Passengers

Image source:http://roundtheplace.com/Street
I own no rights.

Image source:
http://www.goodfon.com/wallpaper/260550.html
I own no rights.

I own no rights.
Image source: http://www.redbubble.com/people/melek0197/works/9472644-childs-reflection-in-train-window

 

 

Life is like a train journey:

 

If you only keep staring at your own reflection on the window, you will never see the wonderful landscapes outside.

 

So gape in awe. And travel safe, wherever you are, to dreamlands and airports and each others arms!

Nature of Happiness

Deep below, under the stubborn ice and mouths frozen shut, the roots of life still linger. Slowly, they string their fine fingers upwards, infiltrate the army of snow flakes besieging us. Those fingers, you can feel them caressing your skin when you fall your cheek pressed to the iron-cold ground; sprigs and sprouts of onion being born, the sweet-tasting sap brewing, the birch babies and oak saplings still playing hide-and-seek, until the day that earth’s anticipation, its certainty of spring stronger than thousand ice ages, breaks all winter’s barriers and blossoms into light leaves of coltsfoot, pansy, primrose and thistle. But not quite yet my dear, not quite yet. First, we have to live through this concerto of whispering winds, nothing but rumours of life budding. That way we can have two summers; one blossoming in our ears and one, in time, blooming up from undeground, inviting us to a flower field dance.  

Waiting for the spring is a sweet expectation, it is like waiting at the train station for an old friend to arrive. Peace and love, and warmth to melt your winter fingers! Take care.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon-meringue

I have learnt an important lesson this weekend. And a tasty one too. Here it is, take a look:

Lemon-meringue pie, also called YAMMY!

Macarons with lemon marmalade filling

After my latest kitchen catastrophe, which involved a baking tray set in fire, and all the times I have called myself “the girl who even failed at making Rice Krispie cakes”, I decided to do something different.
So I whipped up a lemon-meringue pie and even braved myself to make macarons, those little cakes that can apparently go wrong in million different ways and make baking art. When I told my sister about my intention to battle these cutely coloured but bad-tempered sweets, she actually gasped a little bit. She probably started designing an emergency escape plan righ there and then, with an appropriate bomb shelter mapped on it just in case I blew up the kitchen.

But guess what?

I managed to make them, and they were delicious! And *drum rolls please* …so was the cake! And out of everyone who ate them, I think I was the most surprised by this. Because I had held this view about myself for so long, this thought that I’m not precise enough person to cook or bake. Yes, I admit, I am still clumsy and there was flour all over the walls. But they were the flag of victory I threw in the air! Because I realised, I had been wrong about myself.

So, when life gives you lemons, make some lemon-meringue.

Firstly, because it’s delicious! And secondly, because I guess it is how they say: You never know just how strong and brave you are before you find yourself pushed out of your comfort zone.
So, when life sets you challenges, don’t be afraid to rise up to them! Remember to dust your beliefs about yourself every once in a while. Otherwise you might miss the little things, like my new tiny best friend le macaron, that give you the opportunity to see the world in a different light!
So be pleased to meet yourself, every day, with a smile and fresh eyes. You might just find you’re stronger, more creative, more surprising than you ever imagined.

And if sometimes you try and try and things still go wrong, don’t feel bad. Just make some more meringue. Then at least you have a cake to eat. This is a win-win plan right here.

Kafka and observations on observation

What is the last time you observed yourself as passionately and sharply as the narrator observes the girl in the above piece? What is the last time you focused on yourself with the same vigour that we often focus on others, comparing ourselves to people around us, pondering over someone’s thoughts or appearance.

Why does the narrator above become so transfixed upon this girl, this fellow passenger?

Is it because she simply is so mesmerising, in which case, the moment should be cherished. To fall in love fast and several times a day is not a weakness but a sign that you are alive and feeling.

Or is it because, by focusing on someone else, it becomes easier to push aside the confusion the narrator feels in himself? Is it escapism? Does the narrator forget for one blissful moment the feeling of being lost in life by getting lost in this girl’s chestnut hair and dark complexion?

I believe that looking at someone, observing someone, is a bit like checking our appearance in the mirror. Often we praise in others qualities we would long to have ouselves, or we walk around disliking someone and picking on their shabby clothes and funny intonation because we are, ourselves, scared to open our mouth or put on our itchy, old jumpers.

We can find in others the traits we value in ourselves or the dark pits of our mind that we run from.

And it is easy to construct grand lists of various reasons in our heads, contemplating why someone is worse or better off than we are. But the question we need to ask ourselves is this: Are those lists actually productive? Do they help us to make a change or should we seek this change by turning our focus to ourselves?

I dare you to do it, right now, to sacrifice a moment just for yourself, no matter how busy you are. To observe the little hills of muscles on your skin and your beautiful, powdery blue blood vessels shining under your skin, your feet and twitching toes carrying you through the day. The shades of light hitting your hair and bouncing off, the changing expressions on your face, the smoothness or raspiness of your skin, the curve of your lip.

Observe yourself with the same wonderment present in The Passenger, look at yourself and say:

I am an amazing living thing.

Give yourself as much praise as you give others, and as much honesty. Hand out smiles to your mirror image as generously as you do to your best friends upon long-waited reunion.  Look at yourself and say:

Thanks for being there every night I go to bed. You’re the one who I always come back to.

Because you might feel envious or in awe when you look at others. You might beat yourself down with your comparisons.  But is your dwelling on them going to change things for you?

Focus on yourself. Work on happiness from inwards. Because at the end of the day, you are the only person you have to have a relationship with for the rest of your life. So make it a good one.