Let’s go

©MCD

Let’s take the ferry. We’ll be on a different island in just a few minutes. It’s as simple as that.

All it requires is a decision.

But often that’s the hardest thing to take.

We’re too indecisive when it comes to the issues that contribute to a healthy mentality and lifestyle. We’re too caught up with a strict routine, daily pressure, and tight programmes.

But we tend to overthink the insignificant matters, those that result in a mental burnout, in a psychological exhaustion, and in an unjustifiable stress.

Take the boat and leave. Whenever you can. Let your mind wander. Allow your gaze to get lost along the waves, across the horizon, traveling with the wind.

And if you ever too far and need saving, there’s always a life vest somewhere near to rescue you.

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Torrential outburst

©Brenda Cox

It was a torrent like none other. Stifling heat, followed by monsoon rainstorm. Humidity and torrential rain seemingly without end. Howling winds in the night and an inexplicable weather to sum it all up.

Trees were uprooted, buildings eroded, infrastructure destroyed.

Climate change was the only action that could offer some sort of reasoning.

When it was all over, the cleaning up was even worse. Mainly because no one knew where to start with it all.

But very often, the weather actually represents life itself.

We need an intense outburst in order to clean-up everything afterwards.

And it’s often liberating.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Up and down

There is one thing he said when Monica was too young to comprehend it:

“They want to see you do good but never better than them”.

It was during a conversation about ‘friends’ who turn out to be envious instead of happy with their friends’ successes.

“Insecure people put others down to raise themselves up”.

That, she realised a few years later. When she could finally understand that it was not her fault that things were working out. She was simply open to life as it happened, and knew how to exploit opportunities and enjoy things.

Some people can’t handle that.

They need to find something wrong with others to prove themselves right. And instead of counting their own blessings, they focus on those of others. Because in essence, they want to see you do well, but never better than them. That’s the problem. Because real friends rejoice with your delight, and that magnifies the positive sentiment.

If we focused on transmitting positive vibes instead of jealousy and spite, wouldn’t this world be more colourful?

Forest getaway

© Alicia Jamtaas

It was the need to get away from the hassle of the city. The exasperation of constantly having to please everyone. The disappointment of the selfishness that dominated the world. The desire to simply disappear.

It all led to a forest he had discovered long ago. It was a finding that occurred by chance, but that remained imprinted in his mind.

It only took a moment for the decision to be taken.

And a few days before its full implementation.

He would finally mange to relax. To detox. To clear his mind and allow his soul to relax. Right there.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Don’t turn

©MCD_Antiparos

“Take the road up ahead, but don’t turn right. Go straight ahead, and you’ll see it soon after”.

The directions were clear. But as usual, hard to follow when you allow your instinct to lead you and you’re too mesmerised by the view around you.

But the truth is, that’s the beauty of travelling too. You wander off in places few know exist. You get lost in picturesque streets and beautiful architecture. You discover a culture that is hidden from the masses, and you reinvigorate your senses.

In misreading instructions, you actually find the most wonderful of places.

And in that, you revive in you the true meaning of life. To enjoy every single moment. Wherever you are.

Talking to strangers

We have an insatiable need to talk during the day. As if we start the day with a bunch of words that we absolutely must get rid of by the end of it. And if we have no opportunity to share them, we talk to pretty much anyone.

We all have something to say about one thing or other, no matter how futile, silly, or unimportant it may sound. Because everyone has an opinion. Whether you agree with it or not.

The thing is, it’s sometimes easier to do the one thing that as a kid you’re taught not to: talk to strangers.

Have you noticed that when you’re standing in a queue or waiting for the bus, it’s so much easier to start a conversation than anywhere else?

People want to talk. It’s liberating. We have all these words to share. And talking to strangers, to people who don’t know you and whose beliefs you are unaware of, may actually open up an entirely different world for us.

This interesting article describes it well: “Strangers hold the keys to all kinds of knowledge that we want. They help us understand more about people and how we relate to each other. They unlock cultural misunderstandings and bring freedom to the oppressed.” Moreover, “talking to a stranger is inviting someone to challenge our belief systems”.

In fact, like this compliments, “It’s easier to open up to strangers more because they do not know you like a friend would. A friend can be judgmental and it can be scary because they might think of you differently afterwards. Furthermore, a stranger is someone that be “discarded” if things do get worse while it is harder to let a friend go”.

In addition, “Consequential strangers anchor us in the world and give us a sense of being plugged into something larger. They also enhance and enrich our lives and offer us opportunities for novel experiences and information that is beyond the purview of our inner circles”, an NY Times article notes.

In short, we talk to strangers because we secretly hope we’ll find someone like-minded, who shares our problems or who can at least understand them, and who doesn’t have to agree with us out of courtesy or as an obligation of being a friend. We seek alliances in this world, and even if we never see that stranger again, for a brief moment we don’t’ feel alone, and we are alleviated from the burden of facing this world of problems (whatever they may be) on our own.

Blind date

©Dale Rogerson

They had been chatting online and then on the phone for weeks. They had become part of each other’s daily routine and they soon became one another’s vital interlocutor for anything that occurred, no matter how small or irrelevant. Their talks never began conventionally; having acquired their unique way of discussing things.

He had created an image of her in his mind, of how she would supposedly look. How he wanted her to.

She too had mentally painted his appearance.

At their long-awaited date at the fair, they found they were nothing like their imagination.

But did that really matter?

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

An optimistic thought

Every person you meet is a potential friend, contact, associate. Think about it. Your soulmate may be hidden behind the next eyes you contact at a first glance. Your best friend may be the person whose hand you’ll timidly shake. An associate may be found in the face you stutter at during an ice-breaking chat.

Every meeting is a possible life-changing one.

Isn’t that an optimistic and hopeful thought to make?

We never really know the truth in the expression “pleasure to meet you”, which we say in greeting someone new. We only acknowledge its true sense after time has passed and we get to know that person in depth. Sometimes it’s not a pleasure at all. But we don’t start off that way. We begin with the hope that this will be a significant encounter; one that will last and will be mutually beneficial and fruitful.

There are all sorts of people we meet. Some stay with us constantly, others come and go, and others only make a brief passage. But there is a sense of relief and gratitude in knowing that special relationships are never lost. People whom you’ve experienced things with in the past, who were part of your life, no matter how short or long a period, will always be there when you (or they) need help. That’s what friendship is.

We tend to seek reciprocity in our relations. But sometimes, what you give takes a long time to come back to you – if at all. That should not be the reason for doing what we do, however. We act in kindness because it’s a character trait. Put simply, it’s nice to be nice. And it’s definitely gratifying. It adds a spring to your step and a smile to your face. And all you really need in the end, is someone who asks how you are, who wants patiently to listen to your response, and who you can hear smiling in genuine satisfaction when all is well.

Dim footsteps

© Liz Young

“Come, follow me”, she said as soon as he approached.

She was dressed in black and it scared him. He didn’t know her very well, yet something about her intrigued him. He allowed himself to be lured by her; to be led into dark passageways and alleys he never knew existed.

He could only see worn-out heels decisively hitting the ground before him.

She led him into a cave-like entry that opened up into a beautiful back yard. She offered a drink.

How he ended up behind the wheel of a crashed car the next morning, is beyond his memory.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Empathising difference

“All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”, wrote Leo Tolstoy in the beginning of Anna Karenina in 1878.

Misery has many forms. And this is true for all people.

We don’t realise how insignificant or trivial our problems are until we hear what someone else is facing.

But what we often fail to acknowledge is that we don’t understand what other people are going through no matter how much they (try to) explain. It’s usually because we don’t really want to empathise. We’re better off worrying about our own microcosm-shattering problems: where to go out, what to do to pass the day, who to call for an outing, what to watch on TV, where to go on holiday. We quarrel among ourselves because we can’t coordinate to have fun, yet other people are facing evictions, money problems, job security; actual issues of survival.

It puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?

Well, it should.

There is a truth in that in order to survive you need to be thick-skinned. You need to be somewhat insensitive, allowing things to slide, and refusing to be affected by them. If you’re too perceptive and impacted by everything, you’re the only one to lose.

Because no one really cares if you’re struggling – with work, with family, with pretty much anything. If you can’t follow suit in the fun and the expenditure, you’ll soon be cut off. And no one really cares what or how you work. It’s simple: if we don’t understand what you do, we’ll consider it as not very important, so you can always ‘leave it for later’ – but certainly not for the weekend or a holiday, or for when we already have plans.

We have a tendency to only view life through our own lenses. We obstinately refuse to walk in someone else’s shoes, or even make the slightest of efforts to share their perspective of reality.

And it’s a shame. Because united we could achieve so much. Instead, we ravage each other as if we’re trying to free up space in this world we’re destroying.

Instead of lifting each other up, we’re surreptitiously trying to tear each other down.