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Sandbox

  • HOME
  • SURYA
  • BOOK
  • SANDBOX
  • 21THEMES
  • BLOGROLL
  • HOME
  • SURYA
  • BOOK
  • SANDBOX
  • 21THEMES
  • BLOGROLL
  • HOME
  • SURYA
  • BOOK
  • SANDBOX
  • 21THEMES
  • BLOGROLL
  • 21Themes

    Work to the depths, work in the shallows

    Current wisdom tends to favor deep, focused work rather than shallow work. But it is a delicate balance, and one that needs to be approached with humility and gratitude for those who help us along the way.

  • Transition

    The Great Resignation in fact the Great Transition – 10 facts you need to know

    We are witnessing one of the biggest mass movements in history in terms of vocation. The Great Resignation is in fact the Great Transition. A trend that will have far-reaching implications.

  • Books,  Transition

    Change is everywhere – 3 recent books to understand change better

    Change can be daunting. But if well understood, it can help us transition closer to our ideal life, and internally, to transform ourselves towards a better self. Three recent books explore change from different perspectives.

  • Transition

    4 steps to transform your identity and emerge stronger and more beautiful

    Identity changes are far more common in our lives than we would think. And most of the time, they are unexpectedly difficult. Understanding the process of an identity shift will help us manage it better and emerge stronger and better.

  • Make the change you want, live the life you love
    Transition

    How to change your life in 6 powerful steps

    Adapting to change is a survival skill in the twenty first century. But thriving with transitions is the superpower that will help you stand out from the crowd and succeed in your career and life.

  • Strategy

    Problem Statement: The critical step for a successful life strategy

    A successful life needs a successful strategy. The first step to articulating a robust strategy is the problem statement. Let's explore what it is, why it is critical and how to use one effectively, with a practical example.

  • Stars and the Sky

    The morning star in the East …Mars and Venus in a close long parley

    It is rare to have Mars and Venus together in the same part of the sky, close to each other for more than a few days at a time. This year, they remain close for over a month.

  • Musings

    The happiness within

    There comes a moment in everyone's life when they realize the source of true everlasting joy. Not intellectually, but viscerally. When happiness stops being something you chase, but instead it becomes a permanent resident deep within you.

  • Musings

    Absolute Indiscriminate involvement – a profound, yet simple way to live life to the fullest

    Some phrases just strike a chord with you, and that’s what happened to me with “Absolute Indiscriminate Involvement”. And perhaps because of the absolute randomness* that led me to this phrase, it made the resonance all the more striking. Here…

  • Personal

    Utopian lands, noble kings and hope for an equal future – celebrating Atham, the first day of Onam

    Onam is a welcome for a long-exiled king, nostalgia of a utopian land, but it is ultimately a celebration of hope, a step towards imagining a better future.

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To grow into our full potential, to twist and turn To grow into our full potential, to twist and turn and venture into new unexplored paths…joyfully, wherever life takes us.

This is our money plant - golden pothos - picture taken this morning (I love the light beginning to stream in from the tall windows facing East). The second pic is the same spot from a year ago, 12 May 2021. This is the first plant we got when we moved into our home in Dubai two summers ago.  The pothos sure hasn’t been sitting still. 

Sometimes we don’t even need to go that far to hear Nature. To feel the extraordinary joy in our ordinary day. 

I can’t quite capture the full essence of the plant in a photograph, but every time I walk past the stairs, I feel it’s energy. Young, vibrant, joyful, flowing, growing, exploring…

Where should I send it, when the pothos has made it all the way down our stairs, which won’t be too long now ? 🤔 That’s a thought for another day. For today, let’s just grow and flow and explore…as if the whole universe is open to us.
Did I grow or did the world shrink? 🤔 Did I grow or did the world shrink? 
🤔
Caught off guard… #nofilter #datenight #dubaili Caught off guard…

#nofilter #datenight #dubailife
This is part 2 of my recent learnings in #creativi This is part 2 of my recent learnings in #creativity.  A few days ago, I posted, “Don’t chase, let it come.”

They say when it comes, it bulldozes. Ok they don’t say that. You know what I mean - when it rains, it pours sort of thing.

Thoughts are rushing into my head faster than I can get them out on paper. I am doing my best, not stopping, let’s see what I manage to capture. Mostly am grateful. And trusting the powers that be that what’s meant to stick, will find a way to stick. 

This part 2 may sound obvious to you, but it is a lesson I need to learn as much as part 1. You see, I have a tendency, when inspiration comes, to say, “hold on, my calendar says I am planned in for something else today.” Or “oh, that’s not what I was planning to write about.” Or some other lame excuse. I have learned the hard way - words wait for no woman (sure, time waits for no man either)

In any case, a new post-it (handwritten) went up on the wall in front of my writing desk today, and thought I’ll share the prettier version here: 
Don’t chase, let it come.
When it comes, don’t stop. 

I like it, do you? 
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#inspiration #motivation #writing #writinglife #writerslife #creativelife
Every person is a half-open door leading to a roo Every person is a half-open door 
leading to a room for everyone.

- From the #poem “Half-Finished Heaven” by Tomas Transtromer

Did you know Tomas Transtromer spent much of his career as a psychologist for juvenile offenders? This Swedish poet was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011, for “giving us access to reality through condensed, translucent images.” 

Just the read I needed this morning!
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#poetry #humanity #collective #individual #transcendence #literature #tomastranströmer #nobelprize #nobelprizeforliterature #swedish #swedishpoetry #swedishliterature
The universe sends you messages. I got this one to The universe sends you messages. I got this one today. I would never have believed it, and I still don’t think my conscious mind believes it. 

But I ken. (Using Scottish instead of the English “I know” is just to add mystique 😃) 

So I feel I heard the universe say to me  today - Don’t chase, let it come.
More practically, it was probably the friend who had coffee with me this morning and called herself “destiny’s child” To be fair to her, she didn’t say, “don’t chase, let it come,” it’s just what I heard. So let’s attribute that to the universe.

We had a philosophical discussion on do you go after what you want in life? Or do you let it come to you? I feel like I am a chaser - the kind who thinks, analyzes, sets a goal and goes after it. What if that’s the just going about it the wrong way? I would like to give “let it come” a try, if only I knew how.  Any hints, universe? 

I am curious, if anyone is willing to share - do you chase? Or do you let it come? Which do you think is the better option? 

#philosophy #wayoflife #wuwei
#waffles #breakfast I hadn’t realized how much #waffles #breakfast

I hadn’t realized how much the Sunday working day in Dubai had affected our breakfast habits, until UAE decided to put in a Mon-Fri work week, like most of the rest of the world. 

All is well with my world again, now that we have our Sunday long breakfasts back. 

When you can’t control much (anything really), rejoice in the simple things, small rituals.
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#food #healthyfood #foodie #familyfood #healthyrecipes #healthy #croissantlover #foodblogger #foodphotography #foodphoto #healthyeating #healthyeats #healthylifestyle #dubaifoodie #dubaifoodblogger #dubaifoodbloggers #dubaifood #breakfast #dubai #dubailife
Walking. That’s my thing. I love walking, one Walking. That’s my thing. 

I love walking, one step in front of the next, lost in my thoughts, coming out of them occasionally to engage with the world, to converse with a random bird or to gently brush my palm against a wild flower, retreating back again into my world while my feet, without pause, kisses the earth, evenly, regularly, passionately.

I have walked in so many cities, but Amsterdam was always my favorite. I miss so many things about Amsterdam, but most of all I miss walking in a neighborhood where I knew every turn in the streets, a loose brick on a building, a graffiti on a hidden wall, the ginger cat which always purred from the exact spot when I walked by. 

At first, people looked at me a little strangely (they were polite enough not to put it in words) when I said I like to walk, and that I’ll walk in Dubai too. Well, they had some good reasons, but I learned a few things too. 

It’s the same earth beneath your feet no matter where you walk on this planet. If you feel the pulse of the ground, say your gratitude for your able legs, let your mind meander just the way it likes - the world outside always shows up in beauty and love. 

If you can look past the obvious, there is life, love and joy everywhere, just waiting for you to notice. In the heat of summer, in the middle of the desert, that one tiny flower that doesn’t give up. The birds with their myriad calls - if you could tune out the traffic and bustle of city life - there are just so many of them, Dubai is a haven for bird watchers! 

The gentle lapping of the sea - I always somehow end up by the beach during my walk - it’s the same in every country in the world with a coastline. It reminds us, how we are all connected - just as the waters in the seven seas are inseparable, so are we, as humanity. If only we could forget our boundaries, our silos, and celebrate the unity that binds us.  The wisdom of the waters. 

If we listen, everything in nature has something to tell us, and I know no better way to listen, than to walk, one foot ahead and the next. 

Wish you a wonderful #weekend
Trying out a new chair. Think I need a mini cush Trying out a new chair. 

Think I need a mini cushion…🧐
© SURYARAMKUMAR 2022