Remains of the Day: 012

The breeze comes in from all sides. It plays in loops and curves and straight lines. You feel a chill and you wonder why, suddenly you feel the wind in your face. There is also so much that you can see – that you could never see before. There are no encumbrances and you are able to see afar. You wonder, again – how you have never seen that far, before. You are exposed to the elements when you are not surrounded by anyone. It would be poetically apt to say that your mind is clear, but alas! It continues to carry the tangled wire-mesh of confusion, but you now have a better chance of spreading it and more space to untangle it. It is a new feeling – this sense of being alone – wrapped in the double-helix of fear and excitement. It is a new experience – this effort of de-stagnation – from the prison of known misery.

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Erich Fromm’s philosophy of freedom has almost completely been hovering like a permanent cloud. I see a sliver of the blue sky from the corner of my eye. There was too much leaning on freedom from… and hardly any thought to freedom to…. It is akin to escaping from prison, but not having anywhere to go. The clouds are moving east now.

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Creativity is best applied in solving problems. Unfortunately all creative energy is directed towards making excuses. Intent fuels creativity. We’re pushing it on an empty tank.

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There are some mistakes – blunders even – you will have to commit. As wise as you may think you are – no learning is as forceful as experience itself. Books can’t teach you everything.

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There will always be a rescue at hand. Usually we are busy drowning, paying attention to how high the water has reached and the speed at which we are downing. We miss the hand that is held out for us. Usually, it’s Paul Simon’s songs.

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I believe in second chances. In the rare instance perhaps; a third. After that, it is time to let go. A wise man once told me about the nature of bad financial transactions. If someone isn’t giving you money that’s due, there are only two reasons: either he doesn’t have it or he doesn’t want to give it to you. Either of the reasons will not work for you. Let go. The wise man left it to me to know that the axiom works in different contexts.

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The longest and the fiercest war is fought within; it wages incessantly. Our resources are directed without, while we lose battles within. It’s a call for redeployment.

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In the end, we remain. That is the only remainder of time and events. We’ll have to take care of that.

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PS: This post carried with it, the possibility of a very long post – for this remainder would apply to a year too. It ran the risk of TL;DR, but thankfully it was salvaged.

• Creativity
• Erich Fromm
• Paul Simon
• Remainders
• Wisdom