Category: journal

Neil Gaiman: Make Good Art

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Today I share with you another gem: Neil Gaiman‘s commencement speech to the University of the Arts, class of 2012, delivered on May 17th, 2012.

This is one of the best speeches I’ve heard. It connected with me. As someone who’s trying his hand at some form of creativity or art, this speech really spoke to me (pun intended).

Irrespective of whether you are an artist or not, I strongly recommend that you watch this video. Or, if you prefer the written word, you can read the transcript of this speech here.

Not to dissuade you from watching the entire video (which I can’t stress enough that you should do), here’s a brief idea of the points he touches upon:

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A Bigger Tragedy

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Still in shock by the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas yesterday. What is the world coming to today? What moves a man to do such a thing? Innocents. Children. The shooter wasn’t targeting anyone in the crowd. Indiscriminate killing, just for the sake of killing? Why? What’s the point? Even animals don’t kill without a reason. Has man descended even below the level of animals now?

From initial reports, nothing stands out about the murderer or why he would do such a thing – he was a millionaire, had family, had a life, wasn’t suffering from any mental illnesses. Nothing. Yet, he carried out one of the most inhumane acts imaginable. Why?

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All Are Welcome Here

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If you, dear regular visitor to this blog (do you even exist?!), were wondering where I’ve been for the past few weeks – I was visiting the US of A. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to be precise. And with all that’s been going on in the country, I was…I wouldn’t say concerned…but I was curious to see what the environment would be like now. I’ve been to Pittsburgh before as well, and it’s always been a pleasure. So, I wanted to see if anything had changed.

Although my trip went as well as could’ve been expected, it is in this context that I came across the following sign outside one of the houses:

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I wish I had a better quality image. But if you look closely enough, you’ll see the message repeated in multiple languages (I understood only one, but I’m assuming that’s what the others are conveying too).

The above sign caught my fancy immediately. I was once again reminded of the power of words. So much said in so few words.

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Better Than False Ideas…

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The above quote has perhaps never been more relevant than today. In the age of continuous media propaganda, where it’s difficult to make sense of what is true and what isn’t, it would do us good to remember this. We should think twice before blindly believing whatever bullshit we are fed.

The thing with having false notions about our environment is that it biases us against the truth. Once we think we know something, when information to the contrary presents itself, we try to distort that information to fit in with our preconceived views. This leads to more confusion and moves us further away from the truth.

It also leads to frustration and animosity, because we are continuously faced with opposing views that require efforts to accommodate to our world-view, and sometimes, because of such a continuous onslaught, we might get a feeling of antagonism from those around us, when they actually may only be trying to tell us the truth.

That’s why I think it’s important that not only do we do our best not to get seduced by wrong beliefs, but also that we remember that no matter what we believe, there’s always a possibility that it may not be the most accurate picture of the truth, and a better explanation of the facts could still be out there.

It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.

– Thomas Jefferson

 

The Art & The Artist

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So, there’s this artist that I follow online. I think he’s good with his “art” (web comics). However, some time back, I came across some of his views on certain topics, and I found myself disagreeing (sometimes, quite strongly) with a few of those.

This made me wonder if I should continue visiting his website for the comics, and thereby, encouraging him (in an indirect way). The comics, BTW, are totally independent of his views that I had objections to.

And I realised, this is not just about this particular artist and his art. It’s a common issue that we face each day of our lives. We have all heard of brilliant artists and other celebrities indulging in drugs, violent and racist behavior, crime, etc. We have leaders talking bullshit, organisations flouting norms, and closer home, we even have friends and family members, with whom conversations about certain topics invariably end up in arguments.

These are not ideal situations to be confronted with. But what do we do in such cases? Do we continue engaging with such people?

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A Storm Is Brewing

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Storm clouds gather.
Some with silver linings.
Some with darker tidings.

Flash of lightning,
Sprawling across the sky.
Straggling ideas that stupefy.

Thunder at night,
Reverberating in the clouds.
Echoes of faded memories too loud.

Clouds of lead.
Draw close to the cliff’s edge.
To dump out what’s been dredged.

And rain they do.
Drop-by-drop, at first.
Then, in fits and bursts.

The rain pours n’ lashes.
Entire worlds, it could sink.
From eyes that do not blink.

But winds never stop.
Clouds drain away, move on.
Get up! Keep trudging along.

The sky changes colors.
Beings return to their flock.
Time resumes on the stopped clock.

The scent of wet soil,
On a breezy night stroll,
Reawakens the soul.

N’ when you see the moon,
Peek through and shine,
You know, everything will be fine.

– A Wondering Wanderer

Image credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters

How Free Are We Really?

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We have all heard the word “freedom”. One might define it as the ability to move around freely, to be able to say and do things one wants (assuming no rules or laws are being broken by such things). If asked if they are free, most of us would probably say that we indeed are.

However, apart from the physical manifestations of freedom, I think the mental aspects of it are equally as important, if not more. To be truly free, I think one must have freedom from fear, experience, conditioning, self, and knowledge.

Let’s talk about each of them and see why they are important, and how we can deal with them.

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When Sides Are Already Taken…

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Came across this article the other day in the newspaper. Have to say, the author, Amulya Gopalakrishnan, has made a very acute observation into human behaviour here. And she’s done a great job putting those thoughts into words.

The gist of the post, which I strongly encourage you to check out in detail, is that there’s only so much that we can do to convince people who already have quite strong convictions about the things that they believe in. They may be wrong, and you can provide all the facts and proofs in the world, but it’s unlikely that any of that will have any significant impact in changing those people’s thoughts.

Instead, the author suggests a different approach:

We all protect our identities; to detach a belief from a person, one needs to sever the link between the attitude and the holder’s self-image. We need to tell the story differently. Point-scoring does the opposite, it makes people descend further into their trenches.

Do check out the complete article here.

Belief, In The Face Of Experience

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Recently, something happened, and it brought to mind (again!) an old conflict that I’ve never fully been able to resolve. So, I thought I’d talk about it here, in case someone comes across it, and can provide some additional insights into it.

I think we all have some beliefs about life – how things are, how they should be, how one should react to and approach life, etc. And the thought that I’m struggling with is this: What happens when your beliefs conflict with what you observe around yourself? Do you change your beliefs and approach to life? More importantly, should you?

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What Am I Entitled To?

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Have you ever met one of those people who always seem to have unrealistically high expectations from you? Their expectations from you maybe selfish – like for you to always be available at their beck and call to do whatever they ask – or it can be “in your best interest” – the kind of expectations really “driven” parents have for their children’s future.

Well, I know of at least one such person. And I can tell you: sometimes, that person can be a real pain-in-the-ass. Do you wanna know who that person is? Well…it’s me.

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