Tag: introspection

The Power Of The Knowledge Of The Self

A Wondering Wanderer4 Comments

Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations where we can’t figure ourselves out. We don’t know why we act or think the way we do. And what we can do if we wanted to change ourselves.

As a typical INFP type personality (yes, I do think there’s some merit to this personality categorization. Don’t know about you, but it works for me at least), I definitely like introspecting and asking questions of myself, and, in the process, discovering more about myself. I may not always be right, but the desire to understand myself better is there.

Even though there are numerous self-help books and articles and talks and so-called “experts”, all telling us about ourselves (some sincerely and helpfully, some not), I think it’s rare to find opportunities to really know ourselves. And rarer still to find those opportunities at the “right” time. Because, to really make full use of any such chances, we need to be in the right frame of mind emotionally and spiritually, based on our experiences. I’ve had instances when the same things have made much more sense when I came across them after certain experiences, when I was in a certain place.

Life is a constant teacher, but one has to be ready to receive the lesson to really understand and remember it.

* * *

But you might ask: “Why does it matter how well I know myself?” Well, to each, her own. Perhaps a person can only answer that question for oneself. Or, who knows, maybe it doesn’t even matter for everyone. There are some who even say that knowing oneself could be dangerous. But for me personally, it matters. It matters a lot.Read More »

The Lives That We’ll Never Live

A Wondering Wanderer1 Comment

For me, winters are a time for reflection, more so than the usual. The long winter nights, lying in bed in a warm cocoon, sitting by the fireplace, sipping hot chocolate. With snow outside. It just makes you think and wonder about life.

Well, none of it actually happens where I live, but it’s how I picture winters. Maybe it’s because of all the books I’ve read from English authors, describing those cold winter nights in the English countryside. 🙂

Anyway, to get to the point: So, yesterday, I had a thought: What would it have been like to live the different lives that I never got a chance to live? What all lives have I missed out on? And it’s not the first time that I’ve had this thought.

Let me explain what I mean by it.Read More »

A Stranger

A Wondering Wanderer4 Comments

A poem about a chance meeting with a “stranger”:

In a cool autumn breeze,
Walking down an old street,
I came across a stranger,
And it made me lose my ease.

Memories, I tried to plow.
But my mind wouldn’t allow.
I knew I knew the man.
Just didn’t know how.

He was old and wrinkled.
But his eyes still twinkled.
“Hey there! Remember me?”
My heart, his voice tingled.

He smiled at me, bit amused.
I stared at him, lot confused.
“Sorry, but how do I know you?”
Said I to the man perused.

To which he said:

“I’m the wolf that wasn’t fed,
Surprised, I ain’t already dead.
Missing, marooned memories –
I’m what time hasn’t yet shred.”

Thinking him mad, I began to leave.
My quandary, he seemed to perceive,
For he spat, “Time, when one gifts,
Be humble, and their wisdom, receive.”

He went on:

“Friends were we; grew up together.
Our bond was to be our tether.
Keeping us safe, sane, spirited –
Storms, it would’ve helped us weather.”

The fog lifted at this mention.
I realized our deep connection.
Shocked, surprised, I almost cried,
At this ghost’s resurrection.

I inquired where he had gone.
Why return this beautiful dawn?
Why couldn’t I see him before?
Why did it have to take so long?

He answered with:

“Too busy to look or listen;
In a rush, you missed all the fun.
I was always ’round the corner;
You just… never made the turn.

But, for a breath, you stopped today.
So, here I am, plain as day.
Fate often looked you in the eye,
Only, this time, you didn’t look away.”

***

We meandered through a park.
Enthralled by the song of the lark,
I gaped at the colors of fall,
Wondering where had gone this spark.

As the old leaves fell,
I felt my heart swell –
A lightness long forgotten,
The lifting of a dark spell.

Finally, I understood this:
That feeling of something amiss,
Was just me not able to see,
A life blessed with beauty’s kiss.

So, at long last, I said to him:

“All your words are indeed true.
I’ve missed this place, this view,
Missed the laughter, the light,
Missed so much about you.

Last we talked, I was a child.
Living in a world less wild.
With a heart full of wonder,
Worried far less, much I smiled.

But somehow I lost that zen.
God only knows way back when.
Times changed, and so did I.
Never been the same again.

I so wish I could’ve seen,
The futures that could’ve been.
Life, blessed with your charisma,
Would be so much more serene.

I lost you once, and was lost.
But, thank God, our paths, at last, crossed.
Don’t leave my side till I close my eyes.
Not again can I suffer that cost.”

***

And so continues our story.
I just pray I never again see,
That deep, dark, death of a night when
That “stranger” is, once more, a stranger to me.

So, finally, I’ve managed to finish this poem! Although the idea for it came is swiftly and unexpectedly as ideas are wont to do, fleshing it out into the poem you see above has taken up a considerable part of my attention over the last two months. I know it’s not great, but it’s definitely the longest poem I’ve done in my short career as a poet, and given how much time and effort it took, and the subject, it’s quite close to me (although, as an artist, everything I write is close to me!). Hope you guys like it too!

P.S.: The inspiration for this poem came when reading the poem: “The Crooked Man” by Elrow Swift on hellopoetry.com. As I was reading about the “crooked man” in the linked poem, an idea suddenly popped into my head about what it would be like to meet the “stranger” from my poem.

Photo Credit: Nathália Bariani on Unsplash

Full Of Themselves…

A Wondering WandererLeave a comment

Many-a-times, we come across people who we think are just so full of themselves – they can only think and talk about themselves, will find ways to segue in to any conversation and make it about them, will disregard what other people are saying, and overall, you just get a feeling that when you are talking to them, they are not really there, and are lost in their own thoughts.

Not to say that such people don’t exist, but I think there are some people who may not necessarily belong to this category, but whose behaviour may cause us to think that they do.Read More »