Jun 6 2013

Inner Insights

“Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked.
‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat.
‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered.
‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.’” 

(Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)


Life has no rules.  It can be a complicated and bitter journey, or it can be a happy rewarding one with simple answers. Over the years I have come to believe that life is about choices. And the choices you make eventually shape your day, shape your views, shape your experiences, shape your thoughts… and shape your life.

There are some life choices over which you have no control or which others will make for you – like when and where you are born, the family you are born to, your life during childhood, the school you went to, etc. etc. etc. Beyond that, there are several other important choices that you make in life. And those choices define you.

Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with. If you believe it is a world of choice, you regard your life as a product of your own decisions. If you believe in destiny, you suspect there are greater forces defining your life’s story. Even if we are a part of some grand master plan, our unique journey has more personal meaning when we choose it for ourselves.

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. We don’t get to choose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it. At the end of the day, the questions we ask of ourselves determine the type of people that we will become.


Life is a test.  It was designed to be so. Few lines conjured up as I meandered into the world of choices that define our lives… or rather, we let them define our lives:


You are not the fading birthmark,
the reminder of a shipwrecked marriage
sailing without purpose.

You are not the scars on your skin,
the seconds when hope discarded you,
like charred bits of memory.

You are not the digits on the scale,
the mind distorting the reflection
of such a beautiful body.

You are not the syringe or the pills,
that lift you higher and higher,
though your feet remain rooted.

You are not the burn of the throat,
long after the bottom’s up,
as the veins go numb and dumb.

You are not the lost suicide note,
that lets you escape reality
but not eternity.

A heart, soul and mind
bent but not broken beyond repair,
that is what you are.

 


Copyright © 2012-2013 Tanumoy Biswas and The Nomadic Soliloquist. All Rights Reserved.

55 comments on “Inner Insights”

  4. This felt like a tête-à-tête ― as if unasked questions dwelling in a recluse place within the mind have been met with their long lost answers. And the poem:
    “You are not the lost suicide note,
    that lets you escape reality
    but not eternity.”
    Huzoor, with these lines, you’ve stolen the words from my fingers!

    Reply

    • Ah, Isha! I dare not steal a single word from your fingers… for they seem to secrete sweet nectar flawlessly even while you wrote this. I’m really glad this humble presentation of my thoughts struck your chords. *gleeful smile*

      Reply

  5. I am agog. I couldn’t agree more. Applies to my own life right now, too… I mean, it applies to everyone’s lives all the time, obviously, but it seems to show its important head more distinctly at some times than others.

    The quote from Alice in Wonderland at the beginning and the poem at the end are divine.

    Reply

  6. Beautiful article, and beautiful imagery that goes with it…life is a complicated thing, we have so many years in any life, it’s what we do and how we benefit ourselves and others that is very important.

    Vijay
    – HalfEatenMind

    Reply

    • Couldn’t disagree with what you said, Vijay. Life and its complications have been chasing us ever since our ‘baby-form’ realized it needs someone even to tie a nappy for it! Such a bummer! 😀

      Thanks for the appreciation. Cheers! 🙂

      Reply

  9. “A heart, soul and mind
    bent but not broken beyond repair,
    that is what you are.”

    can’t agree more… one of the realities of life defined so beautifully!! use of imagery as usual too good!! 🙂

    Reply

  11. I feel life is what you make of it… we all have different strengths and weaknesses, and we can use our strengths to our best advantage, but our weaknesses will always let us down unless we face them and change our attitudes. Strange thing is, one mans view of strength could be seen as a weakness by another, … and vice versa for weaknesses, …. ’tis a difficult life we lead, where nothing is straightforward and easy to understand, I suppose ’tis the price we pay for being individuals with our own inner moralistic code. x

    Reply

    • Well-said. Couldn’t disagree with what you wrote. 🙂
      Like you mentioned, we define certain ‘inner moralistic codes’… But on what basis do we do that? Do those codes apply in general? Do they have the same effect equally on everyone? Or, are they just escape routes to some portals of desire? There lies the point. Thank you for reading. 🙂

      Reply

  12. choices we make,, the life we lead..
    road we take and the way we move forward.. I think there are too many factors to consider when we think about them..

    it’s too complicated to construe.. Isn’t it ?
    Nice read.. written beautifully… loved the poem

    Reply

    • Absolutely Jyoti… complications in life have always been a bummer, making our thinking stagnant. And that’s why, we look for an escape, any form of escape.

      Glad you liked it. 🙂

      Reply

      • Credit goes to your selection of the picture that goes well with the theme of your blog.

        Khub shundor protyek ta post…I will read all of them by this week 🙂 Thank you for the follow. I would have missed a great blog 🙂

        Reply

        • Thank you! 😛

          Arey, you are a Bengali! Yayy! 😀
          Absolute bliss! Even I’m very happy that our paths crossed. And a blog on my Bengali poems is under progress as well. Will let you know once that’s completed.
          *anonde aattohaara* 😛

  15. I love this, Tanumoy. Who we are we has no relation to where we are. This (this almost past moment) is nothing more than a passage into the future we create – that we decide. Our destiny is always as we see it…… Lovely you. ~ Bobbie

    Reply

    • Haha! Onek dhonnobaad… 😛
      Chesta kori jeebon taake ektu onno bhaabe dekhar jonno… with your blessings, I’ll try to get better. It feels so nice that you visited! *pronaam* 🙂

      Reply

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