I need a good laugh...

In this busy world of bursting economies, retail expansion, rampant consumerism, busy schedules, a yearning to earn more and more and have more; have we forgotten to stop by to have a good laugh? Can't say about others, but the other day whilst I watched "Little Miss Sunshine", I was bursting at my seams, laughing to my hearts content and I wondered, "when did I laugh like this last?!" One is so engrossed in the day to day running around that one sometimes simply forgets to stop by to have a good laugh and get those endorphins running.

I call this the "want more" economy, and in hindu mythology this would be referred to as the "want more yug". People just don't seem content with what they have and how much they have. I look around in my neighbourhood...somebody with midsized car works hard until he has one of the larger sedans, a person with a comfortable 3 bedroom apartment, works extra hard to invest in yet another apartment (it's always good to own multiple apartments, you know!), the young, who have children going to schools which have nurtured talent and skill, are looking for opportunities to place their kids in "talked about" schools. Why? don't the regular older schools teach anymore or provide adequate knowledge?!!! Will somebody please get up and tell them there is no end to "pursuing happiness"....."just find it!!!"

Why are there so few of us who say "well, I've had enough, now let me see what I can give back".

Was chatting up with a friend lately who has set the record of changing jobs ever 9 months. In short, her organisation is guaranteed to have a miscarriage everytime she joins.....they will definitely lose her sometime in the following 9 months. Are people getting impatient, over-ambitious, or is this simply a state of being opportunistic and not letting a good opportunity pass you by. Or alternately are organizations not treating employees well enough for them to stay on. Beats me! My quest for a euphoric organization seems to always be in the present continuous tense. Do they really exist?! After spending a good part of my work life in trying to figure that out, I struck happiness...I discovered that I love to work so long as I am not part of any set up. So, lo! I now work as an independent consultant.

I believe that so long as you are happy doing something, just do it. Does not matter what others think of it. And yes, I can't remember the last time I did something because someone else did so!!! I like to be original :)

And coming back to "I need a good laugh...." I meant that. I just realised how good it feels after one :)

Armenian Genocide

The Jewish concentration camps are well heard of, but not the Armenian Genocide. It saw the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians! Armenians who ? Armenia is a country, the inhabitants of the place are called Armenians and no they don't speak Arabic but Armenian.
The Genocide took place at the hands of the Ottoman Turks around the First World War. The sorry part is that even today the Turks dont acknowledge it.
Is it because they feel the world will no longer consider them civilised if they were to own up to such a merciless massacre?
The Turkish author Orhan Pamuk (novelist; recent publications of whose are Istanbul, The Snow, My name is Red. He has been accorded the Nobel laureate for his works) was taken to court for "insulting Turkishness" when he stated in his writings that the Turks had killed 1 million Armenians.

Moving on

There comes a moment in life when things don't quite go the way you want them to. What do you do then ? Just move on.....I learnt this from my little nephew. He is only 7 months old and still trying to stand up on his own feet independently. With a little support from around him, he manages to stand up for awhile. The other day I caught him trying to reach for a toy which was at far end of the couch. He merely managed to stand on his own two feet, leave alone access something at the far end, across the couch! He tried for awhile. Eventually he looked around and noticed that there were many more toys around him somewhere within his reach, so he quietly moved on..... No point dwelling on something well beyond your reach :)
So this was a lesson well learnt!

Cocooning

This is a new phenomenon spotted by psychologists. The young, upwardly mobile, busybees prefer to spend time at their homes "cocooned" in their own stratosphere, oblivious to the going-ons around them. They do this on holidays and when they get those spare days between the more hectic working ones.

Not that they are introverts or depressed, they would simply like to be in the confines of their own homes which they now own, have painstakingly designed, with keen detail to the nooks and corners. They have all it takes to recreate a RnR (relax and recuperate) environment - a home theatre, all possible communication devices - from the Blackberry to the Viyo, food and drink just a phone call away, what with all the home delivery services.

The new term coined is "inperience" . While "experience" is when one is sensitive to the external factors and surrounding environment, inperience is when one feels and is sensitive to ones internal world....the cocoon!

I would think this cocooning effect works well once in a while, specially when one just desires some space and time; but is it not tough to live in total isolation and seclusion. Does it not make it difficult to then get back to the real world ? I wonder.....