the now

Day 662

Posted by

0

“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Day 661

Posted by

0

Recently, there has been heaps and heaps of bad news from all around the world. The planet seems to be engulfed in hatred and tragedy of one sort or another. The terror attacks in Istanbul, Baghdad, Nice, Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Germany and Japan, the horrific and unending war in Syria spilling over into other middle eastern countries, the military coup in Turkey, the people vs authorities violence in America and of course, the devastation for many due to the uncertainty caused by Brexit!

What happens when these events are played over and over, round the clock on radio and TV? How does that affect our psyche?

As humans we focus on the bad stuff. Threat information activates the fear system that works to shut down the rational part of our brain. In that fearful state we look out more bad news. Elaine Fox at the University of Oxford says, ”The sense of immediacy of 24-hours rolling news means the brain is saying ‘this is a real threat to me’.”

The vividness of the images can skew our sense of risk. Even if the possibility of us being involved in an incident of that nature is miniscule, it seems disproportionately large. This induces a state of stress which is constant.

The good news is that we adapt. Whatever the news, we get habituated to it.

A landmark study done in 1978 by Brickman et al showed that after 2 years, lottery winners and people paralysed in accidents showed little change in overall happiness, getting used to their new state. Other studies have shown similar results confirming that severe outcomes do not have as great an impact as might be expected.

 

 

Day 660

Posted by

0

article-writing-1

Since Day 0 writing a few words everyday has become a sacred ritual. Of late I have been struggling to remember how things were on Planet Before. My memory of myself from the past is now faded and hazy. I can’t remember how exactly things used to be. I can’t remember writing in any meaningful way ever before or having any talent or aspirations for writing. I did enjoy poetry but writing as much as a global e-mail within my department would make me quite nervous. I avoided the ‘reply all’ button at all cost.

This morning while sorting out some old papers I found a loose ruled A4 sheet with a shopping list in pencil on one side and a few lines in black fountain pen scribbled on the other side dated 9th November 2010. All of this was in my hand-writing. Reading these lines felt like I was being re-introduced to someone I once knew.

“Today my heart is pink,
And for no reason at all
My voice wants to sing.

The autumn leaves, burgundy and orange
Dancing along the pavement
Anticipating change.

The skies unable to make up their mind,
Sometimes dark, sometimes light
Playing with time.

My fingers a bit achy
After 13 hours of work
I notice me feeling a bit shaky.

But my spirit shines
I feel the warmth of a pair of glowing hands
Holding me safe and keeping my faith.”

Day 659

Posted by

0

‘Centre for Immortality’ it calls itself, a place where death can possibly be reversed. It claims to be just an extension of emergency medicine that aims to stretch time for us mere mortals. It uses high tech procedures to retrieve bodies of people within a few minutes of their clinical death and then subjects them to cryopreservation. The aim is to minimize the rate of cellular degeneration. The blood is substituted with medical antifreeze and the bodies are kept at -196 degrees until such time as medical technology advances far enough to treat the condition the person died of. In other words, resurrect them.

Max More is the CEO of this company called Alcor Life Extension Foundation based in Arizona, USA. According to him, ”Who’s to say that in 100 years we won’t have some kind of nanotechnology that can fix cells at an individual level and repair what’s necessary to return someone to good health. We think of cryonics as a scientific experiment. People that are buried or cremated are our control group and so far, everyone in the control group has died.”

There are many arguments for and against this project. I am not sure what death is but it certainly is more than just the cessation of cellular function. For me it also involves the departure of some kind of a subtle life force from the body that cannot be reinstated merely by cellular regeneration. If these bodies are brought back to cellular life, what force of the universe would animate them? This sounds awfully like the perfect way of creating zombies.

Who knows!

 

Day 658

Posted by

0

20 minutes into a phone conversation with a close friend, he asked, ‘Do you feel free?’

Wow! Do I feel free? Is it natural for me to feel more free than I did before? Am I supposed to? How are different levels of freedom experienced? Does it have to do with being in a particular job or living in a particular city or having a particular partner or dressing in a particular way? Or does it have to do with how I feel within myself? Do I feel free?

Saagar was my pride and joy and also my responsibility. Now I feel responsible for the well being of all the young people out there. I have learnt that it’s not easy to be young. Earlier I was focused on providing for us but now it’s just Si and me. I don’t worry about us. I know we’ll be fine. Earlier I lived very much within my own little world and now I have a much more expansive existence. I often wasn’t very attentive or sensitive to the people around me but now I am. Having lost what was most dear to me, I fear nothing. From a place of survival, I find myself in a place where I have something to offer to the world. I need to be aware to not attach myself to any particular identity – doctor, grieving mother, victim, indian, woman, etc. All I am is human.

Hey! Guess what. I am free.