“Self-love is the greatest act of grace. Remember. You are beautiful. You are amazing. You are wonderful. You are flawed. You are you. You are enough.”
-The Little Mermaid, MMXXII
Tag: Life
We Are In This Together.
“So many times I have imagined a lot of things, building infinite manors of possibilities in my head; yet never have I imagined that I’d get to live to witness one of the darkest days in the history of humanity…” The Little Mermaid, MMXX
I would have palpably hoped that our contemporary reality-this torturous exile, this cyclopean deprivation, this ruthless protracted separation from our dears, this enduring suffering were all only part of a ghastly nightmare; that sooner or later I’d wake up from a torpid, deceptive slumber to my ordinary ubiquitous existence, but alas! I veil my eyes in terror of the extraordinary scale of cataclysm that faces us today-the Coronavirus; and gushing tears bear asseveration to my sympathy for the unutterable ruin that this pandemic is fomenting. My precious friends, we are in desperate straits. Nothing I say can change what you are going through, nay, please permit me to participate in your sharing of grief during these turbulent moments. I would like to tender my solemn condolences to those of you who have lost your loved ones. I would like to tell those of you cripplingly consumed by a sense of indefinable anxiety, inconsolable sadness and lingering uncertainty that you are not alone. I stand by your side. We are in this together.
During my period of quarantine in conjunction with being my inveterate pensive self, I have been doing some chasmic thinking on the art of living, our potentiality as humans and on our susceptibility ‘to get it wrong’, because, I hate to admit it, we did get it wrong! 30 882 deaths worldwide of our kindred brothers and sisters as at 29.03.2020. It is bone-chilling. But, I am uncomprehendingly wondering, in parallel, how much it must have hurt for that baby kangaroo to watch her mother smeared in blood, writhing in agony during the recent Australian bushfires. Did the koala also bear aches and pains from the excoriating heat? Are dogs harmed when their skin is barbarously scourged, when they are boiled and burnt alive to make stew? Does it distress an animal as huge as an elephant when it is slaughtered for ivory? How about monkeys, when they are austerely traumatized by being victims of well-intentioned brutal psychological and physical harassment in cages or laboratories? Do you mull over the inhumane, unforgiving nature of the inexpiable sin humanity is heathenishly committing on these poor living things? Please take a moment to hear their cries of hopelessness, to see the abominable misery through their eyes, to feel the overwhelming desolation in their heart for once? They have never asked for death, either. With unscrupulous veracity I confess that I have sinned. You have sinned. We have sinned together. Milton Friedman remarked, “Only a crisis-actual or perceived-produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.” Now that we have been condemned to put up with the same fate of those animals, let us hope and reflect on a new order of life that respects the animal kingdom.
By the same token, I, regretfully, cannot say much in praise of our collective enterprise to safeguard our natural environment; for our foolish transgressions have far exceeded our acts of grace. Our whole civilization is unsustainable. Calculated by the Global Footprint Network, Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year far surpasses what Earth can regenerate in that particular year. Having cummulated a galactic ecological deficit by drawing down the ecological reserve life as a planetary process built up over 3.8 billion years of life’s evolution on Planet Earth, we perpetuate this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources, defying the food chain and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since 1988, a mere 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of the entire world’s greenhouse gas emissions with China Coal (14.3%) topping the list. How is this acceptable? We glory in the continuity of our species, turning a blind eye to the irredeemable destruction we are triggering. But when any whole nation becomes the victim of the destructive powers of exterior agents like the Coronavirus, then indeed man shrinks into insignificance, he feels his tenure of life threatened, his inheritance on Earth cut off. Because we refuse to brave, we refuse to act, we refuse to bend down, the Universe will teach us our priorities in hard ways.
In different degrees, in every part of the town, in every country, men and women are yearning for a reunion. Most of us are longing intensely for an absent one, for the pleasant warmth of a beloved’s body pressed against our own, for an affectionate hug. Yet, such is the absurdity of human nature that during our normal day, there is always something more important to do, more important to say-but “I love you” is not one of those things. Let us live for each other and for happiness; let us seek peace in our dear home, near the inland murmur of the streams, and the gracious waving of the trees, the beauteous vesture of Earth, and the sublime pageantry of the skies. As we woefully bid a heavy farewell to our family members and friends, let us, on all counts, renounce this false grandeur of ego, vanity and rivalry. This pandemic is no respecter of people. Under its despotical rule, everyone from the high man on the totem pole down to the almsperson is under sentence. Notice how we have ceased to choose for ourselves. Coronavirus has leveled out discrimination-and for the first time, I observe impartial justice reigning in the world. Nothing lasts forever, be it good or bad. Things will improve, but let not humanity be so far disgraced in the future, as to have it imagined that it can be without love or friendship.
At the peak of Coronavirus to the shrill crescendo of humanity’s universal cry for fairness and mercy, it produces a sentiment of gladness in me to discover the constellations of solidarity, altruism and improvisation that lie dormant within us to reappear. There are philanthropists around the world who are making real contributions for an eleemosynary purpose. Let me just give you the example of Italy, one of the worst infected countries: Giorgio Armani has given over $2.2 millions to hospitals in Milan and Rome. Altogether, Italy’s billionaires have given more than $45 million in donations to hospitals, healthcare facilities and government agencies since the crisis began in February. Even our local community has to be lauded. It is emboldening to see people sharing food, fruits and vegetables among themselves during this period of confinement. There are hotel owners around the world who have voluntarily come forward with their plan to set up their hotels as Coronavirus quarantine centres. Our frontline soldiers: the doctors and the police deserve unmeasured adulations. All these gestures of civic spirit, of kindness scream, “We are in this together”.
Will my readers ask how I find solace amidst the endless bombardment of tall stories, false information; how am I coping with the feel of loneliness by being cut off from the rest of the world? I, quite frankly, avow that I have not been unmoved by the development of the tale; and that I have been melancholic, at worst, disappointed. I meditate and send positive, healing energy to the Universe. I do deep breathing exercises and yoga, especially the sun salutation daily in the morning to reduce anxiety. I practise zumba as a form of indoor sports as well as I listen to soothing music to calm my nerves. I make sure that I am spending quality time with my family and with my dog, Oscar. I read books. I keep pace with the latest progress regarding Coronavirus from reliable sources. As any law-abiding citizen, I comply with directives of the government to the letter because during such uncertain times, the least desirable sequela is social unrest. And lastly, journaling is a form of relaxation which allows me to shut off the external, to order the chaos in my mind and to connect with myself.
Albert Camus asserted that there is no love of life without despair of life. Let us seize this very moment to become more intimate with our sense of being, to awaken our purpose and use this knowledge as a tool to dismantle the old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and thinking. Earth is a living system, an immense organism, still developing, regulating itself, making its own oxygen, maintaining its own temperature, keeping all its infinite living parts fundamentally connected and interdependent, including us. It can keep us awake and jubilant with questions for millennia ahead if we learn not to meddle and not to destroy. I hope what lies ahead of us is the promise of a truly regenerative, collaborative, just, peaceful and equitable human civilization, backed by the increscent strength of our force and of our determined wills. Hope springs eternal in the human breast. At this unprecedented turn of events, let us hope for the best, and be prepared for the worst.
Please share your thoughts on the Coronavirus. How is the quarantine period going on in your country? What gives you strength? What renews your faith? What are the challenges that you are facing? What changes in your current lifestyle do you wish to bring about in the wake of this macabre pandemic crisis? Or, leave a personal message for us. Remember: we are in this together; it is nothing but our togetherness that will overpower the Coronavirus.
Love & Light,
The Little Mermaid
Inspiration
“Before you search for inspiration outside, dig for aspiration within.”
-The Little Mermaid, MMXIX
Our Education System In Hot Waters
“It was a bland, tranquilized, life-adjusted, group-integrated sort of face–the face turned out in thousands of copies every year by the educational production lines on Terra.”- H. Bean Piper, Little Fuzzy
There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of a structured school system in the name of education. As a matter of fact, it is not without rythme or reason that we conventionally refer to it as ‘the educational system’ or ‘the school system’. A system, per se, is a way of working, organizing or doing something which follows a fixed methodology or set of rules. Yet, when it comes to education, there are no standardised, soulless products which have to comply with directives in an obdurate manner involved; but humans-alive, curious and inventive presenting different needs, different capacities, different dreams and from different milieus. Thus, for the benefit of our children, am I falsely to say that for a start in 2019, I would prefer us to adopt a rather modern, humanising approach by contextually using the terms ‘educational spirit’ or ‘spirit of the school’ as a substitute for ‘the educational system or the ‘school system’?
How it all began: Let us find out.
The idea of passing accumulated knowledge, skills, values and traditions to the next generation in one way or the other has been around from time immemorial. Why? For basic survival purposes-in other words, to ensure the continued existence of the human species on Earth. However, credit for the conventional system of education goes to Horace Mann. Imported from Prussia more than 200 years ago, Horace first established a publicly-funded system of school in Massachusetts where in every classroom, groups of about 28 students of roughly the same age are taught by one teacher. This model has been the prevailing archetype ever since. It is a factory model classroom: top-down, command-control management specifically designed to cater to the demands of the Industrial Age. What is the goal of the industrial education, one might ask? To fill the young ones with knowledge and imbue in them a lifelong desire for learning? Nothing could be further from the truth. The object is to narrow as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a thoroughly docile, compliant and subservient citizenry, to stamp out originality and liberation of the mind. That was its aim in the US and everywhere else and to this day, absolutely nothing has changed. Incredible!
Why should we break free of the factory model education system?
If one understands that change is the only constant in life, then one will more easily recognize the desperately needed change in our cookie-cutter school system. We are currently living in a rapidly evolving Information Age in a knowledge-based economy driven by virtual technology, high speed internet, the development of artificial intelligence and other futuristic technologies. This will, in turn, pave the way for a new kind of global culture called the Imagination Age. The habits youngsters pick up at school to become a ‘good enough’ cog to jam into a non-existent industrial machine no longer creates economic value. Horace’s system is backfiring because in this digital era, employers demand novelty, creativity, enthusiasm, independent thinking, attention and adaptability while employees supply punctuality, basic literacy, discipline and conformity. The present educational system is producing accountants, doctors and engineers en masse. If children had more freedom to choose, the world would have been marvelling at the chefs-d’oeuvre of more authors, more painters, more sculptors, more entrepreneurs. The existing setting conditions adolescents to work for a living than for a purpose. Our school system has strategically contrived a stiff environment through time frames, cumbersome curricula and unhealthy expectations notwithstanding that children flourish where they are nurtured with love, patience and hope. Truly, it is in hot waters!
So, how do we get out of this mess?
- Changing the vision
One of the fundamental flaws of the public school system self-evidently lies in its vision to create a passive adult for a world of repetitive work under rigid conditions. The ultimate goal of education has to be remolded to reflect the realities of the present time. The aim should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think-rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men. Aiglon College, one of the most expensive private boarding schools in the world with an annual fee of up to £80, 810 has a well-defined mission statement which strives for the holistic development of a child. While the privileged few have the luxury to afford a twenty-first century, ultra-modern education for their offspring, most of us rely on state schools to form our kids- where comes the need for a complete makeover of the system.
- Modifying the curriculum
At the core of it, the curriculum has to be modified. Much of what is taught in our current education system is either not relevant to students’ lives or can be googled at the swipe of a finger. Programs to expand soft skills including persistence, flexibility in thinking, empathy, metacognition, imagination, self-management and communication with clarity have to be devised. Lessons in Mathematics, languages and sciences have to obligatorily cover practical applications instead of only focusing on the theories. Students have to be taught how to realistically cope with issues related to stress, sex, losing a job, drugs and junk food. Schools have to lay more emphasis on music, sports, leisure, spirituality and poetry. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma which is offered in most private schools requires students to put in 150 hours of CAS: creativity, action and service, thereby preparing them to better understand how the world works. The IB program has to be extended on a pilot basis to more schools in countries all over the world. Change will not happen at a stroke, but it has to be steady-and most of all, it has to start somewhere.
- Having a solid geopolitical climate
What is becoming increasingly apparent is the exigency for a wholesale injection of fresh blood in the global political environment that is all too often bogged down in a quagmire of corruption and selfishness. To bring about a radical transformation in the education system, we need real visionaries who must be ready to swim against the tide of popular opinion, who must methodically plan and administer reforms on a large scale. We need dynamic leaders: activists, educators, lawmakers, behavioural scientists and even parents to take up the baton to ensure the execution of newer policies. With the coordinated effort and collaborative support of all the major stakeholders who regard education as an investment in human capital, our dream of a school where children will not merely survive but will thrive can materialize.
What makes Finland so phenomenal?
Always among the premier finisher on rankings of the world’s best education system, Finland was eulogized as a ‘miracle of education’ by the World Bank in 2017. Here’s a closer look at the underlying reasons why it is Finland that goes home with the gold medal.
1. No standardised testing
Finland recognizes that young people are not pressure cookers. Finnish students take just one test during their entire time in primary and secondary school. Called the National Matriculation Test, it measures the general academic maturity of a person compared to standardised tests where scores and ranks come to naught to capture the overall development of a student.
2. It is free.
Finland remains one of the very few countries to offer free education at all levels. The government provides funds for a number of social benefits like meals, housing, school healthcare, free transport and others.
3. Respect for teachers and students alike
The teaching staff in Finnish schools is highly educated. They are treated better, work few hours and are decently remunerated in contrast to other countries. The system is also based on a culture of trust, not control which allows for effective two-way communication between teachers and students.
4. Value for both academic and vocational education
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”- Albert Einstein
Finland acknowledges that not all children are necessarily fish. Some children are cheetahs-they are good at running, some are eagles with an incredible eyesight, some are dolphins-they’re creative while some are chimps-they are pretty S.M.A.R.T-smart. The country just works on students’ individual innate skills and talents by polishing them either through academic studies or vocational training, whichever is best for them.
5. Less homework
This equation is quite simple.
Less homework = More playtime = More self-exploration + Greater sense of well-being = Increased attention in class = More retention capacity = Better results
Wow! Finland has it all figured out!
Etymologically, the term ‘education’ has been derived from the Latin words: educare and educere. ‘Educare’ means to bring up, to nourish. The child has to be nourished like a plant in the garden by a teacher. ‘Educere’ means to draw forth or to bring from. The ability of a child has to be identified and given scope for development. Our education system has historically been doing the complete opposite of what it ought to be doing. Even worse, challenging the worldwide existing school system is like opening a Pandora’s box of deeply flawed policies, regressive techniques of learning, amoral politics and a chronic misallocation of intellectual resources. It is rightly said that it is easier to land a man on the moon than to change the school system. To put it mildly, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ is what they all seem to agree upon. This explains why highly literate and liberal parents now view homeschooling as the best option for their progeny. In short, I wish for a world where school is the place children look forward to going, when the very mention of ‘school’ lights up their face and makes them beam with excitement. Is this just a pie in the sky fantasy or a thingness of a promising tomorrow? I wonder.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM?
HOW, ACCORDING TO YOU, CAN IT BE IMPROVED?
WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE?
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!
Learning From Trees
“There is a lot to learn from trees: their graceful free spirit when they fluidly sway in the breeze, their munificence when they open-heartedly give us shade and sustenance, their dauntlessness in the wildest and most tumultuous of storms, their endurance during a scathing drought and, in particular, their forbearance when we go about destroying them without a second thought.”
-The Little Mermaid, MMXVIII
Protect Thyself
“A person may not say anything out of fear, wayward evasion or artful deceit; but his aura, without reserve, reveals everything. Learn to communicate with energies. They do not lie.”
-The Little Mermaid, MMXVIII
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018
-Knock! Knock!
-Who’s there?
-New Year!!!
Ding-a-ling! I can hear the dulcet timbre of Christmas and New Year as we gladly mosey into 2018. What a world of mirthful jollity a novel beginning brings!
Inside each one of us, there is a river that flows. That river is hope. When overflowing with love, it keeps everything fresh and alive everywhere it reaches, enhancing the beauty of the landscape. However, after a long severe drought, it slowly dries up; leaving in its aftermath unrealised dreams and unmet goals. Absence of hope is despair and despair is essentially destructive. We all need to struggle to keep hope alive and not surrender to despair because nobody can survive without hope. We need hope as we need oxygen. The act of living is, in itself, an act of hope. The festive season is like monsoon which exuberantly fills up the dried up river- it’s a compass to those who have lost their bearings, to some- a license to renew forgotten promises. The gist of celebrating New Year is to leave behind all your mental stress as you see the sparkle in the eyes of your loved ones, to burn your negative emotions in the incandescent fireworks and to ditch your past histories and anything that makes you unhappy as you pop open that splendid bottle of champagne. This is the best part of New Year’s- a psychological lift that every human being needs from time to time.
One question which irks all of us, however is, “Why do we feel that time is flying us by?” A review of my year so far will be a series of shots of me saying: “I can’t believe it’s 2017 already. I can’t believe Christmas is gone. I can’t believe I’m back to work. I can’t believe the weekend is almost over. I can’t believe it’s Monday already. I can’t believe the week is over. I can’t believe it’s the weekend again. I can’t believe January is over already. I can’t believe October is about to end. I can’t believe it’s December already. I can’t believe 2017 is almost over.” As we grow older, we have the freakish impression that time moves faster and faster, that the earlier periods of our lives seemed to last longer. Like nowadays, the weekend seems to be only thirty minutes long. It is as if, unbeknown to us, time is secretly being coarctated. I think the reason for this disparity in our experience of time has to do with how involved we are with the events in our life. Something that captures our attention and emotion will seem to last longer. The problem is that nowadays we live our life like we are travelling in a speedboat, in a race against time, always focusing on our next destination. We live our life hopping from one deadline to another, one project to another, one birthday in the weekend to a birthday in the next, a football league match this week to a cup match the next. Our attention is not in the present moment, we are always being dragged away from what we consider to be mundane activities that yet constitute the major chunk of our life. If we want to change things around onwards, we probably need to think of the journey like we are travelling in a glass bottom boat, where there are many wonders right here under our feet, giving depth to every moment and making the journey more long-lasting and pleasurable.
To mark the occasion, I’d like to remind you, my loved ones, of our priorities: to make the world we live in a kinder, more peaceful place through our actions. Help whoever you can, whenever you can. I believe success, when shared, has a multiplier effect. It’s not about leaving anyone behind. It’s about helping pull everyone, and humanity in general, ahead. Do not be stingy when it comes to sharing love, compassion and sympathy; for in the end, from dust we were made, to dust we shall return.
Guys, I cannot fathom driving without street signs, traffic signals and no rules. Just the same, I cannot fathom blogging without YOU! Yes! YOU! YOU’RE FAB! Blogging has been the ideal escape for my soul struggling from the darkness of worldly wickedness to the light of fond camaraderie. You have all been very amiable to me and appreciative of my posts throughout 2017. Words alone cannot express the immense gratitude I feel in my heart. You, 4 191 people, deserve more than mere thank you’s, really. As I come to a close, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018. May the year 2018 give you the opportunity to realize your dreams, rediscover your strengths, muster your willpower and rejoice in the simple pleasures that life would bring your way.
I love you!
Cheers!
Letter to my future daughter
Dear Alexandria,
As you reach your tender sixteen, there are a couple of things I would like to share with you. I want to start by telling you, my beloved daughter, that I love you endlessly. I fell in love with you when I heard your heartbeat for the first time. I fell in love with you when you clutched to my bosom in the middle of the night. I fell in love with the way you smile, with how you smell, with every single piece of you because you are a part of me. You have to know that, to me, you are far more precious than the Kohinoor diamond. Alex, you are a blessing in my life and I’m forever grateful to God for proffering me the good fortune to be your mother.
Darling, you are not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You are born with a sword in your hand. You are neither the hopeless princess of a Disneyland nor the delicate sleeping beauty of a fairy tale. No! You are not any of those. You are a warrior. A true warrior. You do not need someone to save your bacon because inside you lies all the might to guard yourself and others as well from the demons. You are that much admirably invincible, my goddess. You’re growing up to be a beautiful woman tomorrow. Seek not, my child, to be the evanescent beauty that pleases nothing but the eyes. I’d rather you seek to be the sempiternal beauty that pleases everything but the eyes. Oh dear! What fools these mortals be who acquiesce to society’s decree. Fair or ebony, tall or knee high to a gnat, it matters not; for beauty transcends the conventional to alight on a face- as fresh as the morning dew, to alight on lips- words they enounce soft and gentle and to alight in a heart- generous and tolerant. This is the unvarnished definition of beauty, love.
Being your mother, honey, I bestowed upon you the gift of life. Yet, you have to feel alive. And for you to feel alive, you should forge your own identity. You have been put on The Promised Land with a divine purpose. It is your cardinal mission to honour and give meaning to your life by discovering the reason for your existence. Once you uncover your ikigai, stick to it like a moth to the flame. Earn your livelihood around what spurs you to get out of bed at 5 a.m. You enjoy photography? Be a photographer. You enjoy cooking? Be a chef. I’d be proud if you choose to get your hands dirty just to keep your passion burning. Pour your heart into what you do, and I promise you will wear the crown in your chosen field one day. Do not get too comfortable settling. It’s like being trapped in a dark, scary room where you are screaming at the top of your lungs with no one to hear you. You don’t want that, do you? So, embrace challenges. Be on the go. Try. Rise. Fall. A thousand times over. Experience life-both with its lemons; and colourful spices and flavours. Flatline is for the dead.
Alex, you are bathing in the fountain of youth. You are just about to explore the different facets of your sexuality. Take it slow and dignifiedly accept who you are deep down inside. Your sacred feminine spirit is calling on you to wear that little black dress, to do that gorgeous make-up or to dream of a charming prince on a white horse. However, there will also be moments of skepticism and disdain when you will feel like the ugliest creature on Earth, especially after watching The Oscars. It’s perfectly normal. Through it all, I want you to act responsibly with your body. You owe it to yourself. Your first kiss with your partner might make you want to believe in French romance and the happily-ever-after kind of love. Why shouldn’t you anyway? But I want you to believe in second love, too. The kind of love that feels like hushed waves washing over a dry shore-yeah, it does exist. I’m not gonna ask you to look at the world through rose-tinted glasses. It’s also a cruel place here, my child. A pig-ignorant society will judge you. There will be people who will drool over your body. You must absolutely learn to say ‘no’ without apology. It is not your responsibility to smother the lingering lewd thoughts others have around your physical features or material attire. You are not accountable to me, let alone to your next-door neighbour, or your uncles and aunts. You are accountable to your conscience. Just do good no matter what and stay true to who you are.
A rich life is what you deserve, Alexandria. Travel to places you’ve never been before. Learn a new language. Read books. Laugh out loud. Do the bungee jump. Dance under the moonlight. Be goofy. Love fiercely. Eat your greens. Lift heavy. Rock your heels. You have but one life to make the most out of it. Baby, you are a powerhouse of intellect, courage and joy. You are a million stars under a sky. Sprinkle your angelic shine everywhere you go. Carpe diem!
I got your back!
Your loving,
Mama
Globalisation
“In an era of unprecedented global interconnectedness and ridiculous overexposure to technology, a private life is the hallmark of ultimate luxury.”
-The Little Mermaid, MMXVII
Competition
“The veritable competition never was, never is and never will be between you and another person. It is, au fond, all about ‘actual you’ versus ‘potential you’. Remember! In this game, you are either ahead of the curve or you are a diamond in the rough; and in both instances you do not draw to a close until victory is yours.”
–The Little Mermaid, MMXVII