HUMANITY

Here are some heart warming Images from around the world. People making a difference, despite of their circumstances. Photography, a powerful language. My blog doesn't need any writing. These Images are too powerful, to contain any words.

OUT OF THE FISH BOWL

 Out of the Fish Bowl is about getting out of life lived as default - not necessarily a negative thing but not really intended to be lived that way. As mentioned previously in one of my blogs, my job gives me the privilege to meet a lot of people and interact just as much, and tell you the truth I am intensely bored most of the time. I have been extremely bored with people and their thoughts lately. Like they say, "It's not them, It's me." But is it really me, or it's me because I see the lack in them. God Knows.

So before we start taking everything literally, I will explain why. First off, people that know me and are reading this blog probably are thinking, "Oh my, is she bored with her life?" OR "I hope everything is ok with her?"

So just to clarify, I am perfectly balanced and happy, It's not necessary to be troubled to be bored or be bored because you are troubled...  The boredom that has dropped a veil over me is, looking at people with lives stuck within their life. Just like a fish in a bowl.  They have imprisoned themselves within and just readily accepted life as default, life as is designed. Day by day the quality of life is just getting filtered to very few options, people have started focusing on the very few aspects and called it the theme of life. What job do we have, how much we make, where do we live, what are the plans for this weekend, are we hanging out with cool people, and so on and so forth..... And once everything is established and going smooth, we tend to get to a point of looking for more. But aren't we looking for more in the wrong places? I always took chances, moved around, tasted different flavors of life maybe that's why I get easily bored when I hear people doing the same thing everyday. It's not in my personality. I have been lucky to find friends, who always had dreams and goals, beyond the realm of a pre-designed life. Like attract like, I remember those days sitting in Princeton Downtown, sipping on beer and looking around us, and wondering are we going to end up like these random people? We could sense the empty lives hidden behind their beer bottles. Their white collar jobs were not enough. They eluded their life in 5-9- "happy hours." 

And it wasn't as if my friends and I were, jobless or homeless or without direction, we couldn't understand what all of us were looking for and why looking at others with their white collars and fake happy faces wasn't convincing enough? But one thing we knew and that was, we all were going to find our way beyond the ordinary. We wanted to perceive the world around us with a different vision, a unique sense of understanding, something that stands out and not blend in.... Well four years later, we have felt the difference. None of us wanted to have the same Friday nights, None of us cared for our paychecks, we all had a dream of making a difference within ourselves. So much of our lives consists of all the conditions we have fallen into, and it becomes a snowball effect. Sometimes, you get to experience something extraordinary that you have coveted all your life, in experiencing it, you  feel glad, so complete, that its mere existence is enough to make your life worthwhile. Our quality of life, and our options have made us such boring human beings. We will never have a new DaVinci, Shakespeare, Newton, Jung, Michelangelo, Rumi, Van Gogh. These people saw life beyond ordinary, they had less distractions. Certain areas of life could be all wrong for you and you have no idea how good it could be on other side of the fence because you never tried it. So far my life and my friends give me the hope that, there are people out there who will totally get what I am saying and some of them might feel like, "What the heck is she talking about?" Well this is for those who are waiting to reach the summit of Life. I am running out of words and feeling the effects of  "writer's block" so here is a list of things to untangle the so called complicated blog... No offense to anyone, these are my personal feelings and not directed at anyone.

PEOPLE THAT BORE ME:

People that...

~know more about a new gadget than DaVinci's art.

~talk about an upcoming wedding. ( Talk about weddings, if you have open bar :-)

~ talk about their kids and their kids dirty diapers.

~ know more about a ridiculous song and it's lyrics but have no idea who Rumi is!

~Do not read at all

~Talk about senseless and baseless religious norms.

~Have no clue what museums are, but definitely know where the next club is located.

~Fake emotions, without knowing are they necessary.

~Try to be pretentious.

~Think being a vegetarian is not cool.

~Think having a high end job is achieving something.

~Travel only for the purpose of being cool, despite of any difference in the way they view life.

~Complain about everything and anything in Life.

~ Don't embrace change and stay stuck.

~Don't take chances.

~Don't take risks.

~Don't spend five minutes observing nature and it's beauty.

~More religious than spiritual.

~Argue about animal rights. 

~Watch Keeping up with Kardashians. 

~Get disheartened instantly if things don't work out right away.

~Cry all the time.

~Think women can't kick ass.

~Think it's a Man's world and Women are the dependent ones.

~Think climbing mountains serve no purpose.

~Think going to the beach is a great place to meet people and hook up.

~Think the ocean is their property and pollute it with their soda cans and garbage.

~Think dolphins are tasty meat, and have no idea what else they are.

~Think Archaeology is not a career path but just a hobby or a volunteer job.

~Have no dreams or goals whatsoever.

~Change their mind according to their circumstances.

~Think of money all the time and what they would do if they win the lottery.

~Have no realization of anything around them but themselves.

~Are manipulators.

~Go camping just to sleep and eat.

~Think their country is the best.

~Are constantly trying to keep with up with others.

~Are pretending they are rich despite of being broke as hell.

~Have superiority complex.

~Have Inferiority complex.

~Spend two hours discussing their kids.

~Chose to get married, and now they are complaining about the very same choice.

So basically, a lot of things. I have a long list, but will spare you the horror. So bottom line, I admire simplicity, class, interests and people that have a sense of purpose. Try it, and you will exactly know what I am talking about. Get out of the Fish Bowl. Be like the water, take different flows and currents. And after making a dramatic change, you might find you’re more yourself than you’ve ever been.

THE UNEXPLAINED

So did you click on the blog post because of the title? I bet that's what brought you in... Isn't it always a fascinating topic, things unexplained, a mystery wrapped in a riddle. I chose this topic because, I am a horror movie buff, my stress relief is, watching horror movie a day, keeps the doctor away. October is my favorite month, as we say in America- Octoberfest because it's Halloween. Anyway, Growing up I was always fascinated by stories, incidents and articles regarding the Paranormal. In fact I am a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I was always a skeptic as well, for me it was just entertainment through movies and writings and never really gave much thought to anything beyond. Until few years ago, after reading immensely and hearing quite a lot about it and also having experienced little energy flips around me here and there, I began to believe the unexplained phenomena. I don't yet believe in ghostly foggy images, but that is because I probably haven't reached that mental capacity...It's creating a belief, one step at a time. It's not just the ghostly images that are fascinating, it includes everything from crop circles to the whole nine yards. Paranormal is a word derived from Latin - Para, means "outside or beyond". There are studies like Parapsychology, telepathy, clairvoyance, cryptozoology and many more... Even though people that believe in Science, might be very skeptical, and they call it Pseudo-Science, however so many things happen in people's lives and the unexplained around us, so how do we explain the "Pseudo-Science" if not the Paranormal, the question will still exist! Everyone has their own beliefs and ideology. Religious organizations might believe the lingering spirits are waiting to enter the gates of heaven, they are stuck in a limbo, while others might believe they have some undone work that needs to be completed because their souls are still restless. Whatever the case, the point is, I do believe we have unseen around us, if not all the time then sometimes. We all share the same realm of existence even though the unexplained are unseen or non-existent or some ghosts or spirits are comfortable with their existence in our reality, and they feel familiar with it and just don't want to leave. Most of these scientifically minded people believe that the paranormal is nothing more than an overactive, deluded imagination. But I also suppose there are some scientists, who may be just open minded enough, to at least acknowledge in the possibility that the paranormal is real. And I would also suppose, that the ones who do believe in the possibility of the paranormal, probably would believe that spirits or ghosts reside in another dimension altogether. We have heard of stories that spirits function on a completely different level of sound frequency. Sometimes impossible for a human ear to hear. So with an open mind and the thirst for curiosity, I have accepted the fact we do have the unexplained around us. Here are my personal Experiences.

I lost my uncle when I was teenager, and few weeks after his death, I was watching TV before heading to bed, I always felt something in my peripheral vision, around the same exact time everyday for few months. I was quite young to have pondered on it much. It was always a foggy vision, sometimes a movement of someone passing by but by the time I looked it was gone. Months later, someone we knew confirmed, his spirit was lingering around our house protecting us. I am still not sure, if that was the case but I could not explain the peripheral visions I experienced. So I concluded the idea as any skeptic would. My second incident was when I was apartment hunting, I had very specific requirements- I was given the key to look at it before I sign the lease. It was a rainy month of October,  I remember the color of the fall trees in my wooded backyard, and mind that, I am not one of those girls that freak out every minute. I have quite a high tolerance when it comes to darkness, lonely places, abandoned houses and that eery spooky silence. I guess years of watching horror movies, I am immune to these things:-)) And I remember very well, how spooked out I was to be standing in a messy, unclean apartment, but that was not my concern, as they would start the renovations as soon as I sign the lease, the main problem was the energy of the place, as if someone or something is left behind in these walls. It would take a lot for me to get spooked out and apartment 711 did the job. I didn't even bother looking around much and just got out. When I went to drop the keys, I asked the lady at the desk what was the story of the place? She said there was an unpleasant life and memories left behind, in that apartment by a foreign couple. And the place had been vacant for six months, for some reason no one wanted to move in. I was not surprised at all with my predictions because I already knew something was left in those walls, and that was chaos and unhapiness. It was a perfect apartment though, everything just the way I  wanted, just the eeriness was holding me back, but to my own surprise I signed the lease for the very same place. Well it was a happy ending. Not every energy is harmful or destructive, but I am very sure there was something there, even though once I moved in I didn't feel it much, but there were times when I felt, I had a visitor here and there, or just a presumed notion, I guess I am mentally strong not to get consumed by such things. My third and worst experience was many years ago, in fact that should be under my first experience, but nevertheless, I had just relocated and a friend offered me to stay with her until I find my own apartment. She lived with her husband and two kids in an expensive neighborhood in a house built 100 years ago, now it's probably 111 years old to date. My first day of moving in, she was giving me the tour of her house, when I stopped in my tracks right at the front door of the guest room. She looked at me and said "What's the matter"? I told her I was not going to stay in the guest room, I asked her if she didn't mind, I would sleep on the couch in the living room or maybe share the bed with the kids in their room. She was alright with whatever was comfortable for me, even though I knew she had questions regarding the guest room. I wasn't sure why I felt what I felt but all I knew was I was not going to reside in that room. Well my first day, sleeping on the couch was just the beginning.... Middle of night, here I am blissfully sleeping on the couch even though it took me a while because the house was creaking and cracking but finally I slipped into slumber, and it was around 3 am or so, I leaped out of my couch like a frog, because every electronic device was turned on at the highest volume ( tv, cd player, amplifiers,lights even the radio )...So after going through the commotion for the next ten minutes with the owners rushing down the stairs, we all rejected the idea as an electric fault and went back to sleep. I slept with one eye open, believe me!! So I shifted my base to the kids room the next day, well to my surprise that was the worst idea. It was around 4pm, day after, I was heading upstairs to the kid's room to take a quick nap, while the rest of the crew was outside barbequing with couple other people invited. While later, I was not able to sleep much, but was just laying in bed, with my back facing the bedroom door that was left half opened. I heard someone climbing upstairs, open the kid's bedroom door all the way and move towards the couple's master bedroom and slammed the door shut. The whole house rattled with the slam, and right instantly, I heard my friend yell out "Saloni, are you ok"?. I came out of the room casually, assuming it's the husband who went in his room and maybe he slammed the door because he probably got into an argument with his wife or whatever drama married couples practice everyday..... Well the reason, my friend yelled out was because they weren't sure why would I slam the door so hard to a point where I startled everyone downstairs. Now, here is the climax..... When I looked down to respond to her, I saw everyone sitting in the living room including the husband, whom I thought would be in the bedroom at this point, so who was in their bedroom??

I looked down at them from the upstairs railing and casually asked everyone, "Did anyone come up couple of minutes ago"? Obviously no one else is going to go to the master bedroom unless it's the owners or kids, and everyone responded with excitement, " We are waiting for you to come down, so we can start the beer party"!! At this point I knew I needed to get the heck out, as I felt the chills right behind me and ran downstairs,  I asked my friend and her husband once again, if they came upstairs at all after I retired for a nap and they said they never came up neither did the kids, in fact they thought I was the one who slammed the door!! Well that was it for me, and a week later I found an apartment and got the heck out. The question regarding the guest room still remains. I have no response to that, all I knew was the whole house had a story and someone was all over the house, because every corner of her house had a presence except for the two bathrooms. I guess spirits don't really need bathrooms or who knows. Those were the only two spots in her house, I spent a lot of time in. :-) The owners were immune to it, even though my friend herself experienced few things when she was alone in the house. There have been many subtle incidents after that, but not enough to spook me out. I guess I am too sensitive of my environment or alert, but in reality my life is pretty normal, so please don't think I walk around with candlesticks, hunting spirits in the dark. I respect the world they are in and I prefer to leave them alone wherever they are instead of provoking them. They say, the bad spirits always target the weak one's well they ain't getting nothing from me. I have been trained by Netflix, they won't find much luck with me. So open your mind and believe we are not alone.

REBEL NEXT DOOR

I am a big fan of Angelina Jolie. Despite of her tattoos and rebellious past, she is one person I admire. I am a big fan of her humanitarian ways. Movies do not make me scream for any celebrity, as I have passed my teenage screaming years. I know as fans, we see celebrities as Gods and Goddesses. We can never be compared, but one thing I have to admit, she is one rebel who has proved that she is of no small measure. A rebel who has made a difference in the world.  Well for one thing, she is a Gemini and left handed- so am I and that's one start. LOL. I know I am being crazy, now I really sound like a screaming teenager, but anyway,  I love her view on life and her virtues. I was reading the latest Elle Magazine, July edition and in her interview, she revealed her understanding towards life, it sort of reminded me of my old days when I was in search for something. Reading her interview brought some nostalgia of the forgotten days. We all at some point have been stuck in life, and try to find ways to figure it out, in truth it's not that complicated if you have the conviction. And this particular article really got me interested because in all my previous blogs, I have mentioned the magnitude of freedom and being true. To stand on the ground you know and not others, and this paragraph completes the unsaid words.  It's about being yourself and finding out your true self, the real you. I am not going to type the whole article, but a small paragraph..... Enjoy

ELLE MAGAZINE: UNTAMED HEART ARTICLE.

" The revelation that Angelina Jolie was suddenly jetting off on United Nations missions around the world was perhaps the most puzzling of all. The tumult was "misinterpreted as (me) wanting to be rebellious," Jolie says. "And in fact it wasn't a need to be destructive or rebellious- it's that need to find a full voice, to push open the walls around you. You want to be free. And as you start to feel that you are being corralled into a certain life, you kind of push against it. It may come out strange, it may be interpreted wrong, but you are trying to find out who you are."

What she hit upon was a deep and abiding fear "of a life half lived, "she says. " I realized that very young- that a life where you don't live to your full potential, or you don't experiment, or you are afraid, or you are hesitant, or there are things you know you should do but you just don't get around to them, is a life that I'd be miserable living,and the only way to feel that I am on the right path is just to be true to myself, whatever that may be, and that tends to come with stepping out of something that's maybe safe of traditional."

ENOUGH

How much enough is enough? As a society we have reached a point in our lives, where we are not as happy of what we have but rather unhappy of what we do not have! As humans, if we are not happy with what we have, then that is going to affect everything we really do have and thus destroying the ever perfect life we unknowingly had. But my question again, how much is enough?
I was recently asked a question:

Question:  Saloni, how much money and things do you need in your life to make you feel comfortable and happy? What are your goals six years from today, bigger car, bigger house than you already have, better paycheck, kids, traveling, material wealth????? So tell me what are your goals?

Answer: I am happy exactly where I am. I have no goals, because I live in TODAY. My mind is my salvation and my spot of happiness. My dreams are my goals. Material wealth is not my goal, if it's there I will take it but will not strive for it to a point of unhappiness.

Response to my answer: Don't you think, having expensive cars, houses, a status quo would complete the void in society?  Isn't everyone in society just doing that, in order to fit in perfectly?

My response: You strive for things you do not have. I was brought up well, I have seen money, so I do not strive for it, I live in a big house, so I do not strive for it, I still live in luxury, so I do not strive for it, and despite of being fortunate and having all that, life still felt like it's not ENOUGH. When you start living in too much abundance, your mental and spiritual equilibrium takes a destructive spin. We feel worthless in comparison, parents start feeling hopeless because they couldn't buy the latest tablet for their kids, marriages start breaking apart because of the material void. Behind perfect facades, society is breaking down. You brand your life and sell it to the highest bidder... Is that what society is striving for? I have met and seen people, who have been blessed with the uttermost, and yet they still have appointments with their shrinks? I thought shrinks are for people who cannot pay their bills :-/

I know someone personally who has everything a girl could ever want, and yet I see her wanting for more and more. Nothing is ever enough, I don't even think she knows where her 'enough' is... At what point she is going to stop and realize she has it all. Every person I meet or see or get into conversations with, One thing I have heard the most is, "I don't have enough"

As a society we cannot live without upgrades. Tablets have to be upgraded because it's no longer the 'IT' thing, cars have to upgraded because the new model has bullet proof tires:-), house has to be upgraded because I have too much stuff, I need a bigger space, a new diamond ring because the one I wear is too old of a design, etc, etc....... It is quite sad that we all now live lives that place an inordinate amount of importance on making us dislike ourselves for what we don’t have than to like ourselves for what we have.

When was the last time you ever felt that you have enough, and life is good just as is???

His Response: NOT IN A LONG TIME.

THROUGH THE LENS

 THROUGH THE LENS -  CLICK ON THE LINK

Launch of my new photography site. It's a reflection of a world through the shades of black and white. Every photograph in black and white emits a story, a feeling of nostalgia. You can put countless shades to it, shade of coziness, sadness, comfort, contentment, loneliness. If you look close at a colorless shot, you will see a veil of story hidden behind it. As I am a huge fan of black and white photography, I had to put my camera to work and today is the birth of a new world in my world called - THROUGH THE LENS.

Everything I see, vision and experience behind the camera lens, defines me. Capturing the world and it's beauty is my dream. This site is strictly going to be a world shot in black and white. If you want to bring some color in your life, there is no objections, although you will see some B&W shots, you will still experience the rest of the site in colors. Click on the link below and you will be directed to the world of colorful shades, which is the other half of my world.

COLORFUL PHOTOSTREAM

VIE

I was asked a question last week, is a life of an insect as precious as an animal? What's the difference between a fly and a groundhog? I didn't know how to execute and explain the idea itself. We wouldn't have a heart to just go out and kill an animal, but swatting flies is like second nature. We do not think or understand and swat swat, we bring an end to something or of something. So instead of rambling on and on about my ideology, I have quoted a beautiful paragraph by Barbara Brown Taylor from her book, An Altar in the World......

An Altar in the World - Barbara Brown Taylor 

The practice of paying attention.

"Reverence may take all kinds of forms, depending in what it is that awakens awe in you by reminding you of your true size. But size is not everything. Properly attended to, even a saltmarsh mosquito is capable of evoking reverence. See those white and black striped stockings on legs thinner than a needle? Where in those legs is there room for knees? And yet see how they bend, as the bug lowers herself to your flesh. Soon you and she will be blood kin. Your itch is the price of her life. The easiest practice of reverence I know is simply to sit down somewhere outside, preferably near a body of water, and pay attention for at least twenty minutes. It is not necessary to take on the whole world at first. Just take the three square feet on earth on which you are sitting, paying close attention to everything that lives within that small estate. You might even decide not to kill anything for twenty minutes, including the saltmarsh mosquito that lands on your arm. Just blow her away and ask her please to go find someone else to eat. With any luck you will soon begin to see the souls in pebbles, ants, small mounds of moss and the acorn on its way to becoming an oak tree. You may feel some tenderness for the struggling mayfly the ants are carrying away. You did not make your heart any more than you made a tree. You are a guest here. You have been given a free pass to this modest domain and everything in it".

"Reverence stands in the awe of something- something that dwarfs the self, that allows human beings to sense the full extent of our limits- so that we can begin to see one another more reverently as well. An irrevelant soul who is unable to feel awe in the presence of things higher than the self in unable to feel awe in the presence of things it sees as lower than the self". 

ACCEPTANCE

Does accepting a situation mean weakness? I was recently asked this question. It's a hard truth about life, when you have to accept unpleasantness, annoying people, annoying questions or a hard core back breaking situation in life ( illness, lost job, mortgage, divorce, death). Life is beautiful but also tough sometimes. No matter how positive or enlightened we are, we will sometimes end up losing the mental equilibrium for a moment. So if you ever meet someone, who is pretending life is awesome and perfect, BE AWARE...I used to be one of those who would freak out at any given situation, acceptance was not even in my dictionary, overly emotional and my emotions made me weak, and one day I realized this is all nonsense. Life cannot be handled this way, Get up and face it. And God knows, the realization came with a head on and never ever again I have shed tears for stupidity or stumbled on useless weeds, until yesterday I went through a little hit and miss situation. Out of all my normal, content days, I felt like my mind was just going through a tiny storm. It was raining cats and dogs in my mental forecast. I really didn't know what or why, but I was not going to sit and dwell on it.  Sometimes there is no reason, no situation, maybe just a little tantrum your mind wants to throw for no apparent reason and sometimes people do have a reason to be annoyed, irritated, angry, restless due to their circumstances....But that situation is always going to sneak in on you, because Life has another side to it. In truth life has its up and down, as we all know, it's never the same all the time but the question now is, how do you deal with it? What do you do when the peace is broken?How do you learn to accept anything and everything that could be happening or about to happen?

That's where the idea of acceptance takes the spotlight. Accepting a situation does not mean whatever bad or unpleasant is happening let it happen and do not react. We are humans after all, we all have little mental mishaps, and sometimes situations do Suck. I have never heard a person coming up and saying, " Wow I lost my job"! yippeee.... yet some enlightened people everyday do manage to get through the suckiest situations like that with a well balanced and accepting spirit. Does that mean they were weak? and have accepted what is going on and just going to sleep on it? In fact these are the people that are strong in their moment, because these people can stand strong despite of knowing the stress and ugliness underneath their circumstances they are able to stand on their feet with faith, most of us would get crippled with the idea of a stressful mind shift.

I was reading a blog by Leonard Noel, a San Diego based therapist, I loved what he had to say about acceptance.

“Acceptance does not mean that we agree with what is happening or that we believe it must continue… Acceptance means that we are able to gaze into the face of the present and say, ’You are in front of me, and I acknowledge you are here."

According to, Thanissaro Bhikkhu a highly respected Buddhist Monk:

“Many people think that self-acceptance means celebrating what’s there already: that you’re good enough, that you don’t have to make any changes. That’s not the case at all.

Acceptance means accepting the fact that you’re responsible for a lot of your experience right now. You can’t blame anybody else. And ultimately that’s a good thing. If other people were ultimately responsible for shaping your experience, what could you do? You’d have to go around pleasing them all the time. But the key fact is that you’re shaping your pleasures and pains here in the present moment. Some of your experience comes from past actions, but a lot comes from the way you shape things with each present intention.
So learn to be open and honest about the role you’re playing in this moment.”

So after my little storm yesterday, I altered my state of mind and trained myself to get up and keep going and Accept whatever I am feeling at the moment. Once you train your mind to understand it, It's not so bad after all. Sometimes mental fatigue from work and routine could end up shifting base in your mind, but I try to learn every single day to understand the mind and it's mood. I get awestruck sometimes when I see people not being able to handle anything at all. Little situations make them crazily upset. And most of the time, people do work on their problems, find solutions, bend backwards but the problems do not seem to vanish, then in that case, there is a magic mantra, repeat after me...  "things are as they are for a reason, there is no reason to hate it, fight it. It will vanish when it's completed it's course. And this too shall pass"!!!!

Easier said than done, but practice always makes perfect. And one thing I mentioned in my last blog was, the best lesson in life is people...Everything we are and want to be is by our surrounding. And people who are mindful, and well trained with handling situations will always survive. I believe in one thing, everyone is a survivor and not a victim. Learning to accept a situation gives people the strength they need when life gets low. And those people pass through quiet smoothly than the rest of us. So next time when you are stuck in a bad mood or an unknown mental tantrum or restlessness, repeat the mantra and it's all going to pass by smoothly.  And just like the saying " Acceptance is having the faith, despite the circumstances, that all is well...