Story & Mental Well Being

We naturally think of our own lives as stories, psychologists say. Changing the way you tell your scan help you handle whatever plot twists
come your way.
Jennifer King Lindley

 We all enjoy a good story. Listening to tales growing up, be it about a mythological character or a real life character always keeps us engrossed. We are glued to our TV sets & run to Movie halls for the same reasons. Facebook & Twitter owe their success to our penchant for stories.

Stories are how we naturally conceive of our own lives as well. “Our lives are so complex that we need some way to make sense
of them,” says Jonathan Adler, PhD, a professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts.
“When we construct a narrative, it allows us to hold on to the important parts, filter out the trivial, and find a meaningful

pattern in it all.”

Our daily life becomes mundane with routine activities. however we forget that we are the protagonists & the narrator of a significant tale: our life story. The only hinderance to our appreciating the significance of our stories is that we are not reliable interpreters or narrators. When we are upset, we paint a grim picture with same incidents that otherwise would not have bothered us. we lose focus and tend to revolve in circles.

Researchers at Northwestern University found that people who tend to tell their stories with GRIM colours (Contaminated stories) are low on mental well being than those that weave stories with a "Silver Lining"

slight paraphrasing, a change of tone; to our story can help us become happier, develop better relationships & achieve more success. 

POINTS TO PONDER

Article source: Power of a story (Real Simple)

Keh Mukariya By Amir khusro

The name Amir Khusro is unknown to none. 
Presenting a beautiful art of keh - mukariya or "guess what" poetry by the Father of Qawwali.

The Etiquettes of A Fall

I always took the safer road, the slow lane, the vacant seats.

Played Safe.

And then once, the safest traveler takes a leap, not as much a leap of faith, as give in to wilderness, the unshackling… a feeble and rare endeavor to experience proclivity.

One night I found myself, on the edge of insanity, engulfed in murk, and on the side of a road completely unknown. My vision blurred, (mostly because I’d lost my spectacles), and an echo blared in my ears as if all my ancestors (dead and undead) chose that very moment to knock some sense in to me by literally knocking on my eardrums; in unison.

Yes, I had erred, faltered monstrously (pun intended) and slipped.

Now, the difference between a pusillanimous prude and an oblivious derelict is how he deals with the “slip”, the etiquette of brushing off the dust from his body with a thousand pair of ostensibly vigilant but actually amused eyes tracing all his moves.

While the indiscretions of a recurrent errant train him to such performances; wherein his expertise enables him to do the same with the kenspeckle of the star performer; rendering him an “Artful Dodger”; the novice slipper feebly attempts to shroud himself in diaphanous cloak of discomfiture. Every moment, with every movement the latter remains agonizingly aware of the fall.

And so was I. New to the art of dodging eyes; the flush of shame ripe and reflecting profusely. Palpitations intensified. What have I done! Where could I have slowed down! And yet I knew the palpitations were knocking and forcing open the doors. And then I did the only thing I do under stress.

Sitting on the raw shingle, dry grass tickling my sole, and prodding eyes feigning to sympathy; I wrote a poem in my newly found state of exploit. Here it goes:

Other-worldly words.... Japanese (1): Waldeinsamkeit

There are three things one must know about TRADITIONAL Japanese art; the beliefs and aesthetics of The Japanese:

• ·         They find beauty in the most simplest of daily rituals, phenomenon and occurrences.

• ·         They have the ability to capture and express this abstract beauty in most phenomenal and spectacular manner.

• ·         Each of these representations has a spiritual and moral connection that leaves a tangible mark on its audience.

Stressing the word ‘TRADITIONAL’ is important because as technology has rendered obsolete the concept of distance and time; time no more flies with wings… it comes knocking at your doorstep even before the first rays of dawn and carries in to a virtual world that becomes reality as the reality fades away. So Japanese art too has undergone commercialization and yet; unlike other cultures the tenets have in some measures been preserved.

Before proceeding further, I must clarify that I am neither an expert of Japanese art nor a student. However just like a wrong note makes a rhythm cacophonous (and you don’t need to be an artiste to identify it), “a thing of beauty is joy forever”; so it is with all art form.

Japanese Author Hiromu Arakawa says,

"Nothing is perfect, the world's not perfect. But its there for us, trying the best it can; and thats what makes it so damn beautiful".

Now if I am not an expert, what gives me authority to write about Japanese art!!!

One: my page is about opinions, primarily mine (you are welcome too).

Two: I was pulled in to it as I set out on a journey to explore the outworldly words.....initiated as a humble thought to expand my vocabulary in an attempt to make it more ornate 😉
😉

So today I came across the word "Waldeinsamkeit".

In absence  of an accurate alternative English phrase or for that matter an approximate explanation in any language, I would be using multiple modes (images, poems, and abstract art) to build an understanding of this beautiful feeling.

For those who have already experienced it.... well enjoy the deja vu 😇😇 .  
For me, its a longing I have met before... and continue to long for.

 

Now just close your eyes, relinquish all other divagation, 'vacate the vessel' and let the void prevail.

Listen to the rustle, the leaves brushing against each other..... 

The distant trickle of water, and a mild breeze.... a whiff and a waft on the skin.

Now listen to the distant trickle of water; an incessant chatter of birds......

Now Imagine a light, a narrow but bright beam brushing past the leaves, filtering thought your eyelids. Imagine multiple similar drizzles of rays. All percolating through your thoughts instilling a tranquility. A Quiet noise. A tree with leaves hidden in the light that illuminates it. And now glance at the ground beneath you; see the shadows.... seek the shapes visible among the shadows.

Ending the word with a beautiful poem, the closest I could get in an attempt to seize on the amazing perception of Waldeinsamkeit.......