Saturday, February 25, 2012

Doggy Lessons



Noticed how a Pack of Dogs chase boys on fast cycles? Extremely aggressive, focused and 'this-is-the-end-of-world' attitude. But they slow down, stop barking and take a quick U-turn as soon as they reach the end of their territory (end of a road, typically). An invisible line sends them back. Survival strategies.. :-)

Life's Mission?



Introduced to a paradoxical - or at least unconventional - idea yesterday. "God does not want you to change the world. He only wants *you* to evolve. It is delusional to think you're helping the world become better. You do whatever you do for your own sake. If you don't do it, you are the one who will suffer for lack of it. (Not the world))."

Some people accused even Mother Theresa and her intentions and said she "loved poverty" more than "poor people" and that her life was dependent on the existence of poverty. (She took money for her projects from sources that were to be shunned etc). The idea above would work as a significant counter argument to that accusation...

Life, Beauty, Soul, Context


Thought-provoking experiment and some profound observations by Washington Post.


Wonder why it reminds me of KM programs in organizations ;-) Do we always work out of context? How does one play music in such a way that passers-by change their priorities and stop and listen? Ha ha ha!

Quotes:
Pearls Before Breakfast - washingtonpost.com
    • In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?
      • The event had been described to him as a test of whether, in an incongruous context, ordinary people would recognize genius.
        • IF A GREAT MUSICIAN PLAYS GREAT MUSIC BUT NO ONE HEARS . . . WAS HE REALLY ANY GOOD?
          • What is beauty? Is it a measurable fact (Gottfried Leibniz), or merely an opinion (David Hume), or is it a little of each, colored by the immediate state of mind of the observer (Immanuel Kant)?
            • At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs or if someone's cellphone goes off. But here, my expectations quickly diminished. I started to appreciate any acknowledgment, even a slight glance up. I was oddly grateful when someone threw in a dollar instead of change." This is from a man whose talents can command $1,000 a minute.
            • Context matters
            • The poet Billy Collins once laughingly observed that all babies are born with a knowledge of poetry, because the lub-dub of the mother's heart is in iambic meter. Then, Collins said, life slowly starts to choke the poetry out of us. It may be true with music, too.
              • Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.
                • What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. -- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies
                  • This is about having the wrong priorities," Lane said.
                    • "Yeah, other people just were not getting it. It just wasn't registering. That was baffling to me."

                    Wednesday, February 08, 2012

                    A Single Story?

                    If there's only one thing you plan to do this entire week, then please watch this video. :-)


                    http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html


                    Tuesday, February 07, 2012

                    Same Choice, Same Results

                    A quote I'll always remember, though not verbatim, is Paulo Coelho's quote on how if we experience the same challenges and problems again and again in life, it means that we have not learnt our lesson.


                    Check out this excellent article from Daily OM: http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2012/32081.html 


                    Repeated bouts of adversity are an unavoidable aspect of human existence. We battle against our inner struggles or outer world forces, and in many cases, we emerge on the opposite side of struggle stronger and better equipped to cope with the challenges yet to come. However, we can occasionally encounter trials that seem utterly hopeless. We strike at them with all of our creativity and perseverance, hoping desperately to bring about change, only to meet with the same results as always. Our first instinct in such situations is often to push harder against the seemingly immovable obstruction before us, assuming that this time we will be met with a different outcome. But staying power and stamina net us little when the same choices consistently garner the same results. A change in perspective, behavior, or response can do so much more to help us move past points where no amount of effort seems sufficient to overcome the difficulties before us. 
                    Whether our intention is to change ourselves or some element of the world around us, we cannot simply wish for transformation or hope that our lives will be altered through circumstance. If our patterns of thought and behavior remain unchanged, our lives will continue to unfold much as they have previously. Patterns in which fruitless efforts prevail can be overcome with self examination and courage. It is our bravery that allows us to question the choices we have made thus far and to channel our effort into innovation. Asking questions and making small adjustments to your thought processes and behaviors will help you discover what works, so you can leave that which does not work behind you. To break free from those unconscious patterns that have long held sway over your actions and reactions, you will likely have to challenge your assumptions on a most basic level. You must accept once and for all that your beliefs with regard to cause and effect may no longer be in accordance with your needs. 
                    Stagnation is often a sign that great changes are on the horizon. Courting the change you wish to see in yourself and in the world around you is a matter of acknowledging that only change begets change. The results you so ardently want to realize are well within the realm of possibility, and you need only step away from the well-worn circular path to explore the untried paths that lie beyond it.