What is Success?

What is SUCCESS?

But even before this question, a rather intriguing question passed my mind

What if I am already successful, but I don’t know it?

 

I have been basically torturing myself from the last one month or so regarding the issue of success. I was beating myself up, berating myself and criticizing myself in the meanest ways possible! At the basis of this was comparison to other people whom I perceive to be “successful”. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I am a full-time musician. And for artists and musicians, success is even more hard to define. Would I call Justin Bieber/Lady Gaga successful? I don’t know. I don’t look up to them and so I actually I don’t care if they failed or not. But I’d say Sting is very successful. Not because of the money or the glamour, but because he does exactly what he wants to do, sings his own songs all around the world. That for me is success. Doing exactly what you want to do and getting paid for it! But everyone can’t be Sting. For example, do you think Sting’s guitar tech or his sound engineer go home and cry because they’ve failed to be on stage with a bass guitar singing a song they’ve written? NO! Because I’m sure they’re pretty satisfied being on Sting’s team and doing exactly what they gain satisfaction from…mixing sound, tuning his guitars etc.

I just thought of all this. From the time I picked up the guitar for the first time when I was 16, I knew that I wanted to play guitar all the time, make music, sing and have fun. And you know what? I’m doing JUST THAT. Isn’t that success? I think it IS! I have been so busy driving myself paranoid because I am not yet on my way to becoming Sting-like, that I haven’t had a moment to acknowledge my success. I am already successful! I have enough money right now that I can sit throughout the day reading books and watching movies and then going out for leisure walks, working out, practising different styles of music on my guitar, buy new equipment etc. That IS success!

Now I am not saying that I am satisfied and that I don’t want anymore money or exciting opportunities to play and perform. But that will happen joyfully only after I’ve fully acknowledged my first successful milestone: Surviving successfully as an independent musician. And I’ve done pretty well upto here…including releasing my debut music album last year.

I have always been relatively shy considering that I am a performer, an artist. I am not flashy or flamboyant even in my daily life. I’m not loud or attention-seeking in conversation- it’s just who I am. And as of today I feel that I won’t feel too bad if I don’t develop showman-ship like some of my idols or my contemporaries. That would be like going against the grain of who I am as a person. I am all for learning and growing and imbibing desirable qualities, but I feel foolish even to imagine being a loud, extroverted performer. From this point on, I have a few dreams and ideas about my future life which truly make me happy. And being ridiculously famous isn’t one of them. I have had the great fortune of being closely connected with a lot of high-achieving, super-famous individuals and friends. One of them gave me a very interesting and intelligent definition of fame. He said that fame only indicates how many people approve or disapprove of you. That’s it. There’s nothing beyond it. It makes so much sense. So for any kind of artists, it’s even more pertinent. Talking of Sting, I recently discovered that not everyone like him! It was shocking to find forums on the internet actually dissing him and his music. So basically a certain number of people dislike him+certain number of people like him=Sting’s fame. Approval+Disapproval. Likes+Dislikes. And I after realizing this, I am not getting along famously with idea of fame 🙂

I have anyway always composed, sung and played what I like. I almost never listen to people when it comes to musical or artistic choices. I can’t be any other way because this way makes me immensely happy. To listen to my own songs exactly the way I wanted them to sound is an unmatched feeling and so, I don’t think I will be affected much by the opinions of listeners.

I’d rather be true to my calling, true to my adventure, making pots and pots of money, travel around the world, soaking in culture, forging friendships, read a lot, attend performances, wake up at noon if I feel like it, build my body, acquire new skills and be happy in my personal life. That will be success for me. But success is not one event or one day or one situation…it’s an ongoing thing. It’s a process. Although I do realize now that I CANNOT get to success from a feeling of failure. Success leads to success. I’ve only failed in being successful at something that I didn’t want to be successful at to begin with! I am okay with that!

So what’s YOUR idea of success?

 

10 years ago…

Today’s my father’s 10th death anniversary. And a lot has changed in the last decade. Strangely, I can see how it has made me a more positive and aware person. It has made me grateful and responsible.

His death was the biggest eye-opener for me. It happened as suddenly as it could be. He was preparing to go to his studio(he was a painter and commercial artist) and I was going to the movies. The film had barely begun and I got a call from mum saying that dad wasn’t feeling well and so I rushed back home to find that he was gone. He was there in the morning and then two hours later he wasn’t. I was 22 at that time. But by the next day itself I had become much much older. Wrapping up his studio was one of the most tedious tasks! Telling clients that he was dead, taking stock of his gazillion and half books, his instruments, drawing boards, giving away his staff’s salaries and asking them to find other jobs etc. I did all that. It’s sort of unbelievable when I look back upon it exactly a decade later.

My relationship with my father had always been strained ever since I became a teenager. My rebellious ways were too much for him to understand especially when I decided to be a full-time musician and not join an art school like he did. I grew increasingly distant from him through my growing years also because he perceived playing guitar as a waste of time. Till the time of his death, we only had a very functional relationship remaining. But his death still left a gaping hole in my life especially when I looked at my other friends with fathers and saw how protected they were. But that’s that.

What I learnt from it is more important.

1. I understood once and for all the meaning of ‘not taking anyone’s presence for granted’. I don’t mean it in the negative sense but life is in fact quite unstable. I learned to cherish people and give them my best.
2. My belief in the potential for change has been reinforced. My mum underwent a radical change after Dad went away. She has made herself into an absolutely amazing being who is now a pillar of support for many other people around her. She is open-minded, supportive, empathetic and far more evolved than ANYONE else I have ever met in my life.
3. I became responsible. For everything. It used to get really tiring before! But now I understand the power behind taking responsibility for my own life. There’s no one to blame, make excuses for. I became my own best friend. I learned the ways of the world on my own. My father wasn’t around to teach me concepts of career, finances, wealth etc. All those concepts are my own today. And I am proud of it. So, I actually started earning very late in life. But I am enjoying experimenting with financial beliefs.
4. I learned to figure out people’s intentions very early on. Right now at this stage in life, I believe that there’s no point expecting anything from anyone else but my own self. I say this with no bitterness! It’s a liberating thought. When things go awry, as they will, you have to stick by yourself. I have met a lot of people and interacted with them very closely and I have learned something invaluable that will help me to deal with life’s blows and tickles, effectively. I got exposed to disappointments so many in number and so fast that now the only person I truly depend on is me. It’s better to have this experiential understanding at my age than at 50!
5. I became independent. I moved out of home couple of years back and I have been managing my life amazingly well! I would’ve never known if I could do that had I been sheltered from life by my parents. And I am independent and HOW! I do everything on my own. You know, the earning, spending, paying bills, buying stuff, repairing things, making music, traveling, cooking, looking after my health, visit a doctor if I fall sick, plan my career, plan my life, dream, go after the dream, invest money, secure my future…EVERYTHING. So in effect, I am my own father! Yeah sure. It gets tiring sometimes. But only sometimes. Otherwise I am busy enjoying knowing that I have balls of f*&#ing steel!! Yeaaaaahhhh!!

I decided to write this today because I wanted to know that there’s a lesson to learned and gratitude to be felt from everything. Even from death of a parent.

I would like to thank every person who stood by me throughout this amazing adventure over the last decade and made it possible to come through to this other side, wiser.

Mind the mind

 

It has been a wonderful month full of epiphanies! Here’s one more:

I had heard a talk once by Abraham Hicks about how a man wanted to win some gazillion dollars in lottery and he was asking how he could apply the Law of attraction to bring about that situation. So Abraham asked him to describe what he would do after winning all that money. If I am not mistaken, he wanted to win something like 10 million dollars. So he started describing all that he would do after winning 10 million dollars. But his wish-list didn’t even extend beyond 1 million dollars. That’s when Abraham said that his mind was not even ready to receive those 10 million dollars since he couldn’t imagine what he would do with those dollars. And hence it’s mighty difficult to believe with thought and emotion what the mind can’t conjure.

And I now know that to be true not just about money but about every aspect of life. The mind needs to stretch FIRST in order to attract things  into reality. It’s in fact not even just about getting a lot of money, or the most perfect relationship or the most gratifying career. I know of people who have over-flowing bank accounts full of wealth but they’re not attempting even half the things that I do even with my not-so-overwhelming income! But I am learning from and observing people who do a lot more with their money to grow themselves, to acquire skills, travel etc. In other words, I am stretching my mind so that when I become my idea of “wealthy”, I’ll know what to do with my wealth apart from eating, drinking, partying, shopping and other such mundane things. So I decided to put a different spin on “why am I not a millionaire yet?????” thought. I am instead grateful because honestly, this is exactly how I would want it to be.

I think it’s a similar thing with romantic relationships. At one point in time, attracting money was a huge challenge in my life. It’s not anymore. I am not averse to or afraid of wealth anymore. I know I am going to be wealthy. I am on the way. Now my next “challenge” is relationships. I have learnt so much from the ones that I’ve had that now I feel better knowing what I don’t want. I haven’t felt more clear about this EVER before. I now know my worth and I know what makes me special. Secretly in the recesses of my own heart I have finally admitted to myself that I am a brilliant musician with a very subtle yet sharp understanding between different streams of music. This is not arrogance. It’s just knowing something undeniable. And knowing it makes me feel great and grateful. Hence, I will be unable to walk into something through the pet door. I don’t care if it takes long, because I know that I am worth the wait. If you’ve noticed, I am talking about the importance of self-worth more than romantic relationships. But that’s the whole point. A healthy self-image is indispensable to a gratifying relationship with another human being. Personally, I feel good about myself because I take responsibility, I introspect and make changes and I am a giver…that’s how I am made and I think it’s a very desirable quality. Make a list of things that you like about your romantic personality and see your belief rise. I can’t predict when the “person of my dreams” is going to come wafting through the clouds. But I am preparing myself anyway. And the preparation feels awesome! Again I am stretching my mind into believing that I am worth it, I deserve love and respect, I deserve a long-term, fun relationship with someone who will love and adore me openly as much as I’ll love them…if not more.

It’s all in the mind. All of it. Events are just events. They become consequences only depending upon our perception of them.

Focus on what makes you happy. Anything. It doesn’t matter what you’re focusing on. Try it again and again. Because THAT is totally worth the effort.

The Art of Letting Go

I have been subjecting myself regularly to a lot of psychological experiments these days. Most of these experiments include adopting a certain belief and then observing how I feel and respond to it and then drawing my conclusions based on my observations.

The act of “letting go” as been a sort of challenge for me over the years especially in romantic relationships and even articles as well written as THIS ONE written by Marc and Angel, does not help sometimes to actually let go. We’ve all been there. The longest time I’ve taken to get over this one person from my past has been FOUR YEARS!!! That’s an awfully long time and I realized that it’s very difficult to get over a person who has especially made you very very happy. And I knew that I was doing everything to get over them sincerely but it anyway took as long as it did. Last night just before I drifted to sleep, an epiphany happened. And I smiled because I KNEW that I had hit upon the answer to the question “So how do you get over someone?” Here’s how:

1. Understand that one person cannot fulfill all your emotional needs   No matter how hard they try, it’s not always possible. But at the same time, there has to be something to stay back in a relationship. If most of your emotional needs are being ignored/trampled upon, it’s time to move away.
2. Just because you’ve spent years with a person, doesn’t mean it will work out Insistence that it SHOULD work has never worked! I know that it sometimes feels like a colossal waste of time and energy to run behind something that was never meant to be. But trust this: Walking away is cutting your losses in some cases. Don’t spend yourself completely in the hope of a miracle. Miracles happen because of our beliefs, not insistence.
3. You’re responsible for how you handle situations  I know this is a cliche! In fact when going through a break-up, I always want to punch that friend who throws this line at me. But fortunately it’s true! I just realized why it’s tough for us to let go. We want this person to miss us. You know what that actually means? That we want to be valued. Let’s admit that it’s initially difficult to imagine this love of our life being happy with someone else. You know why? It’s because we want to be loved as well. For all the feelings that come up in the way of letting a relationship go, there’s an underlying reason for it. It’s hardly about the object of affection. It’s about YOU. You want to be cherished and the sudden vacuum that this person’s departure creates is a little unsettling. Do you know why we feel jealous? It’s because we want attention. The only difference is that the attention, love, affection etc that one needs is now going to come from someone else in the future and not THIS ONE person around whom our life was revolving till a few days back. Hang in there!
4. Fortify yourself  When the mind refuses to work, work your body. Do a couple of squats. Move. If you want the best, you have to be your best. You cannot expect a sexy lingerie model to think you’re hot if you haven’t worked on getting rid of your belly gut. Ain’t happening! I’m not being shallow, this is just to draw a point. There’s an unmistakable charm and air of effortless confidence about a man or woman who’s self-made. BE IT! Build your fortune- that”ll be a story that people would want to listen to. Build your body- people will respect you and ask you for advice. Build your personality- people will ask you what you do differently! Don’t be that person who passively waits for the right person to come along. Invest time in yourself to be the right person who everybody’s looking for. Start today!
5. It’s a process No matter how hard you try, it’s not going to be over in a day. The mind goes through it’s own motions-sometimes wildly so. When you can’t take it anymore, it’s okay to cry. And no, you’re not bipolar if you’re laughing at a typical “people falling” videos on YouTube. Clench your teeth and go through it. It gets better. But it takes its time. Don’t rush it. One thing that helped me was changing my cologne. I went out and bought myself a new Ferragamo cologne when I was going through the letting go process. It helps dissociate at least one sense organ from your past. And it is said that the sense of smell is the most strongly associated with memories. If everything seems impossible, try this step today.

Be proud of yourself even to think that you want to let go and let things be as they are. Be proud of yourself to think that you deserve dignity and you’re willing to give yourself that. Be proud that you value your precious life. You’re already special. All this pain that you’re currently going through, will serve as inspiration for someone else. I have gone through more break-ups than I count on one hand(no kidding) and if I can get up again and look forward to the future, so can you! 😀

(Wo)Man enough?

I keep hearing about a lot of women who want a “real man”, “gentleman”, “refined man” et al. Ironically, these same women in real life end up hooking up with an excuse of a man! Those wimpy, unsure, spineless, rudderless, approval-seeking, self-pitying breed of men who nobody really looks up to. A real man has personality, an edge, his own opinions and some principles which he will never compromise on. Despite that the manliness of men has always been challenged throughout history and popular culture. But are women woman enough to recognize and respect a “real man” who they declare they want? It’s left to be seen.

I therefore decided to come up with my own list of essential characteristics that I highly admire in the men(and women) that I have interacted with throughout my life including my own parents.

What makes a man, a Man?

1. Integrity- For me, integrity translates directly to dependability. I can’t trust someone whose actions don’t match their words most of the time. Most people find being predictable to be boring. But if there’s no consistency in actions, values, principles then it becomes difficult for trust to develop in relationships. We take the presence of integrity for granted in our closest relationships which encourages us to “lean on” our partners, open up to them, be vulnerable in front of them. Which means that if our partner has said before that they love us, we are naturally inclined to believe that they have our best interest in mind and that their actions will be in accordance with that sentiment. That is to say that we trust our partner to have integrity. And that’s why integrity comes first!
2. Generosity- It’s an extremely charming quality to have in a man or woman. The inclination to give without expecting much in return. It could mean, being generous with love, warmth, praise, gifts, attention, hugs, warmth, appreciation, help. A generous spirit speaks a lot about a person. Look out for it!
3. Commitment- Commitment comes where convenience ends. We don’t need commitment to be on Facebook all day. But we need it to actually accomplish something in real life. It takes commitment to work on and weed out our flaws. It takes commitment to stay on in a relationship when things don’t look too bright. It takes commitment to workout when all we feel like doing is sitting on our behinds. Some people always have one foot in the door when they’re in a relationship because of a notion that being commitment-phobic is cute. It is not really. It doesn’t take any commitment to sleep around with ten women but it takes commitment to make one woman incredibly happy even after ten years. Yeah whatever. Call me old-fashioned but I find commitment very sexy!
4. Self-assurance/Confidence- A man who has confidence does not wait to seek approval from others, including from women. A confident man acts according to his own will without feeling a need for appeasement. He can call a spade a f*&%ing spade. A confident man doesn’t have to roar nor does he have to discuss his romps with other women to prove how cool he is. A confident man doesn’t feel the need to come across as funny at someone else’s expense. A confident man stands up not just for himself but also for his people, if need be.
5. Compassion/Caring– An understanding and sensitivity toward his fellow human beings is integral to being a man. These days I see people going a little overboard by being verbally compassionate towards the terrible suffering of the children of Syria but being stone-cold towards their own family! That’s NOT compassion, I am sorry. Does he walk on the traffic-side of the road when you’re together? Does she give you a spontaneous shoulder/foot rub when she knows you’re tired? Does he make himself available when you’re feeling low? Does she buy you a little gift(it could be anything…doesn’t matter) to cheer you up when you’re super-stressed? Does he open doors for you? Is he courteous with his car-cleaners and waiters? If the answers are yes then that’s because of compassion.
6. Passion– I find people without passion rather dull. They’re not passionate in love nor in life. It’s all like an attitude of passivity; allowing life to operate on auto-pilot. A passionate person is naturally motivated and inspired by something higher than himself. Although I understand that not all of us are fortunate to find an occupation or hobby that we’re passionate about. But that can’t be an excuse to not BE passionate. There’s passion even in love. People who love passionately, allow themselves to feel unhindered emotion for this loved one, they allow themselves to be pulled by their heart, they don’t blunt what they feel under the guise of humour or some other excuse. Passionate people don’t feel ashamed of what they feel. There also could be a passion for sport, self-improvement, music, literature, dance, community service, travel, motivational speaking etc. The list is endless.
7. Ambition– It’s ambition that drives men. Especially when the men they look up to are achievers, it fuels ambition. To me, a man who’s not ambitious, is a man who doesn’t care to give his personal best. He’s someone who’s unwilling to take risks and digest the possibility of failure. Such men come across as self-satisfied and complacent. Ambition doesn’t just mean talking about becoming a billionaire over and over again. It means doing whatever is needed to achieve that goal. Better life, better body, better mind, better money, better skills etc. Ambition and self-improvement are in that sense a similar thing.
8. Responsibility– A man takes total responsibility for his life. 100%. No exceptions. There’s a difference between that and blame. Blame is just shifting the responsibility to someone or something else. A responsibility is taken with a resolve to face the consequences without complaining or making the situation better…again without complaining. Really, nobody like a whinoceros! A responsible man will speak and act with thought of consequences not just for himself but also for others. A responsible man is an asset to anyone’s life. He’ll take the responsibility of driving his friends when they all want to drink. He’s the one who’ll wait to drive a lady friend back home even if it’s inconvenient. He takes responsibility for whatever best he can do in his most cherished relationships to make sure that it grows and is well-nurtured. A responsible man is self-reliant. He doesn’t have to shout at his mother or girlfriend to find his socks. He takes responsibility and enjoys it.
9. Humour- A man who can’t laugh at himself is a sour puss! But at the same time, I am beginning to see sometimes that being funny is overrated. It’s almost like it makes up for not having everything else! “….yeah he’s quite an asshole, but he’s really funny!” BAM! Redemption for being asshole. For instance, I was performing in Germany couple of years back and one such “funny” guy thought it would be hilarious to keep my guitar-case in the middle of the road, after my performance ended. So apparently the joke was: “oh where’s the guitar?!!! It’s in the middle of a road hahaha”.  I therefore know that humour is very subjective. But there are still some kinds of funny that are unbecoming of a man/woman. For example, making fun of your guy’s cojones or of your wife’s grandma-style underwear in front of people, your girlfriend’s ass or your boyfriend’s impotence. These are NEVER funny. There’s a difference between being funny and being abusive/offensive. Unfortunately in such cases humour is a lost art. But just yesterday I met a fine young man who’s one of the most silent people I have met. And yet he’s so damn funny! He didn’t need to keep yapping all the time to be funny. He just said these 2-3 hilarious things yesterday that had us in splits!  So there, a nice and subtle Chanandler Bong.
10. Love- Last but not the least. What’s a man who cannot or has not loved! There’s really nothing cute about a man who’s a commitment-phobe. Since we’re on the topic of Chanandler Bong, even Chandler grew a pair and took steps forward when he was in love. EVEN CHANDLER. He had issues, he worked on them. He’s happily married with two kids and Joey. So what if your heart broke once? You’re sit over there and cry like a girl? Or set out on making yourself a man that someone would want to be with? What’s a man who cannot show love and affection? What use is he to anyone who is not passionate about the one he loves?

So this is my list of the “real man”. But these qualities apply to women as well.

The Universe, my best friend.

I always always know when something amazing is about to happen. It sounds a bit strange since we’re only used to hearing how we know beforehand when something terrible is about to happen. But really, I always know about wonderful news. It may be because I do something very specific and ritualistic everytime I feel like I am stuck in a place or emotion where I’d rather NOT be. In that sense, yesterday was the last straw. I wasted my whole day sulking and terrifying myself about various aspects about my seemingly difficult life. I felt utter hopelessness in people and humanity, listless about love and relationships, insecure about my talents, afraid of what all these thoughts would do to my health. It was a terrible day which I had brought upon myself and I couldn’t get out of it. But then I got up from the bed in a swift motion and shouted “ENOUGH” at my innocent bedroom walls. I don’t know what magic that word ‘enough’ had or perhaps physically moving into a standing posture did it, but something in me changed. It was like a warrior woke up from his slumber. It was then that I decided to take things into my own hands and change whatever was gnawing into my heart. I closed the blinds, put on lights and music and started talking to myself about what was bothering me. I was asking myself questions out loud, “So now what are you going to do about it?!” and then I would answer myself, “I know that the only effective way is to do things within my control and let go of the rest. But it’s hard. Very hard.” Then consoled myself, “I know. I of all people know that it is hard. But how long can you waste time like this? You have things to do, wonderful things to achieve! Go after them now.”

I started feeling better. It was like someone with my highest good and utmost love in mind was talking directly to me, wanting to help me out of this deep hole that I’d dug myself. And then something miraculous happened. I started laughing. Alone. Laughing at the things that were hurting me, holding me down! I mean LAUGHING! It was funny and a bit scary because I really thought I was losing my mind. Then I laughed and cried a little simultaneously and then…BOOM! Clarity dawned.

I sat down and wrote in my book where I usually pen down poetry and compositions. I wrote this:”I have decided that I have finished sulking. That’s the good news. There’s no bad news. From now on slowly and steadily I will start renewing my life, start rethinking goals and work toward them. Fitness, music, wealth, money, love, my philosophy…everything anew. I knew I would be tired of crying very soon.”

And the Universe responded in less than ten minutes with an amazing opportunity for my career! Then in the morning I got a call for work which is to be done tomorrow. The Universe wants to pay me in cash and kind! And this is how I know when something awesome is about to happen to me. Every time I have taken even a small step in the right direction, the Universe has responded with such signs to tell me that I am heading the correct way. Every single time.

I recommend the self-induced laughter therapy very strongly. Whatever it is that will make one feel even a little better is good enough! It feels crazy at first. But hey, it’s not as bat-shit crazy like sulking! So, go for it!

Partners in crime?

I just came across this quote by Alain de Botton

Tendencies you complain of in your partner (he’s too weak, she’s too strict, he’s too cold), you have in yourself: own before dumping.

It got me thinking. And thoughts similar to these have always made me wonder if there’s literal truth in it.

So what does that mean? Is it to be taken literally?

I don’t think it’s even logically possible to arrive at that conclusion. Because to take it literally would mean that if one’s partner is physically abusive, then even the person themselves are abusive. Or if one is a compulsive cheater, then even the partner is a cheater. But these conclusions do not make any sense. Is an angry person’s partner also angry? Is a cold person’s love-interest cold too? So then all people who are more similar to each other than different from each other, would face more relationship troubles. Because by this logic, only a non-affectionate person would complain about a non-affectionate partner, only a disrespectful, abusive, judgmental person would complain about a disrespectful, abusive, judgmental partner. But truth is that we see far too many examples of couples being radically different from each other and yet facing very grave relationship problems.

I am a big fan and believer of the Law of Attraction and it says

That which is like unto itself, is drawn.

And the answer lies here. What one focuses on with thought and emotion, manifests. Simple.

There’s someone I know whose relationships have been quite tumultuous to say the least. And all of their relationships ultimately broke because they got cheated on. It was like a pattern. They were wonderful in the beginning and then they all headed the same way. What went wrong? Well, I’d think that when we begin to expect certain outcomes from our relationships, whether because of our insecurities or very strong past experiences, we focus on these outcomes(which haven’t yet manifest) by dwelling on the past and allowing all these overwhelming feelings to well up and then similar situations start lining up again and again. Also as far as complaints about our partner go, they are our complaints to our own self. For example, I had a partner who would call me ugly. Really. Not even masking it. The word was UGLY. I laugh over it now. But at that time it felt terrible. In retrospect I feel that I didn’t believe I was good-looking to start with and I kind of attracted that behaviour from them. I am in no way justifying what they did! But I am specially mentioning this because, after this relationship ended(I ended it), I joined a gym, got in shape, felt genuinely good about myself, got around to being an awesome musician etc. And then the next partner I dated was wonderful! They made me feel like the sexiest thing on two legs. I felt sexy, confident, like I could take on an entire room. It’s not like I turned into a swan overnight! I changed how I felt about myself and therefore I saw that change in my partner as well. In fact my partner thought that I looked hot even with a toothbrush dangling from the corner of my mouth!

This sort of explanation makes the most sense to me. I can say this much with guarantee that if your better-half(or worse-half) treats you less than right, it’s perhaps because you’re not expecting to be treated just right as well. So, yeah that’s kind of your work to do; to work on your self-worth, self-love, decide what you want from life, decide that you deserve it. That’s the work.

Heterophobia, anyone?

People love theories. Many of us have a theory about practically everything under the Sun. People love to discuss the ‘whys’ and the cause and effect of things. People even have theories about other people. And of course, there is everyone’s favourite theory of Homosexuality. Everyone you meet will have a theory about it. Biological? Mental? Psychological? Pre-natal? Pre-birth? Situational? Blah? Blah blah? Blah blah blah?

It’s the most interesting when self-proclaimed straight people spring theories about homosexuality! Heck, even homosexuals have a theory on homosexuals.

Today I am postulating a theory about heterosexuality. Why? Because I can. That’s why.

I think we are all born gay. ALL of us. And that our tendency at birth is to be homosexual. But because our societal structure is so warped, we’re not given any sort of choice when we grow up because we are apparently sperm and egg producing machines and our primary goal in life is to procreate and populate this planet with healthy off spring since our species is dwindling rapidly. And keeping this end goal in mind, society lends heterosexual couples its stamp of approval and scowls at ANYTHING otherwise. That’s not very wise I think.

Also there are then several benefits of conformity that this society bestows upon the sperm-egg alliance. One of them is that without having to do any real achievement in life too, society looks admiringly at the newly Spermegged( see what I did there?) ones. It earns them an unsaid respect. Have you met ANYONE who shuffled around awkwardly wondering what the hell to say when they were told by this newly Spermegged person? No! The reaction is always, “Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And always exaggerated too. Another GREAT benefit of being a part of a majority of the crowd in society is that there can always be dinner table conversation starters. Spouses, honeymoons, kids(of course), future, kids’ future, insurance, goals, marital bliss(of course. That’s compulsory) etc. Now if you’re a heterosexual who’s looking to get married, or a closet homosexual who wants to be in the closet but only exposes flailing arms at appropriate junctures indicating a wish to be married, that ALSO earns you a lot of respect in society. Society bemoans the dearth of suitable matches for these wonderful and fertile human beings. This is all very serious business. Apparently.

In this business of  exaggerated extremes of emotions of congratulating and bemoaning heterosexuals, where’s the space for asking, “What if I don’t want to be spermegged?” There isn’t.

Now give me ONE reason why I should not feel heterophobic!!

So if homosexuals are time and again accused of being homosexual by choice not birth, I accuse heterosexuals of being straight WITHOUT even a choice. Read it again if it’s confusing.

The next time someone asks you, “When did you figure that you were gay?”, I encourage you to ask them, “When did you figure that you were straight?”.  If you meet a bigot who throws “it’s unnatural” at you, talk to them about anal or BJs. When they tell you, “of course it was going to get over. Why did you go after someone whom you knew was straight?”, tell them “at least I have an excuse of being gay and so it didn’t work out. What’s yours?” Ha! You see? It can be a lot of fun.

To summarize my theory, ALL of us are born gay. We just BECOME straight out of no choice.

Life sans Facebook & Twitter

I am currently relishing the silence and peace that has been brought by breaking up with social media. It left my brain buzzing after a long day on Twitter; and by ‘buzzing’, I literally felt that it was buzzing. Going away from Facebook and Twitter has been the best decision of this year so far!

Even more so because I am a huge fan of the Law of attraction and in turn of Personal development or self-improvement. I like to see myself as a deliberate creator of all my experiences-good and bad. And the last one and half year has shown me some great results in my career, interpersonal relationships and finances. I have come from having practically NO money to having more money than I can spend. But now I want more. I want to do much more. What was once out of my reach, is already my comfort zone now. And now begins one more round of thinking about what I really want, how much I want, what will I do once I get it etc.

And that’s the Work! Unless I sift through life-options, I won’t know what I really really really want. For this work to happen, a certain degree of quietude is required. It’s trickier than one would imagine. I know more people who have no frickin’ clue of what they really want(because they don’t see HOW they’ll get it) than the ones who know and are going after it. In fact come to think of it, I know only one such person who is deliberately living happily. And she’s one of the wisest people that I know.

So this quietude is IMPOSSIBLE with facebook and its other evil twin chipping away at precious mental resources. I also think that too much online presence robs one of emotional responsiveness. At least, that’s what happened to me! I am a musician and composer and emotions are my friends. Dark emotions are my muses. Because of my brain being re-wired to constantly liking or tweeting something, I was hardly ever present in my own life! It seemed impossible to sit down for a couple of hours and finish composing a piece. Firstly, there wasn’t any place in my brain from all that buzzing, for a thought to come and settle down. Secondly, I didn’t have the headspace to give thought to that settled thought. Thirdly, I didn’t want to go through the painful process of seeing the song built till its last chord; tweeting was easier! Everything on social media is so transient. One can’t get attached to any thought/event for longer than 10 seconds. And it was very damaging to the musician’s spirit inside me. I need to be attached to my song. I need to be attached to( at least in that moment) the person that I am holding in my heart as I write the song. Then I have to use my craft, which is chords, rhythm, melody, scales etc and rehearse and repeat the song a hundred times microscopically hovering over every little detail to see if it matches the feeling I want to evoke. It’s an emotionally taxing process. Ask any songwriter worth his salt and he’ll tell you.

Honestly, inspiration to write songs has not struck me yet, but I know that this is a great step in the right direction. I am practising guitar everyday; back to the basics and I know that that’s where all my joy and motivation lies.

If any of you have been thinking of going off Facebook, please do it. It will feel odd at first, but trust me, you’ll be relieved to be out of the black hole!

Reclaiming Life

In one line, I’m off time vampires-Facebook and Twitter.
I just deactivated my Facebook account and guess what? My life isn’t falling apart without knowing who is doing what.
It perhaps isn’t time to be too excited yet since it’s just the first day. But I have already listened to and downloaded(after buying) a ton of my favourite music- Vivaldi, Rachmaninoff,  Kishori Amonkar. That’s more music than I’ve heard in the last one week!
I don’t plan to come back to Facebook again ever. So let’s see how that goes.