Sunday, July 17, 2011

Unworthy Universe

Have you noticed that after a heart-crushing breakup, and suddenly all radio frequencies start playing sad songs? Have you gone to a church service very distressed and needy, only to find that the sermon was written to address all your worries? Have you read a book or movie and took a life changing decision.

As per Paulo Coelho in the alchemist “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”

I disagree. I think this is giving too much credit to the Universe or fate or destiny. There are sounds, directions and signs pointing in all directions. We see what we want to see.

Life is simple; actually so simple that it’s hard to live. The decisions we make are driven by thought, emotions, perspective, past, complexes, fear and strength. They can be explained at times while at others they are just to do with life at a particular time. Someone has told us to think big, so even the decisions that touch our lives and only our lives, we have to have a bigger picture and story to support it.

We decide our wars, fight them and deal with the verdict. We absorb the strength needed from our surroundings; we can choose to call it the destiny or scheme of universe or divine intervention.

If universe could help us, it would have first helped by restricting the population to the number it could have directed and conspired for….

Monday, July 11, 2011

People Watching!!

I have no idea how individuals can be unhappy about reaching early for a movie, waiting for friends at a mall, stress about a delayed flight or have nothing to do on a lonely evening. They can always people watch.

People watching can be a habit, a hobby, cheap means of self-entertainment or effective means of self-improvement.

It’s fun to watch strangers. I was recently at the San Diego zoo over the busy July 4th weekend. I watched more people then animals. Its fun to notice looks, dresses, tattoos, interactions and reactions. The public display of affection of love birds, the stressed mothers pushing the strollers, the excitements of kids waiting in queue to buy ice creams, the struggle of the same kids to finish the ice cream before it melts, the parents pushing their kids to participate, the acrobats in the shows flashing an embarrassing smile when things go wrong, some people trying to scam into tedious queues and show anchors oozing confidence & comfort were all interesting observations.

Watching strangers is always fun and mostly at their cost.

It’s also fun to watch acquaintances like colleagues at workplace, at the customary store, your regular servers at coffees shop or restaurant. Their reactions have a flavor of familiarity and hence make a curious observation. You can have a manager who you respect, a peer at work who irritates by being irresponsible, team member you really want to mentor, an usual face to help you find the required groceries or someone who remembers your Thai food order every time you go for lunch. It’s fun to anticipate their actions and responses. Most of this observation is more comforting and less funny.

It's education to watch close family and friends. In fact, these are the people who make us. As babies we learn to talk by seeing our parents talk to us, our morality is based on our observation of their lives, our habits are built on theirs and our personality is designed based them. People watching friends help us built a personality like our family just in more relevant environment. They help us more to grow and understand life better. There is no teaching like observing someone you can respect, have unconditional faith and want to learn from.

People watching is really an instinct, we do it more often then we admit. And it helps is more then want to admit. So clean those eye glasses, find the perfect location in the coffee shop and watch life passively through people.