Tag: journal

Welcome!

A Wondering WandererLeave a comment

Hi! A very warm welcome to this corner of the internet! Hope you are having a good day! And thank you for visiting! 🙂

You can read what this blog is all about in more detail on the “About” page, but below is a quick summary and index of all that you can find here. Click the links to read posts from that particular category, or just scroll down further to read the latest posts.

Poetry

Some original poems, written by yours truly. Some of my favourites are: ‘O My Moon‘, ‘A Stranger‘, and ‘Chemical Reactions & Business Transactions‘.

Quotes

A collection of some famous and not-so-famous quotes, with my thoughts on what they mean to me personally, and why I like them.

Journal

Lastly (and this is how it all started actually), a whole lot of essays, musings, confessions, rants, etc.. Basically, anything that I felt like writing on a particular day!

Quickies

Bite-sized posts on any random thought or topic, in the style of “instapoetry“. This is something new I’m trying, so please bear with me. 🙂

Curations

Curated content from across the web that caught my fancy, and which I felt deserved to be shared with readers like you.

The idea behind this blog is to share my thoughts, in the hopes that someone, somewhere will relate to them, and realise that they are not alone. And if you do find something here that speaks to you, please forward the same to others too! And if you have any thoughts or feedback, positive or negative, or even if you just want to say ‘Hi!’, please drop a comment! Looking forward to hearing from you… 🙂

Six-Year Anniversary!

A Wondering Wanderer2 Comments

Time flies, doesn’t it?!

Today is the six-year anniversary of this blog! Yayy! Happy Birthday to you, bloggy! 

Wow! I had to check the date multiple times on that first proper blog post I wrote here to actually believe this. It sounds like a cliche, I know, but it really feels like just yesterday that I wrote that piece.

(Well, okay technically, I had created the blog much, much earlier than six years ago – way back in 2011, but I started writing here somewhat regularly from July 25th, 2016 only, and so, that’s what I consider as the starting date of this journey. As they say, things happen when they are supposed to happen!)

And it’s been a good journey. I’ve learnt some things about myself as I tried to put my thoughts and feelings into words. Writing kind of forces you to streamline that jumble of internal monologues into somewhat of a coherent thing, which gives you some clarity. You ask yourself questions, see the inconsistencies, try to resolve them, and when you can’t, you discover, and make peace with, the contradictions that are present in how you look at things – all leading to better self-awareness in one way or another.

Trying to write more regularly also motivated me to introspect more than I may have done otherwise. It introduced me to some good quotes too, as I thought about sharing them as a change from the longer-format essays I usually posted here. Then came the poems. Although I used to write poems even before I started blogging, the incentive of having a wider reach of audience definitely played its part in keeping that flame alive. Let’s see what comes next.. 😉

But, even given all of the above, for the last couple of years, I haven’t been able to write as much as I wanted to. And I’ve been missing it. It’s just that I haven’t been in that zone to be able to actually refine that internal noise into something meaningful. Even though I now have more time than I used to earlier, it still feels like, somehow, things have become ever more complicated. That constant clutter in the background hasn’t allowed me to focus enough to be able to finish my drafts, or to reflect on new ideas.

Plus, it’s difficult to have a creative process work at a fixed, regular frequency. I tried it initially. But I realised that over time, it was becoming mechanical. I was writing for the sake of writing. There was a conflict between two opposing ideas.

One said that I should push myself to write, no matter what. Because you become better only by writing more and more, and if that means setting deadlines and schedules, so be it. And if I’m being honest, there was also a concern that if I don’t put something out regularly, I’ll lose any readers that I may already have (even though I probably have like just 2-3 regular readers, if at all. But for a newbie, wannabe writer, even they matter a lot!).

The alternate view was that writing should be organic, especially given the themes and purpose of this blog. Writing was supposed to be an outlet. What was the point of indulging in it, if I was becoming more concerned about the “materialistic” aspects of it. And like I said before, things happen when they are supposed to happen; we can’t really force them into existence.

So, I’m leaning towards the second argument these days. But I wouldn’t be surprised if, in some time, I start leaning towards the first again. As most things go in life, this might also be cyclical in nature. But yeah, for now, I’ll try to write more regularly (or rather, try to reflect on things more regularly), but I won’t make a thing out of it. If something comes out of those moments of reflection, great! If not, that is okay too.

But I do hope this journey continues for a long time ahead. For six years (!!), I’ve managed to hang on, even if on an on-and-off basis. Writing has made my life just that little bit easier. And I think you’d agree, we can all do with life being a little bit easier.

I’d also like to believe (and really wish) that perhaps, somewhere, someone found some value in this blog. Maybe a thought, or a feeling of being a little less alone, or maybe even some practical advice.. anything. I know I’ve been lucky enough to find words, written by strangers I’ve never met and will probably never meet, that have given me hope on a cloudy day, laughter when I needed it, acted as a guide when I felt lost, and in general, just enriched my life in myriad little ways. In turn, I’d really like to be that person for someone else now – pay it forward along the chain. With interest, if possible.

So, with that hope, I’ll wrap up today’s blabbering.. 😁 Feeling too sentimental I guess. I could go on and on and on… But I’ll stop. For now. 🙂

See you around!

For more such posts, please follow Echoes In The Ether on Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, or Medium.

Photo by Daiga Ellaby @ Unsplash

Dear Diary…

A Wondering Wanderer3 Comments

Hey there, dear diary!
Nice to meet you again.
But, after years on this road,
Time’s up on our journey.

We rarely realize,
That word after word,
Our journal fills itself,
N’ how swiftly time flies.

But, what a wonderful gift
You turned out to be.
An anchor for choppy seas,
Saved me from being adrift.

Oh, the accidents it took…
For us to come together.
For this story of mine,
To find a place in your book.

Hopes n’ dreams, anger n’ screams,
Stained your pages with ‘em all.
Yet you somehow held together,
Dangling between the extremes.

Many did I share before –
Memories too important.
Some best forgotten, but
Many still left to explore.

So, it is hard to let go.
Stitching, sketching, stretching,
What will be the last story,
That you’ll ever get to know.

But it’s a good reminder:
No one knows or controls,
The stories and pages,
They are left in the binder.

With nary a chance,
Too many end too soon.
I know I am lucky,
To get one more dance.

But here approacheth the end,
And even though,
There may be more,
None can take your place.
So, in this last little space,
Let me just say:
Thank you, and goodbye, dear friend!

If you have been following this blog, you might notice that sometime back, I wrote a post about some parting thoughts on reaching the end of a journey. When I had had those initial thoughts, I knew there was potential for a poem there. But writing one takes time and effort (lots of it!) for me, and so, at that time, I thought I’ll just go with the flow and put my thoughts into the simple words that came readily.

But since then, the idea of expressing those feelings through a poem had been on my mind. And so, here you go! It’s done, finally!! 🙂

It’s definitely not my finest work, which, so far, (shameless self promotion warning!) I consider to be this, for a variety of reasons. But even though I knew this wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, I just had to get this one out of the system! Still, howsoever the poem is, I hope you’ll at least get a glimpse of that bittersweet feeling (if I haven’t done too bad a job of messing that up), and maybe, of even the larger picture… 😉

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Photo Credit: Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash

What Begins, Must End

A Wondering Wanderer1 Comment

Apart from this blog, I sometimes also write in an actual journal, a diary. I find that sometimes, you just need that physicality to writing – the sound and touch of paper, holding and moving the pen, the rhythm of the hands, instead of the mechanical “clickity-clack” of typing and staring at a white screen. And well, some thoughts are too private even for a “personal blog”. 😉

I don’t do it often – just a couple of entries a year. Sometimes even fewer. So, I’d been using that same diary for the last many, many years. But as I was writing in it this time, I realized that I had reached the end of it.

As I neared the end, I wanted to write a “goodbye” message in the little space that I had left (yeah, I’m “weird” that way), which I did. But as I began writing, I had an amusing and pleasant thought, one that I think (more like “hope”), some of you might find some beauty in. So, here I am, reproducing that final, short diary entry below:

* * *

And just like that I’ve reached the end of this journal – a journey that began many, many years ago, with a thoughtful gift. Now, there aren’t many pages left in this diary, for another one of life’s journeys.

A little more space to continue writing would have been nice, but we don’t control how many pages we are given, and where our story ends. I guess I’d never really be ready for it to be over. So many stories left untold, incomplete. But not much that I can do about it.

Sometimes, you get a chance to wrap up your story in time, when you know the end is near, but even then, it’s not easy letting go. You wish you could continue in some way or another; just refusing to let go.

But, the end approaches, and it’s time to say, “Thank You! And Goodbye.” 🙂

* * *

Photo Credit: Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash