My Dreams - All I wanted, But what I got!

All I wanted was to fly high like the balloons,

With dreams in my eyes & passion in my heart,

But I woke up in a different reality.

 

All I wanted was to undo my whacked past,

With tears in my eyes & regret in my heart,

But I knew time waits for none.

 

All I wanted was to live in my afresh present,

With joy in my eyes & courage in my heart,

But I just know the present is not permanent.

 

All I wanted was to bring life to my dream,

With creativity in my eyes & fire in my heart,

But I understood it is not as easy as it seemed.

 

All I wanted was to keep walking the path,

With resilience in my eyes & perseverance in my heart,

But I never imagined that it was a path of thorns.

 

All I wanted was to look up along every hurdle met,

With growing fear in my eyes & fading hopes in my heart,

But I felt weak and almost gave up midway.

 

All I wanted was a ray of light through the dark path,

With grace in my eyes & determination in my heart,

But I never assumed that my decisions all along went wrong.

 

All I wanted was to never regret the choices I made,

With the focus in my eyes & contentment in my heart,

But I needed a break for my wandering mind, full of thoughts.

 

All I wanted was to share my emotions and feelings,

With tears in my eyes & love in my heart,

But I stayed calm to breathe fresh air into my life.

 

All I wanted was to again make myself strong,

With confidence in my eyes & enthusiasm in my heart,

But this time, I never looked back to let down my dreams.

 

All I wanted was to re-live my lost dreams,

With dreams in my eyes & passion in my heart,

But this time, I took tiny steps towards living my dreams.

And now, I understood that there were no ‘Buts’ & ‘Ifs’ to bring dreams to life.

 

So, Always Be Ready To Paint Your Own Dream Art into Reality;

You Never Know the Ifs & Buts You’ll Have to Face for Getting Back All You Wanted!

Art & Poem by Swasthi

Face is NOT the ONLY Index to Define yourself & your Mind!

Overcome the emotions & Define yourself

Our minds are always engaged in some hidden thought processes (very random thoughts!), which may be linked to emotions like joy, sorrow, anger, fear, or depression. All these emotions inside the mind are usually reflected in our faces. Many people can recognize their own as well as others' emotions, discern between different feelings, adjust, manage emotions to adapt in a given situation. Importantly, to lead a happy life, one should utilize knowledge and reasoning to overcome emotions and define themselves well with the best qualities of character and mind.

Make the first impression of your inner-self, the Best

Being able to live without having to be defined by your outer beauty, but your inner self is the mark of living a meaningful life. Most times, people fail to understand the fact that the best possible version of yourself is when your beauty from within, defines yourself and not just your facial beauty. It is what remains in the memory of the beholder.

We all know that first impressions made are supposed to be the best. We have been taught so and have experienced so.  I also understand from the very phrasing of the words, that such first impressions constitute our judgment of others too. Even though first impressions are mostly unreliable, they are inevitable. Judging people by their first impression has become normal. We may be judged based on what we look like, complexion, skin tone, sharp features, the dress we wear, the brand of our shoes, and so on. But originally, it is that first impression, our inner beauty (personality, character, mind) makes on the viewer rather than what the outer beauty of our face defines. People, who possess inner beauty, are special. They resonate from within. They vibrate at a different frequency.

When you meet a stranger, don’t be quick to form a judgment, because chances are, you don’t know the full story of how that stranger formed a judgment on you in his/ her mind.

“Be curious, not judgemental” says Walt Whitman.

The Face is NOT the ONLY Index

The popular saying, Face is the index of your mind. I would like it rearranged as in, “Face is not the only index of your mind”, or even clearly, “Define yourself in such a way that your face is not the only index of yourself or your mind”. It is not who you are underneath, it is what you do that defines you more!

According to what many people understand from that saying; if the face was the only index of your mind, then I don’t see a point where the acid attack victims, fire accident survivors, people with scar or acne, and the blind people fit in. To such people, their face is not the only index of measuring their minds. There are many stronger values or virtues within them, which define their nature or character to the world. Never allow yourself to be seen as a so-called victim of the world. See yourself as the world!

Define yourself, so that your face is not the only index of yourself or your Mind

The true beauty is a person’s best inherent qualities of character and mind. This fact can be understood more clearly with age; when people age, they look the same to themselves like they did when they were young, but wisdom shines when they move their beauty from face to their heart and mind. A beautiful person doesn’t last in people’s minds forever, but a beautiful personality does. 

Re-Define Yourself

Define yourself by Being yourself, Believing in yourself, Loving yourself & Proving to yourself! Let your Education & Profession, Passion & Perseverance, Optimism & Confidence, Enthusiasm & Dedication, Dignity & Assertiveness, Love & Empathy, Sympathy & Simplicity - Define Yourself!

To know more about what people pay attention to, take time to read through “7 things that define You” from www.inc.com.

Be calm and say NO when you don’t need something; Be contended and say YES when you want something...If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is Compromise. You will lose control over yourself and this when others start defining you. rather than you defining yourself.

Deepak Chopra has rightly stated, “Be willing to redefine yourself every day”. And I would reconstruct as “Be willing to re(de)fine yourself every day, once you define yourself first”.

Art & Article by Swasthi

PS: Check out the Top 15 Indian Art blogs followed in 2020 @feedspot.com. 

https://blog.feedspot.com/indian_art_blogs/

Do follow Feedspot for info on many creative blogs on various categories, their contents, strategies adopted, ranking and rating of such blogs and so on. This place is such an amaze to all bloggers, content readers and writers! Do visit their website!

Biodiversity ~ Sustainability ~ Nature

"We should preserve every scrap of Biodiversity while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to Humanity" - by E.O. Wilson

Nature is at its best form when it is left as it is! Biodiversity cannot be maintained by protecting a few species in a zoo, or by preserving Green belts or National parks or sanctuaries. To function properly, nature needs more room than these. It can maintain itself, without a zookeeper, or an administrator, or the forest department, or the gene banks. All it needs is to be left undisturbed...

Need for the conservation of jungles!

Biodiversity explains the whole range of the different varieties of living beings or systems on earth. It basically includes all the animal & plant species, landscapes & ecosystems. Biodiversity is the key to maintain stable ecosystems. 

While an ecosystem is a group of life forms living together in a mutually balanced community. We as humans (the highest form of animal life!) are unique in this ecosystem. As humans, we have the intelligence to define our very own meaningful existence. We can easily appreciate the beauty of this biodiversity, whether we are looking at a squirrel enjoying its food, or a bunch of blooming flowers, chirping birds, or the majestic roar of a lion. We like to live in a varied environment, be it open spaces to play, like beaches, trees for shade, a garden filled with colorful flowers, lakes or rivers with clean water; simply saying, we need a variety of flora & fauna to live!!

A Simple doodle art - "Flora & Fauna" showcasing footprints of few animals (centered by humans!) surrounded by plants & flowers - depicts that the world is to be shared by all living beings and not just Humans!

We were taught about animals, to respect them, to be aware of them, to preserve them, to understand that we share this planet Earth with them. We do not have the right vested on us to abuse animals, rather the mother nature as a whole entity.

Where in an area, more biodiversity exists: supporting large species of plants and animals, healthier are the humans!

Magical ways to Express Love to your partner

Love is one of the most exhilarating, most exciting experiences in life. The magical connection when you are with the right person is unbelievable!

Many people believe that not only loving but expressing love properly can solve many problems in life.

We do not understand the importance of fostering relationships in our life, until we regret losing them! Like any other relationship, loving your life partner needs to be a continuous process that you happily grow old together with a deep sense of caring for them throughout.

In this post, many ways of expressing love to your life partner are shared, especially when it comes to sustaining in a marriage, nurturing, or nourishing a healthy relationship...

Do listening more than talking. 

When you want to understand your partner’s mind and make them feel more understood and connected with you, this is the best way. Proving your intellect, oratory skills, your ability to persuade, or your leadership skills – all these are good, but not when you are with your partner. Just listen to them with all your ears, heart, and mind and not just your ears, while looking at your mobile phones!

 Say ‘I love you’ more frequently and mean it. 

State these magical words in a way that they mean a lot to you. Impress them by your creativity and artistic skills! There are very creative ways to write “I LOVE YOU”, implicitly and rather not directly, to your partner. Check out my post on Handmade Flashcards.

Acknowledge their actions. Appreciate them more often. 

Being appreciated in a relationship makes a person feel special, happy, loved, respected, grateful, honored, and treasured. On the other hand, if you don’t acknowledge or appreciate their actions, slowly they lose interest in doing anything at all for you. The longer that person feels unappreciated the more likely it is that they may come to resent being taken for granted.

Prioritize your partner and prove their importance in your life.

Given an opportunity to showcase your priority for the relationship, grab them, and make sure you mean it. Remember, your life partner is your family, and your family is the first priority. For instance, prioritize your partner amidst your busy schedule; take time for a pleasant evening walk with your partner to his favorite soup shop just to enjoy the weather together.

Completely open up & Share your feelings and life with them daily.

Every relationship is healthy when people mutually become compatible and trustworthy to each other by sharing their feelings. Being transparent doesn’t mean you are susceptible or silly to talk about everything to your partner, but that you trust your partner and you want him included in your life’s story.

Spend valuable time with your partner.

Time is the most precious thing one can have. So, show them they mean a lot to you by spending some time with them, if possible, every day. Go for a late-night drive with them to their favorite dessert spot and talk through about how the day went.

Be the first person to compromise in a fight.

When you fight over an issue, make sure you solve it, the same night by explaining how your partner is important than winning the argument with them. Dragging the same problem for days and waiting for one another to open up & confess will only bring egotism in the relationship. Also, ensure that another argument doesn’t pop up again on the same issue. and understand the situation before jumping into a conclusion.

Love.

Always wear the priceless ornament (your smile).

Carry yourself with confidence.

Be classy.

Instill Inspiration.

Grow gratitude.

Believe in them.

Breathe happiness.

Have Self-respect for you first, to gain the same from your partner.

Forget your ego & forgive more.

Be patient.

Care; not only for your partner but also for their family.

Be there when your partner or their family needs you. A caring ping or call to their parents, just to know that they are safe & sound would be sufficed. Be a part, rather a helping hand in all important family occasions so that you become a close family member of ‘your own second family’.

Cook them with love, their favorite meal & help them stay healthy.

Know your partner’s likes & dislikes in food, learn new recipes accordingly. Food has a deep psychological effect; cook your dish wonderfully by adding some more love & care in it, and this simple act makes your partner happy & is forever grateful to you!

Inspire them and bring both of your dreams to reality.

Everybody has individual goals & dreams to fulfill in their life. When it comes to a healthy relationship, each of them should know of their partner’s life dreams and mutually help one another to reach for the sky. Forget once & for all, competitiveness, jealousy or selfishness with your partner, when you need a happy relation.

Motivate them at times of failure and cheer them up.

When your partner is having tough times at work, support them and cheer them up. Know about your partner’s favorite stress buster and do it. Or take a small break from the mundane work life; go for a short trip to their parents’ or friends’ place to spend time together.

Try to remember important & little things about your partner.

I know it is difficult to remember to do these little things, but this matter in a relationship. When your partner is suddenly going on a business trip for a couple of days and you pack his baggage remembering a handkerchief, an extra pair of socks, first aid kit. Or, when your partner lets you take the aisle seat when you get the middle seat on a plane knowing that you aren't comfortable. These are little but important things.

Do the things together your partner love doing with you.

This moment stays precious in their mind forever. When your partner likes to watch football, and you accompany them by supporting the opponent team, makes the session more interesting. Similarly, sit & eat along with your partner during dinners and Sunday brunches! This adds a bit more love to your meal.

Have a lot of intellectual and interesting conversations together.

When you are newly married, you will obviously have a lot to talk about each other; but if you are in the relationship for quite some time, your conversation becomes limited. You may talk about trending sport, TV shows or movies, passion in life, best moments spent together, world news, crack jokes, and so on. Personally, I and my partner used to converse uttering timely comedy dialogues from movies.

Befriend your partner’s friends and get along well in their gang.

This is one other way to become closer to your partner (even outside of your home). Plan vacations, travel, dine out, or watch movies with both of your friends' gang and spend time together so that you also become your partner’s best friend.

Make them feel special with a loving smile when you’re in a crowded event.

Be it family functions or friends party, we socialize and you might miss out your partner in the crowd. For a moment, you found your lost partner looking at them with a caring smile. YES! That is what I mean. That expression of relief, concern & love in your eyes is magical!!

Collect and preserve the memories of your relationship and save them for later so that you can give a surprise gift on a special day. Make collages to print pictures, make a scrapbook with pictures. Make sure you check this post for ideas to preserve memories.

Going with ‘the old fashioned way’.

Send a hand-written letter or email or a greeting card by expressing your feelings, if you are staying away from one another. You can write and sing a romantic song or poem for your partner.

Touch is the best therapy for handling a relationship.

To most people, physical relationships bring in more intimacy and trust than all of the above stated. It is always an effective stress buster. Hug your partner more often. Give your partner a special massage. Just these simple acts prove to be the best of all therapies! 

"Be that man or that woman, who makes others jealous of his or her partner".

Believe me, most of these have done miracles in my life and I really hope these work out well with you guys too!! Comment below your way of expressing love and tell us such experiences from your life......

 

Art & Article by Swasthi

Sibling - The best accomplice one can ever have!

A sibling relationship is likely to be the most enduring of our lives. It is not just a long-lasting relationship, but the longest-lasting relationship of our lifetime.

We don’t choose our siblings; they are the best gifts our parents can ever give us.

However, it all depends on how we perceive the sibling relationship, whether it revolves around intimacy & love or competitiveness & jealousy for your siblings. 

Usually, it is complex; involving mixed feelings which are both good & bad like happiness or hostility, pleasure or provocation, aggression or amusement, consolation or comfort. We may compete with our siblings all our childhood, but you also love them and are deeply bonded to them, which can be realized at a later stage of our adulthood.

Sustaining an intimate sibling relationship even in adulthood gives us a strong feeling of emotional protection which can be deeply felt by the one who was a lone child all through life.

The impact that sibling has on our young and adult lives is enormous – they shape our lives at all times; bring back nostalgic memories of our common past, constantly hone our character in the present and are always ready to explore the future together, thus sharing an unbreakable bond throughout the lifetime.

Every relationship including sibling bond requires constant nurturing & nourishment as well as mutual respect. In an era, where we know, only the change is constant and where break-ups, divorce, treason, moving-on, and beneficial relations are common, it is essential we have respect, gratitude & acknowledge the importance of such a special bond that comes with a sibling.

Rightly said by Deepak Chopra, “If you want to do really important things in life and big things in life, you can’t do anything by yourself. And your best teams are your friends and your siblings.”

PS: Check out a revealing conversation on: What it's really like - growing up with & without a Sibling?

Art & Article by Swasthi

Photographic credits to Shankar SK

“Lord Ganesha” - A Spiritual representation behind his true form

Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings, is worshipped first, before any important event. If we closely read through the tales, many of his anecdotes form an integral part of Hindu Mythology, which also proves that he is a great teacher for the human race. 

To Ganesha, his parents (Lord Shiva & Devi Parvati) were of prime-most importance to anything else in his life. This attribute, if attained truly, has the power to change the minds of many contemptible children and also the fate of many abandoned parents today. Also, in-order to be highly dutiful, especially towards a parent, one can go up to any extent and Ganesha has taught us in his legend that, it is the greatest virtue of all, one can possess. 

Another tale of Ganesha, explains the Power of forgiving. No matter how anger gets the best of us, we should have the power to overcome it by forgiving the other person or rather forgetting the incident. If we hate a person out of anger, then it is we, who are defeated by them, and that doesn’t make us any better.

Commitment towards completing a task meant for the greater good and is dedicated to doing what we ought to do to ourselves and our parents would take us a step closer to success than we already are.

One another story of the Elephant God tells us to stand up for our self-respect and to never let anyone undermine our capabilities.

Interestingly, there is a deep spiritual symbolism behind the form of Lord Ganesha as in the painting above. 

1. His elephant head symbolizes knowledge, the power of understanding, and an astute intellect that one must possess; in simple words, to be brainy.

2. His wide mouth denotes the endless, worldly desires a human wants to enjoy in his life.

3. His large ears explain the importance of listening to others and the person with greater capacity to listen & assimilate ideas are near to perfection

4. His eyes explain the humility one should possess and surrender our self-pride in-order to lead a contented life. Despite how big and powerful we are, the smaller eyes allow perceiving objects bigger than what they really are that we should never underestimate anybody.

5. The Trishul over his forehead denotes the inner peace one can beget with the power of understanding the time (past, present & future) by not worrying about one’s unknown future, known past & present.

6. His trunk symbolizes the strength to hold anything & everything with will power and also the qualities of high adaptability to co-exist in this universe.

7. His two tusks signify wisdom and emotion (the broken tusk), whilst the broken tusk draws the concept that we must surmount emotion with wisdom for a peaceful living. Similarly, the foot dangling over the other foot illustrates that in order to live a successful life one should utilize knowledge and reasoning to overcome emotions.

8. Of the four hands illustrated here, the first with an axe is a symbol of cutting-short of all the endless desires and all the bearers of pain. Second hand with a whip denotes the power that ties together the religiousness of a devotee and the felicity of God. While the third hand signifies how a God abundantly blesses & protects his devotees, it also interprets the love & care a mother can shower eternally to her family. The fourth hand with a lotus flower can be related to the blooming happiness & peace one can attain by realizing one’s inner self.

9. His pot-belly symbolizes the ability one should possess to face wholeheartedly both pleasant & unpleasant experiences during one’s lifetime.

10. Ganesha’s childlike heart, deeply explains how vital it is to express kindness, love, care & compassion to all living beings on earth.

Thus the elephant-headed, human bodied Lord Ganesha, showed that, just the physical appearances cannot determine one’s inner self & abilities to achieve the goal and that nobody can judge you with how we seem to their eyes.

Art and Article by Swasthi

Facts reference: Britannica

It's all about Love & Quilling!

“Love is all we need to live a happy and fulfilling life and not just exist on Earth”.

Love is being Selfless. It is a feeling of togetherness, which goes beyond self-interest & selfishness. Love creates a sense of well-being & nurtures each other throughout the lifetime.

Love is the most secure feeling and having a companion for yourself, through every avenue in the journey of life. It is like a "Win-Win condition" or a "Give & Take" concept of sharing your feelings or yet more, sharing your life, mutually. In a healthy relationship, each person understands the commitment & respect they have for each other.

Compatibility is more important than chemistry and being synchronized both emotionally & morally makes the relationship even healthier. Love is being vulnerable; giving each other a map of all your flaws and imperfections whilst putting faith in them to not abuse it. Yet, it is that feeling, when your partner just exists near you and that makes your daily life normal while their absence creates emptiness.

Even more, love is growing old together from being the happiest moments, daily routines, and to the times of distress. It is, looking at the annoying things done by each other positively as opportunities for growth and not as obstacles. Knowing what the other person likes or dislikes and understanding each other better brings mutual happiness in any Love story.

Personally, this saying had a great impact in me:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” —Lao Tzu

Similar to other feelings, expressing love takes practice. However, feeling and displaying love can result in a huge shift in our lives. 

Here are some creative yet very simple handmade flashcards made using paper quilling techniques. You can frame it or gift as Flashcards to express love to your partner!!

 1. "I LOVE US"

2. " I AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU"

3. " I WISH I COULD TURN BACK THE CLOCK, SO THAT I'LL KEEP LOVING YOU AGAIN & AGAIN"

4. "I WANT TO GROW OLD WITH YOU"

 

5. "GOOD THINGS IN LIFE ARE BETTER WITH YOU"

6. "YOU ARE THE REASON I AM IN LOVE"

PS: There are many innovative ways to express love which I shall share in my upcoming posts.

 

Art & Article by Swasthi

Words reference from psychologytoday.com