Nidhis.daily.blog

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  • Disconnect!

    Yes you read the title correctly. Disconnect right now to connect in real life or IRL as the GenZ say. We all know the dos & dont’s of devices. The best ways to utilise screen time is by heart to us. What is missing is putting these hacks to use. So now that you are here, read through to know how to trick your mind to getting away from the enticing screen of your laptop, tablet, mobile phone and multitude of other devices.

    Here and Now

    Get smarter than the smartphone – While we are quick to install the latest apps, there are plenty of built in features to keep a check on your digital heallth. Start with basic app locking feature to deter re-opening. Mute notifications from all apps save the real time connect one’s – making calls, instant messaging and 1-2 more of your choice. Ofcourse you don’t need that notification of ‘price drop’ from e-commerce app or leisure app you have signed up for. Gaurd your sleep and nap schedules by using bedtime mode which greys out the screen making it instantly unappealing to use. Setup time limits to regulate app usage for the time-guzzling ones. One hack to re-wire your brain is to hide them from showing up in your device menu. If nothing works then deletion of app temporarily is also a viable self-discipline option.

    Write it down – Agree not everyone is a born writer. But we all love task lists and to-do’s alright. So start engaging your mind to write the mundane daily stuff – grocery list, weekly meal plan, family schedule, mini-project and diy ideas. Get cosy and pen cute reminders, make a warm card or a fuzzy note to someone. If writing to express to others is not your cup of tea, start with writing for yourself – journal your thoughts, write letters to yourself and document your life goals. Keep a few notepads and pens handy in every corner of your home. Easy hack to trick your brain out of the excuse ‘I can’t find pen & paper but my mobile phone is handy’.

    Move around – Movement is liberating. Movement is engaging. Movement takes the dullness away and gives enough stimuli for our brain like screens do. Just head out for a walk in your neighbourhood and make small talk with the folks you bump into. If in a sporty mood you could bike, slide, run or even take a short walk in the woods amidst nature. Or if weather doesn’t permit put on your favourtise music and make a waking trail within the house itself. Music is a good way to hack your mind into making this activity more enjoyable and less lonesome.

    Get handy – Engage in a eye-hand coordination activity. It doesn’t have to be complex like knitting, crocheting, pottery or investment heavy like jewellery making, creating murals, cooking an exotic meal, home improvement projects. It could come off from the list of things to do around the house that you have been pushing back – that plant you wanted to repot, that corner you have been meaning to deep clean, that wardrobe sorting which is pending since spring or that ‘needs repair’ stash you have been stowing away.

    Congratulations on making it through to the end. Now all you need is adopting atleast one of it and starting to disconnect rightaway!

  • (Anti) Social media

    Social media has its roots in building community. It all started as an alternate avenue for people to talk to others, share their thoughts via words and pictures and build virtual digital community. The early days of IM aka Instant Messaging and even Facebook was to bring people together by consuming what’s happening in their lives.

    See me, don’t see me

    Fast forward to today. There is no ‘social’ aspect left in the social media platforms being used nowadays. The goal is for all to reach all with the objective of either sharing knowledge or sharing pure fun and joy sometimes even meaningless stuff. This in some of the formats which aim at making information available to anyone and everyone, there is no aspect of social element left. The invisible string of algorithm controls what we see and what we do next. In a way associations are getting replaced by algorithms. Connections are getting replaced by content. Interactions are getting replaced by influencers. Relations are now replaced by reels. Listening to each other is now replaced by livestreams. Videos have taken place of visits. Number of shares have taken place of sincere genuine talks. Face to face conversations are not displaced by chats.

    Not that we are not to be blamed. Collectively we have started harnessing the power of this tool to assimilate knowledge about even mundane, unimportant and trivial topics. Now that information is available at fingertips, we don’t think but look it up instead. That too on specific social media platforms; ofcourse we know where to get genuine current affairs and hacks to develop a green thumb! Thus we are slowly confining our creativity and brainstorming ability to discover the ‘how’, the process on our own. Even if some of us awaken to this aspect of our over-consumption and try to interact with these tools in the true, primitive sense the smart algorithms we built act as deterrents.

    But hope is not all lost. There is a silver lining even in this dark cloud. As hyper-capitalists we now have tools to connect to each other in real life this giving rise to apps for dating, social meet-ups etc. More on that in the next one!

  • A.S.A.P.

    As soon as possible or asap in corporate language calls for immediate response and attachs the tag of urgency to every task. Do we really need this sense of haste and immediateness in every action? Is this mindset leading to burnout? Can we reset our thoughts, beliefs and actions from this ‘asap’ culture?

    Never ending to-do list

    As simple as possible – neural decisions to uncomplicate words, tasks and thoughts. Adopt the simplest thoughts, the boring words, the un-adventurous and the tried & tested ways of accomplishing.

    As soft as possible – sprinkling kindness into our deeds, relations and views. Taking an antagonist stand is ‘in’ but being kind is the new cool.

    As slow as possible – embrace pause and cultivate reflections to your reflexes. Life is not a game parlour where the fastest reflexes always matter.

    As sincere as possible – add a dash of honesty to your connections, a splash of genuineness to your conversations and see how deep and fulfilling moments can seem.

    As steady as possible – preserving one’s inner peace and happiness. Practising dettachment to deflect other’s energies from disturbing your state of calm.

    As sustainable as possible – identifying quick dopamine fixes from the long term habits. Bring longetivity to your fleeting thoughts. Evaluate emotions that ebb & tide for their depth.

    Let us choose from the many forms of asap and let As soon as possible die a natural death from our mindspace. ЁЯл░

  • Generational reboot

    All things legacy are gold. While it’s great to embrace one’s background and origins, evolutionary growth calls for mindful pause. Concious reflection and deeper analysis are key ingredients to bring meaningful change. Only then can you hit generational reboot in a lifetime.

    Old is gold. New is platinum

    Be it what you consume – food, media, information, material things. Or how you organize – parenting, relationships, possessions. Known habits lead to known outcomes. If you desire change in the results, the same inputs won’t work a miracle. A change of process only can deliver differently from the herd.

    Break the mundane. Ponder why, draft how and outline a fresh blueprint for refreshed end results. Pause. Rethink. Reflect. Reboot.

  • Birthday eve

    As I sit down with my coffee mug, I am reminded yet again that tomorrow is a special day. A day when I officially finish another revolution around the sun – a year older and wiser. Reflecting on the past 12 months, I realize it’s only befitting to pen a letter to ‘a year younger’ myself. It’s like an annual ritual now; an yearly performance appraisal of sorts.

    Starting with the count of what was accomplished; many firsts that I did the past dozen months. Attended a dance workshop which helped pick up my childhood journey of classical dance lessons I used to take in middle school. A micro-trip all by myself, stepping stone to a full fledged solo trip. A soulful reconnection with a friend from the past, tricky waters but glad I could swim across the current. Increased executive presence at workplace, executing critical decisions and owning up the outcomes. Egged my spiritual side by exploring unanswered questions with the help of a guru. A few impromtu travel plans with the clan, historic moment for a Type A personality mom who overplans even intra-city drives. Lost just over 10 pounds; gained improved immunity, energy levels and a new found love for this form of self care. Overshot personal goal to read and write consistently; this also motivated my boys to develop a reading habit. Priortized people and connections by spending quality time over talks, food and togetherness.

    And then a deeper reflection of what helped me accomplish these. Improved conversational skills to navigate tricky and sensitive topics with close ones. Pause before responding by weighing in my thoughts as well as words. Smiled more often and smiled for no reason to protect my calm and peace. Developed routines with flexibility to enable consistency yet leaving room for exploration

    In short a year of growth and adventure. As I put my pen down, the coffee is cold but my soul is nourished to welcome what the next year holds for me!

  • Gone with the wind

    рдЬрд╣рд╛рдВ рдореМрдХрд╛ рдорд┐рд▓реЗ,

    рд╡рд╣рд╛рдВ рдЪрд╛рд╣рдд рднреА рд╣реЛ рд╣реА рдЬрд╛рддреА рд╣реИ ред

    Like a season, a festival, a local bloom,

    Poof, gone away was the trace of gloom.

    Newfound love, budding friendship, just married

    from one moon to another the talks got carried.

    Sun or rain, day or night,

    couldn’t dare to loose sight.

    Waiting with bated breath for the beeping,

    Tossing and turning, happy yet weeping.

    Here & now

    & when the clock struck twelve,

    reminding the time is over to delve.

    Time to hang the tiara, the golden slippers, the gown,

    The magic is wearing, it’s about to wear down.

    Time flies by, days, months by week,

    Not that one is broken, quiet or meek.

    But trying to do it all, until one breaks

    Giving it all, and all it takes.

  • рдорд┐рдереНрдпрд╛ – A myth

    Like the weary desert traveller longs for a drop of water. Like the grass on the other side always seems greener, fulfilling and enduring. The same way those diamonds shining ahead, luring you of miraculous happiness may just be nothing but broken shards of glass which may cause bruises and immense pain instead.

    рд╣рдордиреЗ рдЕрдХреНрд╕рд░ рдЕрдкрдиреА рд░рд╛рд╣реЛрдВ рдореЗрдВ рд░реБрдХ рдХрд░, рддреБрдореНрд╣рд╛рд░рд╛ рдЗрдВрддрдЬрд╛рд░ рдХрд┐рдпрд╛ред

    To not give into the allure, to use wisdom in the eye of quick pleasure. To not trace back your steps and repeat the same errors. To pull back to the reality of life, to find solace in not rocking the boat. Comes but not naturally. It is strenous, arduous and a knotty path. Drowning in the past and the future is easy. Stay afloat in the present.

  • Perpetual Debt

    I owe you. Unfailingly. Copious quantities of apologies. Prayers unlimited. A lifetime of asking forgiveness. A confession every living breath.

    I owe you. Unfailingly. Reasoning fails. Actions don’t make sense. Numbers don’t add up. Words don’t resonate. Scripts sound vague. Behaviours seem irrational. Logic seems hollow.

    I owe you. Unfailingly. A soliloquy replays. A monologue re-enacted. A social credit unreturned. A willingness to return the kindness, the gratitude and to give back infinitely.

    I owe you. Unfailingly. Time. Distance. Solitude. Peace. Quiet. Calm. Fulfillment. Health. Love. Togetherness. Bliss. Amen.

  • Burden of truth

    Covering up for the bitter factual pieces. Not owing up the blunders made. Convinced with a storyline. Making that the published truth. Once, twice, thrice and multiple times over. Now the subconcious accepts it as fact of life. Made for others but almost internalized, imbibed and one with the self. The lies sprinkled with misinformation. The concorted truth. Grey. When the lies we tell ourselves becomes our reality.

    What we don’t see

    A melancholic heaviness lingers. Sorrow burried deep. Desolation which occupies a millionth of the heart and mind. Gloom which is permanent but fleeting in mind space. Cheerlessness which is forever. Misery to accompany through rest of life.

    A cocktail of sadness, hope, glee. Tearing up amidst laughter; smiling through moist eyes. A dose of truth, honesty and sincerity – first with oneself. Admission of the same may help ease the pain. Choosing to live with hope, love and forgiveness.

  • Loss in Victory

    Loose some win some, so where do you think lies the fun?

    Alone in the midst of sea of folks, or

    cherishing what we had or now long for?

    Apart yet held closer than anyone ever,

    or dreaming against hope as forever?

    In gaining a friend but letting go of the love,

    in burying the hatchet and setting loose the dove.

    Neither here nor there, when

    past, present, future rolled up into a cosy den.

    Rearview or rare view

    Of united hopes, dreams, desires,

    plentiful as those promises now on a pyre.

    Brave, strong, mature all rolled into one,

    yet holding sand in one’s fist until shines the sun.

    Reigniting moments buried six feet under,

    was it or wasn’t it one big blunder.

    Reunited with oneself, the ultimate face off

    Chose your armour to fight, cry, laugh, or scoff

    Words fall short when trying to stitch it together,

    perhaps rocking the boat was a mistake, however

    wouldnt wish for it to be another way,

    someday, somewhere, one day.