Do you know me? - A poem

Photo by Jeane Liu on Unsplash

Tell me...

Do you know what I could be?

You claim to know me in & out

You have drenched in every droplet that makes “me”

Of my ever-changing course of the rivulet

Streams, rivers, glaciers

Make their own way

But the sea, only where all these come to end!

Streams, Rivers, Glaciers

Have their own ebbs & flows

Unknown to the sea & world

Ocean is not everything,

It is a part of their life’s course of the journey

You cannot judge their tides,

Because you only see the ocean

Not the source, nor the place of birth!

Authors Note: Readers, it is easy to judge a person, or a situation and pass lewd comments or opinions, by looking at the current scenario, does anyone think of — Why? How? Perhaps?

Think twice, thrice, honestly a zillion times! We don’t know what each one of us has been through in our journey of life, be kind to each other, help each other grow and become the best version of ourselves. We are no one to judge an “anyone” when we walk imperfect paths ourselves!

©2019 Shweta

Originally published on Medium.com

Love in 3 Words

Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

My thoughts on love in a few words:

• Two Souls Intertwined
• Devotion without Lust
• Amour of hearts

Author’s Note: Love can mean different things for different people like chalk and cheese. Nonetheless, it is one emotion we yearn for throughout our lives. To find at least one individual, one soul, who sets your soul on fire and lets you spread your wings to fly :)!

©Shweta, 2019 

Originally published on Medium.com

A Cold Wintry Night - A Flash Fiction

Photo by Joël de Vriend on Unsplash

It is a cold winter night, my arms & feet frozen. Sitting by the fireplace in an old dimly lit house, my breathing hastens.

Breathing feels painful. I try breathing from my mouth, it only makes it worse. 

I soon realize, it is water.

The water is getting into my lungs and I am unable to breathe. I can hear only the bubbling sound of water. 

I am drowning. 

I try to focus on my mind to calm myself, to scream for help. Only then I feel my dog licking me perhaps to take him to a walk.

I was dreaming.

©Shweta, 2019

White & Black

Photo by Shirly Niv Marton on Unsplash

The sovereign has decided, to put their foot down. The enemy has burnt his bridges, and it’s time they burnt theirs. 

The allies from different regions were invited to the grand reception to discuss the future chain of events. The drawing room gradually started filling. The pressure was building up. Each one had a different opinion, like chalk and cheese, about what should be done, about the invader and the war in their near sight. 

As the sun was above the heads, the reception is in full swing. All the elite from the high society was assembled to discuss their enemy’s black and white moves, the spindles hummed steadily ceaselessly on all the sides.

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published on Written Tales

Becoming ME - A poem

Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

A few years ago

I always kept running

Running from all the problems

all that haunted me

all the negatives I was succumbing to 

all that hurt me despairingly; 

Searching for the one thing, 

that would set me free 

from all which afflicted me; 

In time, looks like 

I stumbled upon it 

giving myself time to be me 

attaining inner peace and silence 

believing in what life has made me, 

for everything I have become 

and everything I am yet to be! 

Author’s Note: Take time to and live through and accept what you have been through. Give yourself a chance to grieve and heal. Gradually, you will see a new self emerging out of the darkness and you will fall in love with yourself!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!

Originally published in A Cornered Gurl

ThanksGiving - A poem

I am thankful for a little too many things in my life —

Because I am not alone

Because I have a pie in the sky!

Because there is love & honour

Because there are laughs & tears!

Because I snuggle at night

in the warm moonlight sight!

Because my clothes fit a little too tight

Which means I have a healthy appetite!

Because I pay taxes

Which means I am employed!

Because there are every day chores

Which means I have a sweet home!

Because I have an education

Which means I can read the books on the shelves!

Because I have words wanting to breathe

Meaning I write poems all the time!

Because there is always something to be thankful about 

Which means you are so alive!

Author’s Note: Just a small gesture of gratitude for all that I am blessed with each day! Thank you for all the readers for the support.

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published on A Cornered Gurl

A Shot - A Flash Fiction

Photo by Daniel Frank on Unsplash

As he walks out of a rehab centre, pristine and white snowfall accompanies him, when a familiar face catches his attention. A face he was trying to forget, a crackhead from his gang.

He walks towards him & wishes him & in return he gives him a gift —  needle drug shot!

Flash Fiction for prompt - "Worst Gift"

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in Written Tales 

Resentful Escape - Flash Fiction

Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo on Unsplash

His eyes were cold and lifeless, as he stared at the woman from the other side of the glass.

She could hear him scream, — “Don’t leave me, please save me!”

He was trembling with fear when they tied him up to the chair.

With a bleeding heart, she headed out of the back door, to never return. No one will ever know what she had done.

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in The Friday Fix

Magic - A poem

Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

It is love,

that makes life divine

It is kindness, 

that takes courage 

It is dreams,

that no can stop you from having 

It is magic,

you won't see if you don’t believe in it

It is me,

I’m no Cinderella

It is not my world, the oyster

I ain’t no pearl 

It is me soaring high, 

the sky is the only limit I know!

Author's Note: There is magic everywhere, even inside you. Don’t conceal the uniqueness you bring to the world, that is your magic — be bold, be quirky, be creative, be the best version of yourself and you will start seeing a little bit of magic in everything.

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!

Originally published in From the Poet's Heart

Unplug!

Downtime for your brain

As I made way into the compartment and found a comfortable spot, I had a habit of reading my book in the 13-minute short commute, until a few months ago. And as I looked into the restricted space around me, I could see half a dozen cell phone screens active and it dawned on me that we all have forgotten how to wait without our cellphones or get bored standing during travel or waiting anywhere, which was not a few decades ago.
The idle time in our schedule is missing and realized we are not giving our brains a break!

To do Nothing

At every turn, we are pushed to do more, exceed our limits, in this expeditious world filled with challenges, and we strive to meet the relentless pace. In response, we put in extra hours of work and incessantly be up to date using the apps on our phone, the social media sites and all the round the clock notifications. In our obsession with success and being productive always, we have forgotten that we need a break!

In the book Autopilot: The Art & Science of Doing Nothing, written by Andrew Smart, the author gives us the science behind idleness.

Disengaging increases brain activity!

Brain activity is measured by blood flow and how oxygenated the blood is in a specific region of the brain. Neurologist Marcus Raichle during his experiments found that certain brain regions, like the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and the precuneus, are suppressed while engaged in certain activities. These regions become super active when not being in a fully attentive state of mind— this means increased blood flow in your brain! Blood rich brain means a happier, calmer, healthier and more creative brain. In neuroscience, this network of brain regions that becomes active during idleness is referred to as Resting-State Network (RSN). In this mode your brain becomes orderly, efficient, engaged in idleness making you content and creative.

It is essential to take breaks, we all know it. But how many of us actually consider taking a maybe a 15-minute distraction-free walk in the mid-day, or maybe 15 minutes of meditation or whatever works for you to free yourself from one stimulus to another, focused on NOTHING (no stimuli, no distraction)!

I personally no longer read anything during my commute to work & back home, indulge in quiet moments with mediation or just get bored! I see how this turned out a one-hit-wonder for me and I can resonate with positive vibrations inside me. For starters — I way calmer when under pressure, I am more efficient at work, I can write more :)!

Authors Note: Enter into the quiet of the mind that already exists, you just need to find it leaving you with time for yourself and loved ones, and you feel a river flowing inside you — a river of JOY & CREATIVITY!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in Scribe

Usher of the Fall - A poem

Photo by Greg Shield on Unsplash

As the summer is

drawing up the curtain for

the usher of the Fall,

The colour surrounding is

Amber, gold & brown

The mood evolved is

Merry, light & sound

The wind hustling is

Drifting through the town

The landscape depicted

fresh from an artistic brush

The picturesque is

wet as a painters canvas

Loveliest season of the year

Paving way for the winter

gently brushing down the leaves

on the ground & we all call it “Fall of Leaves”!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in The Cotton Thread

Art of Living Long & Happy! — Book Review of IKIAGI

This compendium highlights the Japanese secret of living long and happy, by finding a meaningful purpose of life. The inhabitants of Japan believe that everyone has a purpose of life, we just need to find one — calling it IKIGAI — a reason to jump out of bed each morning.

SUMMARY

This word roughly translates into the meaning “the happiness of always being busy”. As the authors Hector Garica & Frances Miracles investigate this Japanese secret, they draw focus to a specific Island — Okinawa, who have people over the age of 100, far more than the global average. The authors arrive there experiencing incredible friendliness among the inhabitants and who talked and laughed at utmost joy amid lush green fields by crystalline waters to interview the eldest residents of the town, only to discover, the uncommon joy flowing in their pleasurable lives is this mysterious work — IKIGAI.

The book draws attention to the various Blue Zones across the earth, where Dan Buettner claims people live much longer than average. Buettner identified five regions as “Blue Zones” —

• Okinawa (Japan)
• Sardinia (Italy)
• Nicoya (Costa Rica)
• Icaria (Greece);
• Loma Linda, California

The book identified that people living in these regions have a similar lifestyle, and he investigated their lives and shared it as first-hand observations, for why these populations live healthier and live longer than the global average.

By making small changes, we can initiate the renewal of our bodies and mind and increase the quality of our life and longevity.

Here are some changes recommended to renew your mind & body —

1. Stress is accused of killing longevity, so be mindful of reducing stress
2. A lot of sitting can age you, so add a few active ingredients into your everyday life — walk to walk, take stairs, indulge in leisure activities, etc.
3. Sleep long and rest yourself. Science shows sleeping is a key anti-ageing tool, as it releases a powerful antioxidant called melatonin offering benefits for preserving youthfulness
4. Find flow in everything you do, which is a state of being at pleasure, delight, creative and completely immersed into the task at hand. This is one key ingredient talked about, to have an optimum experience, helping keep our mind “in order”
5. A few statements from the interviews from the elderly community —

“Don’t worry”
“Cultivate good habits”
“Nurture your friendships everyday”
“Live an unhurried life”
“Be optimistic”

6. Eat more of vegetables and add a lot of natural antioxidants in your diet

7. Exercises from the East that promote health! These gentle movements will help you lead a longer and healthier life

• Yoga
• Meditation
• Tai Chi
• Qigong

Lastly, breathe better, live longer!

Authors Note: Pursue your passion at work or as a hobby and give it your best shot, without any fear and with the least distractions! Life will throw you under a bus eventually, the way you deal with these difficulties will make a difference to your quality of life. What matters is here & now, in the present, we all humans are short-lived and perishable!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in Blue Insights

Escape into Pages - A poem

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash

Thousands of books.
each one telling a story.
stifled and throttled within the writer’s mind

until the time came when these stories escaped into pages
wanting to breathe on their own!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!
Originally published in Chalkboard

What I learnt from Oprah Winfrey's What I Know for Sure

How many of us can actually say at the end of the day, what exactly we are sure of!… The book opens with an anecdote that explains its title. Gene Siskel, a film critic, in an interview asked Oprah a profound question — “ What do you know for sure?” This question led Oprah to ponder about what she was sure about, leading her to write a column in each issue for 14 years in magazine O, the Oprah Magzine.

This book is a private book of revelation, a collection of short essays, a distillation of the column writings from the magazine — all to figure out about the things that matter in life, is organized around 8 different themes: Joy, Resilience, Connection, Gratitude, Possibility, Awe, Clarity, and Power, which are very crucial to become the best version of oneself, according to Winfrey.


These essays give a deep, scrupulous glimpse into Oprah’s mind, body and life, which inspires us to explore and become the best version of yourselves, by listening to your inner voice, addressing your needs and then putting others second which most of us fail to do, to accomplish the path of self-realization. It deals with fears, self-doubts, insecurities, the negativity that many of us have, using it as an anchor and guides us through to help grow our sense of self-awareness.


Her key message to her readers is to make them realize life is a spiritual journey filled with a lot of possibilities and miracles and we need to focus on self-love, instead of looking for love and validation externally and become a source of love and self-worth.


It is a candid, deeply moving, high spirited narration; with a sort of revelations of life and possibilities that the reader will turn to again and again.


I recommend that you enjoy this book with a steaming cup of chai (tea)in a cup, a snugly blanket wrapped around you (Oprah’s favourite, naturally). Finally and above all, Oprah knows for sure, it’s that a hot bath in a room lit with scented candles, is the solution for just about anything!

Here are some quotes the book which I really found thought-provoking — 

• There is one irrefutable law of the universe: We are each responsible for our own life. If you’re holding anyone else accountable for your happiness, you’re wasting your time. You must be fearless enough to give yourself the love you didn’t receive.
• Beginning when we are girls, most of us are taught to deflect praise. We apologize for our accomplishments. We try to level the field with our family and friends by downplaying our brilliance. We settle for the passenger’s seat when we long to drive. That’s why so many of us have been willing to hide our light as adults. Instead of being filled with all the passion and purpose that enable us to offer our best to the world, we empty ourselves in an effort to silence our critics. The truth is that the naysayers in your life can never be fully satisfied. Whether you hide or shine, they’ll always feel threatened because they don’t believe they are enough. So stop paying attention to them. Every time you suppress some part of yourself or allow others to play you small, you are ignoring the owner’s manual your Creator gave you. What I know for sure is this: You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more. To be more splendid. To be more extraordinary. To use every moment to fill yourself up. 
• You can either waltz boldly onto the stage of life and live the way you know your spirit is nudging you to, or you can sit quietly by the wall, receding into the shadows of fear and self-doubt. 
• What I love most about reading: It gives you the ability to reach higher ground. And keep climbing. 
• Think back for a moment on your own history — not just where you were born or where you grew up, but the circumstances that contributed to your being right here, right now. What were the moments along the way that wounded or scared you? Chances are, you’ve had a few. But here’s what’s remarkable: You are still here, still standing. 

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!

Originally published in Scribe

Unopened Gift

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Uneven does the paths become

making life an edgy experience

smoky essence of scent and burns

of cologne and wet-dried grass

with disrupted emotions!

Slow down your dance

before the song is over

thoughts in an endless swirl

heart beating in an unrhythmic twirl!

Listen to the warnings

Don't forget to hear the song being sung

in haste, miss the tune

with a hundred things making way into your head,

Life will only become an unopened gift, just thrown away!

With missed beats and rhythm of the music

riddled and scrabbled one another

missed words, steps, conviction,

communication and opportunity to be for each other

becomes merely a symphony of broken pieces of

shattered empty life!

©Shweta, 2019 All rights reserved!

Originally published in The Cotton Thread

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash