Boredom Redefined

"L'oisiveté est la mère de tous les vices"

Literally Translated, the French proverb reads "Idleness is the mother of all sins"

Idiomatically, it translates into the English phrase:

"The Idle Mind is the Devil's Workshop"

Yet it is true that idleness is an interim phase for a burst of creativity.

Boredom, no matter how tedious and irritating, always tends to bring out the best in some people.

Especially people like writers, artists, musicians... procrastination makes you restless, pushes you to test your limits, urges you to get off your arse and DO something.

There's only so much lounging around a person like me can do. after that the grey cells begin to get over-excited. You get this itch... and no amount of scratching or distraction can get rid of it.

Then, before you know it, there's an explosion within you, and after a something that feels like a really really really long sugar rush, you come up with something. Something you've never done before. Something creative, yet new.

And then you realize talents you never knew you had.

That feeling, the one you get at doing something new to curb yourself of death-by-boredom... That is the greatest high you can ever get.

Marijuana? pfft!

Hash? so-so...

Cocaine? Barely a tickle

Heroin? Hah!

Ecstasy? Blah...

LSD? Gravity? 'Shrooms? zero. nada. squat.

Sudden burst of creativity?

Like a high that never gets old. Addictive, but so darned good!

The Way of the Jedi

"May the Force be with you."

A chant that resounded the halls of cinema way back in 1977, and still resounds in the world of film lovers even today. George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy changed the genre of Science Fiction for all time, introducing Sci-Fi-Fantasy... the future biblical genre for geeks worldwide.

The films and the culture that they brought with them hold strong even today. A well-known fact. But what is lesser known is the rise of a new order... A new religion as it were - Jediism.

To be entirely truthful, Jediism is similar to Buddhism. A way of life. A code along which you should live your life. Borrowing heavily from the Jedi Code introduced in the series, Jediiism became a mass movement in 1991, when the worldwide census showed over 7,00,000 people registering themselves as 'Jedi'. However, there are no set rules or a holy book in Jediism.
Jediism borrows mostly from the Buddhist and Taoist teachings, and leans heavily on philosophy and honor. Like most philosophies, it also believes in chivalry.
Looking at Jediism from an overview, it seems like the perfect way of life. No rules, yet a path of peace. The perfect set of customs. Zero discrimination, zero conflicts.

But that is not how the world works.

Don't get me wrong, in the words of Nissim Ezekiel,

"I am standing for peace and non-violence.

why world is fighting-fighting?"

But as I've stated before, I'm an Idealist who keeps his feet on the ground and tries his best to be a Realist too.
The human soul is built in God's image - it wants what's righteous and good for everyone, but also refuses to interfere with the world outside its own bubble. While humans remain humane, chaos will rule. Its about time we accepted that.

Even the Jedi Code accepts the Dark Side of the Force - The imperfect side of the human psyche that is selfish, self-serving, katthor, overtly ambitious and blasphemous.

But yes, the Jedi Code is excellent for the future - the future I hope for - the Ideal future in which the world stands tall, proud of progress, humanity, both good and bad accepted and accounted for.
That will be the Age of Perfection.
That will be the age of the Jedi.

ARK

I have a problem.

...or so my friends tell me.

In 2007, Tom Shadyac released a sequel to his film Bruce Almighty, titled Evan Almighty.

Starring Morgan Freeman as God, the story revolves around a contemporary adaptation of Noah's Ark.

Towards the end of the film, Freeman reveals the secret to paradise as changing the world, one Act of Random Kindness (ARK) at a time.

Even before the film released, I found myself in certain situations when without need, or any thought of self-gain, I did some random things which brought a smile to someone else's face.

I know, I know... that statement can bring about two reactions:

a) I'm blowing my own trumpet. No, not really. I don't ask for acknowledgement or thank-yous. Its quite satisfying, that feeling of seeing someone happy, and knowing its because of your actions. Sometimes, this selflessness thing does have something to it.

b) It sounds like something out of a religious text.

Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.

Doosron ka bhala karo, bhagwaan tumhara bhala karega.

Fais aux autres ce que vous voudriez qu'ils fassent pour vous.

Those who know me know that I'm anything but religious... but hey, sometimes those texts get something right. They were made on basic moral values and etiquette before the great rigidity and fan following set in!

Anyway, I find that sometimes being nice to people brings out the best in both parties. The proverbial exceptions to this rule are, of course, existent. Its not always pleasant to be nice to people. And its times like those when people who care about me get frustrated and call me insane. But most of the time, guys, its well worth the effort.

Wherever I go, I see people complaining about the declining human race.

And yeah, the world is a place where naivety cannot find tolerance.

And yeah, we made it that way.

But we can change this world.

...One act of random kindness at a time.

Little Things

"Have you heard the news? 

Bad things come in twos. 

But I never knew 

'Bout the little things...

Every single day 

Things get in my way. 

Someone has to pay 

For the little things...

Let the headlines wait, 

Armies hesitate. 

I can deal with fate 

But not the little things. 

Armageddon may 

Arrive any day. 

I can't get away 

From the little things."

~Danny Elfman, The Little Things,

Wanted OST.

How many times have you heard the phrase that its the little things in life... the small, seemingly insignificant things that make life worth living? Idealists spend entire lives living for those small, scattered moments in life for a content and happy life. Artists through the years have often emphasized emphatically on the beauty of these moments, and I'm inclined to agree. Sometimes the most unexpected things can cheer you up, make your day, and if taking a look at the bigger picture, change your future... I recall lines from a song from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack sung by Rob Thomas...

"Let it slide,

Let your troubles fall behind you

Let it shine

Until you feel it all around you

And i don't mind

If it's me you need to turn to

We'll get by,

It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made

In these small hours

These little wonders,

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away,

But these small hours,

These small hours still remain"

The song, like the movie itself, places emphasis on family and those small wonders of life.

'tis true that philosophical ideas thrive on the functioning (and sometimes, over-functioning) of the grey cells. They are meant to be thought-provoking and without any solid answer, save for the one that strikes the person doing the thinking. But like Rob Thomas says - 'let it slide. let your troubles fall behind you.' Some things in life deserve no thought, for like the little things in life that make your day, there are also those that mercilessly break it.

Deciding when to think, and when to let things ride... The mark of a well-balanced soul.


But we're all human, and we're all well-aware that such a well-balanced individual can hardly realistically exist. Life's too short for over-contemplation, folks... Most of the time its just easier to let things go. For they are terrible little things... infinitesimal in the pool of little things one can pick out of.

Purpose?

"I want to tell you something, Mark. It's something you do not yet know, but we K-PAXians have been around long enough to have discovered. The universe will expand, then it will collapse back on itself. Then it will expand again. It will repeat this process forever. What you don't know is that when the universe expands again, everything will be as it is now. Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will make again on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through. Again. And again. Forever. So my advice to you is to get it right this time around. Because... this time... is all you have."

~Kevin Spacey (Prot), K-PAX.

     When one spends several fruitless days attempting to come up with a subject for a blog, its at these times when he or she falls back on the first thing that comes to mind. This statement looks at Hindu beliefs with great respect, and a hint of contempt. Showing a certain belief in the Hindu belief of Karmic birth and rebirth, Prot adds a small underlying subtext - Sure, you'll die, then be reborn again, but there's no sight of Moksha, bro. You will always live the same life, as the same person/creature you are. You will always find happiness, solace and contentment in the same things, and the shit will always hit the fan, making the same splatter it did the last time.
     Kinda completely ruins the idea of rebirth, doesn't it?
But what if, for the time being, we assume that this theory is true? What if life really has no bigger purpose? What if our existence is simply to... exist? Would that change us? Or would we simply ignore this idea and go ahead with life with the subconscious acknowledgement that we have no reason to look to the future. That we must have faith in purpose for the simple reason that we must have peace of mind to exist.
     Or would we join the realists, pour out a peg of Royal Stag and say "Who cares if the glass is half-empty or half-full? We gotta drink it anyway."
     At this point I consider myself lucky. I have never been bothered with 'a higher purpose'. It is my belief that one must exist to find the balance between living for oneself and living for others. It leaves one with a clear conscience and a happy feeling at the end of a rigorous day. And on those Sisyphean days when I do search for purpose, I remember that feeling, and move on to a brighter sunrise.