Tag: love

General

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021

The Little Mermaid

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is the special time of the year, yet again, for us to gather harmoniously to celebrate Christmastide with our beloved family and friends. As history unfolds itself today, by strange and unforeseen paths, when we have, quite ascertainably, little control over the future and no control at all over the past, let us not relegate the true meaning of Christmas; that is, to give up one’s very self-to think only of others; and how to bring the greatest happiness to others. From this perspective, and from this spirit of communion which unites us, I am writing to share my parrhesiastic thoughts with you.

I will begin by saying what many of us would like to skate over on this merry occasion. One thing I know for certain: It is better to be unhappy and to know the worst, than to be happy in a fond illusion. Nowadays, a lot of people are living a lie. However, without the masquerade of our superficial lives, without the titles and proprietorships, without the massive bank account and the sports car, the sexual conquests, the church gatherings, the charitable affairs, without the glamorous Instagram feeds and the medals on our chest-who are we? Who are we after we draw the curtain and we are left stark naked in the face of our reality? A calm or an unsettled soul? In this age of dynamic changes marked by perilous uncertainties, finding the center of strength within ourselves is the best contribution we can make to our fellow men. One person with inner strength exercises a salving effect on panic among people around him. This is what our society needs-not new ideas and gadgets; critical as these are, and not geniuses and superheroes, but persons who can “be”, that is, persons who have a center of strength within themselves.

There is before us a disaster namely the Coronavirus, the monstrosity of which is of the most grievous kind. You, my dears, ask, what do we do in the current circumstances? I will say: It is to move forward with all our might and with all the valiancy that God can give us: to brace ourselves to the sacred missions we are called upon to discharge, sweep the mine, plough the land, build the houses, patrol the streets, succour the afflicted, uplift the dispossessed and the lonely and honour the brave. Friends, let us go forward together in all parts of the world. There is not a week, nor a day, nor a second to lose. It is the hour not for disconsolateness, but for courage and rebuilding; and that is the ethos which should rule our mind in 2021.

I welcome this golden opportunity to tell you that I am continually surprised by the ingenuity of your works, the creativity of your ideas, the modernity of your thoughts and the largeness of your heart. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, twirling and dancing in the eddies of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment indeed. I must also thank you for inspiring me everyday to dream more, to do more, to be more. May all of you continue to create wonders and magic in the coming year. Hope is not cancelled. Optimism is not cancelled. Faith is not cancelled. So, live the wonderful life that is in you! Spread your wings; be afraid of nothing.

I wish you and your close ones a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year 2021. Stay blessed!

Love, hugs and kisses

The Little Mermaid

 

General

My Final Goodbye

The Little Mermaid

Farewell sweet husband of mine,

Here I am, lying on the unmerciful deathbed of the hospital. I look around the icy-cold room and feel the muscles in my body jitter with apprehension of what awaits me before the ink is dry. I am writing to you, David, my endearing husband, to put into words my final goodbye. I quail at the crushing thought of leaving so incipiently when it seems like only yesterday we’d taken our sacred vows of oneness. I do not want to die. I like living. I have sometimes been wretchedly miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive, as your wife, besides you, in our own little world made up of you, me and our love, is a grand thing.

It is true–love knows not its own depth until the pinch of separation. We have written our brief, yet incredible story in the sands of time. Surely, you will remember the instants of joy we have shared and smile at them with lightness in your heart. Your eyes spoke to me, the first time we met, a secret that in life after life, in age after age, forever, we will dote on each other. Darling, I am going with fond memories of how we have made love in the gentle summer rain; in the shepherd’s heaven, over the flocculent sunlit green pastures; in the quiet lodge at Emerald Waters. I cherish the times we have spent chasing the moon on our long drives, when we kissed like euphoric teenagers or when you daintily drew me closer to you in your sleep in the wee hours of the morning. We promised we would live together. We would die together. I am sorry I am not keeping my words, for this evil disease has got the best of me. It pains me a hundredfold to be in isolation–not to see your face, not to close my eyes for one last moment in your arms. This would have mollified the regrets of my harsh untimely departure from this world. I miss you.

You will live on, Dav, after I am gone. You will live a full life and do everything we have ever dreamt of. You will fall in love once again with a kind woman; her love will hit you like a thunderbolt, and will pierce through your soul. She will make you laugh when life gets tough. You will make wonderful babies and watch them grow. Your budding business will soar to heights you would have never conjectured. You will be a happy man; and nothing in the City of God would bring me greater pleasure than to see you happy. Life will be worth living if you plant lovelier, the journey will continue without me. Should you feel lost, hesitant or weak; should you crave to swaddle in the snugness of my loving embrace, you will still find me at all the places where we sang and danced–in the chilling breeze of the mountains, in the ebb and flow of the gentle waves of the sea, deep in your heart. You have given me love. I hope to give you dreams of your beautiful tomorrow.

David, I leave behind lasting pleasant memories for you which you will treasure for the rest of your life. Thank you for being the best husband I could have possibly asked for. I have loved you yesterday, I love you today and I will love you for always. It’s just goodbye for a little while. Only a little while…

Your beloved wife,

Jasmine

*This letter is a humble tribute to all those devoted wives and girlfriends who have been fighting hard and for the most part alone, but have sadly lost the battle against the Coronavirus.

May their soul rest in eternal peace.

Poems

I Knew It Was Love

The Little Mermaid

I knew it was love
when he looked into my eyes
erasing the amorphous clouds of doubts
for a canopy of delightful skies

I knew it was love
when the silence of winter mornings
no longer sent boreal chills
but beauty and wonder with its risings

I knew it was love
when he held my hand
rollicking me on a higher plane
of a perfect, faraway enchanted land

I knew it was love
when he whispered in my ear
the night we sought for the Pleiades
“You’re the brightest star in my life, Oh dear!”

I knew it was love
when love felt as light as a feather
blossoming the barren gardens of my soul
like it’s again December

I knew it was love
when he wrapped his arms around me
it felt like homecoming
Homecoming I knew love was!

General

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2020

The Little Mermaid

Dear esteemed friends,

It is with feelings of profound fondness and of consummate delight that I have the honour to address you all for who you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers and magicians; and to share my impression on the festival of the Nativity of Jesus Christ and New Year with you. In these weeks that are passing by so euphorically, we see parks, public squares, roads, stores, hotels and restaurants welcoming the party season with sparkling firs, bows and baubles galore. Even buses are decked out with all things Christmas. The mesmeric decorations all over the world, besides being an affirmation of the majesty of the moment, provide a most heartening warmth in our soul.

In the same breath, this is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, boldly, without prevarication. Hello parents, I’m pretty sure you are wondering what gifts to buy for your darling kids or grand-kids; and I feel your bewilderment at the plenitude of choices that you have. I ask of you, my dear people, what is a person more likely to remember, twenty years on, about his Christmas Day when he was only a five-year-old child? Is he going to recollect the deluxe $800 Lego “Star Wars” Millennium Falcon-a few pieces of which had been lost in just two days or is he going to recall, with vivid images, the ski trip he had taken with his siblings and how he had laughed uncontrollably when his father had farted in front of the disguised Santa Claus on that day? I trust you have gained not only glimpses of particular scenes, but also the purport of my words. Make mindful purchases. If you are to spend, then spend unhindered on things that will nourish your children’s ingenuity and spark their creativity. Spend on travels. Spend on books. Spend on musical instruments. Let your present leave its mark on your child’s heart forevermore. It must be borne in mind that in another part of the world, there is a parent working fingers to the bone from sun up til sun down so he could get his son a new pair of school shoes on Christmas Day.

It is far from my wish to make any sepulchral statements on an occasion that might well be called one of rejoicing but the reality is brutal. Our world is ailing. And if it takes brutal honesty to say it, so be it. The first step in solving any problem is recognising there is one. If we do not take this first step, we cannot hope for a better future. Our world is sick, yet silent-in the same manner a mother shrugs off her own sufferings, her own pains, to stand on her feet and prepare the ceremonial roasted turkey for her family. From being touted as ‘global warming’, ‘climate change’ to the climate crisis, you and I have witnessed, with horror and heartbreak, with a fundamental sense of the size and urgency of the catastrophic biodiversity damage, the war against Nature. They often say that living on the edge is the new fashion but what could be edgier than taking the whole of life on this planet to the edge of annihilation? With all bets off. I have fervent hopes, that if today, we promise to care for the Creation, the Creation will take better care of us till eternity. This would be the most invaluable gift to our children, and to our children’s children.

Uncertainty is hovering over the global economy. The political in-fighting of Brexit continues to weigh on the UK, with the rest of us not imperviable to its large-scale systemic risks as well. Unemployment, poverty, security and health remain an ongoing tremendous challenge for us to tackle in the new year. Every child born today is already burdened with a share of the enormous debt that our government has run up by borrowing money. Moreover, the destabilizing effects of conflicts in countries like Yemen and Syria are impossible to ignore. Amidst the prevailing chaos, the tribulations, the real and most meaningful Christmas presents for our close ones cannot be an iPhone 11 Pro or a PlayStation 4; the most beautiful gifts would be that of giving all of them equal opportunities, of saving their world from further ecological destruction, of giving them a pollution-free existence, of giving them the liberty to dream big and to pursue their goals through incisive economics and last, but not the least, of securing a future to enable our children to go through their daily life and work, knowing that they have peace, they have safety, they have freedom.

Our unity as bloggers may well be a unique spectacle, and an episode in itself. It is my duty to pay the most wonderful tribute of gratitude and admiration to you, my loving friends. I am very glad to hear of the excellent work and splendid deeds you are carrying in the fields of arts, literature, music, technology, leadership and philanthropy among others. I need not say, also, how much I feel the compliment and pleasure of being connected with you. There’s something consoling about listening to or reading someone’s words that sound relatable; words that have to do with something we’ve specifically been through but never knew how to put in words, or something we’ve always had at the back of our head, but we were never really conscious enough about it until we met someone in the blogosphere who’s able to give it a name. The best of all is, those heart-to-heart conversations that bring out the most genuine feelings and lots of “I thought I was the only one”. When we ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions or cures, have chosen rather to share our struggles with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in our low moment, who can stay with us in an hour of grief, who can tolerate not knowing, not healing and face with us the reality of our vulnerability as a human, that is a friend who cares. I thank God you are here. It’s such a blessing; the ability to share, the ability to allow people to talk about their dreams, passions and joy; and this is what help us, bloggers, to sustain. It has been an added pleasure and an added thrill for me, to watch our friendship blossom; I am confident that the ties which bind us so closely will grow even stronger, and that our unity of purpose will be maintained in the coming year.

May we cast aside-for this sacred holiday season-the cares and dangers which beset us, and make for the children a period of fun and laughter in a world of storm. Let them open their gifts with rapture in their eyes. Share a kiss beneath the mistletoe. Wrap your dears close to your heart. Resolve that by our sacrifice and doing, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance, or denied their right, tomorrow, to live in a free and decent world.

I tell you what, this is off the record but do not assume Santa Claus likes his babies goody-good, he loves them naughty. Haha!

Meilleurs voeux de bonheur pour un Joyeux Noël et Heureuse Nouvelle Année 2020! May peace, love, prosperity and success follow you always.

Lots of love,

The Little Mermaid X


                                                   And a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

General

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2019

The Little Mermaid

Dearest friends,

Christmas is coming again. Tis the season to be jolly! Isn’t this a wonderful time of the year? So many things fill our hearts with the spirit of Noel: the melody of the traditional carols, the glitzzy lights, the ornate decorations and the loving presence of those we cherish around us.

In the minutiae of our quotidian existence, many hours of the day are consumed with work and duties. But what matters most to us, at the end of the day? The people that are close to us, they matter most. And to most of us, they are our family. A family is not necessarily the same in the present age as it was generations ago. I think, with the expeditious advent of globalisation and new technology, we have reached an advanced stage of social development whereby a recognition has emerged that not all families consist of father, mother and children. There is more variety today, along with more broad-mindedness and tolerance which is a positive thing. I have been with you for only three years-the immeasurable love and the gracious acceptance you have given me has moved me so deeply that you are now a part of my extended family. And I mean it with every fibre of my being.

Ladies and gentlemen, the significancy of the holiday lies in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose life is an enlivening inspiration to millions of people across the globe. Through his undaunted actions, he bequeathed to us the extraordinary gifts of love, generosity, respect, forgiveness and compassion. So, let us join hands as His children and together we tread the path of righteousness. Speaking of children, kindly allow me to quote Matthew 18: 1-5 NIV Bible,

“1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.

3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

Jesus said he desires everyone to come into his kingdom like children. The essential corollary of this is that God wants us, irrespective of our title and status to embrace life’s ups and downs with a childlike enthusiasm-joyfully, expectantly, trustingly, innocently and humbly.

The holiday season is a perfect time for everybody to heed home. Contrary to what we grew up believing, not all homes are made of bricks and cement. For some people, home is the outdoors, this is where they find their place in the world. For others it is just a specific place in their house, their room or on their favorite couch. For a lucky few, home is with someone special, this is where they find their comfort and respite from the world outside. For others, home is in the books, in the company of characters they love. There are some for whom home is in memories, this is where they repeatedly go when they lose their way. Home, by definition, is a place you can call your own, and this can be a piece of music, a sound or a taste even. It is said that home is where the heart is, thus home is where your hopes and dreams fly to when you set them loose. Mostly, home is a feeling, a feeling of belonging, a feeling that when I am here doing things, I can be myself, I have an identity. For me personally, the blogosphere is my home, with every single one of you-it is my place of warmth and familiarity and I cannot imagine ending 2018 without wishing you good tidings. I have a fantastic news for you, my darlings. The Little Mermaid is now a self-hosted site. Wooohooo!!! It is still in the making (80% completed) and I will get down to the nitty-gritty of it in another post when I do the official launching. At the moment, I’m super excited to learn new stuff everyday: SEO, Linux, Adsense among others.

It has been a remarkable year with you, my people. Your words of encouragement and unbounded compliments touch me to the core. I am amazed to see the consideration so many of you give to my posts. It reassures me that some people do appreciate what I write and it makes me feel valued. I hope to be worthy of it. From sharing jokes to put a smile on my face to wiping my tears when I’m down, from pushing me to reach my potential to lending an ear when I feel the need to vent out, a mere thank you is just not enough. Still, I must thank you. Thank you for standing by me. Thank you for being real with me. Thank you for letting me be my humble self. Thank you for simply being the amazing individuals that you are. You all are very special to me and hold your own spot in my heart.

In my closing words, I would like to wish you and your kin a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2019. Forgive quickly. Love abundantly. Laugh often. Do not ever give up on your dreams for there is always a brighter tomorrow. May the Almighty bless you richly. Amen.

Love, hugs and kisses,
The Little Mermaid

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Quotes

Father-Daughter Relationship

The Little Mermaid

“A dad is a daughter’s first love and he, by virtue of his exalted paternal stature, remains most influential in shaping how the daughter expects to be treated by men later on in her life. I am afraid good fathers indeed set the bar high.”

-The Little Mermaid, MMXVI

Poems

A Melancholy Evening

The Little Mermaid

Ellie lay on her back awake
In her favourite rocking chair on the terrace
Closing her eyes nonchalantly to a scene opaque
At the time that love was a dangerous menace.
Those were the mirthful days spent in Paris
She reminisced about with a sigh of unalloyed bliss
When the sun shone a little brighter
The birds chirped sweet songs a little louder
The world seemed just a little better
For she’d fallen madly in love with him
And he’d fallen madly in love with her
From dawn to dusk, on a blithe whim
They laughed! They cried! They even were to conquer!
She was a beautiful, strong woman
Dare I say, she was not the common
Her spirits exceedingly fierce and free
He’d agree
Burning to ashes every immanent obstacle
The woman of his dreams was truly unstoppable
This is what he loved about Ellie
The ocean that she sometimes was. The fire that she interminably was.
He often brought her angel garden-fresh roses
As a token of his undying devotion
She always liked them red, full of fragrance
Adorned with her lover’s bruises
It was a shared love so faithfully immense
Timeless and beyond comparison.
Ellie and her darling had the best moments of their lives
Tucked in each other’s rapturous embrace
Unaware of society’s heartless knives
Ever primed to cause their disgrace
To the world they were not made for each other
Albeit in God’s courtyard
They were young lovers bound together
In innocence, in good faith, without any guard.
To happen, it happened
Their separation unbearable
The ocean slowly dried up. The fire dozed off.
Lifeless, clueless
They both wandered in the wilderness.
A melancholy evening it was, though no different
When Ellie tried to bury all the old memories, all the scents
In the deepest recess of her heart as ornament
Knowing they wouldn’t be forgotten
Until a thousand new crescents.

 

Photography Credits: ‘The Happy Lovers’ by Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1760-65
Located At: Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena CA.

Copyrights © 2016 The Little Mermaid. All Rights Reserved

General

Define Love In One Word

The Little Mermaid

With Valentine’s Day drawing near, The Little Mermaid is organising a very entertaining game for all of you! Yeah! It is open for all of you, including those barely in love, those moderately in love and those deeply in love. And because I am unambiguously against any sort of favouritism, even the ‘love sucks’, ‘single rocks’ and ‘single but ready to mingle’ kind of people are eligible for participation. Oh really?! Then, it surely sounds like a blast. Hurray!

So, here is goes…

In honour of Saint Valentine and for the spirit of romance during the delightful month of February,

DEFINE LOVE IN ONE WORD.

Let’s get it rolling, shall we?

P.S. Please comment, share, reblog and like as many times as you can. The thread of love is limitless.

General

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018

The Little Mermaid

-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!

Poems

His Beloved Olivia

The Little Mermaid

A tiny puff of wind
covertly breezed into the room
and elicited a little squirm, rhythmed
from beloved Olivia in full bloom

His tempted tongue, quivering
unfurled her moist nether lips in heat
she moaned, her arched hips wriggling
Holy! What a treat!
He thrust inside with pleasure
gently circling her pink pearl, aroused
so sultry was his muse’s gesture
it left him in utter wows

He fondled, kissed and licked her
savouring the juices nectarean
He sucked over and over
revelling in that one moment utopian

The intensity of her sensations heightened
till she pressed herself against her bourgeois
He captured the glow in her face, enlightened
as she finally let out an ecstatic ‘Ahh’