Monday, December 27, 2010

Being Yourself

I feel the God has bestowed some powers or is in my favor these days. I am feeling it that way because somehow what ever I am feeling or dreaming about these days,the God is connecting it or giving some context to my dreams or may be he has given me the power to "Connect the DOTS".

Alright, you might be wondering "What in the world I am talking". I am talking about "Being Yourself", because the world doesn't want you to be "Yourself" and I am facing it more often these days.

To give more context, long ago, may be 3 years back in search of my "Life's purpose" I came across an article that talked about the concepts in Buckminister Fuller's "Critical Path". I loved it and took it to heart.

I used to refer it quiet often, but almost after 3 years I again looked at the book "Critical Path" and read the E.E. Cumming's "A Poet's Advice" in it where he talks about the following things
  • Feeling
  • Knowing
  • Believing
  • Thinking
which made more sense and it felt like GOD sent this message to me because, surprisingly I have been feeling about it and all of a sudden ( I should say miraculously) I happen to look at it.


It was written in context of poetry but I feel it applies in any context. Cummings says "Whenever you think or you believe or you know, you are lot of other people, but the moment you feel, you are nobody-but-yourself".

I like this the most,

To be nobody-but-yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

I feel very satisfied and have a sense of accomplishment after coming across this because it makes me feel I am going in the direction I need to go and that I am not the odd man out. The fight I have been putting is worth the fight and I wish I came across this much earlier so that I wouldn't have wasted or spent my time thinking and asking the questions

  • Why is this happening to me ?
  • Why don't people understand ?
  • Is anything wrong with me ?
Sometimes continous thinking on these even made me question the direction I chose and even made my stupid part of the brain ask me questions like
  • Do you know what you are doing ?
  • Don't you think you are arrogant and selfish ?

Thank you Buckminister Fuller and E.E.Cummings for confirming that "I am in the right direction its worth fighting for the direction I chose ".

The complete expert of E.E.Cummings "Poet's Advice"

A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feeling through words.

This may sound easy. It isn't.

A lot of people think or believe or know they feel - but that's thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling - not knowing or believing or thinking.

Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you're a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself.

To be nobody-but-yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

As for expressing nobody-but-yourself in words, that means working just a little harder than anybody who isn't a poet can possibly imagine. Why?

Because nothing is quite as easy as using words like somebody else. We all of us do exactly this nearly all of the time - and whenever we do it, we are not poets.

If, at the end of your first ten or fifteen years of fighting and working and feeling, you find you've written one line of one poem, you'll be very lucky indeed.

And so my advice to all young people who wish to become poets is: do something easy, like learning how to blow up the world - unless you're not only willing, but glad, to feel and work and fight till you die.

Does this sound dismal? It isn't.

It's the most wonderful life on earth.

Or so I feel.