TAKE LIFE IN SIPS AND IN LITTLE PORTIONS

“Sometimes, the most beautiful truths aren’t ahead 

but beside us, waiting to be noticed,

to be cherished, to be seen.”

AshRawArt

 

A dear friend of mine retired, a few years ago, from BARC where she worked for several years as a senior scientist. In an organization like BARC, the tag ‘Scientist’ or a ‘Scientific Officer’ makes no one raise his/her eyebrows... Every other person working there wears that tag. And, yes, hardly anyone is impressed by the crown – ‘a PhD’... You are only one of the many out there...

Now, this Post is not to belittle a Scientist or a PhD... It’s to show my appreciation for the ‘never-say-retired’ sprit of my friend. “I am retired, but not tired,” she loves to say. Just as a famous person said, “Retire from work, not life.”

Two days ago, I was talking to this friend about her recent trip to Cambodia. “Did you cover Vietnam, too?” I asked.

“No, I don’t like to rush through my trips... I don’t like to pride myself saying, ‘I covered five countries, seven countries’... There is so much to see and enjoy in one country that we visit, " my friend said.

I remembered another friend of mine. He used to always tell me, that we are so busy capturing the images through our cameras, that we seem missing out on capturing them in our hearts... We are more concerned about what to show to others and not to ourselves.”

Slowing down is a spiritual practice...

The other day, I came across a digital ad on FB about a book on Amazon. The title instantly captivated my mind: ‘The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down’ – ‘How to be Calm in a Busy World’. The author of this book is Haemin Sunim, a young Zen Buddhist teacher. I rarely get lured by the relentless digital ads that we come across on social media. But, to this one, I did get lured. The book arrived the next day.., and, as it promised, the message began to calm me down in my busy world.

There are a million little things beside us – around us – which we may simply miss out noticing and relishing unless we consciously slow down and ‘see’...

Yes, probably, that’s why, years ago, when I started writing down my ‘Notes’, and later started blogging, I thought it was appropriate to describe its essence as: ‘Seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary’...

And, how can you and I be able to see this extraordinary beauty in the ordinary things beside us unless we pause, breathe and savour?

I remembered the powerful movie I had watched in the early eighties – ‘The Killing Fields’. It’s the story about the gruesome experiences of two journalists: Award-winning New York Times reporter (Syndey Shanberg) and local journalist (Dith Pran). They covered the savage killings (nearly 1.5 million people) in the fields of Cambodia during Khmer Rouge regime (following the civil war). I recalled this movie as my friend was amazed by the way this little country has risen from its ashes and rebuilt itself into an inspiring tourist spot...

I, also, realized how important it is for any civilization not to get caught up in its past... not to keep ill will towards any of its so-called oppressor or aggressor – and just focus on what would make it a beautiful, inspiring nation of dynamic people...

Well, at hindsight, I, also, realized the importance of seeing what lies ‘beside’ us – those little things which are “waiting to be noticed, to be cherished, to be seen”...

Michael Bassey Hohnson says:

“Be not rushed by the tide of life;

take life in sips and in little portions.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic’s: 1. pixabay.com   2. Penguin Random House UK

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