My Rock Painting Hobby

Rock painting has been such a fun and joy-filled activity for me these past several days and I’m having a blast with it. It’s not only been therapeutic but just enormous amount of fun. I haven’t had so many colors in front of me in so long and it just makes me so ecstatic!!! This summer I started getting more into gardening and this goes so hand-in-hand with that hobby of mine. I’m still learning both of them, but both of these activities bring me so much joy! Here are the photos of some of the rocks I have painted: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17864036462577357/.

My colleague, Claire, inspired me to start this hobby. She shared rocks she and her son painted and I instantly fell in love with this art. I inquired about it and then started reading blogs and other websites for it and also watched several YouTube videos before I started painting my own rocks. I’m going to link all of these things below in case you’d also like to start rock painting. I’ve been getting this question quite a lot so thought I’d just put the info in a blog post and share. 

First and foremost, be safe while doing everything and enjoy it and share with others around you! 💗😁

Here’s what I do for my rock painting:

1. Get the rocks. Select the kinds you’d like to paint. They could be any shape or color. I have quite a few in my backyard / garden that I purchased long while ago so I just go pick some out from there. My suggestion is to buy some from local stores. I got some of mine at TriCity Rock here: http://www.tricityrock.com. There are many other places that sell rocks. 
2. Wash and prep the rocks. I wash the rocks with soapy water and brush in sink, making sure the bits from rocks don’t go in sink / garbage disposal. You can also wash them in two buckets - one with soapy water and other with clean water. Make sure to remove the dirt and other things from them. This video has been very helpful to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD_v8zg26VU.
3. Let the rocks dry completely before you start painting them. I let them air dry on towel or plate in the yard and go flip them after a few min to let the other side try.
4. Get acrylic painting pens or colors and brushes, whichever you prefer. I use the Artistro acrylic painting pens. Here are the links to purchase them:
1. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07485T22B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NS381GK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NSP573D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
5. Paint the rocks. This is the most fun part!! Enjoy it!! Let your imaginations run wild and also get inspired by everything around you (several links with ideas below).
6. Let the rocks dry completely.
7. Seal your rocks. If you plan to place your rocks outdoors or near water, make sure to seal them before you do that. You can spray them or paint them with sealant. See this page on how to: https://rockpainting101.com/how-to-seal-painted-rocks/. I haven’t sealed any of my rocks yet. Waiting for my Krylon spray paint to arrive. I have ordered this one and it’s on the way: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O7HTDQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Once I have used it, I’ll share how I like it.
8. Let the rocks dry completely.
9. Use your painted & sealed rocks in your home, garden, desk, anywhere you like and gift them to loved ones. You can also hide them in open public places for strangers to find them and spread kindness and positivity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindness_Rock_Project I didn’t know this was a big thing until recently! Check out here for more on that: https://www.google.com/search?q=best+places+to+hide+painted+rocks&sxsrf=ALeKk03U40trOU1l96ECfDo3zE_vMmjlRw%3A1627928377056&source=hp&ei=OTcIYfQF6M7Q8Q_rhBg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYQhFSWigbd3pOQDn1qiQFl5oNHpU6CA2&oq=hide+painted+rocks.  

Here are some more links to check out:

My favorite rock painting blog / resource: https://rockpainting101.com/

Rock painting ideas: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rock+painting+ideas

More Rock painting ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=rock%20painting%20%20markers&rs=rs&eq=&etslf=3585&term_meta[]=rock%7Crecentsearch%7C4&term_meta[]=painting%7Crecentsearch%7C4&term_meta[]=markers%7Crecentsearch%7C4

More Rock painting ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=rock%20painting%20ideas&eq=rock%20painting&etslf=2101&term_meta[]=rock%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta[]=painting%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta[]=ideas%7Cautocomplete%7C0

More rock painting ideas: https://www.google.com/search?q=rock+painting+ideas 

Hope these are of help!! If you do start rock painting, please share your work. I'd love to see it! 💖👍😃

Kanan

Life is happening for us, for me

Until very recently, I thought human life was a sentence. As in a jail time and we have to endure it until the end of the life, whenever that might be. Waiting for the end to arrive while we suffer. We are brought here to go through all of our past and present accounts to pay off as many of the debts as possible. That was the mindset I had. It wasn’t all my life but since my challenging college/university days, that’s what I believed. 

Earlier this year, I got a cancer diagnosis and I realized things needed to change in the way my mind worked, in the way I thought. I started to seek all kinds of help from everywhere possible. A few amazing books, more readings, a lot of different types of therapies, some meditation and tons of affirmation cards (more on all those soon) later, I have realized that life is the most beautiful thing ever and I’m truly blessed to have gotten a chance to experience it and to be living it right now. 

A meditation session at work yesterday also confirmed the same. The meditation teacher said “Life is not happening at us. Life is happening for us. Life is on our side. It is not a trap. We are not helpless. We are in charge.” His session went on to describe life as our personal movie and we are the star as well as the director of that movie. Despite of all the struggles, conflicts, challenges, and uncertainty it brings, it is our ability to experience all those and feel the emotions and act with our most authentic selves is what makes it a beautiful movie, which would be quite boring otherwise. And that we have complete control over it about how to experience it. It is that movie that brings us opportunities, teachings and lessons that we wouldn’t have gotten if it were only a happy-go-lucky kind of "boring" movie. This philosophy resonates with me so deeply. I’m realizing how wrong I was in thinking about it as a punishment. With the new experiences I have had in last couple of months, I’m experiencing first hand that this life is truly my friend, my companion, a miraculous thing and so full of excitement! I just have to take time to experience it all and see it and feel it myself. I’m truly grateful to be alive!!!

The hardest question

2021-03-25

Have you ever faced the hardest question of your life? She asked me if the visitors were coming at home to send her off because she’s going to die soon. 

She could see it coming I am guessing. Five days before, when our cousin was going to visit us for two days from out of town, she asked me if she was coming over to say final goodbye. I answered her with a smile and a gentle touch on her arm (I couldn’t hug her because that was too painful for her) as I choked, with an extra large lump in my throat, trying very hard not to cry in front of her: “She is coming to see you, to see us. It’s been a while since she came by so she’s just visiting. We are going to have fun!” Four days later, she left. 

Life is like that. You think the hardest things are painful experiences, but the hardest is to keep living those experiences after your loved one leaves you, because you can’t forget it. You can’t release it. You can’t get it out of your system. Some day, I hope to let it all go. Hoping it’s soon. 

That lump is back in my throat and vision hazy that I can’t see clearly. So I pause for now.

Ho'oponopono - the Hawaiian forgiveness prayer

Recently, as in last week, I discovered this Hawaiian forgiveness prayer "Ho'oponopono" that one uses to forgive themselves. It is very simple to practice yet very powerful. It goes like this:

When we do this prayer, we are supposed to say all of these statements to our very own self as it is said that any and all healing happens within us first. Even when someone around you is unwell, you can heal them by doing this prayer for yourself. I was truly astonished when I first read it. I had to reread it to let that sink in. How do I heal others by healing myself? But it's true. Here's hoping I am able to do this as often and as much as possible. 🙏 

More about ho'oponopono here: https://www.wanttoknow.info/070701imsorryiloveyoujoevitale

Love more, worry less :)

I have a humble request.

Please don’t be sad and please don’t worry. Also, please don’t feel sorry, dislike my condition or feel any other negative emotions. Words like “sorry about your condition”, “be tough”, “fight this”, “kick this out” or similar sentiments don’t help the healing process, at least in my opinion. When you think about me and otherwise…. Be happy. Exude love. Love yourself. Love others around you. Love everything around you. Just love! My aunt, who’s like a big sister to me, tells me love and happiness have tremendous healing powers so surround yourselves with only these two as much as you can. 

This is a learning opportunity for me rather than a fight or a challenge or a war or a battle. It is my journey to healing and I want to make it as much fun and positive as possible. This path to healing has been beautiful and filled with self-discoveries. Introspection is something I do a lot more of than I ever did before in my life. Until recently, I didn’t know what “going inwards” meant. Now I am learning about it and practicing it. It’s liberating and empowering!

The condition I have, has been created by me, of course, completely unintentionally. It is some disturbance in the tissues, imbalance in the cells and I don’t want to refer to it as anything else or anything dangerous. I am not afraid of it and I don’t want you to feel afraid of it or have fears about it. I have been giving a lot of love to my tissues and cells for them to get stronger and heal, and I do not want to think of them as an enemy or demon or something to be disliked. They’re all my tissues and the current situation has been created because of imbalances. Imbalances of emotions, imbalances of nutrients, imbalances in immune system because of various known and unknown reasons. I have learned that all of our cells and tissues have a natural ability to come back to balance and repair themselves and I’m doing as many things as I know of and trust to bring them all back in balance so that they can heal naturally. And I know it in my heart that they're all going to heal naturally along with the conventional treatments I am going to get. 

So when you think of me and my condition, I want you to feel happiness, shower your love and not be afraid. Think of it as an opportunity for yourselves as well… to learn from observation and to love more. Love yourself. Love me. <3 

I thank you. 🙏🙏🙏

I love you. 💗💗💗

PS. If you said/used any of those words I'm requesting not to use, please don't feel bad. 😊It is very natural and completely understandable sentiment that we feel when we hear about this.

On My Journey to Healing, You’re invited...

 

Yesterday was a big day! I mustered up the courage to share with rest of the world what's new in my life. Life brings us lots of opportunities to learn new things, things we'd never otherwise learn. This is one of those learning phases of my life and I'm here with my mind, body, and soul to learn all that life has to offer to me.

The love that's been pouring onto me from all around has been tremendous. I'm feeling super grateful, extremely blessed and so so loved that words do not do justice to the joy and love that fills my heart right now. It's been hard to keep up with all the love messages, but hopefully I will get to respond to each and every loved one who has sent their love, blessings and prayers for me. I am truly grateful! 

Relationships advice from Sadhguru

More storms arising in the place called mind about so many things and my two lifelines come to rescue. One suggested to start listening to Sadhguru and the other one sent this video link: 

Now how to remind self of this every single day and every moment when the mind and heart wants to think relationships are absolute that in reality it's all variable. Didn't realize Mathematics / Algebra had so many levels and can be applied to life too. :)

As for the punishment part, I think we as a person are no one to punish anyone. The karma itself brings about its results to the doer of it and even if it doesn't, it shouldn't be our business to punish anyone else for anything they're doing. Only our own karma is in our hands and we as people have no control over what others do or don't do. 

These are all reminders to self. For our betterment, for our well-being, for a peaceful future.

Moon and Jupiter conjunction of 2019-08-09

What an exciting night! Our Moon and Jupiter and its moons have been all hanging out together from where we're looking at them since last couple of days. I got to witness them with family and capture this too. It's at times like these I feel I should invest in a telescope but gotta have time to do the research and then make the investment. Hopefully that time will come sooner than later :)

Apparently, Saturn was also hanging out nearby with Pluto somewhere close by, but my camera and lens couldn't get them all in single shot so I shot Saturn separately. Pluto couldn't be recognized to my naked eye. Those photos weren't the clearest so no logs of them here.

More info about the conjunction here: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/get-your-telescopes-ready-the-moon-will-appear-close-to-these-2-planets-this-weekend/70009028

Moon and its gorgeous craters

Moon, Jupiter on lower right and Jupiter's four moons (if you zoom-in enough)

રાજા રામ અને ભરતજી નો ભ્રાતૃપ્રેમ

કાકાએ આજે સરસ મજાનો રામાયણ નો પ્રસંગ યાદ અપાવી દીધો. શ્રી રામ, લક્ષ્મણ અને સિતાજી સાથે વન માં જઈ રહ્યા છે અને ભરતજીને આ વાતની ખબર પડે છે. 

ભરતજી તાબડતોબ શ્રી રામને મળવા જાય છે. ભાઈ પાસે પહોંચી ને ખૂબ મનાવે છે કે ઘરે પાછા ફરો અને રાજ પાઠ સંભાળો.

પિતા નો આદેશ એમ કેમ તોડી નંખાય? શ્રી રામ ભાઈ ભરતને ના પડે છે. ખૂબ કરગર્યા છતાં જ્યારે બંને ભાઈઓ માં સુલેહ નથી થતો ત્યારે શ્રી રામ જનક રાજા ને બોલાવે છે અને મદદ માંગે છે કે આ સમસ્યા નો હલ શું છે? જનક રાજા ખૂબ જ ધૈર્યવાન, વાત જાણી ને ભરતજીને પૂછે છે કે તમે ભાઈને શા માટે પાછા બોલાવો છો? ભરતજી કહે છે કે "આ રાજ્ય તો ભાઈનું છે અને હું રાજા થવાને અધિકારી નથી. મારી ઈચ્છા છે કે ભાઈ પાછા ફરે અને તેમનું રાજ્ય સાંભળે."

ત્યારે જનક રાજા ભરતજી ને કહે છે: જો આપણે કોઈક ને ચાહિયે અને તેમની પર માન રાખતા હોઈએ તો એવી અપેક્ષા ન રાખવી જોઈએ કે આપણે જે કહીયે તેવું તેઓ કરે. જેની પર પ્રેમ છે તે વ્યક્તિ ને શું ગમે છે? તેમને શું કરવું છે તે જાણવું જોઈએ અને તે કરવું જોઈએ. ભરતજી ને તત્કાલ વિચાર થાય છે કે જનક રાજા ખરી વાત કહે છે. ભાઈને પૂછે છે: "ભાઈ, (તમે) મને આજ્ઞા કરો, હું શું કરું." એવું નથી પૂછતાં કે તમારે શું કરવું છે? બસ, એમ જ પૂછે છે. હું શું કરું? આગળ શું થાય છે તે આપણને સૌને ખબર જ છે.

વાત એમ છે કે જયારે આપણે આપણા સ્વજનોની પાસે થી કઈક અપેક્ષા રાખીયે છીએ કે તેઓ કઈક વસ્તુ કરે કે અમુક પ્રકારનું વર્તન કે વ્યવહાર કરે, ત્યારે આપણે ખરેખર તેમને ગમે તેવું કરવા માંગીયે છીએ કે આપણને ગમે તેવું? વિચાર કરવા જેવું છે. ખાસ કરીને જયારે ઘરના લોકો ની વાત હોય - માં, બાપ, ભાઈ-ભાંડું, સંતાનો, વિ. જેની પર પ્રેમ છે તે વ્યક્તિ શું ચાહે છે? તેમની શું ઈચ્છા છે? તે પ્રમાણે કરીયે તો જ તે સાચો પ્રેમ છે. નહિતો બસ સ્વાર્થ જ છે, પ્રેમ નથી. પ્રેમ માં સમર્પણ છે, જતું કરવાની ભાવના છે અને બીજા ની ખુશી માં જ પોતાની ખુશી છે કારણકે બીજા ની ખુશી અને આનંદ નું મૂલ્ય પોતાના કરતા અનેક ગણું વધારે છે.

Only love & positive energy

Last few days have been life changing and there has been a lot of introspection going on because of everything that's happening in the world. It's been so busy, but that is resulting in putting right priorities on things in life. One of them is self-care and I am so grateful for today because I got to view this video and it has changed the way I think about every single thing around me, every person I interact with and everything I do, not just the water. What you give to the world is what you get in return and this is the prime example of it. What we sow is what we reap. Here is a note to self to give love and kindness and all that is positive only to all. May all be blessed with love and positive energy inside and outside.

 

Super Blue Blood Moon 2018

What an exciting morning! Feeling truly blessed to be in a geographical area where this was going to be visible. Thanks to NASA, I had already put alarms for various times for this morning. So I was up by 3:45 am (woke up three times before that just out of sheer excitement) and got outside with my camera and tripod, which I had already setup the night before. By the time I was out there, it had already started! The eclipse that is; and it was nothing short of extraordinary.

This one is taken around 4:10 am. It’s getting darker (and colder! brrr) by the minute.

By 4:40ish it’s already turning a darker shade of red.

And the crimson glow at totality (around 5:29 am) looked something like this:

The stars surrounding the moon began to show up and the moon itself went almost invisible to the naked eye. It was an incredible view! Staying out there for over two hours in 43 degrees F was numbing to the toes and fingers and the camera and I got a nice drizzle of the morning dew on us that required both of us to get thawed once indoors, but all of that was totally worth it for this phenomenal event that hasn’t occurred in last 150 years. Looking forward to the next Super Blue Blood Moon in 2037!

Here’s a glimpse of blue moonrise from this beautiful evening of January 31, 2018:

Source of our Happiness and Sadness is within Us

Conversations with HP these days have been more philosophical than ever. It's nice because we both get to share the gratefulness for this life and the positive things about it with each other and at the same time, we remind each other that all the not-so-positive parts are like that because we look at them negatively. What we have concluded is that we constantly have to brain-wash ourselves in believing that all the happiness or sadness in this life is because of us only. That there is no other entity / event / person responsible for any hurt / happiness we might be feeling. All of these topics come up when we start talking about sister Shivani and Brahma Kumari lectures. I personally don't have enough time so for me, all the learning and reminding happens through our conversations. So grateful I get to learn about these things today than tomorrow.

I knew that all the answers were within us but knowing that the source of happiness or sadness is all us and only us was a big revelation for me. It is astonishing to know that I am the reason why I am happy or sad or whatever else I might be feeling. The events or experiences could be the initiating points of those, but at the end it is up to me to feel happy or sad about something. The blame game has only single source and that's within us. It is easy to play the victim in any situation but in reality, when the observation starts for the source of the negativity, it is actually inside us. This is all coming after days and weeks and months of these discussions and I am so grateful for them. Wish I had more time to turn that search light inside more often. To find the answers to all those unanswered questions. When and as the answers come about, it all makes me realize how beautiful this life is. So grateful for it and all that is and all that isn't.

દિવસો જુદાઈ ના જાય છે..

આજે ફરી કેટલાય વખત પછી ફરી વાર ગુજરાતી ગીતો, ગઝલો સંભાળવાનું મન થયું અને આ સૌથી પહેલા સાંભળવાનું યાદ આવ્યું. કવિઓ એ કેટલું સુંદર લખ્યું છે અને શ્રી પુરુષોત્તમ ઉપાધ્યાયે શું સરસ ગાયું છે. તેમાં પણ વચ્ચે "નયણા મત વારસો" સાંકળી લઇને શું મહેફિલ જમાવી છે.. વાહ! દિલ ખુશ થયી ગયું. તદ્ ઉપરાંત આ ભાષા સમજી શકવાનો અને સંગીતની કદર હોવાનો આનંદ અને તે માટે ઉપકાર જ માનવો રહ્યો.


દિવસો જુદાઈ ના જાય છે, એ જશે જરૂર મિલન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે, મુજ શત્રુઓ જ સ્વજન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે

ન ધારા સુધી ન ગગન સુધી, નહિ ઉન્નતિ ના પતન સુધી (૨)
ફક્ત આપણે તો જવું હતું, અરે એક મેક ના મન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે

તમે રાંક ના છો રતન સમા, ન મળો હે આંસુઓ ધૂળ માં (૨)
જો અરજ કબૂલ હો આટલી, તો હૃદય થી જાઓ નયન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે

તમે રાજરાણી ના ચીર સમ, અમે રંક નાર ની ચૂંદડી (૨)
તમે તન પે રહો ઘડી બે ઘડી, અમે સાથ દઈએ કફન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે

જો હૃદય ની આગ વધી 'ગની', તો ખુદ ઈશ્વરે જ કૃપા કરી (૨)
કોઈ શ્વાસ બંધ કરી ગયું, કે પવન ન જાયે અગન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે, મુજ શત્રુઓ જ સ્વજન સુધી
મારો હાથ ઝાલી ને લઇ જશે...

અભિપ્રાય

WhatsApp પર ફરીવાર કાંઈક વાંચવા મળ્યું ને મન વિચારોના વમળે ચડ્યું. 

તમે પરસેવે  રેબઝેબ છો , ખુબ તરસ લાગી છે
પણ ક્યાંય પાણી નથી મળે તેમ , એવામાં તમે
એક ઝાડના છાયાંમાં થાક ખાવા ઉભા રહો છો !
ત્યાં જ સામે થી એક મકાનના પહેલા માળની બારી
ખુલે છે અને તમારી અને તે વ્યક્તિની આંખો મળે છે.
તમારી હાલત જોઇને તે વ્યક્તિ તમને પાણી જોઇએ છે?
તેવો ઇશારો કરે છે .હાલ તમને એ વ્યક્તિ કેવો લાગે ?

આ તમારો પહેલો અભિપ્રાય છે તે વ્યક્તિ નીચે આવવાનો ઇશારો કરીને બારી બંધ કરે છે . 15 મિનિટ થવા છતાંય નીચેનો દરવાજો નથી ખુલતો ! હવે તે વ્યક્તિ પ્રત્યે તમારો અભિપ્રાય શો ?

આ તમારો બીજો અભિપ્રાય છે .થોડીવાર  પછી દરવાજો ખુલે અને તે વ્યક્તિ એમ કહે કે " મને વિલંબ થવા માટે માફ કરજો , પણ તમારી હાલત જોઇને મને પાણી કરતાં લીંબુનું સરબત આપવું યોગ્ય લાગ્યું માટે થોડી વધુ વાર લાગી . હવે તે વ્યક્તિ વિષે તમારો અભિપ્રાય શો ?

યાદ રાખજો કે હજુ તો પાણી કે શરબત કાંઇ મળ્યું નથી ને તમારો ત્રીજો અભિપ્રાય મનમાં જ રાખો.

હવે જેવું તમે સરબત જીભને લગાવો છો ત્યાં જ તમને ખ્યાલ આવે કે તેમાં ખાંડ જરા પણ નથી!!!

હવે તે વ્યક્તિ તમને કેવો લાગે???

એક સામાન્ય પ્રસંગ માં પણ જો આપણો અભિપ્રાય આટ્લો ખોખલો અને સતત બદલાતો હોય તો આપણે કોઇનો પણ અભિપ્રાય આપવાને લાયક સમજવા જોઈએ કે નહી ?

હકીકતે દુનિયા માં એટલું સમજાયુ કે જો તમારી અપેક્ષાના ચોખટામાં બંધબેસતું વર્તન સામેની વ્યક્તિ કરે તો તે સારી નહીં તો તે ખરાબ! –
બરોબર ને???

માણસાઈ

આજ-કાલ WhatsApp પર ઢગલાબંધ વસ્તુઓ આવે-જાય છે. અમુક વાર કાંઇક સરસ મજાનું પણ વાંચવા મળી જાય ત્યારે દિલ ખુશ થઈ આવે.  આજે જાન્વીએ આ વાર્તા મોકલી ને વાંચીને મનમાં આનંદ થઈ ગયો. ખાસ કરીને એવા જમાનામાં જ્યાં માણસાઈ બહુ દૂરની વાત થઈ ગઈ છે અને લાગણીઓની બહુ કાંઈ કિંમત નથી રહી.

એક ચાર વર્ષનો ભાઈ અને એની છ વર્ષની બહેન
બંને ભાઇ બહેન બજાર મા ફરવા નીકળ્યા છે નાનો ભાઈ છટા થી આગળ ચાલે છે અને બહેન પાછળ છે

થોડી થોડી વારે ભાઈ પાછળ જોતો જાય છે કે બહેન આવે છે કે નહીં

રમકડા ની એક દુકાન આગળ બહેન ઊભી રહી જાય છે
ભાઈ નજીક આવી ને પૂછે છે
"કેમ
તારે કાંઇ લેવુ છે ?"

બહેને ઢીંગલી સામે આંગળી ચીંધીને બતાવ્યું
ભાઈ એ બહેન ની આંગળી પકડી
અને એક વડીલ ની અદા થી
બહેન ને એ ઢીંગલી હાથ મા આપી
બહેન ખુબ જ ખુશ થઇ

કાઉન્ટર પર બેઠેલો વેપારી
આ ભાઈ બહેન ને બહાર થી જોતા હતા
અને ભાઈ ના માસુમ વડપણ ને નીરખી ને મનમાં મુસ્કુરાતા હતા

કાઉન્ટર પાસે આવીને ચાર વર્ષનો એ બાળક બોલ્યો
'આ ઢીંગલી નુ શું છે ?'

"જીવતર ને ઘોળીને પી ગયેલા" એ વેપારી એ કહ્યું
'તમારી પાસે શું છે ?'

બાળકે ચડ્ડી ના ખીસ્સામાં થી સમુદ્ર ના છીપલા કાઢ્યા
અને કાઉન્ટર પર મુક્યા
પેલા વેપારીએ એ જ માર્મિક હાસ્ય સાથે બાળક ઉપર અમીભરી દ્રષ્ટિ કરી
અને જેમ રુપિયા ગણે એમ છીપલા ગણ્યા

બાળકે કહ્યું 'કેમ ઓછા છે ?'
વેપારી કહે
'ના આમાંથી તો વધશે'

વધેલા છીપલા ફરી ખીસ્સામાં નાખી અને ઢીંગલી રમાડતાં એ બાળકો તો જતાં રહ્યાં પણ

એના ગયા પછી વેપારી ને એના માણસે પૂછ્યું
'આવી કિંમતી ઢીંગલી તમે છીપલા ના બદલા મા આપી દીધી ?'

વેપારી એ કહ્યું
'ભાઈ, આપણે મન આ છીપલા છે
એને મન તો એની સંપતિ છે
અને
અત્યારે એને ભલે ના સમજાય
પણ એ મોટા થશે ત્યારે તો એને સમજાશ નેે

કે છીપ ના બદલે આપણે ઢીંગલી લઈ આવેલા ત્યાંરે એ મને યાદ કરશે
અને
એ વિચારશે કે દુનિયામાં સજ્જન માણસો પણ છે'

 કૈંક ઈચ્છાઓ અધૂરી હોય છે,
જિંદગી તોયે મધૂરી હોય છે,
દ્રાક્ષ ખાટી દર વખત હોતી નથી,
જીભ પણ ક્યારેક તૂરી હોય છે.

લીમડાના પાન મેં પણ ચાખ્યાછે
માણસના બોલ કરતા મીઠા લાગ્યાછે
જિંદગી રોજ મને શીખવે કે જીવતા શીખ,
એક સાંધતા તેર તૂટશે, પણ સીવતા શીખ..


"મન ભરીને જીવો,
મનમાં ભરીને નહી"

The Joy of Walking

Until 2013, I had no idea how magical walking can be. It all started when my company went through large-scale layoff and I was back in the market searching for work. Knowing that a lot of us were in the same boat, searching for work helped tremendously in coping with the job search blues. As they say, misery does love company. But I have realized that no matter how big or small a struggle is, at the end of the day, we as a person have to deal it and face it all by ourselves. Loved ones and well-wishers try to help, but at the front-end, it's all us, only us. And it was the same here. There was a lot of help from all fronts, but I was the connecting point of every single interaction that was required. Job search can be exhausting in more ways than one can ever imagine. All of a sudden you become the busiest jobless person. Unfruitful job search attempts, rejections after tedious long interviews, inquiries and status reports from not-so-well-wishers often were of no help. The mood changes like a sine-curve every single minute of the day.

One chilly afternoon that winter, I realized I needed to get away from it all, just for a few minutes. I bundled up with layers and multiple pairs of gloves and winter hats and got out for a stroll. I walked around for over two miles and came back feeling a whole lot better than when I left. I kind of liked that walk a lot as to how it made me feel afterwards. I went back for a walk the next available free day when I had an afternoon off. I came back more cheerful than I had been that entire week. Couple of more afternoon walks and I started to notice a pattern. Every time I returned from a walk, I was feeling better than when I started the walk. The cheerful mood only lasted so long, but it felt great. However temporary that positive mood lasted, I wanted to feel that more often, on more days. I made it a point to find some time on daily basis from the job search tasks and networking events to go for afternoon walks at least 4-5 times a week. And for whatever reason (which I found out later on), afternoons were more exciting times for walks than mornings or late nights. I didn't enjoy the morning / late night walks as much. I realized that only after a few weeks when I started to notice a pattern. I kept on looking forward to the afternoon walks just for the sunset colors I got to see. And if it were cloudy, the sunsets were even more gorgeous! I felt like a kid with icing filled cake in front. To keep myself motivated, I started documenting the walks by taking random photos of daily sunset colors. My walking route wasn't that picturesque or anything with so many electrical towers on the way, but then I improvised. I started to shoot silhouettes of those towers at sunset and every day that's' what got me excited to go for a walk again. I can’t remember exactly when but just during that winter, I fell in love with walking and sunset colors. Things have changed a lot in last three years but the love for walks and sunset colors still remains. I haven't gotten so bored of either one of those yet. These days, I don’t get to go for daily walks or as often as I’d like but it’s the best outdoor activity I have found in recent times and I absolutely look forward to my late afternoon/evening walks even today.

Thinking back to 2013 experiences, I think anything that happens is for the best and sometimes seemingly difficult experiences are in fact blessings in disguise. I feel thankful for those experiences.

Some photos from my afternoon walks from Winter of 2013-2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kanan/albums/72157643386874535/with/13616887793/

More photos from recent lunchtime and afternoon / evening walks at https://twitter.com/kananjani/media

Today's thought-provoking ideas

Today, I got to hear something very thought-provoking:

Thoughts are electrical reactions. They can change very quickly.
Emotions are chemical reactions. It takes time for them to change.

Now I'm wondering how long both of these actually are, or could be! Our interactions with every single person around us depends on these.

Another observation was made about feelings and behavior:

In others, we notice their behavior first, then their feelings, if any.
In ourselves, we notice our feelings first, then the behavior.

Particles in the brain compartment are colliding full-speed again. Gotta come back to this later. 

Unanswered questions

I have been pondering so much on the different feelings that one feels.

How is it that doing good to others always feels good and hurting even a tiny bug makes one feel terrible inside? Does everyone feel that?

You see some good thing happening to someone. Does that make you feel happy for them or jealous/half-hearted?

You see someone hurt/sad/upset/behaving badly. Do you feel sorry for them or happy that they are suffering?

Sometimes actions speak louder than words and expressions say more than what one wants to.

Often times, people are very good at acting and can hide the feelings behind their external facade, they can put up a good show, whereas others display it all despite of trying hard to hide it.

The Great one sitting within us watches everything, witnesses all. Nothing is hidden from that entity. Are you being true to that self? Does one ever think about that person? Does one make a conversation with that person? If so, what would that conversation be like? Would it be a chat like one'd have with a good friend over a coffee or a fight one has with a sibling?

Is it only a hurtful action that's considered bad or a hurtful thought also causes the same damage? Or maybe even more? To self or to the other person? Or both?

I sometimes wonder.

Building tolerance when needed

When new year starts, mind feels quite busy often as it is a time to look back and summarize the experiences and ponder on what all has been learned in the past year with all experiences.

Best moments are the ones where you connect with loved ones to talk about philosophical things and realities of life, despite of them being not so pleasant, when we experience positive things. Down moments are the ones filled with disappointments; disappointments because of unpleasant experiences, because of unpleasant interactions, unpleasant people. Sometimes it makes me wonder if the expectations are contributor for that. May be so. Regardless, these sour experiences or moments have started to become lessons-learned than disappointments. Only gradually though. Thanks to loved ones for sending tons of reminders. One of the positive things that has barely started is the transformation to start listening to positive things, see more positive things, or rather see the negatives as positives. HP often reminds me of these things. Hope I can listen to more of BK speeches. Here's one of them that has come to rescue on time recently. What an amazing thought: "If we could look into the heart of the other person and know the journey of what they have gone through e'd become more tolerant, more kind, more generous and we would care more".

New beginnings

What an exciting day! It's LilaBa's 91st birthday today; I'm so glad I got to wish her and convey my pranams to her. Blessings of the elders are truly inspiring and that is definitely one of the things that keeps me going at life full speed. Also, I finally got to create Kanan Jani Photography page. I had been wanting to create the page since a while and I finally got a chance to. I'm so glad I finally did. And, I'm finally back to blogging after such a long hiatus.

Here's one of my favorite photos taken at one of my favorite locations: Lakeshore Park in Newark, CA.