Thinking Aloud

  Learning...      Dear readers, today is a very special day. As we all know its Leap day today and this is my 10th blog post .  I'm overjoyed at the fact that I've posted consistently and with sincerity. Honoring these little milestones  will motivate us—me included—to keep going toward achieving our goals.     I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to my dear professor, who encouraged me to write every day. I sincerely appreciate you, sir; without you and your everyday motivation , I could not have been this regular.          Alright, let's discuss about learning. What is learning? Studying and learning are two distinct things. Studying requires memorization and delving deeply into a subject, but learning is absorbing new information and developing new skills.      It is necessary to unlearn a great deal of information in order to learn anything new. Our upbringing and cultural contexts have shaped the way we are wired and conditioned. Only until you step

REVIVAL      Dear readers, hope you had an amazing day. Today, I'm going to highlight a fascinating phrase that I recently came across.  The Japanese phrase Kishi Kaisei ,  means "wake from the dead, return to life" . I was intrigued by this phrase and looked up its meaning on Google after seeing it on Instagram.      The phrase's original meaning refers to a surprising recovery from any bleak and hopeless circumstance. It could be something as simple as India winning the World Cup in a game that everyone predicted we would lose, or it could be something major like conquering a life-threatening illness.      This got me to thinking for a while: everyone in today's society has become dead on the inside. We are devoid of the bright energy. All of us are running after something that can never satiate us. We are just surviving and not living. To live is to be sensitive to everything that is happening around us. We are just surviving each day and we just want to get

 Strength And Weakness!      Hey readers,  a s I mentioned earlier, I'll be elaborating on one of my own quotes today. Click  here  just in case you want to check out my quotes page on Instagram. I'll also attach the QR Code below (Thanks in advance).      In your opinion, what is strength? Majority of the time, we think of strength as the opposite of weakness. We don't truly consider all options before making decisions. Life has its share of weaknesses.  It can never be removed from us. Here's a quote that explains this concept clearly. "Being strong doesn't always mean the absence of weakness. Sometimes it's the way we handle them."        Strong people are typically thought of as those who don't have flaws or bad days. That's not the way, though. People who are strong don't downplay their flaws. Compared to others, they handle it better. Everyone has bad days sometimes, but how each person handles them varies. The distinction between res

  The Sky      Hey readers, a s I mentioned earlier, I'll be elaborating on one of my own quotes today. Click  here  just in case you want to check out my quotes page on Instagram. I'll also attach the QR Code below (Thanks in advance).      I wonder how many of you observed the early-morning sky today, February 26, 2024? Observing the spectacle was a breathtaking experience. Its splendor captured my attention. My heart was pleased by the array of colors the sky embraced. Immediately, I was reminded of one of my quotes: "When you want to own the sky, you must handle both the menacing clouds and the radiating sun."      Initially, when I looked at the sky, it was incredibly bright in the shade of yellowish gold. Looking around, I saw that the east half of the sky was covered in dense, black clouds. The white cotton candy clouds were enveloped by the gorgeous blue sky towards the north.             The very thought of it, surprised me. The same sky that shined bright,

  Memories and Silences...     Hey readers , hope you had an amazing weekend. As I mentioned in the previous blog, I'll be elaborating on one of my own quotes today. Click here just in case you want to check out my quotes page on Instagram. I'll also attach the QR Code below (Thanks in advance). Now,  Shall we explore the realm of silences?  How often do we become silent when things go out of our hands? When someone experiences extreme emotions (both positives and negatives), in Tamil we say that, the person has gone silent without words or breath ( பேச்சு மூச்சு இல்லாமல்) .   Here's today's quote that exactly says the same thing: "Your boundless happiness and your greatest despair lies not in expression but in silence"      Isn't that true?  I've witnessed many people go strangely silent in the midst of their most profound shock, despair, or ecstasy. They become completely silent. Psychologists refer to this kind of response as "Silent Treatme

Not All Flowers Bloom In The Daylight!           Hey readers ,  I 've run out of things to say today. I've been trying so hard to think of an amazing concept for my blog, but I just couldn't come up with anything. Unexpectedly, one of my friends reminded me about my quotes account on Instagram (@the_sparkling_firefly) . Click here in case you want to have a look (I've also attached the QR Code below). Although I'm not active there right now, I promise to start soon! (Stay tuned).      I've been blogging about other people's quotes for a while now, so I thought I'd share some of my own . So, for the next few days you'll read about my take on my own quotes. Its always fun to look at something through the lens of the creator!       Who doesn't love flowers?  We all do. We adore them in all of their forms and stages despite their diverse colors, textures, and shapes. While some flowers are large, some are tiny, but they all blossom as gracefully a

  Don't Just Fly, Soar!     Hey readers, w hile I was pondering what to write about, it occurred to me that we were discussing how we have become one with the crowd, in today's class.   The majority of us have enjoyed Disney films since we were very young. In addition to providing us, especially the kids, with entertainment, these characters occasionally make meaningful and insightful statements. One such remark that Dumbo made was, "Don't just fly, soar!"      What distinguishes soaring from flying, exactly? It is incorrect for people to sometimes use these terms interchangeably. While soaring involves ascending higher and higher at a faster speed, flying is only moving through the air at a steady pace for the most part.      Most of us have something called as the "herd mentality" . We want to be one with the crowd. We aimlessly follow the footsteps of the others without thinking through. All of us are wired differently. We have our own strengths an

  Living In The Living  Seasons! ("East Coker" Series -2)           Hey readers , here's another insightful quote from the man himself - T.S. Eliot. He uses simple words with profound meaning and philosophical ideas by structuring  them perfectly. In the second stanza of the poem, there's a beautiful line that says,  "Living with the living seasons"        I was immediately reminded of the "Book of Ecclesiastes" in The Bible .  It states that everything has its proper timing and should occur at that moment. There will be a time for celebration if there is a time for grieving.  In this temporary sojourn on Earth, nothing is permanent.  The only way we can truly understand joy is if we experience suffering.      Today's society runs after "instant gratification" (the immediate desire to feel satisfied). We've all lost the value of patience. Everything is available at our fingertips. Ordering food is something we do, as soon as we fe

  In My Beginning Is My End!   ("East Coker" Series -1)          Hey readers , today,  21st February 2024,  was a rewarding day as we had an insightful lecture on T.S. Eliot's poem, "East Coker".       The very first line of the poem, "In my beginning is my end." simply lingered in my thoughts. Eliot is a poet whose poems are extremely philosophical. The profundity of ideas that he presents in his works, moves the readers. Probing into the thought that the first line discusses, we can derive so many layers of meaning out of it.     We often glorify the magic of new beginnings. Ev ery fresh start in life is something we rejoice in .  For instance, a housewarming ceremony, a building's dedication, or the launch of a new store. Do we ever come to the realization that everything that starts eventually needs to end? We are  so focused in the moment and concerned about the journey that we forget its going to end.            When the sun rises, it defini

  Monkey Bars          Hey readers, its been a while and I hope you all are doing good.  It's wonderful to be back and to pen down the ideas that I usually keep to myself.  A few days ago, while I was randomly exploring the internet, I stumbled upon this incredible quote by C.S. Lewis that reads,           “ Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”     Although the quote is straightforward and easy to understand, what an analogy it is! We often claim that life is not a bed of roses, but how much do we truly understand the effects these difficult situations have on us? Most of the time, we don't.  When we experience anything unpleasant, we often find it difficult to let go of it. We keep going back to the same experiences to keep them fresh in our memories, whether they are related to relationships, health issues, failures, or setbacks.      We don't always know that the act of repeatedl