Re-purposing

A new post comes more than 3 years later, but again a fresh start to inspire inter-connections :))).

I find it so pointless to discard what I see as perfectly functional items just because they were used as single use packaging. This has resulted in some amount of hoarding I admit – of ‘junk’ that I keep meaning to re-purpose, but seldom find the time too.

With more time at home, and an urge to release myself creatively, I picked up my paints and some random ‘junk’ and spent my Saturday night creating some ‘Art in the time of Coronavirus’, against the backdrop of a recent Tiny Desk Concert playing on my phone.

These objects have found a new colourful life of value (not limited to use and throw) – quite literally! Reflecting on the life cycle of these objects, thinking about ‘human life’ too – if we all shift focus from our limited existence to a larger purpose of creating value – what a colourful, bright, hopeful world it will be!

Old life: Containers and lids used as single-use packaging (limited to use and throw)

New life: Rainbow pen holder – the colours connect me to the rainbow in my heart! 🌈

New life: Swirling jewellery box – reminds me of my second home – Greece and the Aegean Sea 🌊🇬🇷

New life: Multi-use petri-dishes – same colours, different textures – aren’t we all same same but different? 🙂

Re-purposed!

Sailing into 2017

2016-

The boat sailed, undaunted by waves
Flowers still bloomed, unintimidated by trampling forces
The sun continued to illuminate all without exception.

2017-

The light shines brighter
More flowers bloom
The waves become a joy ride.
Happy sailing! 🙂

What are your feelings towards the new year?

(Thumb inserted for scale)

 

Why should I care?

We often hear, “People don’t care.” So does it matter what I do? Does it matter what difference I try to make? This reminds me of a favourite Greek proverb. “Enas koukos de fernei tin anoixi” is a Greek proverb, which in English translates as “One cuckoobird does not bring spring.” I think there are two ways of looking at this – one is a mindset of powerlessness – that one person alone cannot make a difference. The other side of it: one person in fact can make a difference by taking responsibility and inspiring others, and in that sense it is when one person takes responsibility, that it sets off a chain reaction to enable the arrival of ‘spring’. To me the later is a mindset of optimism, but optimism based on taking action, not optimism based on wishful thinking. Taking action is mostly never easy, but when I feel powerless, I have made this (incidentally this was created in Greece) to remind myself of what difference I can make..

Your thoughts? 🙂

 

Solitude

So many entries in May, and none in June! Lest I slip back into blogging inertia, here we go..

Doing things all by yourself, especially those things that you thought you needed company for, is the most liberating feeling ever! Suddenly you discover this part of yourself that is not driven by the need to be with someone. Suddenly you discover that you yourself, as you are, are complete in yourself. And this just makes being with someone so much more beautiful because then you are not driven by need, but have so many things you want to share with the person. And with mutual sharing, there is mutual learning :). I read some years ago “Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path. Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely..” Solitude is blissful, and sometimes you find fun company in strangers along the way 🙂

What you see below is something I drew earlier this year while listening to a Hawaiian song on repeat and remembering my experience of swimming solo in the Pacific Ocean. Seeing it from time to time reminds me of the power of solitude that I mustn’t forget. What are your thoughts on solitude? Any experiences you have had or experiences you’d like to have? 🙂

I am currently reminiscing my solo experiences of sitting in cafes, sipping coffee or gorging on dessert/sitting in bars, sipping wine and enjoying tapas/frequenting a favourite restaurant in a new but familiar city for dinners/swimming in the sea (including floating in the Dead Sea)/going for long walks even on full moon nights/sleeping under a starlit sky/going for a concert/getting lost in the narrow alleys of cities I admire/hiking (even to the most breathtaking historic places ever!)/walking in the desert/long train rides/long bus rides/long flights and long layovers/travelling to new places/exploring cities/museums and art galleries….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perspectives

In the words of Marcel Proust,“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” Our mind is capable of seeing the same situation from different perspectives. And as I am learning, developing the ability to understand different perspectives is really important. Why? Well at a personal level, it helps by not letting our limited view on things control us and make us miserable, to really believe there are myriad possibilities and that nothing is impossible. It makes us open minded and helps us grow – the act of hearing others, talking to others, learning from others, just sharing with each other – makes us realise that we may be limited in our understanding of dealing with situations, and that there is much to gain from each other. It helps us overcome arrogance – that feeling of I know it, I know how to deal with it, I can take care of this [No wo(man) is an island after all]. It also connects us to nature at a deep level – to its marvelous workings in ways we did not think we were capable of perceiving before (see photo below). At a societal level, sharing diverse perspectives through dialogue, respecting each other’s viewpoints, and transcending differences by connecting these diverse perspectives to a common goal is the starting point of building harmony in society and the environment we are part of.

As a little experiment, I took this photo below, and as you see it I would encourage you to reflect on what sense you make of it. Please do share as comments, would love to hear. 🙂

[Do not forget to scroll below the photo to read why this was a little experiment on perspective!]

Doesn’t the flower look fresh and real, and the way my fingers are placed on its petals, make you imagine that I was stroking its petals when the photo was clicked?

What it actually is: The flower is from a book cover, and my fingers are wrapped around the edge of the book. How was that for perspective and some visual stimulation?! 🙂

Beginning of my tryst with surrealism

Visually blown away by Coldplay’s latest ‘Up&Up’, I remembered how much surrealism stimulates my mind. I still have a long way to go to get it right, but about two years ago, I attempted to make my first surreal painting:

Surreal enough to be classified as surreal? 😛  Inspiration came from the following experience in the desert of Wadi Rum, Jordan:

“View from my ‘room’. Surreal to see the sun setting marking silhouettes of these ancient mountains that slowly disappear into the darkness of the night as twinkling stars with their constellations, and planets and oscillating satellites speckle the sky, and every-time I open my eyes in the middle of the night to stare at my ‘room’ ceiling I see the Milky Way swoosh above me as if by the stroke of a thick paint brush, and at times I am lucky to catch a glimpse of a shooting star sometimes from the corner of my eye, and then the cool desert night breeze like a lullaby puts me back to sleep again, and I wake up to a peaceful silent dawn, the sun again marking lines behind those ancient mountains, and as it gets bigger and the heat stronger I must leave until I find that surreal sunset and the magic that follows again.” – August 2014, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Look forward to giving a creative outlet to more surreal experiences 🙂

 

The staring game – part 2

How does sky-gazing make you feel? It connects me to a deeper, more expansive part of my being, that is capable of embracing everything for what it is. And well it make me poetic 🙂  

Eyes hooked on to the sky.
Shapes, formations, hues and tones
Merging together
Yet dynamic
By the strokes of the brush
Of an invisible artist.

Below: Photos of skies I have experienced 🙂

 

The staring game – part 1!

I made this some months back and pasted it on a wall right in front of my bed. I stare at it often when I wake up/go to bed. Some times when I am staring at it, I get lost in the pattern, some times in the beauty of the colours .. Some times my eyes follow the flow of  the different colours – and I like to imagine they are pouring into each other. Some times I can’t stop looking at my fingerprints and strokes (I finger-painted it). Some times I am staring at it as a whole and trying to interpret it as different things, and some times just going blank. But at all times I am amazed at how just staring at this, helps me look at the same thing in so many different ways. I like getting lost in it a few minutes every day. It is my substitute for rainbows – if only I could find multiple rainbows every single day in the sky! 😀 When I fix my eyes on it, I at times zone out and my mind feels relaxed. At other times a bulb lights up in my head and I have my ‘aha’ moment for the day! Are there visuals you like to stare at? How does staring at them make you feel? A photo, a painting, a scenery, a landscape, or just a blank wall?

PS: Re-attempting to blog more often than once every three years! :O 

The magic of colours!

It has suddenly gotten cold here, as should be expected for the latitude I am currently living at. But today something occurred to me. More like I thought about it more consciously than I do given that it is just very much a part of who and how I am – and that is the magic of colours! During an interesting conversation at the bar today, someone brought up how sunshine has an obvious effect on our mood. And this I can say with certainty after living in places that can get pretty dark and cold. So what do you do when there is no sun outside, and all seems dark and cold? An answer suddenly popped in my head while I was engaged in this conversation – wear bright colours! And spread that sunshine with the colours you wear! I subconsciously tend to pick up colours to wear depending on my mood. But it works the other way too. My conversation linked up very well with what I did earlier today (before the bar) – I stepped out, cold and under the weather, but decided to layer up but in my bright colours. Several hours later, returning home, after a 3 hour long seminar, and then the enthusiasm to go to a bar, and now sitting down to work on two assignments for tomorrow, I already feel much much better! As I was walking back from the bar, I stumbled upon a lot of colour in an otherwise seemingly ‘winter is coming’ kind of evening. And suddenly I was just seeing a lot of colours (see photos below as part of my little experiment). Everywhere! Buildings, streets, supermarkets, buses, the sky! The choice of living a bright life really lies in our hands (or should I say minds) doesn’t it? We either chose to look for everything dark and negative, or in that seeming darkness, find the light! For there will always be light when you are seeking it 🙂 . And when you find it, you also find that light inside, and it makes you go “WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” 🙂 !

No fear

All our limits stem from fear. To overcome fear is to feel completely free. And creativity lies in complete inner freedom. More thoughts on creativity coming up soon..