Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
Falling back on Ourselves
Steven Covey identified three stages of existence in ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ – dependency, independence & interdependence with dependence being the lowest rung of the ladder and interdependence the highest. It was pretty shocking to me ’cause I always believed independence was the highest of all states. But, alas, no man is an island. And, obviously synergy is better than individual efforts. Two heads are better than one. But, are they really? How to distinguish between dependence & interdependence? Or, is being self reliant – independence better? Which one is good? What if interdependence does not work?
Rules of the road
After a day filled with road rage, I came back home fuming at the lack of ‘road sense’ of my fellow commuters. Or, don’t I have the necessary skills? What transpires on the roads is very different from what the rule books of traffic dictate. What if, I could rewrite the traffic manual based on what happens? How to interpret what you see? Here are a few observations:
- Honk at red lights, people unnecessarily stop at them, you can get your way..
- You see those two amber lights to the sides of the headlight.. They are for decorative purposes only.. Not something you use..
In the grand scheme of things
When you die, people will not remember what you were passionate about. Your favourite pen will go neglected. The book library you built might will gather dust, the playlists you built, the app collection you are gushing about today, the gadget you adore, all will be made obsolete by tomorrows technology. The report you work on today so diligently loses it’s value one year down the lane. Your favourite piece of cloth will be handed over to the maids in a few years. The relationship you thought will last a life time will wither in a few years. In the grand scheme of thing, nothing matters. No matter how much effort we put in to create our own lives, they will be nought one day. Then why do we spend so much time building a life?
Dolce Far Niente
A few days back I shared a poem ‘Leisure’ by W.H. Davies.
What is life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Yes, what is life if we can’t stop to ‘be’? Can’t stop to enjoy the present?
How does my average day go? ‘Wake up, don’t get out of my bed, switch on my iPhone, read through RSS, Facebook, Twitter, news aggregators, email & messages then go to work in traffic, work, and at end the day repeat the morning ritual.