we haven't got much of it this time but at the same time hasn't come full fledged either....its been a roller coaster for a while now ...warm and cold, warm and cold, so this also makes it difficult to keep everyone well...May be this unknown author is right when he/ she quoted "Bad weather always looks worse through a window".....

Researchers found out that taking a trip to someplace warm in the middle of winter or lingering outside when spring arrives can be especially beneficial with pleasant weather improving mood, memory and broadening cognitive style as time spent outside increased. At the same time it should not be surprising that weather and seasons affect human behavior, given that humans evolved with seasonal and weather changes since the dawn of the species. Guess we should all take a lesson from weather-it pays no attention to criticism.

A straightforward prescription "If you wish to reap the psychological benefits of weather specially spring and summer, go outside"

My Idea Of Music!

I know its been a while, no wasn't taking time off but like I said before the month of May has been full of tests and trials for me...

After a day's hectic work I finally managed to see the American Idol ( Grand Finale!)....hearing Bryan Adam's "Somebody" and George Michael's "Freedom" made my day....my whole day's tiredness vanished in seconds hearing these songs....not only I felt more relaxed and at peace, but this entrained state increased my ability to perform well otherwise, the effect is probably because is strikes us more the more familiar we are with it ... Whether you admit it or not, music imbeds our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. At least it always gets on one's nerves, soothes the mind and gives it rest as if its taking us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets.....its a kind of pleasure which we cannot do without...an universal language....Like Red Auerbach quoted " Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"....

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours...music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. Ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races. Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, induces in us a sense of the infinite and contemplation of the invisible....To conclude I would have to agree with Billy Joel's quotes " I think music in itself is healing. Its an explosive expression of humanity. Its something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music."