Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?
Hey…
I hope all of you are doing well…
Yes, I’ve had a few opportunities to present myself on stage with and without a group;
I presented a speech all alone twice and I had all of the fear before it, legs feeling like jelly, those eyes staring at me like I owe them something, but once in my zone I performed what I had to it was a speech about a religious leader the topic that I picked way back…
Another one was a rather small group that worked in an informal setting a few strangers and a piece of information that we shared and debated it to come to a standard conclusion,;
A mere two person discussion turned into a few people taking their side and my side, it was a topic that has such a deep belief that we all had views on it “God’s existence and his overlooking those who were unfortunate…”
And after the heat of discussion subsided we all had tea and called it a night as we walked away a bit better person, by learning someone’s side and some facts that even changed our beliefs…
There were instances that we had musical performances during schooling too, which were often in groups because they shifted the focus and stress from a single child to the group, which was fun and enjoyable even for the audience because they were a part of us too as they enjoyed it as much as us…
A few instances but they shaped a version that can be traced deviated from a standard path to what it is now expanding forever…
To experiences like these that shape us for the better;
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?
Hey…
I hope all of you are doing well…
The part of routine that I can avoid or skip would be the stress associated with work that constantly looms over my head…
The constant pressure of preparing, of being active and on my toes has broken the foundation that I stand on;
Some days it feels like a break from it would be better,
But returning to it feels like a trap that I exited for a little while,
after seeing clear open skies I have to walk into the cage to be trapped yet again and work within these tubes that trap my existence within them for 10 hours daily…
Well there aren’t many podcasts that I’m in these days but there are a few that bless my ears…
One of the podcasts that I used to listen to was “Violating community guidelines” by Sarah Schauer and Brittany Broski;
I know weird names but they complimented each other and the funny instances on their podcasts were so hilarious that I often laughed out while working making people think that I’ve gone crazy 🤪..
48 episodes discussing the trends on the social media and what went on during the year 2022 and the end of it,
Started in January of ‘22 ending in December of the same year, Ive found myself to go back to it year after year and boost my mood and give me laugh whenever life pins me down…
These days I’m invested in a podcast called Alan watts daily wisdom and yes they’re sharing the timeless teachings of the philosopher Alan watts through ai in his voice to all the world to listen and view too…
Started a month ago and 24 videos in gathering a whopping 108k followers as we speak (on yt) I’ve found it very helpful and informative by giving me insight to live this life better in ways that are often overlooked…
I’m pretty sure most of the world is suffering with this disease of a very long screen time, hooked on Instagram reels, YouTube shorts and videos, clips on TikTok and many more…
Time seem to pass by so quickly when we are hooked on them that it feels unreal;
You started watching them at 10 at night and suddenly it’s 1:30 before you can see the time on the phone which was there all the time…
There are a lot of things that I use to achieve my goal of reducing screen time a few of them are->
Having a separate phone for doing writing without any distractions so that I can focus when otherwise I would find a way to stop writing and doom-scroll Instagram..
Tracking screen time on both my phones just to keep in touch with how much I used a single app and how much I need to cut back…
Presetting a timer on each app which I use a lot for example I set a timer for an hour on Instagram which is a lot less from 4-5 hours which used to happen without knowing…
Trying to avoid using phones for the first few hours I usually wake up and pen my ideas or any dreams that I had, which makes all of it interesting as it boosts my writing skills and also imaginative skills which help me remember what happened in my dream world…
And at last, I keep my phones a bit away from me like for charging away from me when I have free time so I’d have to walk to it to get it as I’m on my bed, which cuts the interest in getting up and grabbing it a bit more…
The last one is a big mind thing I know…😭😂
And I hope these works for someone in need…
Cheers 🥂
Love Waakiye 🤍
What does it mean to be a kid at heart?
Hey…
I hope all of you are doing well…
To be a kid at heart 🤔 it seems like a very tricky question because it depends on what time in life do you ask this question to a person…
Imagine asking this to a 18 year old who just passed school and now has plans to attend college to further continue their studies or tries to get into a work college to learn and tackle real life skills while working and learning the also earning something for the family
Their response would naturally differ because one where they attend normal college they would still have some innocence, they’d be playful, a little immature and even make mistakes along the way,
But someone who has joined work school/college due to some circumstances they wouldn’t be shaped that way, their first few adult years of upbringing would be much harsher as they would be guided and taught and made aware of the world much sooner than a normal kid would…
Now imagine asking this to a person who is is their mid 30’s working in a corporate world their response would be someone who is a kid at heart would have been exploited a whole lot, a lot of responsibilities would have been given to them(not necessarily belonging to them) and their emotions and their innocence played by many just to get their work done or taken advantage of (in a bad way)…
Now asking this to someone who is in their mid 50’s would be a gem to hear,
They’d start it like,
“Oh to be a kid at heart it would mean the world to them, during their times it was all they could do, they used to play with neighbouring kids and used to do all the fun activities together, take on adventures, watching episodes on tv together, playing console games and so much…
And sometimes it feels like it never goes away, the innocence that someone carries with themselves and how they take care of those around them and feel vulnerable when someone raises their voice at them but at the end of the day they come back in a way to mediate all that happened even if it weren’t their fault…
For me to be a kid at heart is a bad thing, perhaps when you are soft spoken worry to much about other and give other priority by giving yourself a back seat in your own life all one is doing is let them take advantage of your state or the place of mind that you are right now,
Most importantly people skip things make mistakes and tell sorry and such people make mistakes and count on your innocence and your nature of forgiveness more often…
With such a thing comes both ups and downs well such a thing exists and you can find it in people many times,
But it’s upto you to embrace this quirk of theirs or take advantage of it for your own shallow benefits…
You’re not gonna believe that I was curled up in my bed, thinking as the clock stuck 00:00 hours, I should read something before going to sleep, (Trying to induce a habit of reading..) As I picked a book from my collection, it was either Khalil Gibran’s collection, or, it was metamorphosis by Kafka which I bought, the night before i.e. Sunday night from a roadside book seller…
Before I could even focus my eyes on the words written on the first page of metamorphosis, It felt blurry, remembering little, the character turned into bug, there was a description, how he looked at himself, who he was, looking at the picture he hung that he cut out of the magazine…
that’s all I could remember, the first page that to barely, I thought to myself, is this the same mind that read pages upon pages during its prime…?
As I put the book in its place, a wall mounted drawer, and tried to fall asleep, but, I couldn’t, I was using 3 devices simultaneously before, my phone checking the messages, getting updates from a brother who’s fighting an addiction, and doing a splendid job keeping at it, Another one, who just came back from giving a competitive exam, and has had a long day, requiring a full day’s sleep to be in working condition again, another one who opened a new office and is dying from traveling as the commute has added 3 hours which he has to steal from these 24 hours…
My laptop for penning down my thoughts and ideas, in the WordPress app, as a few ideas flew by me, one of which I explored last night, and wrote a prose in a language commonly spoken here, about a girl who is held in boundations, and isn’t welcomed by her maternal home, in a setting that is absolutely heartbreaking….
My wireless sound bar, which played one of the favorite playlists that has songs from Panjabi culture, some Hindi songs and Gazals or a collection of old poetry, which brought me immense joy, and every once in a while, a new song would pop in and I’d have to change it, and remove it from my playlist…
Surrounded by these things, I thought of a life before all of this, these devices, these apps, these screens and, it took me back to a time when we had those buttoned phones and nothing more…
I remember, getting bored of playing snake game and then going out to play with my friends in the colony we grew up in, we used to run after each other, play hide and seek, hopscotch because we had these sandstone blocks outside our home, which would make it way easier to prepare and play around, but, those memories were blemishing, maybe I forgot some of it…
We used to wake up early, watch our grandparents light an incense stick in prayer room, after then watching them read the newspaper on the rocking chair, sipping on their piping hot tea, occasionally taking a bite of biscuit or rusk that was kept right next to their cup and saucer…
I remember rushing to take a bath, after that hurriedly chomping down breakfast, it was something light like poha, or a paratha (Indian flatbread with filling), something that we all loved, after that going to school where we used to enjoy our friendship, meeting those who we liked from the bottom of our hearts, some crushes, some whom we adored, and found cute…
Our parents went to their work, father returning home late around 8 or 9, mother returning home early and preparing evening snacks for us kids, and preparing dinner for the people in the house, and finally getting back to bed, late around 11 pm or 23:00 hours…
Occasionally going out to buy sweets like jalebis, or something, never missing the night walk, staring at the starry sky and the moon, as we used to walk back home, tiredness kicking in as soon as we reached home, and falling asleep under, the rotating fan and occasional cooler blowing cold air which turned into hot after it ran out of water, and then replacing it with new water after cleaning it to remove the foul smell…
The respect that we held for our elders and the stories that we heard from their own mouth, that too very keenly, shaping our beliefs and moral compasses, without many distractions, we were able to focus better; and having a genuine relationship because of face-to-face conversations, and learning about our culture and heritage from the word of mouth, rather than having to search google or YouTube just like these…
A time to remember and cherish it was…
Cheers 🥂
Love Waakiye 🤍
Those were the good days, we keep on telling ourselves, as the generation that grew up playing outside, before the technological advancement that made our lives, Easier yet more chaos filled…
Remembering, crying to our parents to play outside, our eyes feel watery this day too, But, seeing the roads empty, break our heart shattering them into little pieces, a history of fun gone, replaced by technology…
That crying before going to school, and the tiredness that surrounded afterwords, that sleeping after coming home, or those time spent, during exam period, cramming everything into this little brain of ours…
Then pouring it all into these exam papers, but, remembering those times brings nostalgia, that keeps us from forgetting those good times…
Going out with our parents after they returned home from work, grabbing ice cream as they talked to each other, worries about our well-being, our school life, and their personal life too, remembering them talking to each other we used to feel happy, that we were blessed with such caring and worried parents,
Waakiye 